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


  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    19 Feb 2020
    This week readers discussed the Democratic Party’s theater and the new arms race in outer space.
  • BAR Book Forum: “Books I Teach”
    Ashlie Sandoval
    BAR Book Forum: “Books I Teach”
    19 Feb 2020
    An educator helps students navigate books that reveal Blackness as historicity, slavery as both obscured and ever-present, and the violence of race.
  • BAR Book Forum: Shana Redmond’s “Everything Man”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Shana Redmond’s “Everything Man”
    19 Feb 2020
    It takes many voices from a world of disciplines to tell the story of Paul Robeson, the supreme talent ad intellect that the US State attempted to erase from history.
  • Nigeria Jailing Journalists
    Global Information Network
    Nigeria Jailing Journalists
    19 Feb 2020
    Stories that embarrass high officials can earn reporters treason charges, imprisonment and death.
  • Embassy Defenders Win Mistrial, But the Struggle Continues
    Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
    Embassy Defenders Win Mistrial, But the Struggle Continues
    19 Feb 2020
    The jury felt they weren’t hearing the whole story, due to the suppression of nearly every relevant fact in the case.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us