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

…solidarity sounds like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Apr 2019
🖨️ Print Article
movement
this is what solidarity looks like...

I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m also a Pyongyang, Managua, Manilla,
Teheran Man, too—As opposed to despot
As I am to coup!
When they go high—
Pole dancing palace and peacock throne—
I go low— on my own: grassroots, salt of the earth…
Lookin’ here and there, searchin’ everywhere
for bleach, Windex, Pine Sol scents—
janitors scrubbing toilets, mopping floors;
Lookin’ for blue plumes of forklift fumes—
pallets groaning in harmony with lunch
bucket language of warehouse workers;
Lookin’ for oily mist, machines birthing
stainless steel parts on shop floors;
Listenin’ for punch presses pounding parts
out for machine tools;
Listenin’ for squealing carts of library workers;
Listenin’ for intercoms ordering nurses to stations,
bells releasing teachers to lunch
Lookin’ to stand shoulder to shoulder
with—Workers of the World

I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m also a Pyongyang, Managua, Manilla,
Teheran Man, too—As opposed to despot
As I am to coup!
When they go high—
Pole dancing palace and peacock throne—
I go low— on my own: grassroots, salt of the earth…
Lookin’ here and there, searchin’ everywhere
Listenin’ for stiffening spine, rattling chain
leaping from guitars and marching to drums;
Lookin’ for ruby banners and fiery pens;
Lookin’ for actors; not dupes and dopes
dangling on dicks of dictators, kleptocrats,
torturers, Czars—like Negroz and liberals
dangled from The Drone Ranger…

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.,br/> Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry

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


More Stories


  • bar radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 25, 2025
    25 Apr 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about police propaganda designed to make the public fearful and ready to exact severe punishment, regardless of any facts about crime.
  • Reparations for Haiti
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Reparations for Haiti
    25 Apr 2025
    Dr. Jemima Pierre is a Black Agenda Report editor and contributor.
  • copaganda
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News
    25 Apr 2025
    Alec Karakatsanis is an attorney with a long history of work as a public defender.
  • stop the raids
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Stop the NYPD and Federal Raids
    25 Apr 2025
    Stop the Raids NYC is hosting an event in Brooklyn, New York, Satur
  • presidents
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Bush, Obama, and Biden Gave Trump the Tools for Repression
    23 Apr 2025
    Donald Trump is thought of as a terrible president who doesn’t care about humanity. While that assertion is true, he had lots of help from his like-minded predecessors in developing plans for war and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us