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

Declaration of Independence (for Donald "Duck" Bailey)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Jul 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Drummer

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
in the womb? Did you drum in past lives?

Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
out of narrow spaces? Drum out of bondage?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
escaping captivity?

Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
your way off Gore Island? Out Cape Coast Castle?
Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
Glory into the swinging / Fighting 54th?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did the right hand always know perfectly well
what the left foot was doing? Did the right foot 
always know what the left hand was doing for the
combo; the big band; the village — for the world?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you appear to teach us to tap our toes, 
snap our fingers, and relax to the Max on an axe?

Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-
limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?
Did you swing and Rhythm-A-Ning across rivers cutting
Brilliant Corners … to Criss Cross deserts for freedom?


© 2026. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved. 

Music
Jazz
Donald Bailey
drumming

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
18 March 2026
“The music is the magic through a raging storm …”  — Abbey Lincoln Play, Black Girl, play —
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch
07 September 2022
a few flock notes for jaimie breezy branch “The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery” —Paul Robeson
Photo: Kevin W. Thorbourne
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
08 September 2021
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)  

More Stories


  • The Movement to Abolish the Police Must Place Politics in Command
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Movement to Abolish the Police Must Place Politics in Command
    24 Jun 2020
    Community control of the police offers a concrete vision for what the beginnings of police abolition might look like.
  • The Responsibility to Protect? Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity in the U.S.
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Responsibility to Protect? Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity in the U.S.
    24 Jun 2020
    The US committed crimes against humanity by creating the conditions that led to sickness and death for vulnerable sectors of the U.S. population
  • Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, 1964—2020
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, 1964—2020
    24 Jun 2020
    Burundi is Africa’s Syria and Venezuela, a developing nation that dared to defy US dictates under Nkurunziza’s leadership.
  • Notes on the Coloniality of Peace
    Nelson Maldonado-Torres 
    Notes on the Coloniality of Peace
    24 Jun 2020
    The “peace” our enemies want is mounted on brutal war and in its continuation in modern/colonial law and order.
  • Who’s a Worker? (for Leo, Clarence, Jack, Trent and ILWU Local 10 Brothers and Sisters)
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Who’s a Worker? (for Leo, Clarence, Jack, Trent and ILWU Local 10 Brothers and Sisters)
    24 Jun 2020
    I’ve prepped produce; bagged bread;  stocked shelves; pulled products for- ward on shelves of several stores. So I bring nothing but love for frontline 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us