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


  • Hold Prosecutors Accountable, Too
    Kate Levine and Joanna Schwartz
    Hold Prosecutors Accountable, Too
    24 Jun 2020
    Police violence is tied to other agents in criminal law enforcement, including and especially prosecutors.
  • A Moment or a Movement? The Blowback Will Tell
    Wilmer J. Leon III
    A Moment or a Movement? The Blowback Will Tell
    24 Jun 2020
    You cannot separate the racist police aggression in the streets of the US and the racist US aggression against Venezuela, Bolivia, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Libya and Syria.
  • Ungentrifying International News Reporting from Brazil to Ecuador and Beyond
    Julian Cola
    Ungentrifying International News Reporting from Brazil to Ecuador and Beyond
    24 Jun 2020
    So-called “racial democracy” has systematically excluded and kept black people at the dirt end of the socioeconomic totem pole in Brazil, as reflected in its media.
  • Food, Land and Power: Revisiting Black Cooperative Movements
    Julian Agyeman and Kofi Boone
    Food, Land and Power: Revisiting Black Cooperative Movements
    24 Jun 2020
    Land loss has plagued black America since emancipation – is it time to look again at ‘black commons’ and collective ownership?
  • Seize the Time or Face Fascism
    Riva Enteen
    Seize the Time or Face Fascism
    24 Jun 2020
    Either we seize the time and bring power to the people, or we must be prepared to face overt fascism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us