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

Club None Long To Belong To…*
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Nov 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Club None Long To Belong To…*

                                                                                         Club None Long To Belong To…*

 

No proof of residency, utility bills, bank

or vaccination records or two pieces of ID

Needed.

No bios, resumes, CVs, credit scores, or

References required.

No decoder rings/secret handshakes used.

No gifts given to joiners. No monthly news

letters.

No Mickey Mouse Club; Book Club; Buyers

Club or Nightclub.

Lifetime Membership Club: struggling to stay

exclusive—Fighting to keep others out…

Members instantly earn seasoned ears; helping

hands; broad shoulders; steadfast instruction in

Hugging.

Members learn when to call. What to say. When

to say it. When to feed/text/tweet—And when to

Shut the fuck up…

Monthly membership dues include sleepless

nights; ulcers; cancer; stroke; heart attack;

depression; divorce; anger and isolation.

Smells, songs, snacks, words re-stimulate

salinity, helping trace bitter tracks of members’

Tears…as they cry themselves to sleep nightly…

Members remember ‘The Call’ admitting them

to The Club as though nano seconds ago…

remember robotic motions/silent shrieks…

Birthdays/death dates still stir tsunamis of tears…

Death certificates double as membership cards bearing

“Justifiable Homicide” hashtags sanctioned by the

state

Members remember sweetness, savoriness of eats. Re

member fuzziness—foggy flashbacks—chuckles and

belly laughs…

Members remember surreality/shock and awe;

remember distrusting ears—

demanding— “Stop joking!!!” “Stop playing around!!!!”

Members remember automated voices—cold calls of

Strange Fruit messengers—remember ‘grapevine’ voices

and

poison penned/murder mouthed Fox-box foot soldiers digging

dirt—covering up crimes of testi-lying triggermen…

Members Remember…

pithy politicians’ semiautomatic… “…thoughts and prayers…”

Members remember fiery pulpits falling silent. Remember

teddy bears, liquor bottles, candles, hand-lettered signs, T

shirt likenesses and “say their names” strangers

going poof. Members remember Mr. Pain, Ms. Emptiness, Mr. McGrief

and No Getting Over It Crew…hanging out as house guests: Overseeing

State machine accountants and lawyers determining how much, if any,

Black Lives Matter…

*Inspired by groups of grieving parents witnessing for the world…



 

Police
Police Killings
Police brutality

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


More Stories


  • Protest and Power
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Protest and Power
    02 Jul 2020
    Building People’s Power is the vital arena of struggle under late stage capitalism, when the “system” is not only objectively failing, but the people know it is coming apart at t
  • Freedom Rider: Russia, Afghanistan, and the Big Lie
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Russia, Afghanistan, and the Big Lie
    01 Jul 2020
    Far from being an enemy, Russia assisted the U.S. and its coalition in their fight against the Taliban.
  • Neocolonial African Conservation Inspired by “Tarzan”
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Neocolonial African Conservation Inspired by “Tarzan”
    01 Jul 2020
    Ann Garrison responds to a critic of neocolonial nature “conservation” in Africa, and discusses US-backed threats to national sovereignty and all forms of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Syria, Corporate Media Lies, and the True Face of Imperialism: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Syria, Corporate Media Lies, and the True Face of Imperialism: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    01 Jul 2020
    If independent media want to be a real counterweight to establishment media, they must challenge the status quo in its entirety.
  • How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnist
    How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    01 Jul 2020
    Much of the nation may be repudiating white supremacy, but not Montgomery County, Maryland, which is paving over sacred  Black ground in an attempt to bury its own racist history.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us