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
  • omnibus

Dancing in the streets…
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
02 Oct 2019
Dancing in the streets…
Dancing in the streets…

“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”—Albert Einstein

Calling out ‘round the world—
are you ready for
Class struggle heating up
all spheres of life with
Superstorms of new soldiers?
Tsunamis of 21st century fighters
Flooding from Ferguson, Gaza, Baltimore, 
Occupy, Madison, #Me Too, Arab Spring,
Central America, Standing Rock…steeling 
Themselves seeking solutions?

Calling out ‘round the world—
are you ready for 
a brand new beat? More
about its abundance of
All Stars than Junior;
Millions more Vandellas than 
Martha; Tens of millions more
Miracles than Smokey; Billions
more Supremes than Diana?

Faces fresh as the 
first day of school
Were not skipping class,
Toyi-toyiing to University
of Class Struggle chants;
Their fresh eyes studied— 
up close—the tilted table,
marked cards, loaded dice,
Cooked books…The game
Rigged against those
watching their islands 
Sink beneath waves; those
Losing their farms to deserts…
Rigged like ‘hearings’ to
hear what fossil fools
Heard 30 years ago!

Faces fresh as the 
first day of school
Fresh eyes studied math closely:
Multiplication=addition for the 99%—
Division/subtraction=the1%’s chance…
Fresh eyes studied 
Weaponized words in English:
“civilian casualties,” 
“collateral damage,”
“enhanced interrogation technique—” 
“extraordinary renditions” from
Multibillionaire 
Media ain’t “mainstream…”

Fresh eyes studied Government: 
Truthful politicians, dry water,
gentle murder, walking war crimes;
Studied $election $campaign circuses—
Clowns 
Working crowds for1% pick pockets;
Studied 
Bullet points: police protect tents, 
cranes, cardboard mattresses;and 
Serve caged climate migrant kids
soiled clothes, fever, lice, scabies—
Compliments of capitalism!

Faces fresh as the 
first day of school,
Fresh eyes studied
Odds, gambled—Bet on
the sun, wind, water and
Themselves…

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

Climate Crisis

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The fire this time … (as Amiri tolt me)
29 January 2025
“Scratch a lie—find a thief !”
Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
COP29 Summit Marked by Acrimonious Debate Over Emissions and Finance
27 November 2024
Annual climate gathering reflects divisions between the industrialized states and the Global South.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Unprincipled, Unstrategic, and Unsustainable: e(U)logy for the U.S. Climate “Movement”
13 November 2024
The ineffectiveness of the climate movement during the 2024 election signals its inevitable collapse.
Max Ajl
Dismantling Green Colonialism: Stages of a Just Transition?
09 October 2024
Dismantling Green Colonia
How the Climate Crisis is Most Detrimental to the Black Community
Forrest Palmer
How the Climate Crisis is Most Detrimental to the Black Community
19 July 2023
The earth recently experienced its hottest days on record. Here in the U.S.
Biden Redeploys Pentagon Troops to Somalia While Humanitarian Crisis Looms
Abayomi Azikiwe
Biden Redeploys Pentagon Troops to Somalia While Humanitarian Crisis Looms
25 May 2022
Joe Biden's troop redeployment in Somalia is a continuation of a 30-year long US intervention.
COP26 climate meeting
BAR Editors
COP26: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
17 November 2021
Black Agenda Report is giving special attention to the recent COP26 climate summit.
Climate Action Pretense at COP26
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Climate Action Pretense at COP26
17 November 2021
Joe Biden’s presence at COP26 was a photo opportunity giving the impression that he is fighting the climate crisis. But the U.S.
Industrial Nations Value Capitalism Over People  at Global Climate Conference
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Industrial Nations Value Capitalism Over People at Global Climate Conference
17 November 2021
Inaction on the climate crisis is to be expected when capital is valued more than humanity.
COP26 Was a Failure But the People's Alternative Can Still Be a Success
Monthly Review Online
COP26 Was a Failure But the People's Alternative Can Still Be a Success
17 November 2021
COP26 ended the way climate summits always do, with promises for change from countries which have every intention of keeping the status quo.

More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Zionist Shakedown
    06 Aug 2025
    Israel is a genocidaire apartheid state silencing critics around the world through threats, intimidation, lawfare, and accusations of antisemitism to prevent facing justice through international…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Attica Then and Now! Acklyn R. Lynch, 1971
    06 Aug 2025
    “The men at Attica were prepared to die for the democratic principles not only enunciated in their Manifesto, but experienced in their revolt…”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Eritrea: We Won’t Kneel Down
    06 Aug 2025
    Eritrean Americans celebrated their 51st Eritrean Festival and their home country’s resolute independence from August 1 to 3, 2025.
  • Jon Jeter
    Stagflation Returns, Shining a Spotlight on the Federal Reserve’s War on the Working Class
    06 Aug 2025
    History exposes the Fed's inflation fight for what it truly is: a decades-long class war waged against working people under the guise of monetary policy.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    There is no starvation
    06 Aug 2025
    "There is no starvation" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us