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

Oz-low Piece Process v. Sugar Hill Play-date …
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Aug 2024
🖨️ Print Article
Young child digging through rubble

35 lb question mark,
3 ft exclamation point,
doesn’t cringe at loud sounds or
pee his bed behind nightmares.
Camryn, my three year-old Sugar
Hill neighbor’s an “Old soul.”
I’m honored that he refers to 
me as, “My friend, Raymond.”

Camryn's mommy’s a surgeon, studying
for her boards. His granny’s a history
professor, writing another book. So, I’m
Awarded a Camryn playdate …

Camryn has every truck ever made—
and knows precisely each truck’s function.
He teaches Truck-101to anyone in earshot.

He warns work will not begin before his
bright, yellow hardhat’s jammed over jet
black curls. He buckles his tool belt low and
tight. He’s studied styles and moves of the
Working-class; has them down pat.

Camryn creates tasks for each truck, then
Schools me on how the crane on one truck works.
He doesn’t trust me with the trucks.

Blessed, he believes mommy and granny will
Protect him from scary things; feed and
Hydrate him after he plays hard; read
and sing sleepy-time lullabies, enforcing
Peaceful naps as the Sandman invades …

So, I spare Camryn Fractured Fairytales of
Ambulances twisted into burning, bloody metal
hulks; pieces of cloth, shoes, drivers and assistants.

I spare him Fractured Fairytales from Oz—
Natives driving zig-zag routes ‘round a
Frankenstein scar dissecting their homeland;
Land where his trucks would have different
Color license plates and stop at checkpoints
manned by teenaged thugs eager to cast lead!

Traveling Oz by truck, Camryn might see Caterpillars
crunching toys, houses, olive trees, crushing dreams;
He might see fools flying featherless birds shitting
shrapnel and white fire.

He might hear overloaded donkey carts squealing,
Moaning like Mothers of itty-bitty, bloody bodies
piled on them—bodies later stuffed in ice cream freezers,
to slow their rotting; bodies so shredded, even Camryn's
surgeon mommy—couldn’t put their tiny arms, legs and
Heads back together again …

I spare my friend Fractured Fairytales: crushing trucks
like his.

© 2018. 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
Gaza
Genocide
Children

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


Related Stories

x
Craig Mokhiber
No, Israel does not have ‘a right to exist.’ Quite the contrary, actually.
04 August 2026
"Unlike the Zionist claim that 'Israel has a right to exist,' my assertion is rooted in international law.
Nicaragua
Becca Renk Foster
Nicaragua to Raise Its Voice for Palestine in Another Landmark Case at the ICJ
04 August 2026
Against the backdrop of Israel’s renewed attacks on Palestine, the World Court is set to hold public hearings in Septembe
Ramzy Baroud
The Spark in Tell: How a Village Resistance Disrupted Israel’s West Bank Strategy
29 July 2026
Palestinians have the right to defend themselves under international law and they exercised it in the town of Tell on the West Bank. 
Noah Hurowitz
Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say
22 July 2026
The human rights groups’ suit came as the Trump administration vowed to destroy the International Criminal Court entirely.
Black Alliance For Peace
The Anti Fascist Football Coalition Joins the Call for the Remaining Teams in the World Cup to Withdraw and Urges People of Conscience to Fight Back Against U.S. Fascism
15 July 2026
FIFA allowed a nation that commits genocide and runs detention gulags to host the World Cup, and the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition says stayi
Sondos Asem
Senior UAE and regional officials referred to ICC over role in Sudan atrocities
15 July 2026
Coalition of NGOs accuses foreign officials, primarily from the UAE, of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide i
Jeremy Scahill , Jawa Ahmad
Exclusive: Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
24 June 2026
Gaza proposals obtained by Drop Site show Trump’s board attempting to force a Palestinian surrender that Israel could not achieve in war.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
“Don’t Worry Be Happy”: The World Cup as an International Psy-Op
17 June 2026
FIFA uses the World Cup to present the United States as a legitimate nation, but the U.S.
Black Alliance For Peace
Black Alliance for Peace Calls On International Community to Boycott the 2026 World Cup Games Scheduled for the United States
03 June 2026
The World Cup is meant to be a celebration of global unity, not a propaganda shield for a superpower waging genocide abroad and running detenti
Ramzy Baroud
Why Didn’t Iran Put Gaza on the Table? A Difficult Answer
03 June 2026
From Gaza to Tehran, from the politics of resistance to the limits of regional diplomacy, a pressing question has resurfaced amid the 2026 war:

More Stories


  • Is The “Conscience of the Congress” Unconscious?
    Dr.Wilmer J. Leon, III
    Is The “Conscience of the Congress” Unconscious?
    30 Nov 2022
    The Congressional Black Caucus has strayed far from the politics of its original members. Once called the "conscience of the congress," the group is made up of Democratic Party loyalists living off…
  • The Two Types of Death Penalties
    Kalonji Changa
    The Two Types of Death Penalties
    30 Nov 2022
    The governor of Missouri refused to grant clemency to Kevin Johnson and the state Supreme Court denied motions to halt his execution. The US Supreme Court refused to hear his case. Kevin Johnson was…
  • DC Government’s Racial Equity Plan is Elite Capture by The State
    Pan-African Community Action PACA
    DC Government’s Racial Equity Plan is Elite Capture by The State
    30 Nov 2022
    Racial inequity is the result of racist and capitalist policies and can't be defeated by the self-interested Black political class. 
  • Dominican Republic: Exploitation and Forced Labor in the Central Romana Corporation Has a History
    Micely Diaz
    Dominican Republic: Exploitation and Forced Labor in the Central Romana Corporation Has a History
    30 Nov 2022
    There is a long and terrible history of exploitation and abuse of Haitians and Haitian descended people in the Dominican Republic's sugar industry.
  • Venezuelan Government and Opposition Sign ‘Social Agreement’, US Approves Chevron License
    Andreína Chávez Alava
    Venezuelan Government and Opposition Sign ‘Social Agreement’, US Approves Chevron License
    30 Nov 2022
    The US desire to secure Venezuela's oil has resulted in the easing of the diplomatic and commercial "maximum pressure" campaign. The Venezuelan government was resolute in its fight for sovereignty.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us