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

Statues of Limitation
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Sep 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Statues of Limitation
A flatbed truck carries a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Market Street Park in Charlottesville. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Statues of Limitation

A German comrade
quipped, “When you
Come to Frankfurt
You’ll find bronze celebrating
Poets, painters, philosophers—
But you won’t find the
Führer’s face any place—
Bratwurst, beer and Jazz
in Berlin; but you’ll find
lime green leprechauns
before patinas of Goebbels,
and Goering glaring from
park and plaza pedestals…”

Italian bandmates chimed in,
“Come with us when we go home—
you won’t find Mussolini’s
mug in Milan, or Rome…”
And the Butoh dancer blurted
“And no Tojo in Tokyo!”

Why’d I softly reply,
“ Dixie—south of the
Canadian Border—sits
pock marked with 1,000
syphilitic statues of
Slavers, traitors, terrorists—“
Instead of screaming,
“Would you name your child
Jezebel Jackson,
Judas Jones,
Satan Smith, or
Sheriff Joe—
Would you call yourself
a nigger, bitch, or hoe?
Would you celebrate
Stonewall Jackson, or
Robert E. Lee—
Would you tell your Mother
You’re an SOB?”

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 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.

confederate statues

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


More Stories


  • Protest and Power
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Protest and Power
    02 Jul 2020
    Building People’s Power is the vital arena of struggle under late stage capitalism, when the “system” is not only objectively failing, but the people know it is coming apart at t
  • Freedom Rider: Russia, Afghanistan, and the Big Lie
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Russia, Afghanistan, and the Big Lie
    01 Jul 2020
    Far from being an enemy, Russia assisted the U.S. and its coalition in their fight against the Taliban.
  • Neocolonial African Conservation Inspired by “Tarzan”
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Neocolonial African Conservation Inspired by “Tarzan”
    01 Jul 2020
    Ann Garrison responds to a critic of neocolonial nature “conservation” in Africa, and discusses US-backed threats to national sovereignty and all forms of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Syria, Corporate Media Lies, and the True Face of Imperialism: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Syria, Corporate Media Lies, and the True Face of Imperialism: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    01 Jul 2020
    If independent media want to be a real counterweight to establishment media, they must challenge the status quo in its entirety.
  • How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnist
    How Do You Spell Desecration of African Burials?: “Nigger!”
    01 Jul 2020
    Much of the nation may be repudiating white supremacy, but not Montgomery County, Maryland, which is paving over sacred  Black ground in an attempt to bury its own racist history.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us