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

Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Jun 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Another June 1
(Photo: Twitter @EllenMBlalock)

                                                                                              Another June 1

 

Another June 1. And I’m

Here. Vertical. Grateful.

Thankful.

…Didn’t expect to see a score…

Another June 1. And I possess

Poetic License to

Try and Trane—Practice in Empire and

Golden States. Wow!

The poems are not perfect. Not precious.

Still TSA-ok. Still not worthy of banning

in Sunshine, Magnolia, or Lone Star States.

Another June 1. And I’m proud

that a Brooklynite now 99; former IBM—

Italian Business Men—employee christened me

“The Town Crier.” “The Peoples Poet” sobriquet

Garnered in L.A.

Another June 1. And I’m proud

The poems still have blistered feet. Are still lunch

bucket, hardhat, steel-toe. Are still for food chain folks—

Backs bent in fields.

Still for the sped-up, overworked crowd. Still for the

Shoe leather legislators—street heat senators—Good

Trouble-shooters of all hues/All seasons: Arab Spring;

George Floyd Summer; Strike-tober; Occupy/ones coming

Another June 1. And I’m proud

of metastasizing with Boss Tweet’s blitzkrieg—

‘His’140 character vowel movements. ‘His’ daily,

dirty bomb Psy-Op sorties ‘starting’ 2016.

Proud of resisting despair—dark migratory moods of

Family, friends, and community.

I’m proud the poems have short weaponized shelf lives!

Proud they are disposable. Proud they are urgent wound

Care poems. Use them! Toss them in the trash! Flush them

down your toilets! I promise they won’t clog drains or pipes…

 

Š 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

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 and PayPal.

Black arts movement
poetry

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
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
 BAR Book Forum: Damien M. Sojoyner’s Book, “Joy and Pain”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Damien M. Sojoyner’s Book, “Joy and Pain”
11 January 2023
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
POEM: There it is, Jayne Cortez, 2009
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: There it is, Jayne Cortez, 2009
19 October 2022
The late Jayne Cortez spits fire, reminding us of the need to fight, resist, organize, and unify to seize power.
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
23 June 2021
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs…” â€”Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
16 June 2021
“Ain’t no power like the power of the people— ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 

More Stories


  • Rodrigo DurĂŁo Coelho
    15 million Venezuelans enlist to defend their country amid U.S. threats, says ex-diplomat Carlos Ron
    29 Oct 2025
    He stresses, however, that the atmosphere is not one of panic despite the possibility of military aggression.
  • Pablo Meriguet
    Cuba denounces Trump admin pressuring countries to change their vote against the 62-year US blockade
    29 Oct 2025
    The Cuban foreign minister has stated that, in addition to diplomatic pressure, intimidation has been exerted on certain countries that condemn the economic blockade that Washington has maintained on…
  • Jemima Pierre and Mark Lamont Hill
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    'Leave us alone': Scholar Jemima Pierre on ending Haiti’s foreign occupation
    29 Oct 2025
    As foreign troops, private contractors, and international powers tighten their grip on Haiti, the country is facing one of the worst crises in its modern history. But who is really to blame? On…
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio October 24, 2025
    24 Oct 2025
    In this week’s segment, we focus on Africa. We hear about the Black Alliance for Peace Month of Action Against AFRICOM and about African governments that cooperate with the Trump administration's…
  • Protest in Africa
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    International Month of Action Against AFRICOM
    24 Oct 2025
    Netfa Freeman and Margaret Kimberley are among the Co-Coordinators of the Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us