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

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

Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The Symone Sanders Minstrel Show Demonstrates the Desolation of the Black Misleadership Class
23 September 2026
Symone Sanders' interview with Hasan Piker exposed her as a bad-faith interlocutor who uses identity as a cudgel while remaining silent on the
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Hakeem Jeffries, Monkeys, Errand Boys, and Black Misleadership
09 September 2026
Hakeem Jeffries climbs the political ladder because he engages in dirty deeds with the world’s worst people.
Wolfgang Bronner
North Nashville's Reckoning: The Fight for Sovereignty in the Shadow of a Data Center
19 August 2026
Fisk University, an HBCU, is presenting a $400 million A.I. data center as progress for the North Nashville community.
x
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
"Real Talk" from Kamala Harris on the Voting Rights Act Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
04 August 2026
The evisceration of the Voting Rights Act is of great concern to Black voters.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Trash Panda Politics Guides the Black Misleadership Class’s Electoral Dumpster Dive
29 July 2026
The Congressional Black Caucus electoral strategy has turned the 2026 midterm elections into a dumpster dive for corporate interests and Zionis
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
In its Lynching of the Voting Rights Act, Did SCOTUS Just Do Us A Favor By Elucidating the Lies of “America?”
06 May 2026
The Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v.
Mark P. Fancher
Political Snobbery Delays Black Liberation
29 April 2026
The conditions are ripe for growing Black political consciousness, but revolutionary movements must broaden their reach to all sectors and clas
Anthony Rogers-Wright
Preserving the Legacy of Martin Luther King and The Black Radical Tradition Requires Saving Both from the Congressional Black Caucus More than from white moderates and white supremacists (Or, I said what I said)
21 January 2026
Preserving the Black Radical Tradition demands struggle not only against white supremacists, but also against the co-opted Black political clas
X
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Fighting Trump and the Black Collaborators Too
24 September 2025
Fighting Trump’s racist attacks is obviously a necessity but that fight must include opposing the Black misleadership class and their
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Super Predators, Born Criminals, and the Black Misleadership Class
10 September 2025
The treachery of the Black misleadership class knows no bounds.

More Stories


  • Trump Derangement Syndrome Returns
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Trump Derangement Syndrome Returns
    17 Aug 2022
    Why would Black people laud the FBI or criticize protection against self-incrimination? The FBI search of Donald Trump's home has reawakened Trump Derangement Syndrome.
  • ESSAY AND PETITION: Massacre at Attica, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, 1971
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY AND PETITION: Massacre at Attica, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, 1971
    17 Aug 2022
    ​​​​​​​To commemorate Black August and in memory of the forty-two men massacred during the September 13, 1971 Attica Prison uprising we reproduce below an essay and petition from The Black Panther…
  • …and who paid for the raid?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    …and who paid for the raid?
    17 Aug 2022
                                                         
  • BAR Book Forum: Tanya Katerí Hernández’s Book, “Racial Innocence”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Tanya Katerí Hernández’s Book, “Racial Innocence”
    17 Aug 2022
    This week’s featured author is Tanya Katerí Hernández. Hernández is the Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law. Her book is Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-…
  • The City Has Failed University City Townhome Residents. They Should Pay For It — Literally
    Ernest Owens
    The City Has Failed University City Townhome Residents. They Should Pay For It — Literally
    17 Aug 2022
    The traumatizing clearing of the University City Townhome encampment in West Philadelphia symbolizes the ongoing racial injustice of gentrification. One solution: The city should buy the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us