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: The Minimal Minimum Wage
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: The Minimal Minimum Wage
    03 Mar 2021
    Most Democrats either don’t want a minimum wage increase or are too afraid of bucking their party’s donor class.
  • Joe Biden: The Expect Nothing Presidency
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Joe Biden: The Expect Nothing Presidency
    03 Mar 2021
    Biden’s brand of American exceptionalism has run up against the general crisis of the U.S. imperialist order.
  • MANIFESTO: “The Crime of Being Born Black on American Soil”: Claudia Jones’s Statement Before Being Sentenced, February 2, 1953
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: “The Crime of Being Born Black on American Soil”: Claudia Jones’s Statement Before Being Sentenced, February 2, 1953
    03 Mar 2021
    Claudia Jones’s arrests and eventual deportation were part of the expansion of the US government’s Cold War attacks on immigrants—Black immigrants included—who were affiliated with the Communi
  • Against Big Tech's Algorithmic Cancel Culture
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Against Big Tech's Algorithmic Cancel Culture
    03 Mar 2021
    Project Censored Host Mickey Huff predicted that #CancelCulture warriors would be calling stations to complain about his opposition to Big Tech censorship, writes Ann Garrison.
  • Long Live the Legacy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti!
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Long Live the Legacy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti!
    03 Mar 2021
    Ferlinghetti might have been God ‘cause he almost lived forever; and Jersey Boys—Allen and Amiri— lyricized Coltrane’s “Welcome” and are singing it for him with rhythmic
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us