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
  • omnibus

12th Man
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
11 Feb 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Where’s The 12th Man—

All 137.6 decibels—

For Mumia and Maroon?

 

12th Man

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

From “Yes, we can” to The 12th Man

The 1%’s calling all the power plays—

Bootlegging, blitzing, sacking our daze…

 

Sunday we sat slurping beer,

Gobbling pizza and buckets

Of chicken like madmen, ‘til

Heartburn and boredom set

In, ‘til The Questions came

Whizzing past like pockets full

Of cherry red challenge flags:

 

Where was The 12th Man

Shrieking, screaming, loud

As an Aircraft carrier’s flight

Deck for Marilyn Buck?

 

Where was The 12th Man

Shouting full-throated,

Loud as Apache and

Blackhawk Helicopters

For Herman Wallace?

 

Where’s The 12th Man—

All 137.6 decibels—

For Mumia and Maroon?

 

Where’s The 12th Man—

Bursting eardrums for

Whistleblowers Manning,

Snowden and Assange?

 

Where’s the quarterback,

The field general, that

Comes up to the line

Barking: ANGOLA

ATTICA #77A4283

CUT-CUT-CUT?

 

Where’s the coach that

Will argue over calls like

Leonard Peltier? Or Hugo

Pinell and Albert Woodfox—

Four decades in bathroom-

Sized, windowless, torture

Chambers, cut off from fresh

Air, sunlight, Vitamin D

22-24 hours a day? Cruel,

Slow deaths, strip sacking

Spirits, bodies and minds of>

Political prisoners & prisoners

Of war who, game faces on

Against water hoses, cattle

prods, German shepherds,

Bullets and buckshot,

Took the field for us all

 

Quadruple, triple, double

Overtime, or sudden death,

This game’s been going

On too long—

Where’s the Terrible

Towels, the Lambeau Leap

Where’s the raucous carrying

On in the Dog Pound, boisterous

Behavior in the Black Hole, where’s

The Wall of Fame, Ring of Honor

Where’s The 12th Man for our

Political prisoners & prisoners of war?

 

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


  • Louisiana Workers Council
    Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and More
    28 May 2025
    This fact sheet, put together by the Louisiana Workers Councils, explains how Trump’s “big beautiful” budget bill cuts essential services and benefits for workers in order to give to the wealthy.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio May 23, 2025
    23 May 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X and the state of the political party that many Black people feel trapped in. We are joined by a guest in Libya who explains the lasting…
  • Richard Medhurst
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Independent Jourmalist Richard Medhurst Targeted by Western Governments Acting on Israel's Behalf
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Richard Medhurst. He is an independent journalist whose work has been severely impacted by state repression in the UK and Austria. He was arrested and detained in the UK in August 2024…
  • Malcolm X
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Malcolm X Legacy and Politics Today
    23 May 2025
    Anthony Rogers-Wright is a Black Agenda Report contributor and host of the WPFW program Full Spectrum, where Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest. They discussed the legacy of Malcolm X on the…
  • Libya
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    How the Libyan People Are Still Impacted By the U.S./NATO Destruction of Their State
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Dr. Abdelkarim Kashkar. He is a physician and author who writes about politics in Libyan newspapers. He joins us from Benghazi, Libya, to discuss how the United States impacts the people…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us