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

He’s under suspicion…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
24 Feb 2021
🖨️ Print Article
He’s under suspicion…
He’s under suspicion…

The rioters all knew him—
it had to be an inside job—
‘cause to a man they spoke
to him by name as they
breached the building.
Read their lips…

And that staged chase? 
Please…
Why, if it had been real he
would have done what any
Officer fearing for his life would
have done—Any officer who feared
for his life the year before would
have done—Any officer who might
fear for his life in the next four
years would have done… Trust me.

And they pulled their punches—
sure he suffered a shiner,
busted lip; chipped tooth—
but he took those for the team…

Are you going to tell me that he
didn’t even have his name tag on
and every marauder greeted him:
“Officer N.Word—“ “N.” for short?”

© 2021. 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

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

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!”
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
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx

More Stories


  • The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    R. Divya Nair
    The Gift of India and the Violence of the West 
    04 Mar 2020
    Five centuries ago, Europeans set about subjugating the non-“white” peoples of the world, and they are still at it.
  • The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    Margaret Eby 
    The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism 
    04 Mar 2020
    The confusion goes all the way back to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Most American supermarkets are selling you sweet potatoes, not yams.”
  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of March 2, 2020
    02 Mar 2020
    If the Left Doesn’t Critique Endless War, Who Will?
  • Black Scholar Praises Heroes and Indicts “Scoundrels” of McCarthy Era
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Scholar Praises Heroes and Indicts “Scoundrels” of McCarthy Era
    02 Mar 2020
    The peace activists that were persecuted in the McCarthy era were not fighting just for the absence of war, but were “anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and demanded an end to United
  • Last Surviving Member of the Move 9 is Released
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Last Surviving Member of the Move 9 is Released
    02 Mar 2020
    Delbert Africa, imprisoned along with eight other members of the Move organization in 1978 in the death of a Philadelphia policeman, is finally free to “tell his story,” said Mumia Abu
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us