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

count ALL votes
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
27 Nov 2019
count ALL votes
count ALL votes

POW…POW…POW…POW…
My leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths

POW…POW…POW…POW…
MY leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths—
POW…POW…POW…POW…
count ALL the muthafukkkin’ votes…

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

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

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 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

Black Misleadership Class

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


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Charles Rangel and the End of Black Politics
28 May 2025
The late Charles Rangel served as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than 40 years.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Temerity, Tartuffery, and Toxic Identity Reductionism…the Latest Democrat Party Hoggwash
21 May 2025
The Democratic Party would rather silence critics like Hogg than fix its own rot.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Graylan Hagler: Capitulation Masquerading as Political Thought
30 April 2025
Liberals continue to condemn anyone who didn’t support Kamala Harris and the latest iteration of neo-liberal treachery.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
From Uncle Tom to Cousin Cory: (Or, The Curious Case of Mr. Booker’s Senate Floor Minstrel Show)
09 April 2025
Senator Cory Booker’s recent 25-hour Senate speech is hailed by some as an act of resistance.
Jon Jeter
Across the Country, Black Voters Show Signs of Abandoning Black Mayors Who Have Abandoned Them
05 February 2025
The adage that "black faces in high places won't help us" still rings true when you look at Black mayors like Karen Bass, Eric Adams, and Lori
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Death of DEI
29 January 2025
Black people must be discerning about racist attacks on DEI programs while also acknowledging that “diversity” can be a con t
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Eric Adams and Daniel Penny Make Black People the Face of Crime
18 December 2024
Daniel Penny’s acquittal was not surprising, and neither is Mayor Eric Adams' defense of Penny an
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Fear is Still the Motivation for Black Voters
27 November 2024
Kamala Harris is now a historical footnote who is heading for the dustbin of history.
Carlos Sirah
Empire's Overseers: The Two-Party Trap of Blackface Imperialism
30 October 2024
The U.S. political system is perpetuated through the facade of choice.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bassackwards Tribe strikes again!
02 October 2024
“We must be brief when traitors brave

More Stories


  • Isabel Lourenço
    The Only Fair Negotiation Between Morocco and the Polisario: When, Not If, to End the Occupation
    06 Aug 2025
    Morocco's colonial project in Western Sahara has persisted not through legitimacy, but through the complicity of other nations and United Nations inaction.
  • Nicholas Mwangi
    Angola: 22 killed during mass protests against fuel prices
    06 Aug 2025
    Angola, one of Africa’s top oil producers, is in turmoil after protests erupted over a sharp fuel price hike driven by IMF-backed subsidy cuts.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 1, 2025
    01 Aug 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss football, why it isn’t popular in the US, how it can be, sports as consciousness raising, and the nation of Brazil and its Black population. But first, we have the…
  • Erica Huggins
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins
    01 Aug 2025
    Mary Frances Phillips is an associate professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She joins us from Detroit to discuss her biography of Ericka Huggins, "…
  • Map of soccer games
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Sports, Political Education, and Football in the U.S.
    01 Aug 2025
    Robert Wilson is a U.S.-born philosopher who has lived in Brazil for many years. He is the author of “The Football Manifesto and Club Handbook: Bringing the Beautiful Game to the People and Making…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us