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


  • All US Presidents, Living and Dead, are War Criminals
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    All US Presidents, Living and Dead, are War Criminals
    06 Dec 2018
    Especially at state funerals, media and politicians pretend that US presidents are honorable men, instead of the mass murderers that all of them become in office.
  • Stable working class neighborhoods are the bane of speculators, developers and capitalist politicians.
    Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
    Cranes and Tents
    05 Dec 2018
    Lording over the landscape like giant Insects sucking soul, blood, chocolate into multi-colored mushrooms Metastasizing citywide. Officers ordering vacant storefronts,
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70: Time to De-Colonize Human Rights!
    Ajamu Baraka , BAR editor and columnist
    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70: Time to De-Colonize Human Rights!
    05 Dec 2018
    The post-WW II promise of human rights was a compact meant for white people only, but a People-Centered Human Rights framework seeks global liberation and transformation.
  • #LandWithoutLandlords in Black Oakland: An Interview with Noni Sessions
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor , #LandWithoutLandlords in Black Oakland: An Interview with Noni Session
    #LandWithoutLandlords in Black Oakland: An Interview with Noni Sessions
    05 Dec 2018
    A dynamic new community project has been launched to halt the push-out of Black and brown people from Oakland by taking land and housing out of the speculative market.
  • Freedom Rider: Mueller, Manafort and Assange
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Mueller, Manafort and Assange
    05 Dec 2018
    The Mueller investigation much more resembles a propaganda campaign whose goal is neither truth nor justice, but vilification of Russia in the pursuit of endless war.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us