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


  • Latin Americans Reject Resource Plundering by Same NATO Countries Fueling Military Conflict in Ukraine
    Camila Escalante
    Latin Americans Reject Resource Plundering by Same NATO Countries Fueling Military Conflict in Ukraine
    14 Sep 2022
    Liberals in the U.S. may be confused, but the Latin America left are clear that the NATO alliance is their adversary and that its actions must be opposed everywhere in the world.
  • Black Agenda Radio September 9, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 9, 2022
    09 Sep 2022
    Racism and political corruption in Mississippi, how U.S. sanctions impact Black Cubans and the entire country, and the first of a two part discussion on Black politics in San Francisco.
  • Mississippi Goddam
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Mississippi Goddam
    09 Sep 2022
    Jaribu Hill is Director of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights. She joins us to discuss a Mississippi political scandal involving a former governor who gave millions of dollars in funds…
  • Let Cuba Live
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Let Cuba Live
    09 Sep 2022
    Steven Hardge works on mutual aid and community survival projects and programs as a community organizer with Endstate Atlanta. He joins us to discuss his recent trip to Cuba as part of a Community…
  • Black Politics in San Francisco, Part I
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Politics in San Francisco, Part I
    09 Sep 2022
    Jemma Decristo is a community organizer in San Francisco, where a Black mayor and other officials enact policies against the unhoused and the poor and where gentrification continues. She joins us…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us