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

Think…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
06 Jan 2021
🖨️ Print Article
Think…

Think of peoples having the most
tanks, the most drones, the most
missiles, bombs, aircraft carriers, 
guns, ammo and night vision goggles

Think of peoples having the slowest
trains, slowest internet; worst health-
care
the most citizens locked up and un-
housed
the most citizens killed by ‘their’ police…

Think of peoples having the most un-
tested, infected—the most dead from
a virus they treated with laws of the 
Market…

Think of these peoples thousands of miles
away believing their ‘freedoms’ flow from
our pipelines…

Think of stone-cold continuity of their
corporate-sponsored Kabuki Theater—
Mascots, flaming ‘feet to the fire’ Kente
Cloth dialogue…much ado about nada…

Think 800 bipartisan bases from faraway
places—lily pads frogs spring into
Action from— policing our pipelines, ports,
mines, streets, our peoples—our elections…

Think of Chinese bases encircling Chicago;
Afghan, Pakistani bases punctuating Philly;
Indian, Nicaraguan bases nestled near New York;
Iranian, Albanian bases peppering L.A.—SF Bay

Think of those peoples’ war criminals
wilding out; Scratching each others’
backs; doing ‘The Monkey—‘ “Not looking
back…” Think three branches of monkeys—
regime after bipartisan regime which
Sees no Evil; Hears no Evil; Speaks no Evil…
of Empire…Ever…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

* Q

Cool as Bebop on the North Pole—
philosopher waxing in Soul
So cool his cologne was the Blues—
doubling down on Ps and Qs

A different cat in a hat
with poetic scat-a-tat-tat—
So out he was in—then back out 
Sprinkling poetry about…

Once there were 4 
cool cats
Then 3
and now 2—
Apollo’s drafting heavily 
from that crew…

First he drafts Reg—and now he drafts Q—
what was once a foursome is now two—
Cat’s breaking up that ol’ gang of mine
for ancestral space with no redline… 

I celebrate Q with my lil’ rhyme—
Today’s all we have— “Now’s The Time!”
Blessings to the family and crew—
Love you, man, and bid you adieu…

       * Harlem Poet/activist/organizer Q..R. Hand, Jr.

© 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 https://www.youtube.com/user/zigilow

COMMENTS?

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

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

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
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!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
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
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
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.

More Stories


  • Nicaraguans vote - Photo credit Roger D. Harris
    Roger D. Harris
    Nicaragua Has a Public Relations Problem, Not a Democracy Problem
    17 Nov 2021
    Nicaragua's recent elections were conducted with transparency and freedom of choice for voters. The only problem is with the United States and its determination to undo the will of Nicarag
  • 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 Nov 2021
    COP26 ended the way climate summits always do, with promises for change from countries which have every intention of keeping the status quo.
  • Behind the Scenes at COP26: Developing Countries Fume Over U.S. Pressure to Alter Climate Finance Terms
    Rishika Pardikar
    Behind the Scenes at COP26: Developing Countries Fume Over U.S. Pressure to Alter Climate Finance Terms
    17 Nov 2021
    Rich capitalist nations use a variety of means to escape paying compensation to the Global South for climate change damage. The outcome at COP26 was no different in this regard.
  • Hurricane
    Steve D. Whitaker
    So Said, Not So Easily Done
    17 Nov 2021
    The island nations of the Caribbean are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
  • Let a Hundred Socialist Flowers Bloom: A Conversation with Issa Shivji
    Issa Shivji
    Let a Hundred Socialist Flowers Bloom: A Conversation with Issa Shivji
    17 Nov 2021
    In this extensive interview, socialist activist and writer Issa Shivji discusses the peasantry, capitalist development and socialism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us