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


  • BAR Book Forum: Walter Johnson’s “The Broken Heart of America”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Walter Johnson’s “The Broken Heart of America”
    15 Apr 2021
    The Black future is already unfolding under your feet, and the narrow possibility that you might grab ahold of that leading edge of the asphalt and turn it in a different direction.
  •  BAR Book Forum: Tracey L. Walters’ “Not Your Mother’s Mammy”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Tracey L. Walters’ “Not Your Mother’s Mammy”
    15 Apr 2021
    The assumption is these women are uneducated or without skills beyond cleaning or caring for children and adults. 
  • Organizing in the South 
    Joseph B. Atkins 
    Organizing in the South 
    15 Apr 2021
    Strong condemnations from the NAACP and Black Congressional Caucus of Amazon’s treatment of its workers might have made a difference in the strike vote,
  • Reality Police Erase Lesbians, Covid-skeptics and Democracy
    Riva Enteen
    Reality Police Erase Lesbians, Covid-skeptics and Democracy
    15 Apr 2021
    Corporate reality police have stablished themselves as the authorities on what constitutes “information” or “disinformation.”
  • The Hypocrisy of “American Democracy”
    Wilmer J. Leon III
    The Hypocrisy of “American Democracy”
    15 Apr 2021
    The US is the anti-democratic force undermining the will of Venezuelans as the US steals their resources and money.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us