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


  • Freedom Rider: Facebook and the Farrakhan Distraction
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Facebook and the Farrakhan Distraction
    08 May 2019
    In banning the only living person who can summon a million Black people to a meeting, Facebook is doing the bidding of the real fascists in the deep imperial state.
  • Assange Is Not a Journalist (If Journalists Are Ass-Kissing Propagandists for the Ruling Class)
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
    Assange Is Not a Journalist (If Journalists Are Ass-Kissing Propagandists for the Ruling Class)
    08 May 2019
    High profile journalists have been jabbering about whether or not Julian Assange is really one of them.
  • Joe Biden Personifies a New “End of History,” This time for U.S. Imperial Rule
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Joe Biden Personifies a New “End of History,” This time for U.S. Imperial Rule
    08 May 2019
    Biden’s open support of corporate oligarchy and disdain for Black America won him the hearts and minds of the ruling class.
  • Venezuelan Embassy in DC Under Siege by Guaido’s Racist Mob
    Lauren Smith
    Venezuelan Embassy in DC Under Siege by Guaido’s Racist Mob
    08 May 2019
    Emboldened by Trump’s aggressions against Venezuela, fascist followers of the treasonous Juan Guaido have threatened and assaulted US activists safeguarding the property in Washington.
  • Letters from Our Readers 
    Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers 
    08 May 2019
    This week saw some interesting letters, as readers discussed black support for Joe Biden and the Democratic Party establishment’s relationship to Bernie Sanders.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us