by Raymond Nat Turner
“In our marching shoes, yes, we can
Discover trails less traveled
Connecting us with sage spirits
Sampling James Brown with John
Brown”
If The Shoe Fits...
by Raymond Nat Turner
Shoe leather was once
Voting's egg, blood, its sperm...
Shoe's on the other foot, now
So, to vote, or not to vote
Is not the question---the
Commander even chided and
Derided us: Swap "bedroom
Slippers" for "marching shoes"
In our marching shoes, yes, we can
Click our heels like children
Catching burnt orange and ebony
Butterflies filled with freedom to fly
In our marching shoes, yes, we can
Conjure comets and name them
"Rebellion," "Underground," "Utopian,"
"Civil," "Survival" and celestial bodies coming...
In our marching shoes, yes, we can
Scale the Shangri-la where
Seventy-five year olds march like
Twenty-five year olds and
Twenty-five year olds orate like
Seventy-five year olds,shoulder
To shoulder striking, sitting-in,
Picketing, teaching and taking
Care of one another on filaments
Of shoestring budgets...
In our marching shoes, yes, we can
Discover trails less traveled
Connecting us with sage spirits
Sampling James Brown with John
Brown, disturbing the universe, questioning
Everything about a corrupt, rotten pyramid
Scheme stitched together with tear gas,
Bullets, bombs and LIES...
In our marching shoes, blisters and all,
We're the ones we've been waiting for---
Cast Prada, Nike, Reebok ballots
At bought and bossed footmen!
Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at Raymond (at) upsurgejazz.com.
(c) 2012 All rights Reserved
In St. James Parish, a zoning ordinance divides industrial development along racial lines.
Yahya Sinwar was a man who became a larger-than-life symbol of Palestinian resistance and struggle. Myths and rumors surrounded him in life and now in death but he did not need anyone, friend or foe…
As part of this research on grassroots economic projects toward Black Liberation, Austin Cole spoke with Nicholas Richard-Thompson about his community organizing, expanding definitions of…
Community leaders sign statement backing candidates supporting Gaza ceasefire and arms embargo against Israel.
Activists organizing against the militarized police training facility in Atlanta are facing new forms of repression.
