by Raymond Nat Turner
Livin’ on nothin’, while hunger works full time
No wonder, some brothers stumble into crime.
The Unemployment Question(s)
by Raymond Nat Turner
Licking bitter flaps on unemployment envelopes
somewhere under the rainbow
Lies
true hues
in bright Red,
Black
and dark Blues:
Drawin’ unemployment’s like drawin’ straws
Drawin’ unemployment’s like drawin’ straws
We come up short under rich folks’ laws.
Livin’ on nothin’, while hunger works full time
Livin’ on nothin’, while hunger works full time
No wonder, some brothers stumble into crime.
And the rich cry, “...crime, crime, crime” every day
And the rich cry, “...crime, crime, crime” every day
While cocaine’s trafficked by the C-I-A.
We been slavin’ fo’ the mastahs and what we git?
We been slavin’ fo’ the mastahs and what we git?
Stack-o-papers to fill out, askin’ dumb shit!
“State here the reason you’re out of work.”
“Answer the following then report to the clerk.”
“Will you accept work in your usual trade?”
“What’s your income with benefits paid?”
“Do you own a farm, or a ranch?”
“Do you have a savings? What branch?”
“Did you look for work all this past week?”
“Where did you go, with whom did you speak?”
“Are you a citizen of the U.S.?”
“If answering ‘No’, then why not ‘Yes’?”
“Have a seat and wait to be seen”
“Any questions about what we mean?”
“Anyone in line who voluntarily quit?”
“Step out — go over there and sit”
“Sorry, you can’t be seen until ten —”
“Provided, you fill this out for WIN...”
We been slavin’ fo’ the mastahs and what we git?
We been slavin’ fo’ the mastahs and what we git?
Appointment
with
revolution
When we fit…
The Fourth Pan-African Congress in New York in 1927 was the first held in the Americas, and the first organized by women.
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…)
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.
"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."
