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

What The Video Shows
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Dec 2015
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Video, as police and military malefactors frequently remind us, is two dimensional.

What The Video Shows

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

The officer drove 6 min.
Like Mario Andretti impersonating
Evel Knivel on Chicago streets
The officer alighted from his vehicle
Firing and fearing for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

After being struck by several rounds 
Fired by the responding officer, the 
Suspect assumed a combative prone
Position and began resisting the officer’s
Fire…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Stay still; notice the suspect’s body 
bouncing, twisting—that’s resisting
Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Just die—that’s resisting—he’s resisting!

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers whose
Guns were holstered
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers and
The safety of the suspect, so they let
Him ‘bleed out’—a split–second decision
this work’s hard enough without second-guessing 

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Well, on second viewing, the officer may
Have used poor judgment, may have over-
Reacted; the officer may need more training

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—take that hospital 
Bombed
In Afghanistan—it wasn’t really bombed—it only
Looked bombed. It only looks like splattered blood
on ICU walls. That head only looks like it’s detached 
from its torso. It only looks like 32 people were killed…
Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—so repeat after me:
Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Raymond Nat Turner Š 2015 All Rights Reserved

subscribe to our free weekly email notifying you of new content published at Black Agenda Report

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


More Stories


  •  Protests in Minneapolis Disrupted by Orange-Shirted “Collaborators” with Cops
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Protests in Minneapolis Disrupted by Orange-Shirted “Collaborators” with Cops
    19 Oct 2020
    A group calling themselves “violence interrupters” played a role in the October 7 arrest of 50 protesters demanding community control of police, said Jae Yates, of the Twin Cities
  • The Useful Tool: Kamala “Heartbeat Away” Harris
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    The Useful Tool: Kamala “Heartbeat Away” Harris
    15 Oct 2020
    If Biden wins, Kamala Harris will be put forward as a kind of “co-president,” as a palliative for the lack of substantive relief from the forces that are plaguing Black lives.
  • Freedom Rider: Left Out of the Debate
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Left Out of the Debate
    14 Oct 2020
    If the needs of the people aren’t being addressed, what is the purpose of putting Biden and Harris into office?
  • The United States is a Sick Society That Produced Two Sick Options for President
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The United States is a Sick Society That Produced Two Sick Options for President
    14 Oct 2020
    The US dictatorship of capital provides the people with a non-choice between two vile and racist presidential candidates.
  • Freeing “Hotel Rwanda” Hero Paul Rusesabagina
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Freeing “Hotel Rwanda” Hero Paul Rusesabagina
    14 Oct 2020
    The man portrayed by Don Cheadle in the movie about mass slaughter in Rwanda was kidnapped and jailed by the country’s dictator, writes Ann Garrison.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us