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

Camera and Pen
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 May 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Camera and Pen
A mural dedicated to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the streets of Gaza. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

                                                                                              Camera and Pen  

                                                                      (for Shireen Abu Aqleh and all truth-tellers)

                                                                “I pray you’ll be our eyes/And watch us where we go/

                                                                   And help us to be wise/In times we don’t know…”  

                                                                            —David Foster; Carole Bayer Sager

I.

New world’s birthing, crowning; Laboring

frantically— Truth-tellers, whistleblowers,

journalists— its fearless

Midwifes.

Warning us: The world can’t wait… Cannot sustain

Unsustainable warfare states

Warning us: Stretch stiff, atrophying dream muscles—

Seek antidotes for lethal circuses of strongmen, fat-cats,

Warlords, war-profiteers, bloodthirsty jackals, slimy

fossil Fools…

Our precious truth-tellers, whistleblowers, journalists hurl

themselves in crosshairs of snipers’ scopes. Close

distances between brains and hearts and assassins’

silencers.

Offer up loins, livers, guts to embassy butchers. Sip tea

with a little poison so that we may know… “What’s Goin’

On?”

So that we may know…precious truth-tellers, whistleblowers,

journalists…Never know when two men on motorcycle arrive,

Making good on thousands of threats. Never know when the

elevator door opens for the last time…

Camera and pen original sin—punishable by death— 55

slaughtered south of the border…And 46 slaughtered by

apartheid state agents…And 20 by czarist

carnage…And…

Silence: the sound of gangster states. Darkness: their view.

We ‘know' what they tell us of Desert Shield. Desert

Storm; Special Military Operation; mowing the grass; Cast

Lead;Iraqi Freedom—And other Orwellian operations

Mengele medicine men secretly perform on peace-loving

peoples…

II.

Jesus may have had his eye on the sparrow; but the 20yr old’s

Eye is on the glass.

He sees the world through his scope. She’s math.Wind. A dot.

The raid her trap. He watches; waiting in sand with rifle nick

named “Gritty Golda.”

Loner. Few friends. Below average kid. 8 weeks of sniper school.

Robot programmed to hate; to kill. Several weeks more of precision

shooting. 100 meters. 200 meters. A mile or more… Attention to

detail.

Enemy—not sister; niece; aunt; daughter; Mother—appears in his cross

hairs. Feminine neckline between helmet and vest. Two second flight—

crimson aerosol— “Without warning, without remorse…” as he was

Taught. Doing his job. Following orders.…His 54th confirmed kill.

“Thank you for your service…”

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Palestine
Shireen Abu Akleh

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


Related Stories

x
Craig Mokhiber
No, Israel does not have ‘a right to exist.’ Quite the contrary, actually.
04 August 2026
"Unlike the Zionist claim that 'Israel has a right to exist,' my assertion is rooted in international law.
Nicaragua
Becca Renk Foster
Nicaragua to Raise Its Voice for Palestine in Another Landmark Case at the ICJ
04 August 2026
Against the backdrop of Israel’s renewed attacks on Palestine, the World Court is set to hold public hearings in Septembe
Ramzy Baroud
The Spark in Tell: How a Village Resistance Disrupted Israel’s West Bank Strategy
29 July 2026
Palestinians have the right to defend themselves under international law and they exercised it in the town of Tell on the West Bank. 
Noah Hurowitz
Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say
22 July 2026
The human rights groups’ suit came as the Trump administration vowed to destroy the International Criminal Court entirely.
Jeremy Scahill , Jawa Ahmad
Exclusive: Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
24 June 2026
Gaza proposals obtained by Drop Site show Trump’s board attempting to force a Palestinian surrender that Israel could not achieve in war.
Ramzy Baroud
Why Didn’t Iran Put Gaza on the Table? A Difficult Answer
03 June 2026
From Gaza to Tehran, from the politics of resistance to the limits of regional diplomacy, a pressing question has resurfaced amid the 2026 war:
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: The Palestine Question: Background and Solution, Edward Atiyah, 1946
20 May 2026
“It is impossible to make a national home for one people in a country inhabited by another, except by dislodging the latter.”
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Regarding Nuclear War Between Israel and Iran
15 April 2026
The political fallout from Trump’s recklessness in West Asia continues around the globe, while some wonder how far the radioactive fa
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
What is the 'Left' in the Era of Global Fascism
18 March 2026
There is no coherent and sustained leftist movement at the very moment that U.S. led global fascism is accelerating.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
The Light of Palestine Will Lead the Way to Global Liberation
18 March 2026
Black Agenda Report Editor and Columnist, Ajamu Baraka, recently gave a presentation at the 4th International Conference “Palestine: The Nation

More Stories


  •  BAR Book Forum: Jean-Thomas Tremblay’s Book, “Breathing Aesthetics”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jean-Thomas Tremblay’s Book, “Breathing Aesthetics”
    07 Dec 2022
    This week’s featured author is Jean-Thomas Tremblay. Tremblay is Assistant Professor of Environmental Humanities in the Department of Humanities at York University. Their book is Breathing Aesthetics.
  • Speech at the World Peace Council's Hanoi Peace Conference
    Bahman Azad
    Speech at the World Peace Council's Hanoi Peace Conference
    07 Dec 2022
    The multipolar world is a reality, but the U.S. is determined to assert itself as a unipolar hegemon and endanger the whole world in the process.
  • US Tax Dollars at Work: Neocolonial Dictatorship, Paramilitary and Police Terror in Haiti Today
    Seth Donnelly
    US Tax Dollars at Work: Neocolonial Dictatorship, Paramilitary and Police Terror in Haiti Today
    07 Dec 2022
    The call for "law and order" and strengthening police in Haiti is as dangerous as talk of any occupation. The police force is connected with Haitian oligarchs and their political puppets and is…
  • Open Veins of Africa Bleeding Heavily
    Ndongo Samba Sylla , Jomo Kwame Sundaram
    Open Veins of Africa Bleeding Heavily
    07 Dec 2022
    African nations are rich in resources yet remain impoverished due to onerous IMF and World Bank loan policies and capital flight.
  • Unjust Measures Imposed on Labor and African Americans After Midterm Elections
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Unjust Measures Imposed on Labor and African Americans After Midterm Elections
    07 Dec 2022
    The Biden administration and congress forced railroad workers to accept a contract without paid sick leave and Jackson, Mississippi residents face an administration consent decree on water…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us