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

Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
25 Jan 2023
Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember  (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)
Picketers representing the National Association of Colored Women march past the White House in Washington, DC, July 30, 1956 (Photo: AP)

                                                                                                             Stand in solidarity with our Councilmember  

                                                                                                             (Versus voices of white supremacy/death…)

 

I.
Distant echoes—Sun revolving ‘round flat
Earth— ‘round Inquisition; witch-burning;
‘round bubonic plague— 'round pre-printing
press politics…

Embalmed voices—decomposing pogrom tones—
crunch like dry leaves beneath boots of Strike-tober;
beneath street heat of George Floyd Summer; beneath
Occupy; Arab Spring— beneath history’s forward march…

II.
Prancing peacock proud, tiny stickers boasted,
“I VOTED—”
Hired her to argue and
Fight for us. Sent her to City Hall. Tolt her, “Say
what we say…” Axed her, “Amplify Our voices—
Speak truth and Voice Our choices—
while we work; babysit; help with homework; care
for loved ones/neighbors; make art, money, love, babies.”

Suddenly, sunup to sundown King Cotton voices spit
Bullwhip white noise; Spit 1619 stripes at Black backs… again…
plantation overseer voices—
Civil War amputation without anesthesia voices;
Leaking faucet, running toilet voices; Artificial
intelligence/false consciousness voices call… again…

Asthmatic nazi phlegm voices call… again…
Wheezing, wicked, weaponized, “I can’t breathe!”
Jangling, quavering, nicotine hoarse, death squad
soldier, plastic police voices call… again…
Scowling, steely, tinny fingernails across chalkboard voices;
Glock muzzle mouths to burner phone voices call… again…

Gravelly, gaslit, graveyard, good guy with gun voices
call… again… Troll farm, tiki torch, bestial, bear
spray, January 6th, criminal, Charlottesville voices call… again…
Pacific-prowling aircraft carrier filled with shit voices call… again…
Nasal, hollow, clean coal, fracking fluid/fart voices call… again…
Death rattle, decomposing system on life support voices call… again…
But, hissing, filibustering, burning cross voices—Jim Crow, Bull
Connor, Tulsa, Rosewood, Red Summer, lynching voices will not rob us
of representation…. again…
Bloody Mary, banana republican poll tax, “How many bubbles
in a bar of soap?” “How many jelly beans in a jar?” voices will
not disenfranchise us…. again…

© 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.

Black politics

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


Related Stories

Obama and Black America
Kevin Alexander Gray
Obama and Black America
15 March 2023
Kevin Alexander Gray analyzed Barack Obama's presidential election and its negative impact on Black people and their politics. 
BAR Book Forum: Andrea A. Davis’ “Horizon, Sea, Sound"
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Andrea A. Davis’ “Horizon, Sea, Sound"
12 April 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Black Caucus Fails on Ukraine
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Black Caucus Fails on Ukraine
15 March 2022
The members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) follow Biden's Ukraine policy in lock step. In doing so they fail their constituents and di

More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio March 31, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 31, 2023
    31 Mar 2023
    20th anniversary of Iraq invasion and the Ukraine proxy war, immigration policies remain unchanged, and New York prosecutors discriminate against prospective jurors of color.
  • Ray McGovern Connects Anniversary of Iraq Invasion and Ukraine Proxy War - Part 2
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ray McGovern Connects Anniversary of Iraq Invasion and Ukraine Proxy War - Part 2
    31 Mar 2023
    Ray McGovern served as a CIA analyst for 27 years, from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush.
  • Biden's Punitive Immigration Policies - Part 2
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Biden's Punitive Immigration Policies - Part 2
    31 Mar 2023
    Aly Wane is on the advisory board of the Immigrant Justice Network.
  • New York Prosecutors Discriminate Against Jurors and Defendants of Color
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New York Prosecutors Discriminate Against Jurors and Defendants of Color
    31 Mar 2023
    Ten ethics complaints were filed against prosecutors across New York state, alleging discrimination against prospective jurors of color.
  • INTERVIEW: Randall Robinson: Third World Advocate, 1983
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: Randall Robinson: Third World Advocate, 1983
    29 Mar 2023
    Remembering Randall Robinson: Black internationalist, anti-imperialist, and friend of Haiti.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us