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 neighbor: Hall of Fame Herb
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Oct 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Herb Boyd
Herb Boyd, author and New York Amsterdam News columnist

“If you know whence you came, 
there is really no limit to where you can go.” 
—James Baldwin

How do we describe Hall Of Fame Herb?
Is he adjective, noun — or a swinging verb?
Bombing-ham-born — but raised in The D —
Where he would meet Malcolm before ’63!

He arrived determined. And he came equipped.
Bebop, Doo-Wop schooled — Hard Bop hipped.
Gracing BAI Fridays to “kick it” and schmooze,
Gifting riffs of news and views People can use.
Swingin prose infused with Black Bottom Blues
Harlemite manner of great Langston Hughes.

From Black Bottom Blues, to swing of Sugar Hill
His prose waltz through history with dazzling skill,
His anecdotes bequeathing us with thrill after thrill —
Since his old army sword recycled into African quill …

© 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.
 

Literature
Herb Boyd
Black Writers
Detroit

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


Related Stories

BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
23 February 2022
As part of the Black Agenda Report Book Forum, we interview scholars about a recent article they’ve written for either an academic journal or p

More Stories


  • North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights
    Resisting U.S. Human Rights Barbarism: The Arrest of Alyssa Philip In Trinidad and Tobago
    24 Jun 2026
    A protest leader in Trinidad was arrested during Labour Day celebrations for the crime of demanding justice for a paralyzed shooting victim. The government's willingness to silence dissent at home…
  • Isaac Saney
    Walking the Tight-Rope and Threading the Needle: Strategic Adaptation Under Siege: Cuba's Economic Reforms and the Defence of Socialist Sovereignty
    24 Jun 2026
    Washington's economic war has left Cuba with few good options. The recently announced reforms require a very thorough analysis.
  • Janine Jackson 
    How Many Ways Can You Avoid Reporting That Cops Killed a Baby?
    24 Jun 2026
    A one-year-old baby was shot dead by police, but corporate media shield the police and their barbaric actions with a passive voice.
  • Jeremy Scahill , Jawa Ahmad
    Exclusive: Internal Documents Show Trump’s “Board of Peace“ Moving to Crush Palestinian Self-Determination
    24 Jun 2026
    Gaza proposals obtained by Drop Site show Trump’s board attempting to force a Palestinian surrender that Israel could not achieve in war.
  • Matt Sledge
    Prairieland Defendant Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Moving a Box of Antifascist Zines
    23 Jun 2026
    Anti-ICE activists received lengthy prison terms — including a 100-year sentence — in the first major trial of the NSPM-7 era.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us