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
  • omnibus

Saturday Mornings
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
29 Mar 2023
Saturday Mornings
Caffie Greene

                                                                                                                    Saturday Mornings                                                                                                  

                                                                                                             “Poetry is always dissident.”

                                                                                                                      —Octavio Paz

 

There was muted Miles when we
Woke Saturday mornings—
when we rose from slumber
to scents of sausage, potatoes,
bacon, eggs, coffee.
There was muted Miles when we
Woke to waffle scents wafting
from the Sunbeam waffle iron.

Maybe manicures and pedicures
post-breakfast? Maybe the barber
would pick us up on his way to
work for close-cropped hair and
nourishing adult ear worms?
Maybe I’d be pitching? Brother
Steve catching—or vacuuming
shots up from second base?

My Mother could organize
All that— rip off apron and gavel
meetings to order; pull picket lines
together; run California campaigns
for assembly and senatorial seats—
Or, settle long-simmering disputes…

No cape. No “S” on her chest. No
unusual way of getting around. She
was just Mom.
Crazy Mom inviting me to attend
some meeting with her. My reply:
“I don’t wanna go to your political meetings
I just wanna play Little League Baseball!”

Her muted Miles response, “Everything is
Political…
How do you think your park got there?
How do you think your coach got hired?”

© 2023. 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.

Los Angeles
Black Liberation Movement

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: Damien M. Sojoyner’s Book, “Joy and Pain”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Damien M. Sojoyner’s Book, “Joy and Pain”
11 January 2023
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Colia Clark Presente!
Kim Ives
Colia Clark Presente!
16 November 2022
Colia Clark was a veteran of the Black Liberation Movement who worked with Medgar Evers, who was also affiliated with the NAACP and who served
Grandstanding: Mayoral Candidate Karen Bass Says She Can Solve LA’s Homelessness Crisis
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Grandstanding: Mayoral Candidate Karen Bass Says She Can Solve LA’s Homelessness Crisis
27 July 2022
As the late Glen Ford said, the Black misleadership class has no shame.
Bye, Big Sis
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bye, Big Sis
11 May 2022
                                                                                                          Bye, Big Sis
Interview: Malcolm X and Young Socialist, 1965
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
Interview: Malcolm X and Young Socialist, 1965
01 December 2021
A 1965 interview with Malcolm X demonstrates how his encounters in Africa had a profound impact on his thinking about the domestic struggles of

More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio June 2, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 2, 2023
    02 Jun 2023
    African journalists strive to decolonize their work, and the struggle to free the Pendleton 2.
  • The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up
    02 Jun 2023
    The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up is a new documentary about political prisoners held in Indiana.
  • Breaking The Colonial Grip On African Journalism
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Breaking The Colonial Grip On African Journalism
    02 Jun 2023
    Decolonizing African journalism.
  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:  Sheepdogging and Liberal Fantasy
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Sheepdogging and Liberal Fantasy
    31 May 2023
    There is an understandable yearning for a progressive president. But like dreams of happily ever after endings, the fantasy is just that.
  • TRANSCRIPT: The Roots and Consequences of African Underdevelopment, Walter Rodney, 1979
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    TRANSCRIPT: The Roots and Consequences of African Underdevelopment, Walter Rodney, 1979
    31 May 2023
    In May 1979, the Center for Afro-American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles hosted a symposium titled The Political Economy of the Black World. We are publishing, for the first…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us