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


  •  Abolish Police, from the US to Nigeria
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Abolish Police, from the US to Nigeria
    02 Feb 2021
    Crystal, a first-generation US citizen of Nigerian descent and activist with the Assata Collective, supports the abolition of police in both countries.
  •  US Militarists Invent Enemies – and Russiagate -- for Dollars
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    US Militarists Invent Enemies – and Russiagate -- for Dollars
    02 Feb 2021
    Russiagate is a fiction concocted by Democrats and intelligence agencies explain Hillary Clinton’s defeat and fuel a New Cold War, said Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst.
  •  Billionaire Wealth Breaks All Records in Crisis
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Billionaire Wealth Breaks All Records in Crisis
    02 Feb 2021
    The US billionaire class has grown at unprecedented speed during the pandemic and economic crises, increasing their wealth by over a trillion dollars and adding 46 new oligarchs to their numbers, a
  • Democratic Fascists Prepare to Drop the Hammer
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Democratic Fascists Prepare to Drop the Hammer
    28 Jan 2021
    Democrats are determined to snuff out freedom of speech and assembly to protect the corporate ruling order – while pretending it’s to safeguard Black people.
  • Black Citizenship Forum: Pan-Africanism and the Pitfalls of National Citizenship 
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Black Citizenship Forum: Pan-Africanism and the Pitfalls of National Citizenship 
    27 Jan 2021
    The Review interrogates the thought of academic and activist Layla Brown-Vincent, who says she was “reared and steeped in Pan-Africanist thought and organization” from birth.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us