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

Trigger Warning
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Nov 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Protest for Palestine at the White House (Photo: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Trigger Warning

Palestine’s the
Answer—
What was the
Question?

Why the red line in the tan sand—splitting the
World into irreconcilable camps? Oppressed-
oppressors; Exploited-exploiters; haves-Have nots?
Why the flashing cherry red moral lights—Demanding
Decisive Action—NOW?

Why siren urgency of squawking shofars? Of searing
saxophones? Why are anti-genocide guerrillas riding
in the moment? Improvising like Jazz Masters? Rallying
Scorched earth actions— cutting off Business As Usual
Choke-points?

Why the occupations of great train stations? The re-routing of rail-
roads? Why the blocking of bridges? Why are ports being held hostage—
From the Hudson to the Pacific? Why the sit-ins in offices of Lilliputians
posing as lionized leaders? Why are corrupt congress members’ and
sleazy senators’ steer manure messages being blown out of the water?
Why are Moby Dick-sized lies of bought and bossed windbags getting
Shot down…. one-by-one?

Why do Hellfire Missiles of murderous, mustard seed-hearted men
incinerate our holiness? Coat our hearts with white phosphorus?
Strangle our souls?
Killing us softly with their
Wars?

Palestine’s the
Answer—
What was the
Question?
 

Š 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.

Palestine
poetry

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


Related Stories

​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Trump “Peace Plan” A Cynical Cover to Continue Campaign of Palestinian Extermination
01 October 2025
The so-called "peace deal" does not offer peace; it demands surrender.
Hanna Eid
Recognizing the Palestinian 'State': A Colonial Hauntology
01 October 2025
While Gaza burns, a collaborationist class is being handed the keys to a prison and calling it a state.
Bikrum Gill
Orders of Sovereignty: Internal Power and External Dependency in the Recognition of the State of Palestine
01 October 2025
Recognition from powerful states is often a leash disguised as a handshake.
The Cradle News Desk
Italy Paralyzed as Anti-Genocide Protesters Take the Streets
24 September 2025
Walkouts in over 60 cities disrupted trains, ports, and schools to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
BettBeat
Capitalism Hijacked the World to Keep Contributing to Genocide—BRICS Proves It
17 September 2025
We are like addicts who scream "no" while stabbing the needle into our arms.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Whitewashed, Bleached, and Alabastardized: How White “supremacy’s” Subjective Identification of War Criminals Reveals its Deeper Psychopathology
20 August 2025
The manufactured outrage over Vladimir Putin's presence at the Alaska summit was an attempt to reinforce a global racial order.
x
Palestine Chronicle Staff
Responding to Mohamed Salah: Who Killed the ‘Palestinian Pelé’?
20 August 2025
Al-Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, in an Israeli attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaz
Mohammed El-Kurd
Guilty by Affiliation
13 August 2025
The Israeli murder of heroic Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif was bookended by accusations that he was part of Hamas.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
INTERVIEW: Fatima Bernawi: The Tragedy of a People, 1978
13 August 2025
“The reason for these military operations was, and still is, to tell the Israeli occupation that we defy it and are willing to resist
Jon Jeter
Black People Who See Themselves in Palestinians Find that Israel Sees the Same
13 August 2025
Israel's brutal treatment of Black solidarity activists proves the truth that resistance to settler colonialism comes with a price.

More Stories


  • Assata Shakur
    No One Can Stop The Rain
    01 Oct 2025
    Assata Shakur wrote the introduction and this poem for the 1990 book Hauling Up the Morning: writings & art by political prisoners and prisoners of war in the U.S.
  • Charo Mina Rojas
    Until Dignity Becomes Customary: the Determination of Francia MĂĄrquez Mina
    01 Oct 2025
    Francia MĂĄrquez is reopening diplomacy with Africa and forcing Colombia to confront the racism it has perpetuated against Africans for centuries.
  • x
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Elias Amare
    Eritrea in the Empire’s Crosshairs: Propaganda and Regime Change Operations
    01 Oct 2025
    Western NGOs and media recently launched coordinated attacks on Eritrea, a longstanding US target for regime change.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    In Honor and Memory of Assata Shakur
    01 Oct 2025
    They call her a fugitive; we claim her as a compass. Her words will continue to chart the path toward our liberation.
  • Kim Ives
    Trump Administration Seeks to Remove Constraints from and Secure UN Funding for a New Proxy Force in Haiti
    01 Oct 2025
    The empire has a new plan for Haiti, and it requires a ruthless force unbound by rules. This new force is not an answer to Haiti's pain; it is a weapon against its people.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us