Riggers? | Black Agenda Report

BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

23 Aug 2023

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Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, left, is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, at a congressional hearing investigating the events of January 6. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

“Riggers?”

(For The Central Park 5; Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss)

“Karma is the friend of honesty and the enemy of liars.” —Anonymous

I.

N-word averse world—someone’s singing fog-horned,

dog-whistled flat notes of “Riggers!”

Someone’s singing, “Riggers” are serving him at Karma’s

Cafe from the Capitalist State Machine’s same dirty utensils

“professional vote scammers;” COVID-profiteers used

during violence-riddled reign of terror…laying waste to lives…

Someone’s singing, “Riggers,” yet once purchased full page

ads, “Paper of record,” rigging noose/gallows mobs/framing

5 Black and Brown teen lives—hanging in the balance

Someone’s singing, “Riggers,” when it’s the ugly face of

Capitalism on trial, on blast—on that Midnight Plane to

Georgia —Woo-woo!

II.

Remembering my Mom… Phone wedged

between shoulder and ear— Cooking;

radio NEWS/TV NEWS on. Making meals

for contacts there to share,“What’s Goin’ On?”

“What’s Goin’ On?” What requires direct

Action—Mass action? City action? State,

national action? Always action. Never a

Distraction—She was where We were…

Remembering my Mom… Turning Water-

gate into teachable moments—college classes—

like her Friend’s records, “Message To The Grassroots;” and “The Ballot Or The Bullet…” I wore the grooves off

Remembering revolutionaries teaching me Super Bowl,

Olympic language for lunch bucket brethren practicing

Analysis on crumpled, back pocket sports sections.

Teaching me to be Where they are. “Listen and learn…”

like my Welfare Rights organizing Aunt once told Dr. King.

III.

Cops and soldiers— bad hombres, murderer-rapist-torturer

Death squads stormed Capitalist Hill, J6—7

Died.

Winners of Reconstruction—Training to re-fight the Civil

War—stormed Capitalist Hill, J6—7

Died.

Brownshirts showed up— showed out— for their paper towel-

tossin, pussy-grabbin grifter, Mussolini-wannabe…Commanding,

“Stand back—stand by!”

Statehouses north, south—coast to coast— post-Charlottesville

And you think Long COVID’s a bitch?

Ask your Spanish or Chilean doctor if Long Fascism’s right for you…

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.

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