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


  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio December 6, 2024
    06 Dec 2024
    In this week’s segment, a British journalist gives an update on his case after being charged with violating the Terrorism Act of 2020. But first, we talk to Omali Yeshitela about the sentencing of…
  • Omali Yeshitela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Omali Yeshitela on the Uhuru 3 Sentencing and the Indictment of the U.S.
    06 Dec 2024
    Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party Omali Yeshitela joins us from St. Louis to discuss the federal case in which he, Penny Hess, and Jesse Nevel were recently convicted…
  • Richard Medhurst tweet
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Richard Medhurst Discusses the Terrorism Act and the Criminalization of Journalism
    06 Dec 2024
    Richard Medhurst joins us to provide an update on his case resulting from his arrest under the Terrorism Act and discuss the impact of repression on other journalists and international events.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Problem with Joe and Hunter
    04 Dec 2024
    The outrage surrounding President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden is not just about clemency for the relatively minor charges he was facing. The younger Biden has lived a life of great…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Can Negroes Afford To Be Pacifists? Robert F. Williams, 1959
    04 Dec 2024
    “Non-violence is a very potent weapon when the opponent is civilised, but non-violence is no match or repellent for a sadist.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us