by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Since that November
Night in ’08, Negroz
Ain’t been straight…
On the Night Negroz lost their minds…
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Perhaps it’s the crack
I smoked, the lines
I snorted, the ludes
I dropped, the shit
I shot, the rot gut
I gulped on the A
Train hurtling uptown
That’s agitating me—
Perhaps I’m dating
Myself—lubricant in
Right hand—fantasizing
About yesteryears
African- Americans walked
Vertical like asymmetrical
Street soldiers, sacred
In tens of thousands,
Instead of slithering on red,
White and blue bellies,
Like silly putty-headed
Bamboozled babies—
Their un-fused Fontanel lobes
Parker Bros. playthings…
I recall with horror
That November night
Negroz lost their minds
As if they’d had a huge
Hit of Goebbels shit!
Eyes wide, brains fried
Frostbitten feet, freeze-
Dried tears, hallucinating…
Since that November
Night in ’08, Negroz
Ain’t been straight…
Somethin’ spellbinding about
Smoke & mirror Mc Daddy
Hawkin’ worthless “Yes,
We can” buttons and
T-shirts, counterfeit change
In trillion dollar deals
For carriers, cluster
Bombs, Hellfire Missiles,
As world champion
Purveyor of violence
Something bewitching ‘bout
Bankster bailouts and
Being in back pockets
Of Fortune 500
Pharmaceutical and
Insurance companies—
Somethin’ intoxicating
About clean coal ties,
Pipeline binding, ALEC,
The brothers Koch and
Trade agreements off-
Shoring jobs Negroz need!
I’m mad at Negroz,
Yet LOVE Negroz MADLY
I pray they grow up
& come down with some
Adult politics…
Malcolm X didn’t just fight for Black liberation—he waged war on empire itself. As U.S. militarism tightens its grip on Africa and beyond, his revolutionary internationalism burns brighter than ever…
Malcolm X understood that “oppressed peoples must commit themselves to radical political struggle in order to advance a dignified approach to human rights.” What’s needed is a bottom-up mass movement…
"A few lines for the Poet Ojenke..." is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
The Israeli army has intensified attacks on hospitals as part of the new operation, which aims to displace the entire population of Gaza.
The Trump administration opens a new ICE detention center in New Jersey’s biggest city and a hub for immigrant communities, earning a bold response from immigrant rights organizers.
