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

I’m no nuanced Negro, but…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Oct 2021
🖨️ Print Article
I’m no nuanced Negro, but…
I’m no nuanced Negro, but…

I’m no nuanced Negro, but…

 

I’m no nuanced Negro—never have

been—never will be. I’m a lower the

forks, pick up the pallet, put it on the

Truck, stack the boxes; scrub the toilet,

mop the floor—lunch bucket, gloves, steel

toe boot crowd—picket line lovin’ kind of fella.

 

But, lemme see if I may help you in my

crude, crass, class—black/white—My

wrong/right; 99%/1%—Binary,

bourgeois/proletarian terms. Lemme see

if my unvarnished, rough hewn style helps…

 

Would you dare trust Slick Willy and R. Kelly

chaperoning; Jell-low Puddin’ Man bartending

your daughters’, your granddaughters’, your

nieces’ Quinceañeras, Bat Mitzvahs, Sweet Six-

teen Parties? Would you trust Ms Maxwell with

supervising the sleepovers? Would you send pre-

teen sons and grandsons to the Sierras to play

War games with a platoon of priests?

 

Yet, you suspend suspicion for acts starring

Kentucky Turtle in Kabuki Theater—silly Sinema?

You suspend suspicion for theater featuring Schmo

Munchkin-Schmo Biden-Madame Speaker slapstick…

 

You suspend suspicion, finding yourselves bamboozled

by special effects; had by stuntmen—corporate stickup

artists…

You suspend suspicion, see yourselves suckered by hollow

Heists…By artificial intelligence of Lilliputian politicians

on Wall Street strings screaming, “Hands up—

to the debt ceiling—this is a stickup, stupid muthafukkkas!”

 

 

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
 

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;  BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at:  

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund

PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

Black Liberation

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Gambling Man
10 June 2026
Even though the table’s tilted; the dice are loaded;and the cards are marked; even though light-fingered
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Co-Founder of Black Liberation Army, Reflects on the Legacy of Assata Shakur and Revolutionary Sacrifice
03 June 2026
On May 30, 2026, a Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Assata Shakur was held at the Riverside Church in New York City.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Malcolm X and Human Rights in the Time of Trumpism: Transcending the Masters Tools
20 May 2026
This piece was originally published in Black Agenda Report i
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
That Sunday morning Mom cried …
20 May 2026
I.I awakened early that Sunday morning. Seized time fortalking, that Sunday morning. Time for connecting.
Mark P. Fancher
Political Snobbery Delays Black Liberation
29 April 2026
The conditions are ripe for growing Black political consciousness, but revolutionary movements must broaden their reach to all sectors and clas
Mark P. Fancher
When Black People are Xenophobic They Risk Black Deaths in Iran
25 March 2026
Black youth fed xenophobia instead of international solidarity become military pawns who risk their own lives and their people's libe
Mark P. Fancher
A Role for Africans In Exile: “Revolutionaries at Large”
21 January 2026
Africans in the U.S. must weaponize their position and sabotage imperial projects from the inside.
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Dara Baldwin’s Book, “To Be a Problem”
08 October 2025
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Frank Chapman
How the Enemies of Our Movement Are Using the Kirk Assassination
24 September 2025
Charlie Kirk's assassination has become the pretext to accelerate a pre-existing fascist agenda, targeting a broad spectrum of forces, from lef
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Solidarity Against ICE and the Entire State Apparatus
11 June 2025
Popular resistance against the Trump administration in Los Angeles and other cities is a very positive

More Stories


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    STATEMENT: Without Immediate Intervention, the Last Reporters in Gaza Will Die, Agence France-Presse/Société de Journalistes, July 21, 2025
    23 Jul 2025
    “Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts…but none of us remember seeing a colleague die of hunger.”
  • Becca Renk
    46 Years On, Nicaragua’s Youth Still Lead the Revolution
    23 Jul 2025
    Celebrating 46 years of revolution, Nicaragua demonstrates that it is possible to respect its heroes and also venerate its youth. Following years of cultivating leadership in its young people, the…
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Poverty and Declining Real Wages in America: Philadelphia Municipal Strike Highlights Worsening Plight of the Working Class
    23 Jul 2025
    An eight-day strike by municipal employees in Philadelphia disrupted the operations of one of the largest cities in the United States amid systematic attacks on the interests and status of working…
  • Horace Campbell
    The Fraudulent Peace Accord between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda signed in Washington DC, June 2025
    23 Jul 2025
    Campbell interrogates the recent DRC-Rwanda peace accord brokered in the US which he terms fraudulent; and poses the question: can the US and Qatar support peace in Africa amidst the militarization…
  • Caitlin Johnstone
    AOC Is a Genocidal Con Artist
    23 Jul 2025
    She’s actively stopping American politics from moving any further left than the nightmare we see before us.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us