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

Warriors we are…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Jun 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Warriors we are…
2020 San Francisco Protest (Photo: Kit Castagne)

                                                                                                                              Warriors we are…

                                                                                                 (For my Friend Larry’s lean years/in between years)

                                                                                                     “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,

                                                                                          while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

                                                                                                                                 – Sun Tzu

Pop-pop-pop-pop—explosions! Kaleidoscopic
cracks of color, age, orientation—in motion—
But no one’s running. No one’s hiding behind
doors; behind desks; Fearing AR-15 weekly reports.

No howling lynchers, hangman’s nooses, hockey
sticks! No bear spray, baseball bats, brass knuckles!
No white supremacist supermarket shooters; No homo
phobic haters! No blu klux klan knees/chokeholds; No
Glocks killing because of—You name the verb—
“…while Black…”

Market and Main parade route. Banners waving,
festooned on San Francisco’s streets
Arms are bridges between dancers, huggers, high
fivers; between generous tossers of extra snacks.
Ivory smiles, improvised explosive devices blasting
stink-eye smug/mean mugs from blissful faces.
Joyful faces, cheering and singing harmoniously!
If this is what Warrior wins look like—we will be
Warriors for windmill/solar panel-size victories…

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Rejecting realtors’ flagrant fouls: tarps, tents, card
board mattresses/urine-smelling, shit-slippery streets…

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Sweeping stroke, diabetes, cancer, heart attack in four!
Winning dental/healthcare for ALL! Ejecting barking
bellies; trading Franken ‘food’ for Fresh Fruits/Veggies

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
99% Strength In Numbers—Arab Springs, Occupies, Strike
tobers, George Floyd Summers for un-fracked/unleaded
water
Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Springing up like Splash Brothers for three point
shots at DAs prosecuting killer cops; booking low Barr Boss
Tweet thugs bleeding budgets for death and destruction

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE—through
Justice and Peace pleading with us: man/woman up! Be
Spartacus, Che, Harriet Tubman, Douglass, Fanny Lou,
John Brown, Malcolm, Martin and close this game
Out…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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.

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


More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio for Week of November 18, 2019
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of November 18, 2019
    19 Nov 2019
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of November 18, 2019 Mumia to Speak in Philadelphia on Global Youth Against Empire 
  • US Fingerprints in Bolivian Coup
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    US Fingerprints in Bolivian Coup
    19 Nov 2019
    “Whether under the Bush or Obama administrations, the US government saw the Bolivian government of Evo Morales as an adversary in the region,” as did the Trump administration, said Ale
  • Anti-Blackness Among Hispanics
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Anti-Blackness Among Hispanics
    19 Nov 2019
    “With a few exceptions, all the presidents in Latin America are white,” notes Janvieve Williams Comrie, a pan-Africanist activist originally from Panama.
  • The Internationalism of Black Panther Women
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    The Internationalism of Black Panther Women
    19 Nov 2019
    The women of the Black Panther Party embraced the models established by women in Vietnam, North Korea and China, in part “to change the culture within the party,” said Benjamin Young
  • Mumia to Speak in Philadelphia on Global Youth Against Empire
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Mumia to Speak in Philadelphia on Global Youth Against Empire
    19 Nov 2019
    The nation’s best known political prisoner will mark his 38th year behind bars at a “Youth Rise Up Against Empire” event, December 7th in Philadelphia.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us