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

For a young labor leader leading by example
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Aug 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Chris Smalls
Democracy NOW

“The future of labor is the future of America.”  
                                  —John L. Lewis

When butchers boarded in 
International waters—
Drenching our screens scarlet with blood lust
Bankrolled by our treasure—despite our oceans of tears …

When buccaneers boarded in
International waters— 
And laughed at lawful orders to stand down. To not
Kidnap, shanghai, pressgang peace activists aboard

When freebooters boarded in
International waters—
Shocking shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back body
Language greeted them: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

When pariah state pirates boarded in
International waters— 
Gold doubloons disappeared and became baby formula,
Diapers, stuffed animals, and assorted hygiene supplies

When scurvy bigots boarded in 
International waters—
We prayed against ‘sand-nigger’ servings of rifle-butts; and other
DEI (Death Emaciation Injury) ‘perks,’ hourly granted Palestinians

When bellicose ship wreckers boarded in 
International waters— 
We held historical breaths. Imagined a U.S. traffic
Stop. Militant Black labor leader shot on the spot!

Alas, our young labor leader’s home! Life uncrushed like cigarette butt— by
Bulldozer. Un-pierced by whistling sniper’s bullet. Home, warehousing curses,
Taunts, knees, blows— pitiful— feeble in hand-to-hand combat with hands of
Time …

© 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.

labor
Christian Smalls
Palestine
Gaza
Israel
humanitarian

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


Related Stories

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
Gary Wilson
House Votes to Lock Israel Into U.S. War Machine for Wider War
29 July 2026
The House voted to permanently merge the U.S. and Israeli militaries. Israel has some control over the U.S.
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.
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.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
When the Revolution Comes
17 June 2026
Chris Smalls and his best friend, Derrick Palmer, led the first successful drive to unionize an Amazon warehouse.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Big D Dysfunction: Why The Democrat Party’s Latest Comedy of Errors is a Tragedy of Strategy 
27 May 2026
The party that installed its presidential candidate without a primary vote now blames its 2024 loss on everything except its own cont
Sherronda J. Brown , Tea Troutman , Aarohi Sheth
May Day: Exporting the Southern Plantocracy
06 May 2026
The South has always been the region where the most exploitative labor practices are tested first.
x
Yarden Azoulay Katz
“Their Chaos is Our Peace”: Fighting Zionist Repression in Texas and Beyond
29 April 2026
Zionists continue their attacks on universities, exerting pressure to silence and terminate professors who express views in support of Palestin
John Parker
Socialist candidate John Parker: Abolish ICE and police, fund people’s needs
22 April 2026
Following is a recent campaign meeting talk by socialist congressional candidate John Parker.

More Stories


  • COP26 climate meeting
    The Editors
    COP26: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
    17 Nov 2021
    Black Agenda Report is giving special attention to the recent COP26 climate summit.
  • Climate Action Pretense at COP26
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Climate Action Pretense at COP26
    17 Nov 2021
    Joe Biden’s presence at COP26 was a photo opportunity giving the impression that he is fighting the climate crisis. But the U.S.
  • COP26: Greenwashing and Plutocratic Misadventures
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    COP26: Greenwashing and Plutocratic Misadventures
    17 Nov 2021
    For all the policy failures of COP26 it may actually be an inflection point in history -- a point where social and political conditions force a transformation of consciousness and politics that
  • Credit: AFP
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    A Dirty Occupation: The UN’s Criminal Enterprise and Ecological Catastrophe in Haiti
    17 Nov 2021
    What are the environmental and ecological impacts of large-scale military occupations by the United Nations “peacekeeping” missions?
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EXCERPT: Genocide: The Social Lynching of Africans and their descendants in Brazil, Abdias do Nascimento
    17 Nov 2021
    The late Brazilian intellectual, artist, and activist Abdias do Nascimento argues that racial democracy is premised on an idea of racial mixing that not only valorizes whiteness, but is predica
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us