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

Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders: Sheepdogging for Hillary and the Democrats in 2016
11 November 2026
Vermont senator and ostensible socialist Bernie Sanders is playing the sheepdog candidate for Hillary Clinton this year.
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.

More Stories


  • Kenya Politics and the Presidential Election
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Kenya Politics and the Presidential Election
    19 Aug 2022
    Irene Asuwa joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. She is co-convener of Ecological Justice and supports outreach at Ukombozi Library. We discuss the recent presidential election in that country.
  • Nicaragua: Anniversary of a Revolution
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Nicaragua: Anniversary of a Revolution
    19 Aug 2022
    In a recent webinar hosted by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Margaret Kimberley discussed what she witnessed during the commemoration events for the 43rd anniversary of the Sandinista…
  • Trump Derangement Syndrome Returns
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Trump Derangement Syndrome Returns
    17 Aug 2022
    Why would Black people laud the FBI or criticize protection against self-incrimination? The FBI search of Donald Trump's home has reawakened Trump Derangement Syndrome.
  • ESSAY AND PETITION: Massacre at Attica, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, 1971
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY AND PETITION: Massacre at Attica, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, 1971
    17 Aug 2022
    ​​​​​​​To commemorate Black August and in memory of the forty-two men massacred during the September 13, 1971 Attica Prison uprising we reproduce below an essay and petition from The Black Panther…
  • …and who paid for the raid?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    …and who paid for the raid?
    17 Aug 2022
                                                         
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us