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

For Fancy Miss Nancy
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
19 Dec 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018

Guess who I saw
today, black and white photo,
Marching, Montgomery from
Selma, ‘65?

Guess who I saw
at my high school swingin’ the
Trio; urging us to stay in school?

Guess who I,
was privileged to sequence
a later CD for, late one night?

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
put the purr in whisper, with a sultry
Sound that could make subpoenas seem sensuous

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Appeared, sparkling, at the end of the
golden era—looking as good as she sounded—
Her face should grace
Buckeye State flags emblazoned
“There will never be another you…”

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Hovered earth— stunning hummingbird,
gorgeous humanitarian, giving the greatest
performance of her life, moments I loitered—
not seizing the time and asking, “When did
You leave heaven?”
Though, I think it was maybe ’37? I know she’s

Free Again…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Ariel Henry and William Ruto
    Rezo Nodwes
    Kenya Ignores Court Order to Join Occupation of Haiti
    07 Feb 2024
    Kenya’s police deployment to Haiti and the spurious claim of "reciprocity", knowingly and willfully promoted by Ariel Henry, William Ruto, and others, is in flagrant violation of the National Police…
  • Protester in support of the Alliance of Sahelian States
    David Broder
    African Unity Can’t Take Place on France’s Terms
    07 Feb 2024
    Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger pulled out of the West African economic union ECOWAS, in major blow to the regional integration project and rejection of Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to…
  • Area in Gaza after bombing
    Abdulla Moaswes
    The Epistemicide of the Palestinians: Israel Destroys Pillars of Knowledge
    07 Feb 2024
    The genocide in Gaza includes the calculated destruction of Palestinian intellectual labor and knowledge producing institutions, part of Israel's larger colonial strategy of epistemological…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio February 2, 2024
    02 Feb 2024
    In this week's segment we discuss abolishing slavery in the incarceration system, election year politics, and the recent attack on a U.S. drone base in Jordan.
  • Ray McGovern
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ray McGovern Analyzes U.S. Policy in the Middle East
    02 Feb 2024
    Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and Co-Founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), joins us from Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss an attack on a U.S. base in Jordan…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us