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

“No Matter What Sign You Are,”4th Supreme
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
16 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
the supremes
The Supremes

Mary was mysterious,
but the best dancer
Diana, the magnetic,
cooing romancer—
But, here’s a secret I know:
cats like me dug Miss Flo—
And the 4th Supreme’s ‘fro!

The 4th Supreme came
Singing tones ‘tween
Douglass and Carmen McRae—
Malcolm X and Lady Day

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Stop In The Name Of Love!”
by way of Brandeis/Bombing-ham—
hitting Dynamite Hill high notes

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Reflections”
in silver bracelets, on a
Newsweek cover captioned:
“Red, Black and Wanted!”

Hoover hated her harmonies with millions…
But I heard, “Set me free, why don’t you, babe?”
Rocking me to “ …Try Something New:”
Dialectics…

 

The 4th Supreme came
Singing, “I Hear A Symphony—”
“No Matter What Sign You Are,”
in ’08—but I
forgive her and comrades
and friends for singing flat
Madison Avenue smash hits: “Yes,
we can and bottle Jim Jones Juice;”
“regime Change you can believe in—”
delivering “Nothing But Heartaches” to
Honduras, Libya, Syria, Mother Africa…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner, our poet in residence, is an accomplished performing artist. You can 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


  • Freedom Rider: Black Misleaders Seek to End Protest
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Black Misleaders Seek to End Protest
    03 Jun 2020
    The nationwide protests have forced the Black quisling class to reveal themselves as agents of the racial and economic status quo.
  • Stephen Jackson is Right: Justice for George Floyd Requires Power to the People
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Stephen Jackson is Right: Justice for George Floyd Requires Power to the People
    03 Jun 2020
    The police and the military not only protect the private property of the rich but also act as shock troops for the violent oppression of Black Americans and the racially subjugated everywhere.
  • No Compromise, No Retreat: Defeat the War Against the African/Black People in the U.S. and Abroad
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    No Compromise, No Retreat: Defeat the War Against the African/Black People in the U.S. and Abroad
    03 Jun 2020
    The justice for George Floyd mobilizations today reflected the state’s worst nightmare – a multi-national and multi-racial action initiated by Black people with Black leadership.
  • Headline News
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Headline News
    03 Jun 2020
    The world as we know it may be at the cusp of radical change, but right now it just looks like a blizzard of urgent headlines.
  • Shooting and looting started: 400 years ago
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Shooting and looting started: 400 years ago
    03 Jun 2020
    Shooting, looting, scalping, lynching, Raping, torturing their way across the continent—400 years ago— Colonial settler thugs launched this endless crimson tide rolling down on
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us