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 Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Aug 2021
🖨️ Print Article
The Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…
The Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…

BAR's poet in residence composes a lyrical and musical tribute to Glen Ford.

…He’s leaving 

(Leaving)

On that Midnight Train To Georgia 

(Leaving on the Midnight Train)

 

Earned a one way ticket back to soil

he blossomed beautifully from—lightly

bound, tightly wound contradictions:

Fair fella, yellowish ‘good hair’ hue/Blue-

black-black to the 37th power woke-ness;

Black-black, double black/Fire engine red 

internationalist aura and practice;

Smallish cat/Big, burnished baritone sound;

Panther prowl/Wehrmacht story pains presaging

plain pen to ordinary yellow legal-size pad—

Launching laser-surgical speeches and pieces…

His work/Their work/Our work/ All aboard

(on the Midnight Train…)

 

…He’s leaving 

(Leaving)

On that Midnight Train To Georgia 

(Leaving on the Midnight Train)

 

Traveling twisting tracks, traveling

long winding roads—blessed Odyssey—

esteemed elder to revered

Ancestor…

And Ancestors, we all know, are always 

waiting in the wings. Always just that

“Who?” “What?” “Why?” “Where?” “When?” 

question away…soothing our inflamed hearts—

Our deep fried minds… 

 

What would he/she say? When would they tell

heroes in embryo—The People—unvarnished 

Truth?

His work/Their work/Our work/ All aboard

(on the Midnight Train…)

 

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Glen Ford

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


Related Stories

A Tribute to Glen Ford
The Editors
A Tribute to Glen Ford
02 August 2023
"What would Glen Ford say?" That question is one which we often ask ourselves two years after his passing. Glen was extremely prescient,
Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
27 July 2022
I was very proud to write the preface to Glen Ford's book, The Black
Introduction to Glen Ford's "The Black Agenda"
Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Introduction to Glen Ford's "The Black Agenda"
27 July 2022
The compilation of Glen Ford's work, "The Black Agenda" was publ
GLEN FORD: Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives, 2019
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
GLEN FORD: Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives, 2019
13 April 2022
Glen Ford reminded us that Black liberation cannot be found over a cheese plate and mimosas in a $6 million southern California mansion.
Legacy of a Black Revolutionary:  Black Agenda Report (BAR)
Mary Uyematsu Kao
Legacy of a Black Revolutionary: Black Agenda Report (BAR)
26 January 2022
Glen Ford's legacy is recognized all over the nation. Japanese- American newspaper Rafu Shimpo printed this tribute to his work. 
Glen Ford's Journalism Fought for Black Liberation and Against Imperialism
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Glen Ford's Journalism Fought for Black Liberation and Against Imperialism
04 August 2021
Ford was among the few journalists who took a stance for Black liberation and against imperialism.
Nia Ford
Power to the people!
04 August 2021
Glen Ford’s daughter explains his lifelong commitment to Black people.
Mark P. Fancher
Were Glen Ford and T. Thomas Fortune the Same Brother?
04 August 2021
Glen Ford followed in the footsteps of another legendary Black journalist.
Glen Ford and the Need for Black Radical Analysis
Pascal Robert
Glen Ford and the Need for Black Radical Analysis
04 August 2021
Black radical analysis was the foundation of Glen Ford's work.

More Stories


  • Internationalist 360
    Marco Rubio Travels to Guyana to Entrench U.S. Colonial Rule
    02 Apr 2025
    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent tour of Jamaica, Guyana, and Suriname was framed as advancing 'energy security' and regional stability. However, it served as a cover to escalate pressure…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 28, 2025
    28 Mar 2025
    In this week’s segment, we have an update on the Sudan civil war, which may be nearing a conclusion. But first, we discuss to what extent the Trump administration is an outlier in comparison to other…
  • Donald Trump
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Analyzing Trump: Aberration and Continuity
    28 Mar 2025
    Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University. She is the author of Black Scare Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United…
  • Sudan refugees leaving Khartum
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Is the Sudan Civil War Nearing an End?
    28 Mar 2025
    Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of Pan-African Newswire, joins us from Detroit with an update on the two-year-long conflict in Sudan as government forces make headway in retaking the capital of Khartoum. Is…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Bernie and AOC Sheepdog for the Democrats
    26 Mar 2025
    Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are trying to re-engage disaffected voters who are rightly disengaged from the Democratic Party. Big rallies can’t hide the fact that the Fighting…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us