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


  • People Working A Minimum Wage Job Can’t Afford Rent Anywhere In The U.S.
    Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
    People Working A Minimum Wage Job Can’t Afford Rent Anywhere In The U.S.
    22 Jul 2021
    Over 40% of Black and Latinx households pay more than 30% of their income on rent, compared with 25% of white households.  
  •  Black Agenda Radio for Week of July 19, 2021
    Blsck Agenda Radio with Maergaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of July 19, 2021
    21 Jul 2021
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of July 19, 2021 Class Struggle Shapes Haiti Political Conflict
  •  Zuma Imprisonment: “Riots” or “Insurrection” in South Africa?
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Zuma Imprisonment: “Riots” or “Insurrection” in South Africa?
    21 Jul 2021
    In the wake of the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma on corruption charges, two South African provinces were swept by riots that current President Cyril Ramaphosa called an attempted “insurrec
  •  US Destabilizes Planet, Blames China and Cuba
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    US Destabilizes Planet, Blames China and Cuba
    21 Jul 2021
    Despite portraying Donald Trump as representing everything they oppose, when Democratic President Joe Biden took over the White House he left Trump’s measures against Cuba and China intact, virtual
  •  Class Struggle Shapes Haiti Political Conflict
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Class Struggle Shapes Haiti Political Conflict
    21 Jul 2021
    Class conflicts between Africa-born and Haiti-born Blacks and mulattos shaped Haitian political battle lines before and after the 1804 revolution and to this day, said Haitian American author and a
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us