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

When I Grow Up…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jan 2024
🖨️ Print Article
Ralph Poynter
Ralph Poynter speaking at a rally for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

When I Grow Up…

When I grow up I
wanna be bear hugs
and hundred watt smiles
for family, comrades and friends—
Easy to figure
out: Come correct—
Or, not at all

When I grow up I
wanna be like the
Keystone State son of
a steel worker,
in major—music theory—
Teaching poly-rhythmic
Resistance and asking:
“How do you keep the music playing,
How do you make it last???”

When I grow up I
wanna be like the
Quaker State son of
a steel worker,
in major—allowing
Resistance and the
Organizer in 
his DNA to 
Lead the way, saying
Names of Political 
Prisoners, Prisoners of War…

When I grow up I
wanna be like the 
Warrior jousting 
windmills in front of the
War House. Picketing
for the Love of his
Life—rain, sleet, snow—
Or sauna. Showing,
Not telling, the rulers,
“Let my Peoples’ Lawyer go!” 
Ain’t that lovin’ you, baby?

When I grow up I
wanna be like the cat
not above crashing 
in airports, to
Visit his Valentine
shackled to the 17th century—
Deep in the heart of
a Texas torture chamber

When I grow up I
wanna be a spirit
singing,“Lonely teardrops,
My pillow’s never dry…
Lonely teardrops, come
Ho-oh-oh-oh-Om…”

When I grow up I
wanna be like the knight
in whose eyes glint
Her name writ red in flames…

Poet’s note: Inspired by the life of Ralph Poynter …
 

© 2017. 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: GoFundMeand PayPal.

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


More Stories


  • The Russia-China Alliance: More than a Bulwark Against Imperialism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Russia-China Alliance: More than a Bulwark Against Imperialism
    29 Apr 2021
    China’s communist party-led government and enormous non-white population strikes fear in the heart of the hegemon in ways that Russia alone simply cannot.
  • EDITORIAL:ON THE MOVE: The MOVE Organization and the Teachings of John Africa, June 28 and July 1, 1975
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL:ON THE MOVE: The MOVE Organization and the Teachings of John Africa, June 28 and July 1, 1975
    29 Apr 2021
    The MOVE organization’s protests provoked some of the most intense forms of police brutality and repression witnessed in the country.  
  • Mumia Abu-Jamal: State Running Scared, Trying to Make Sure He Dies in Prison 
    An Interview with Johanna Fernandez
    Mumia Abu-Jamal: State Running Scared, Trying to Make Sure He Dies in Prison 
    29 Apr 2021
    Mumia’s case always raises larger questions about the barbarism of the criminal justice system.
  • Justice was served from Warfare States’ gaslit woks
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Justice was served from Warfare States’ gaslit woks
    29 Apr 2021
    Justice was served sweet and sour in pepper spray soup—tear- gas gumbo—tears mixed with milk and milk of magnesia in crimson curry sauce; Served from warfare states’ woks on
  • The Class Collaboration of “Justice” 
    Erica Caines
    The Class Collaboration of “Justice” 
    29 Apr 2021
    After the guilty verdict, the clarity that was collectively growing became squandered with the words “it’s not justice, it’s accountability.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us