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


  • Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    13 Jan 2023
    Garrett Bush is host of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, The Barbershop, and the Locked on Browns podcast. He joins us from Cleveland to discuss Damar Hamlin, the NFL player from the Buffalo Bills…
  • New York City Retirees Say No to Privatized Medicare
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New York City Retirees Say No to Privatized Medicare
    13 Jan 2023
    New York City retirees resist the privatization of their Medicare benefits.
  • The Vote for House Speaker Obscured Democratic Treachery
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Vote for House Speaker Obscured Democratic Treachery
    11 Jan 2023
    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's need for 15 rounds of voting from his party is viewed with alarm or humor. But the right wing proved that activists win if they make demands. Democrats have no members…
  • MANIFESTO: The Dakar Declaration 2022
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: The Dakar Declaration 2022
    11 Jan 2023
    ​​​​​​​The Dakar Declaration 2022 calls for Pan-African, South-South cooperation and global solidarity against global economic and political crisis and Africa’s adverse incorporation into the…
  • APP:  Another Pinocchio Politician
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    APP: Another Pinocchio Politician
    11 Jan 2023
                                                         
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us