Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Deliver us from lesser evil…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
04 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article
deliver us from lesser evil
front row at Aretha's funeral

Star-struck, in childlike

awe of celestial

Voices, silver tongues;

I spent seven hours

glued to the screen—

back in the Baptist Church,

Celebrating, honoring the

humanitarian, North Star

Shero—genius in her field!

What a day, imbibing

Mighty Black Music!

Joyful noise, Lake Michigan-

sized magnet, gathering forces

elbow to elbow—

Enemies, Orange Age

Allies on the clock…

Basking in reflected light,

Assassins, informants, jailers,

Mouthpieces, mass murderers,

super predators, slutty professors

came riding, riding, riding, riding

bare-back, backwards on a

Donkey to The D.

Riding in corporate coats

of many logos—then

Limboing their way

Center stage, tracking

donkey dung down the

red carpet; playing

our emotions, our

Souls, our strength—

our Achilles’ heel

like plastic kazoos:

resurrecting the

Democratic Party…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Our poet in residence, Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Image of LeBron James by Robert Carter for The Los Angeles Times
    Gus Griffin
    Palestine and the Miseducation of LeBron James
    18 Oct 2023
    The Black political class is not made up solely of politicians. Celebrities and athletes like LeBron James are given access to corporate dollars and their politics reflect their class interests.
  • Cory Booker at AIPAC conference in 2020
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Cory Booker's Boot Licking, Butt Kissing, and Buck Dancing for Zionism
    18 Oct 2023
    Cory Booker has been a favorite of right-wing interest groups ever since he first ran for office to become mayor of Newark 20 years ago.
  • The bodies of the dead in a bombing on al-Ahli Hospital are gathered outside another hospital in Gaza
    Ramzy Baroud
    It's Not a Hamas-Israeli Conflict: It's an Israeli War Against Every Palestinian
    18 Oct 2023
    The people of Gaza are completely at the mercy of Israel, without help from the outside world.
  • DEPLATFORMED
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Leftists Embracing Imperialist Narratives Laid The Groundwork For This Wave Of Censorship
    18 Oct 2023
    So-called leftists allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the Russiagate narrative. Great damage has been done to journalism, particularly that of the Black left, who are at great risk of being…
  • Child in a hospital in Gaza
    Haidar Eid
    From Gaza We Ask You to Stand Up Against Genocide!
    18 Oct 2023
    Depriving human beings of food, water, and electricity is a war crime. Exacting collective punishment of civilian populations is also a war cime. The U.S./Israeli attack on Gaza is a genocide by…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us