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

Hooked On Hopium
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Jun 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

There will be no replay of 2008’s greatest hits, but the reflux is debilitating in the extreme – for those who got hooked on Hopium.

 

Hooked On Hopium

by Raymond Nat Turner

*Look at the people –

I know you’re wonderin’ what they’re doin’

Crawlin’ ‘round the marble

Floors lookin’ for his

Feet, and the fire be-

Longing to Boeing,

And the other Big

Boys, Negroz have hit

Rock bottom, powerless

To admit they are

Addicts who will lie,

Steal, leave their babies

And homes in hands of

The Hope Man— even

Act as accessories

To murder— ever

Since that first hit, ’08.

 

*“Look at the people—

I know you’re wonderin’ what they’re doin’

They’re just standin’ there…

Caught up in the rap-

Ture of Hopium’s

Side effects:

Stupor, paralysis,

Heart palpitations,

Ringing ears, dry mouths,

Slurred speech, confused thinking,

Hallucinations,

Delusional, schizophrenic,

Suicidal behavior…

If symptoms persist,

Longer than 4 years,

Negroz must consult

Mental health professionals

Immediately and avoid

Operating heavy equipment,

Like tanks, helicopters,

Aircraft carriers,

Armored personnel

Carriers, or drones…

 

(*Based on Bobby Blue Bland’s Blues classic “I Pity The Fool”)

Raymond Nat Turner @ 2012 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


  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    DOGE— Department Of Grifter Enrichment
    07 May 2025
    "DOGE— Department Of Grifter Enrichment" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Brittany Friedman’s Book, “Carceral Apartheid”
    07 May 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Brittany Friedman. Friedman is assistant professor of sociology at the University of…
  • Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD
    Black Politics and Mutual Comradeship: A Manifesto
    07 May 2025
    From Gaza to Sudan to the streets of America, the oppressors of our time demand mass resistance. Not just protest, but an organized, unrelenting struggle. Black radical politics remind us that …
  • Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team
    Now is the Time for All Anti-Imperialists and All Justice Loving People to Stand Unequivocally in Defense of Burkina Faso
    07 May 2025
    The Black Alliance for Peace demands an end to U.S. and Western interference in Burkina Faso, the rejection of neocolonial policies in the Sahel, and a stance affirming Africans' rights to…
  • Maxwell Evans
    South Side Neighbors Want Housing Protections Before City OKs ‘Luxury’ Hotel Near Obama Center
    07 May 2025
    Community residents say that Chicago's City Council should pass a slate of housing protections centered on low-income renters instead of advancing plans for a hotel near the Obama Center site.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us