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

The low Barr-Boss Tweet Rapid Response to COVID-19
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
29 Jul 2020
🖨️ Print Article
The low Barr-Boss Tweet Rapid Response to COVID-19
The low Barr-Boss Tweet Rapid Response to COVID-19

“If they come for me in the morning, they will come for you in the night.” ― Angela Y. Davis

Lying anarchists, agitators, communists, Marxists
say he’s going Pinochet by the bright light of day…
Misdirection? Distraction? No way! Only 140,000—
well, maybe twenty times that—have died under 
enlightened leadership of low Barr/Boss Tweet…

Still, we have the bes’ tests, the mos’ tests—by far!
The bes’ healthcare in the world (Cuba ain’t $h#%!) 
1% is good to us—takes care of us—cradle to grave…
Stab the wind with your
foam fingers—and chant, “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A
We’re number 1!”

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
Sticking swabs up nostrils, testing for COVID-19…

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
Cornering citizens and tracking their contacts down

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
Whiskin’ folks off to empty 5 star hotels for 14 day 
Quarantines

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
Handing hand sanitizer, masks, gowns, gloves to
beleaguered frontliners: housekeepers, nurses, docs…

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
Cutting $2,000 a month checks and handing them out
to every adult desperately needing to Shelter In Place…

Now, I don’t know about you—
but I heard low Barr/Boss Tweet
got camouflaged cats jumpin’ from unmarked vans
With hammers, nails, saws, two-by-fours, flattening 
the curve, raising roofs over heads of the unhoused—
And oh, by the way, the number 140,000 (X 20) is
Too
BIG
for their badges…

© 2020. 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

poetry

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


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • Iker Suarez
    Mass Deportation as Ethnic Cleansing: on the Ongoing War
    12 Feb 2025
    The United States is a colonial empire, repressing and exploiting colonized peoples domestically and internationally. Mass deportations are a function of ethnic cleansing and a continuation of U.S.…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Trump’s Declaration of War on Palestine
    12 Feb 2025
    Donald Trump's recent statements claiming U.S. ownership of Gaza are the latest iteration of U.S. bipartisan imperialist policy. 
  • Jake Johnston
    Where Does the Money Go? A Look at USAID Spending in Haiti
    12 Feb 2025
    The Trump administration is dismantling USAID, intending to absorb its mission into the State Department. USAID's engagement with Haiti demonstrates the insidious nature of the agency and how…
  • Judi Rever
    Paul Kagame’s Foray in Eastern Congo Leaves Thousands Dead and Sparks Fears of a Broader war
    12 Feb 2025
    Rwanda’s brutal assault on Goma has unleashed more agony for the Congolese, who are already traumatized by three decades of war.
  • Ramzy Baroud
    Politics or Empty Rhetoric? Examining Trump’s Call for Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza
    12 Feb 2025
    Donald Trump recently made several statements declaring his intent to commit a full-scale ethnic cleansing of Palestine's Gaza Strip. However, this idea, like many others, may be unfeasible and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us