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

Sitting Shiva in South Florida for Our souls/slivers of democracy …
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
27 Mar 2024
🖨️ Print Article
memorial candles

Mirrorless. Unshaven. Compressed spine from
Sitting shiva in South Florida for blind eyes.
For three monkey mouths and ears in throes of
Spiritual death

Sitting shiva in South Florida for
Shrieks of joy stolen by a desert aircraft carrier of F-16 reign.
Assassin of children. Bulldozer of dreams cadaver dogs tear
from bloody limbs of loved ones lost to a skunk water oasis.

Sitting shiva in South Florida for
Settler-colonial condos metastasizing on bleached
Bones of babies—on schoolchildren’s aerosolized
Blood; On tears pooling in pulverized concrete …

Sitting shiva in South Florida for
Lost souls and slivers of aspirational
Democracy: 1st, 4th and other Amendments—
Wrested from tyrants historical seconds ago …

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Last Days of Pompeo. Watching White Supreme Courtesans
Play black-robed rip off rituals. Watching southern senators be-
come maid men, circumcising themselves on the senate floor …

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Watching cruel grand dragon governors block rivers with
Orange buoys, saw blades, barbed wire, like they blocked
School house doors 60 years ago

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Sorting inquisitions from pogroms; Sand Creeks from
Wounded Knees—Tulsas from Rosewoods …. Sorting crunching
Glass sounds beneath Kristallnacht boots from January 6 boots …

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Watching Sunshine State book-banning/Texas Tali-banning of
Abortion. Watching cotton curtain violence of Magnolia State
Weaponization of water

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Watching elders struggle with high fructose corn syrup
$campaign/$election slogans— ‘Build Back Better’ bupkis–
Wehrmacht musings. War House flapping of flat tires on a clown car

Sitting shiva in South Florida
Could someone really be ranting about not feeling ‘safe’
Wearing Dallas Cowboy-sized Star of David sweatshirt
Around the Sunshine State?

© 2024. 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
Texas
abortion
Elections
Racism

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


Related Stories

Brad Reed
‘Oligarchy Is on the Ballot’: Reports Uncover Unprecedented Sums Ultrarich Spent to Buy 2026 Midterms
04 November 2026
“In a democracy, it’s supposed to be one person, one vote, and the more one person can influence, the less egalitarian our system becomes,” sai
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Exorcising AI: The Ghost in the Machine is white “supremacy,” and it Aims to Haunt the World with Human Redundancy, Neocolonialism, and Militarism
28 October 2026
Reflections on Valerie Veatch's documentary, Ghost in the Machine.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Find me another 11,780 votes?
16 September 2026
Find me another 11,780 votes?Resurrection of old questions:How many jelly beans in a jar, How many bubbles in a bar of soap?
J.C. Hallman , Keaton Ross
Who's Calling?
09 September 2026
Oklahoma prison inmates were making political calls for a conservative Super PAC during the primary.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
U.S. Support of Israel is Absolutely an Issue of Affordability and Economic Populism…So Why Won’t the Democrats Discuss it as Such?
29 July 2026
The Democratic Party's continued support for Israel's genocide is not just a moral and political liability but also an economic one w
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Lindsey Graham Was the Face of the Duopoly
15 July 2026
The late Senator Lindsey Graham played the role of chief congressional warmonger very well.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Race Trading Race Traitors, Identity Reductionism, and the New Nadir of the Democrat Party Establishment
15 July 2026
The social democrat wing gains in strength but establishment Democrats continue their allegiance to the donor class.
Kit Klarenberg
Exclusive: Fergie Chambers Facing US Extradition Over Dubious ‘terrorism financing’ Charges
15 July 2026
The Grayzone has reviewed a sealed indictment for pro-Palestine donor Fergie Chambers, who was arrested in Spain on dubious money laundering ch
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Could Wemby Become the Conscience of the NBA?
24 June 2026
NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama grapples with the times we’re living in, even as his career takes off.
Matt Sledge
Prairieland Defendant Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Moving a Box of Antifascist Zines
23 June 2026
Anti-ICE activists received lengthy prison terms — including a 100-year sentence — in the first major trial of the NSPM-7 era.

More Stories


  • BAR Book Forum: Traci West’s“Solidarity and Defiant Spirituality and GerShun Avilez’s “Radical Aesthetics and Modern Black Nationalism”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Traci West’s“Solidarity and Defiant Spirituality and GerShun Avilez’s “Radical Aesthetics and Modern Black Nationalism”
    02 Jan 2019
    Our authors reject the contention that Black nationalism was mostly concerned with upholding traditional patriarchy and heterosexuality -- evils that are in fact buttressed by many contemporary “Ch
  • Those who Boycott Facebook, Should Also Boycott The Democratic Party
    Solomon Comissiong
    Those who Boycott Facebook, Should Also Boycott The Democratic Party
    02 Jan 2019
    In the spirit of Harriet Tubman, we need to free Black America from the grip of the imperial Democratic Party plantation.
  • chief
    Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
    chief
    02 Jan 2019
    one of those sweltering summer nights, City of Angels, run by devils… Cruising Imperial Highway heading westbound to the water when a newsflash interrupted
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of December 31, 2018
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of December 31, 2018
    31 Dec 2018
    Margaret Kimberley on Russiagate, the scam that will not die; Sara Flounders: Facts be damnned, US war party won't accept defeat in Syria; NYPD "gang raids" a flimsy cover for mass arrests.
  • Gang Activity is False Cover for Mass NYC Arrests
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Gang Activity is False Cover for Mass NYC Arrests
    31 Dec 2018
    Mass arrests targeting hundreds of young Black and brown New Yorkers are based on false premises and hyped-up evidence, said Robert Gangi, of the Police Reform Organizing Project (
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us