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
  • bandar togel
  • maincuan
  • neko77
  • omnibus
  • raja slot
  • situs bandar togel
  • slot gacor
  • slot qris
  • slot zeus
  • slot777
  • slot88
  • stm88
  • stm88
  • winsgoal

For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
27 May 2020
🖨️ Print Article
For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)
For Breonna Taylor (And my Bry)

How I wish I could sing her name 
like Brother Ray or ‘Ree—
‘Cause Breonna Taylor’s real close 
to Bryana Turner to me

I wish I could sing her name 
like Abbey, Nina, or Big Paul—
Celebrating  the sunny
June home birth I recall…

I wish I could sing her name 
like Mahalia or Clara Ward—
Feeling my hand again
cutting an umbilical cord

I wish I could sing her name 
like Sarah or Natalie Cole—
But, the recorder reminds 
me that that’s not my role…

I wish I could sing her name 
like Lil’ Richard or Betty Wright—
Hearing Mingus’s ‘Haitian’ song 
that urges me to “Fight!”

I wish I could sing her name 
and other names, other towns—
Galvanizing Black Folks—and
fifty million John Browns…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.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

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
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
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
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.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?

More Stories


  • Africa in Review 2022, III: Mounting Challenges Require Long Term Solutions
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Africa in Review 2022, III: Mounting Challenges Require Long Term Solutions
    18 Jan 2023
    Peace accord in Ethiopia, COP27 at Sharm-el-Sheikh and the second continental public health summit portend much for the coming years.
  • Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    Ben Norton
    Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    18 Jan 2023
    Former DIA analyst Ana Belén Montes was imprisoned for 20 years for sharing intelligence with Cuba that helped it prevent US attacks and sabotage. Upon being released, she condemned the “suffocating…
  • Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    13 Jan 2023
    This week we have an update on the FBI raid and impending indictments against members of the Uhuru Movement, discuss what Damar Hamlin teaches us about the business of football, and discover that…
  • Omali Yeshitela and the FBI Attack on the Uhuru Movement
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Omali Yeshitela and the FBI Attack on the Uhuru Movement
    13 Jan 2023
    Omali Yeshitela is chairman of the African Peoples Socialist Party, leader of the Uhuru Movement, and the Black is Back Coalition. The African Peoples Socialist Party’s Uhuru House was raided by FBI…
  • Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    13 Jan 2023
    Garrett Bush is host of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, The Barbershop, and the Locked on Browns podcast. He joins us from Cleveland to discuss Damar Hamlin, the NFL player from the Buffalo Bills…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us