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

…In his head
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Mar 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head!

 

…In his head

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Headin’ downtown on the D train

The other day I overheard oration—

By a fella, to a fella, from a fella 51/50

“Mexicans takin’ our jobs; they hate

Our freedoms— but blurred lines,

Beyonce’s booty, NAACP Image

Awards, Robin Thicke & recovery

Jus’ roun’ the corner; smart phone,

Dr. Dre headphones lift me outta

Poverty; smart bombs protect my

Freedoms; I got 2,000 Facebook

Friends, a poke away, who gimme

My kidney & bone marrow transplant!”

 

Booming baritone thundering in

Harmony with the train, he continued

His melodious, rhythmic catechism,

“Since ’08 things been Great,” in his

Head, Dr. King’s Dream come true,

In his head! Black folks way better

Off, in his head, Rev. Wright was

Wrong, in his head! “Yes, we can,”

In his head, mo’ Black folks have

Homes since World War II, in his

Head! Mo’ Black wealth than ever

Before, in his head; fewer Black folk

Dyin’ fo’ they 70th, in his head; mo’

Black men goin’ to college than jail,

In his head, liars figure but figures

Don’t lie, in his head, in his head,

“Change we can believe in,” in his

Head, police stopped shootin’ us

Since that beer, in his head; we

Cool, long as Big Brother brown, in

His head! Oratory swelling like a

Dark cumulus cloud, lookin’ me

Dead in the eye, “This election the

Mos’ important election ever…”

 

“The rich say that every time,” I snapped.

He leapt up like a man possessed, banshee-

Rebel- wailing, “What, you ain’t votin’?

Nigger, get away from me, you is cra-aaa-zy!”

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved

 

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


More Stories


  • Biden's tweet about Syria
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Still Protects Jihadists in Syria
    13 Dec 2024
    BAR continues coverage of the collapse of the Syrian state with a look back at Black Agenda Report analysis from May 27, 2019. The late Glen Ford, then Executive Editor, analyzed the history of the U…
  • Jamarl Thomas
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    2024 Election, Hunter Biden Pardon, Uhuru 3 with Jamarl Thomas
    13 Dec 2024
    Margaret Kimberley recently appeared with Jamarl Thomas on his YouTube channel. They discussed the 2024 election, Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden, and the case of the Uhuru 3.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    War Propaganda and the Fall of Syria
    11 Dec 2024
    A succession of U.S. presidents have been committed to regime change in Syria. That long-held goal has been achieved in part through a sustained campaign of war propaganda.
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    A Discussion with Ajamu Baraka on People(s)-Centered Human Rights, a Framework Born of Struggle and Crisis
    11 Dec 2024
    The Black Alliance for Peace just launched its North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights. Ajamu Baraka and Margaret Kimberley discussed why this project is so necessary.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: France and the Colonial Roots of Black Citizenship, Maboula Soumohoro, 2021
    11 Dec 2024
    “How do you fight racism in a land where racism obviously exists, the far right is ascendent, but race is not accepted as a category?”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us