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

Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute? Or, rotten Orchard called Capitalist State Machine?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Feb 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute? Or, rotten Orchard called Capitalist State Machine?
Protest in Atlanta (Photo: AP)

                                                                                                     Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute? Or, rotten 

                                                                                                     Orchard called Capitalist State Machine? 

                                                                                                             “Hurt people hurt people…” 

                                                                                                                  —Activist Anonymous  

 

Breathing tube snaking from busted, blue-black

botoxed lips…Snaking from swollen, battered,

bloodied, face— snaking from a STOP— ending

errands and dreams.

Presto—Another Mother’s atmospheric river of tears…

Black magic, melanin, body cameras, training—On

Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute! Unconscious streams

of raw sewage—spurting from blu donut holes under

Color of law. Plantation medicine men overdosing

boot, fist, shock, club, chemical cures for traffic

STOP ‘suspect;’ for their police piñata’s new identity

Black magic, melanin, body cameras, training—On

Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute! “Thank you for your”

confederate service. “Thank you for your” apartheid

state-stained, Vitamin S-fueled skillsets—for your

toxic Memphis masculinity. “Thank you for your

service” at a Kabul, Bagram, Baghdad—Port-au-Prince

STOP.

Black magic, melanin, body cameras, training—On

Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute! Bullwhip behavior. Mirroring

Twin-Cities, Big Apple, City of Angels, Windy City, City of

Brotherly Love beatdown zones. Cop City battlefields

where

chokeholds, knee-o-teens and improvised firing squads

lurk— waging War on Terror—

Sweeping tents, tarps, cardboard mattresses into hungry jaws

of garbage trucks—grinding Human Rights into

gunpowder…

Black magic, melanin, body cameras, training—On

Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute! ‘Skin folks’ playing basket ball,

pledging Greek, praying to the same god—And wrapping fantasies

in riddles—calling it Community Control of wild Boers…

© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.

Abolish Police
Police Killings

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


Related Stories

Janine Jackson 
How Many Ways Can You Avoid Reporting That Cops Killed a Baby?
24 June 2026
A one-year-old baby was shot dead by police, but corporate media shield the police and their barbaric actions with a passive voice.
Community Movement Builders - Newark
CMB Newark Statement on the Killing of Wali Bey by Newark Police
04 March 2026
The media cycle has moved on, but the family of Wali ‘Grillz’ Bey is still waiting for answers after his murder by Newark Police.
Jon Jeter
As the State’s Complexion Darkens, Minnesota’s Liberalism Wanes
18 June 2025
Minnesota’s progressive myth shatters as its racial gaps in income, education, and housing eclipse even Deep South states, and right wing white
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
How to Protest for Sonya Massey
31 July 2024
Sonya Massey’s brutal murder at the hands of the police has resulted in anguish and anger but no differ
Pan-African Community Action PACA 2568)
Pan-African Community Action Condemns the U.S. Settler State for the Murder of Sonya Massey
31 July 2024
The murder of Sonya Massey by the Illinois police is a symptom of a larger, deeply rooted, systemic assault on Black and Brown working-class co
Memphis Police Chief Trained with Israel Security Forces
Alice Speri 
Memphis Police Chief Trained with Israel Security Forces
08 February 2023
The chief of the Memphis, Tennessee police department took part in trainings in Israel.
Cop City Kills Before It Opens
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Cop City Kills Before It Opens
25 January 2023
What could possibly go wrong with a $90 million, 85-acre police training ground that the community doesn't want?
Unbelievable
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Unbelievable
07 December 2022
Unbelievable
The Lethal Threat of White Boss Syndrome
Mark P. Fancher
The Lethal Threat of White Boss Syndrome
19 October 2022
The idea that white people have an inherent right to control Black people permeates to this day.
Detroit City Council Expands “ShotSpotter” After Two More are Gunned Down by Police
Abayomi Azikiwe
Detroit City Council Expands “ShotSpotter” After Two More are Gunned Down by Police
19 October 2022
Detroit resident Porter Burks was killed by police while in the midst of a mental health crisis.

More Stories


  • Cuba and Black Liberation
    Black Agenda Radio , Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Cuba and Black Liberation
    16 Dec 2022
    Lee Robinson is President of the African Awareness Association. He joins us to discuss that organization’s work, Cuba's role in liberation movement, and a tour to Cuba which will take place in…
  • The Supreme Court Will Rule on Moore v. Harper
    Black Agenda Radio , Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Supreme Court Will Rule on Moore v. Harper
    16 Dec 2022
    The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper, a case brought by North Carolina legislators who argue for the discredited “independent state legislature” theory. Eliza Sweren-Becker…
  • Brittney Griner and the U.S. State
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Brittney Griner and the U.S. State
    14 Dec 2022
    Brittney Griner's ordeal in Russia is over. But she has been secreted away for "reintegration" and the U.S. continues its own brand of international hostage taking.
  • ESSAY: Negroes Speak of War, Langston Hughes, 1933
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Negroes Speak of War, Langston Hughes, 1933
    14 Dec 2022
    What benefits do Black folk get by endorsing or participating in the white man’s war? Revisiting an anti-war statement by Langston Hughes.
  • On International Human Rights Day: Money for Ukraine and War But Austerity for the People
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    On International Human Rights Day: Money for Ukraine and War But Austerity for the People
    14 Dec 2022
    The U.S. does not respect the right to health care, housing, employment, or education while making war on the rest of the world. What does the idea of human rights amount to in this country?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us