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


  • MANIFESTO: Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female, Frances Beal, 1969
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female, Frances Beal, 1969
    06 Sep 2023
    Revisiting Frances Beal’s Black feminist theoretical tour-de-force.
  • Regionally Integrating the Horn of Africa and the Nile Basin
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Regionally Integrating the Horn of Africa and the Nile Basin
    06 Sep 2023
    ​​​​​​​BAR Contributing Editor Ann Garrison spoke with Amanuel Biedemariam, author of The History of the USA in Eritrea, about regional integration in the Horn of Africa and the Nile Basin among…
  • Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan
    06 Sep 2023
    Little Rock Antioch’s RICO blu klux klan (For Franklin, the Families, and Antioch’s Fightback)
  •  BAR Book Forum: Rima Vesely-Flad’s Book, “Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Rima Vesely-Flad’s Book, “Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition”
    06 Sep 2023
    This week’s featured author is Rima Vesely-Flad.
  • How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions [A Three Part Series]
    Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions [A Three Part Series]
    06 Sep 2023
    The environmental benefits of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act are non-existent for Black and other marginalized communities.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us