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


  • We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    Ameer Hasan Loggins
    We’re All Living in a Future Created by Slavery
    28 Oct 2020
    The carceral class is made up of persons of African descent who are systematically stigmatized as unfit for freedom and deserving of the dehumanization that comes with being incarcerated.
  • What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    Ashton Rome
    What the Political Realignment Suggest about the Prospects for Fascism 
    28 Oct 2020
    The Democratic Party has seemingly accomplished the impossible – a revival of centrism in the midst of its collapse.
  • Black Bolivia and the Socialist Electoral Triumph
    Erica Caines
    Black Bolivia and the Socialist Electoral Triumph
    28 Oct 2020
    Indigenous and Afro-Bolivians spent every day resisting the coup to complete the socialist aspirations of their party. 
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    28 Oct 2020
    This week you discussed the role of racism in foreign policy, Black America and the duopoly, and global elites’ plans for exploiting the Covid crisis.
  • BAR Book Forum: Danielle Morgan’s “Laughing to Keep From Dying”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Danielle Morgan’s “Laughing to Keep From Dying”
    28 Oct 2020
    There is nothing strange about Black folks laughing at the sheer immensity of ways we can die.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us