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

chief
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
02 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Watts Rebellion, Los Angeles 1965
Watts Rebellion, Los Angeles 1965

one of those sweltering
summer nights, City of
Angels, run by devils…
Cruising Imperial Highway
heading westbound to the water
when a newsflash interrupted
Atlantic, Stax, Motown blasting

Who was driving? I do not recall.
Anyway, we pulled off the road,
stopped the car. And, in language of
Testi-lying, alighted from the vehicle’s
passenger side making threatening motions—
Happy Dancing, screaming at the top of our
lungs— “…Nigras acting like a barrel of monkeys…”
Chief Parker died.

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

LAPD chief William Parker, 1905-1966

poetry
policing
Los Angeles

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


  • Noah Hurowitz
    Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say
    22 Jul 2026
    The human rights groups’ suit came as the Trump administration vowed to destroy the International Criminal Court entirely.
  • John Parker
    Supreme Court targets Voting Rights Act of 1965 – denying justice and peace
    22 Jul 2026
    The fight for the ballot has always been tied to a wider war against Black political power, against workers, against the people paying for empire abroad and austerity at home.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 17, 2026
    17 Jul 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the Supreme Court ruling that ends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants. But we begin with South Africa and discuss the origins of xenophobic…
  • South Africa
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Anti-Immigration Movement in South Africa
    17 Jul 2026
    What is behind this South African movement that drives immigrants out of the country? We are joined by Nairobi-based political writer and strategist Clinton Nzala, who provides analysis on the…
  • Haitian flags
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Trump Administration Ends TPS for Haitians
    17 Jul 2026
    On June 25, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians would end. What does this ruling mean for the more than 350,000 Haitians living…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us