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

Black Friday?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Nov 2017
🖨️ Print Article
Black Friday?
Black Friday?

Thought solemnity—
bowed heads, hands held,
streams of consciousness,
Blessings counted the day before:
Flowing water;
No rockets’ red glare; No
bombs
bursting
in
air
over
dead bird, cranberry,
pumpkin pie feasts was a prelude

Thought our ship came in,
Redressing ships making us
Sales
Thought it was about
Reparations—or 99%
demands on the way…

Thought it was about
Reparations—or at least—wild-eyed kinfolk
storming Wall Street, body-slamming,
beating down banksters and taking back
stolen Homes;
stampeding corporate headquarters,
snatching Single-Payer from
bloody hands of war profiteers;
wrenching Affordable Housing from
kleptocrats and lying politicians;
wrestling Boss Tweet to the
floor, pummeling he and torch
monkeys marauding the nation!

Next morning, glass cages
opened peculiar flashbacks:
Vaunted Negro buying-power on
fours—clawing for sweatshop shit…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist, You can find much more of his work at http://upsergejaz.com,

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Reese Piece…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Reese Piece…
15 April 2021
Salute to City of Angels’ son! He wrote, he wrote, he wrote And he wrote… Ramparts, The Progressive, The
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
27 January 2021
Everybody’s wild ‘bout this ‘new’ dance craze— this lewd, crude dance called “The 1st 100 Daze…”
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
20 January 2021
Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots, overthrowing Black elected officials and Massacring those that VOTED for them— 
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
13 January 2021
“It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation
Think…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Think…
06 January 2021
Think of peoples having the most tanks, the most drones, the most missiles, bombs, aircraft carriers, 

More Stories


  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report October 9, 2026
    09 Oct 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss student protests by Black and brown youth in France against austerity measures and race-based inequality in the education system. But we begin with a discussion of…
  • Lula and Bolsonaro
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Lula vs. Bolsonaro in Brazil's Presidential Election
    09 Oct 2026
    Brazil's incumbent president Lula da Silva finished second behind Flavio Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential election. Because neither man received at least 51% of the vote, a run-off…
  • Protest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    French Youth Rise Up Against Racism, Austerity, and the Rising Right Wing
    09 Oct 2026
    Students in France are engaging in mass protests. Hundreds of them have been arrested and injured by police, and many schools are closed. Annick Metefia joins us from Paris. She is a member of the…
  • x
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dimitri Lascaris
    The Time for Polite Protest Is Over | Ajamu Baraka & Dimitri Lascaris
    07 Oct 2026
    Ajamu Baraka of the Black Alliance for Peace joins Dimitri Lascaris on BettBeat Media for a conversation about something Western publics have not yet come to terms with — the fact that resistance to…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Mamdani and the Zionist Shakedown
    07 Oct 2026
    Progressive candidates rarely remain so after winning public office. Zohran Mamdani is no exception, but his capitulation to New York zionists angered his supporters, and the people he hoped to…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us