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

The Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Aug 2021
🖨️ Print Article
The Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…
The Peoples’ Pips: Leaving on that Midnight Train to GA…

BAR's poet in residence composes a lyrical and musical tribute to Glen Ford.

…He’s leaving 

(Leaving)

On that Midnight Train To Georgia 

(Leaving on the Midnight Train)

 

Earned a one way ticket back to soil

he blossomed beautifully from—lightly

bound, tightly wound contradictions:

Fair fella, yellowish ‘good hair’ hue/Blue-

black-black to the 37th power woke-ness;

Black-black, double black/Fire engine red 

internationalist aura and practice;

Smallish cat/Big, burnished baritone sound;

Panther prowl/Wehrmacht story pains presaging

plain pen to ordinary yellow legal-size pad—

Launching laser-surgical speeches and pieces…

His work/Their work/Our work/ All aboard

(on the Midnight Train…)

 

…He’s leaving 

(Leaving)

On that Midnight Train To Georgia 

(Leaving on the Midnight Train)

 

Traveling twisting tracks, traveling

long winding roads—blessed Odyssey—

esteemed elder to revered

Ancestor…

And Ancestors, we all know, are always 

waiting in the wings. Always just that

“Who?” “What?” “Why?” “Where?” “When?” 

question away…soothing our inflamed hearts—

Our deep fried minds… 

 

What would he/she say? When would they tell

heroes in embryo—The People—unvarnished 

Truth?

His work/Their work/Our work/ All aboard

(on the Midnight Train…)

 

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Glen Ford

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


Related Stories

A Tribute to Glen Ford
The Editors
A Tribute to Glen Ford
02 August 2023
"What would Glen Ford say?" That question is one which we often ask ourselves two years after his passing. Glen was extremely prescient,
Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism
27 July 2022
I was very proud to write the preface to Glen Ford's book, The Black
Introduction to Glen Ford's "The Black Agenda"
Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Introduction to Glen Ford's "The Black Agenda"
27 July 2022
The compilation of Glen Ford's work, "The Black Agenda" was publ
GLEN FORD: Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives, 2019
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
GLEN FORD: Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives, 2019
13 April 2022
Glen Ford reminded us that Black liberation cannot be found over a cheese plate and mimosas in a $6 million southern California mansion.
Legacy of a Black Revolutionary:  Black Agenda Report (BAR)
Mary Uyematsu Kao
Legacy of a Black Revolutionary: Black Agenda Report (BAR)
26 January 2022
Glen Ford's legacy is recognized all over the nation. Japanese- American newspaper Rafu Shimpo printed this tribute to his work. 
Glen Ford's Journalism Fought for Black Liberation and Against Imperialism
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Glen Ford's Journalism Fought for Black Liberation and Against Imperialism
04 August 2021
Ford was among the few journalists who took a stance for Black liberation and against imperialism.
Nia Ford
Power to the people!
04 August 2021
Glen Ford’s daughter explains his lifelong commitment to Black people.
Mark P. Fancher
Were Glen Ford and T. Thomas Fortune the Same Brother?
04 August 2021
Glen Ford followed in the footsteps of another legendary Black journalist.
Glen Ford and the Need for Black Radical Analysis
Pascal Robert
Glen Ford and the Need for Black Radical Analysis
04 August 2021
Black radical analysis was the foundation of Glen Ford's work.

More Stories


  • x
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Dhoruba bin-Wahad , Kelonji Changa
    The Guardian Open Letter Exposed: Margaret Kimberley & Dhoruba Bin Wahad Speak Out
    26 Aug 2026
    In this special broadcast, BAR Senior Columnist and Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley and Black Panther Veteran Dhoruba Bin Wahad offer an uncompromising, sharp critique of the anti-Iranian open…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner Meeting Reveals Ugly Truths About U.S. Politics
    26 Aug 2026
    If the Democratic Party prevails in the midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries will become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. But his decision to meet with Jared Kushner was a textbook case of…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights Critique of “An Open Letter to Iran’s Political Prisoners”
    26 Aug 2026
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework rejects the liberal abstraction that makes a false symmetry between Iranian authoritarianism and U.S. imperialism, which obscures the fact that one is a…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The CIA and Studies on Guerrilla Warfare, Robert Molteno, 1979
    26 Aug 2026
    “In the period since 1969, one can detect the same old close ties between right-wing U.S. academics, think tanks, foundations, and the U.S. Government…”
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The Manifestation of Surplus Populations: How Gary, Indiana is the Latest Exemplar of the Wrong Complexion for Protection
    26 Aug 2026
    White supremacy works through institutions, and FEMA's formula for allocating disaster relief shows us how the state decides which neighborhoods are prioritized and which are left to suffer. Those in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us