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

Malcolm X Tic-Tac-Toe in the Age of…Austerity?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 May 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer

 

Malcolm X Tic-Tac-Toe in the Age of…Austerity?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Vertical, diagonal, horizontal moves

Of Malcolm X, martyr, giant, live on

Like simple grid, paper and pencil games

Of Noughts and Crosses, 3-in-a-row—

Tic-Tac-Toe in the age of… Austerity

 

X, like exciting, expanding, extending,

X, like exalting, exemplary, example,

Excelling, exceeding— revolutionary as

Exponential, unlimited—far as you dare!

 

O, as in hollow, phony, posture, nothing!

O as diversion, like COINTELPRO, Psy-

Op or false consciousness like blue-collar

Workers masquerading as middle-class!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Africom boots on the Congo

Banksters bagging big dough

Mother Africa their hoe

A peculiar quid pro quo

Slaves cheering status quo

Their beer full of GMO—

Madison Avenue mojo!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Negroz go pianissimo

Fiery X’s blocked by O,

Rich white house Negro,

Attorney Generalissimo

Super of Guantanamo

Teachers rise against O

Working-class Tic-Tac-Toe!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2013 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


  • DOCUMENT: Resolutions Passed by the Fourth Pan-African Congress, New York City, 1927
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DOCUMENT: Resolutions Passed by the Fourth Pan-African Congress, New York City, 1927
    01 Jun 2022
    The Fourth Pan-African Congress in New York in 1927 was the first held in the Americas, and the first organized by women.
  • Notes from Wartorn Ethiopia, Part 5
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Notes from Wartorn Ethiopia, Part 5
    01 Jun 2022
    Ann Garrison ends her reporting from the Horn of Africa with updates on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the conflict between Ethiopia and the TPLF.
  • Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
    01 Jun 2022
    Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic of rifles (for Uvalde and other schools…)
  • “The connections between policing and militaristic assault on the world are endless”: An Interview with Julian Akil Rose
    Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose
    “The connections between policing and militaristic assault on the world are endless”: An Interview with Julian Akil Rose
    01 Jun 2022
    BAR Book Forum editor Roberto Sirvent and Julian Akil Rose discuss community organizing, Black Queer Feminism, the struggle for police and prison abolition, and an end to militarism.
  • Witnessing and Making History: On Observing the 2022 Presidential Elections in Colombia
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Witnessing and Making History: On Observing the 2022 Presidential Elections in Colombia
    01 Jun 2022
    "From May 26 to May 31, I was in Cali, Colombia serving as an election observer with an international delegation of mostly Black women. This is a preliminary report."
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us