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


  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    U.S. Liberal Media Literacy Guide: “This Isn’t Who We Are”
    30 Sep 2026
    The liberal news media treat U.S. violence and oppression as aberrations from the country's founding ideals rather than expressions of its fundamental character as a settler colony, empire,…
  • Mark P. Fancher
    Is It Bad News That U.S. Drones Will Be Pulled Out of Africa?
    30 Sep 2026
    The U.S. relocation of MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Latin America is not a drawdown of imperial aggression but a strategic reallocation, with the drones likely to be used against Cuba, Venezuela…
  • Denise Powell
    A Southern Reckoning with the Medical Myth of Race as a Diagnostic Tool
    30 Sep 2026
    Race is a sociopolitical construct, not a biological truth. The real determinants of health are structural factors such as zip code, environmental pollution, and access to resources.
  • Abel Prieto
    Venezuela: It Is What You See
    30 Sep 2026
    A photograph of Delcy Rodríguez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S. kidnapped Nicolás Maduro is evidence of subordination to the United States. These images cannot be reconciled with the dignity…
  • Pambazuka News Editors
    Türkiye, UAE, and the Imperialist Chain: African Ports and War
    30 Sep 2026
    Imperialist competition and wars that facilitate extractivism have long shaped the use of seaports for access to resources, markets, and devalued labor. In the last decade, countries in the chain of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us