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


  • The Sickness of the American Left and the Path to Recovery
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Sickness of the American Left and the Path to Recovery
    14 Sep 2022
    Leftist action and analysis are most needed now that capitalism is beset by many crises, but clarity of thought and revolutionary discipline are often lacking.
  • There go Ol’ Schmo again…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    There go Ol’ Schmo again…
    14 Sep 2022
    There go Ol’ Schmo again…
  • BAR Book Forum: Maano Ramutsindela, Frank Matose, and Tafadzwa Mushonga’s Book, “The Violence of Conservation in Africa”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Maano Ramutsindela, Frank Matose, and Tafadzwa Mushonga’s Book, “The Violence of Conservation in Africa”
    14 Sep 2022
    This week’s featured authors are Maano Ramutsindela, Frank Matose, and Tafadzwa Mushonga. Ramutsindela is Professor of Geography in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the…
  •  BAR Book Forum: Reighan Gillam’s Book, “Visualizing Black Lives”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Reighan Gillam’s Book, “Visualizing Black Lives”
    14 Sep 2022
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Reighan Gillam. Gillam is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology…
  • Laundering Black Rage, Part 2
    Too Black
    Laundering Black Rage, Part 2
    14 Sep 2022
    Rage is a natural human emotion that is denied to Black people. Black rage is dangerous and is washed away, laundered, as if it were an ill-gotten gain. Too Black explains in the second part of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us