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.
El Jones presents the poem "Disturbing the Peace," written for the protest at the Halifax International Security Forum, November 22, 2025.
Washington is targeting the Venezuelan people in an escalating regime-change offensive, combining open military violence with an economic siege that has already claimed thousands of lives.
In this week’s segment, we discuss a march to support Mumia Abu Jamal and all political and elder prisoners. But first, we hear about the latest climate change conference, COP30, and the limits of…
The latest United Nations climate change conference, COP30, recently took place in Belem, Brazil. A people’s counter summit was also held, attended by indigenous Brazilians, Afro-Descendants, and…
Beginning on November 28, a March for Mumia Abu Jamal and will begin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and end on December 9 at S.C.I. Mahanoy prison in Frackville, Pennsylvania, where Mumia is being…
