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


  • Jon Jeter
    Not Like Us: Black Men Frown on Harris Campaign Because Democrats Have Done Nothing to Help Them in This Worst Hard Time, Not Because of Misogyny
    16 Oct 2024
    For decades, the Democratic Party has pushed Black men as the scapegoat for election losses. Every cycle, they put forth a different excuse for why this demographic is unique in its political beliefs…
  • Essam Elkorghli , Matteo Capasso
    Unity Against Imperialist Sectarianism
    16 Oct 2024
    Imperialist powers maintain a toolbox of tactics they employ to maintain dominance and pursue their interests. Among them is propaganda. In this case, playing on planted ideas about Islam and…
  • Kodjovi Kpachavi
    AES Interrupts a $50b Shakedown in the Sahel
    16 Oct 2024
    The Alliance of Sahel States has already begun to change the conditions of the people in the region for the better. Bold actions, including the expulsion of exploitative mining contracts, put these…
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    "We Want to Live in Peace!": Perú Grapples with Violence as SOUTHCOM Expands
    16 Oct 2024
    The conditions in Peru have continued to decline as the nation's bad actors and compradors work at the behest of neocolonial forces - SOUTHCOM via the US, NATO, and the European Union that are…
  • Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    Black Alliance for Peace Denounces the Renewal of the US-Kenya Mission to Haiti
    16 Oct 2024
    The Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti needs to end.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us