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


  • When we vote we win
    Joseph Massad
    Why even progressive US voters are America Firsters
    06 Nov 2024
    The fate of billions whom the US dominates and oppresses is effectively exchanged for a few possible reforms in domestic policies that affect parts of middle-class America
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 1, 2024
    01 Nov 2024
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the U.S. government's censorship of the news and the end of Radio Sputnik. We also hear Margaret Kimberley at a Julian Assange freedom celebration and the…
  • Green Party of NY logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Green Party of New York Wages Write-In Campaign for Voter Choice and Ballot Status
    01 Nov 2024
    We’re joined by Peter Lavenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York. He explains why there is this lack of choice in the New York elections and how voters can choose the Green Party presidential…
  • The Critical Hour
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    US Censorship and the End of Radio Sputnik
    01 Nov 2024
    Garland Nixon is a veteran journalist and the former co-host of the program The Critical Hour, once heard on Radio Sputnik before that outlet disappeared from the airwaves. Garland Nixon joins us to…
  • Assange Defense
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Julian Assange Freedom Celebration
    01 Nov 2024
    Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report Executive Editor, spoke at an event in Berkeley, California celebrating the release of political prisoner Julian Assange. She connected his case with that of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us