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

What Would the Ancestors Say?
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
14 Nov 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop”

 

What Would the Ancestors Say?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I know

I know

I know...

Harriet Tubman didn't slide

In and out of the slave south

Nineteen times, $40,000 reward

Hanging over her head like a

Scimitar, or Samurai sword;

Medgar didn't die in his driveway

Like a dog put down in the pound;

Malcolm didn't die on floor

Of the Audubon Ballroom;

King didn't die on chitlin' curcuit

Balcony of the Lorraine Motel;

Fred didn't die in his bed, under

Hooves of Chicago death squads

For tomfoolery---nappy-headed

Foolishness--- Negroz shrinking

To plantation Rip Van Winkles

Hung over on Ol' Massa's

Jim Jones Juice (January '09)

The eve of world revolution...

 

I know

I know

I know...

She would be leveling her pistol,

Leaving at least a half dozen dead

Negroz, after commanding "Forward,

Or die!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be tongue-lashing

Negroz with his Harlem-tinged

Tough love: "You've been had,

You've been took, you've been

Hoodwinked, you've been bamboozled!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be intoning in African,

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop,

No, and I'm concerned that if you

Continue traversing this treacherous

Trail you're on, during the dark and

Difficult days ahead, not only will you

Not get to the mountaintop, you will

Find yourselves descending to depths

So low that it will require you taking an

Elevator up eighty-six floors; climbing

Forty flights of stairs to a sub cellar of

Sin, standing on a step ladder on your

Tiptoes, just to suck the Devil's dick---

 

No, I'm afraid I can't be your drum

Major on this one---

The drones must be stopped,

The satanic wars ceased, and

The barbaric killing of other peoples'

Babies ended---forever..."

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 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


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Criticize Clinton, but Beat Bush, Manning Marable, 1992
    25 Sep 2024
    Vote for Harris, because Trump. Vote for Clinton, because Bush. Manning Marable shows when it comes to right-wing Democrats, it’s deja vu all over again.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    US Shooting Itself in the Foot with Info Warfare in Africa
    25 Sep 2024
    US efforts to control information in Africa will ultimately backfire, says African journalist, author, and filmmaker David Hundeyin.
  • Mali independence day
    Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    Mali Commemorates 64 Years of Independence Amid Security Challenges
    25 Sep 2024
    Terrorist attacks illustrate the character of neo-colonialism in the 21st century.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Eating elephant excrement’s a problem—solidarity’s a solution …
    25 Sep 2024
    "Eating elephant excrement’s a problem—solidarity’s a solution …" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • People holding signs in support of Moses Cemetery
    Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR Contributor , Ari Gutman
    Maryland Supreme Court Decision Favors The Bethesda African Cemetery: Desecrators Could Face Potential Lawsuits
    25 Sep 2024
    Government agencies in the state of Maryland are allowing real estate developers to disturb a sacred place of rest for enslaved people and their descendants. Organizers have continued to oppose the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us