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

Gambling Man
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jun 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, son of Haitian dictator Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, is flanked by military guards as he reviews the troops at the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo: AP / Headline: People's World Archives

Even though the table’s tilted; the dice are loaded;
and the cards are marked; even though light-fingered
double-dealers declare that we “don’t have the cards;”
I’m a gambling man.
Betting on The People
everyday.

I’m a gambling man.
Betting on The People
everyday.
I’m a gambling man.
Betting on Everyday People
everyday.

I’m a gambling man.
Betting on Everyday People
everyday.
Betting on ordinary ones
doing extraordinary, all hands on deck, things.
Doing disbanding circular firing squad things.

I’m a gambling man.
Betting on ordinary ones doing extraordinary things — 
magic — magic that made Mrs. Marcos flee the Philippines
leaving behind hundreds of pairs of her pricey shoes.
Magic that lifted The Shah from peacock throne and made 
Mobutu, Batista, Baby Doc, The Samosas and Assad … disappear …


© 2026. 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.

resistance
organizing
Black Liberation
Working Class

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


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Open Letter to Marxists, Gwendolyn M. Patton, 1975
23 September 2026
“...the science for revolutionary change…is forged by human persuasion and building social consciousness based on the class analysis
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The Symone Sanders Minstrel Show Demonstrates the Desolation of the Black Misleadership Class
23 September 2026
Symone Sanders' interview with Hasan Piker exposed her as a bad-faith interlocutor who uses identity as a cudgel while remaining silent on the
Austin Cole
Attica Lives and Shares Lessons on Abolitionist Internationalism & Anti-Imperialist Solidarity
09 September 2026
The Attica rebellion was not only about prison "reform." The prison is the most intense expression of a system of imperialist domination that o
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Co-Founder of Black Liberation Army, Reflects on the Legacy of Assata Shakur and Revolutionary Sacrifice
03 June 2026
On May 30, 2026, a Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Assata Shakur was held at the Riverside Church in New York City.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Malcolm X and Human Rights in the Time of Trumpism: Transcending the Masters Tools
20 May 2026
This piece was originally published in Black Agenda Report i
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
That Sunday morning Mom cried …
20 May 2026
I.I awakened early that Sunday morning. Seized time fortalking, that Sunday morning. Time for connecting.
Mark P. Fancher
If Iran has the Strait of Hormuz, What Can Black People Use for Leverage and Power?
13 May 2026
Tennessee just erased its only majority-Black voting district.
Wolfgang Bronner
Entertainment as Militarization: The Spectacle of the Super Bowl & WrestleMania in Nashville
06 May 2026
The spectacle of major sporting events does not simply distract from a city's crackdown on the working class.
Mark P. Fancher
Political Snobbery Delays Black Liberation
29 April 2026
The conditions are ripe for growing Black political consciousness, but revolutionary movements must broaden their reach to all sectors and clas
Mark P. Fancher
When Black People are Xenophobic They Risk Black Deaths in Iran
25 March 2026
Black youth fed xenophobia instead of international solidarity become military pawns who risk their own lives and their people's libe

More Stories


  • A Hip Hop Portal to the Future
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    A Hip Hop Portal to the Future
    24 Jun 2019
    The language of Black English and Hip Hop may “offer us another way of existing in the world,” said Marquis Bey, author of “Them Goon Rules: Fugitive Essays on Radical Black F
  • White Kids Need Help to Become Anti-Racists
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    White Kids Need Help to Become Anti-Racists
    24 Jun 2019
    Many Black families teach their kids about race and racism, but “white families don’t do that,” said Jennifer Harvey, a professor at Drake University and author of “Raising Wh
  • US Only Respects Rigged Elections in Haiti, Venezuela
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    US Only Respects Rigged Elections in Haiti, Venezuela
    24 Jun 2019
    The Haitian people reject the demand from the Organization of American States and the US, that they abandon the street campaign against President Jovenel Moise and wait for elections, said 
  • Will Black Students Stand Up For debt Forgiveness and Free Tuition? When They Do Will Anybody Cover It?
    Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
    Will Black Students Stand Up For debt Forgiveness and Free Tuition? When They Do Will Anybody Cover It?
    20 Jun 2019
    You get a car!
  • The Ruling Class Will Not Tolerate the Sanders-Led Assault on Austerity
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    The Ruling Class Will Not Tolerate the Sanders-Led Assault on Austerity
    20 Jun 2019
    The whole point of the austerity project is to disempower workers and concentrate wealth at the top. The rulers will kill to keep that dream alive.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us