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

City Of Angels
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Jun 2025
🖨️ Print Article
immigration protest

“There is no power greater than 
a community discovering what it 
cares about.”
  â€“ Margaret Wheatley

City Of Angels where
Camouflaged kidnappers; Fascist wrecking-crews rip
Seamstress, roofer, warehouse worker, dishwasher families
Apart. Apart for private prison-profiteers. Apart for a flash-
Bang-buffoon-king of chaos and cruelty. Whose strongman
Handler has him by the short-hairs— Dancing for dollars

City Of Angels where 
Folks know that masters of misdirection mix fantasy with
Fascism. Sprinkle spectacle in with torture.  And laugh
In teargas and rubber bullets—All the way to the bank—
Stealing SNAP; Medicaid; Social Security; and veterans’
Benefits 

City Of Angels ruled by devils
Reflecting fire and ICE.
City Of Angels where everyday 
Angelenos strap on resistance
Wings— And fly in solidarity
Formations through fog

City Of Angels where
Everyday Angelenos strap on mutual aid
Wings— And fly warp speed
Through blitzkrieg. Through hurricanes 
Of big lies. 
Through whirlwinds of racist rubbish

City Of Angels where
“To protect and serve” translates into sonic boom slogans
Bouncing off buildings! Ricocheting as linked arms.
Morphing shoulder-to-shoulder. Out from unlikely alliances.
Into united fronts ten toes down! Into militant movements
Organizing and building. Mastering pressure, mastering choke-points

City Of Angels where 
Everyday Angelenos know it’s no video game
On colorful screens. Know it’s soldiers on their streets
And Marines. Know “less lethal” is Pig Latin for Palestine—
On the down-low—Cookin’ slow … Know Gaza is Raza—
Writ large …

City Of Angels where 
The streets are universities of class struggle
Attended by allies, accomplices, comrades.
The streets are universities of class struggle paved with smoking tear-
Gas canisters; bloody, rubber-coated, steel bullets. And goose-steppers
Coming for Mexicans in the morning— And back for Blacks by noon 

City Of Angels where
Everyday Angelenos hate The Orange Age—
Its latest outrage of tilted table. Loaded dice.
Marked cards. Everyday Angelenos hate the
Capitalist decay—that must be swept Away
With 8.5-hour days of resistance!

© 2025. 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.

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


More Stories


  • Traffic Stops: Pretexts for Racial Repression
    Tanvi Misra
    Traffic Stops: Pretexts for Racial Repression
    12 Jun 2018
    “Police have used the entire vehicle code as an excuse to use their discretion to pull people over who might appear suspicious to them for whatever reason.”
  • The Case for Delegitimizing the Police
    William C. Anderson
    The Case for Delegitimizing the Police
    12 Jun 2018
    “Once you come to understand the institution’s ties to white supremacy, it becomes clear the system is toxic and cannot be fixed.”
  • The Roots of Bigotry: Criminalizing States of Innate Being
    Dr. Kweli Nzito
    The Roots of Bigotry: Criminalizing States of Innate Being
    12 Jun 2018
    “Racist narratives become so thoroughly pervasive as to throw victims of racism themselves into states of confusion.”
  • A Premonition of Gentrification in Harlem
    Kyle Fraser , Black Agenda Radio producer
    A Premonition of Gentrification in Harlem
    12 Jun 2018
    “The elders” told Jenifer Wilson that there would soon be an assault on Harlem “to take the community from us, all the spaces.” So Wilson founded the Sisters’ Uptown Bookstore
  • Mumia on “King Donald The First”
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Mumia on “King Donald The First”
    11 Jun 2018
    In a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller, President Trump argued that he has the right to pardon himself.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us