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
  • omnibus

Camera and Pen
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 May 2022
Camera and Pen
A mural dedicated to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the streets of Gaza. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

                                                                                              Camera and Pen  

                                                                      (for Shireen Abu Aqleh and all truth-tellers)

                                                                “I pray you’ll be our eyes/And watch us where we go/

                                                                   And help us to be wise/In times we don’t know…”  

                                                                            —David Foster; Carole Bayer Sager

I.

New world’s birthing, crowning; Laboring
frantically— Truth-tellers, whistleblowers,
journalists— its fearless
Midwifes.

Warning us: The world can’t wait… Cannot sustain
Unsustainable warfare states
Warning us: Stretch stiff, atrophying dream muscles—
Seek antidotes for lethal circuses of strongmen, fat-cats,
Warlords, war-profiteers, bloodthirsty jackals, slimy
fossil Fools…

Our precious truth-tellers, whistleblowers, journalists hurl
themselves in crosshairs of snipers’ scopes. Close
distances between brains and hearts and assassins’
silencers.

Offer up loins, livers, guts to embassy butchers. Sip tea
with a little poison so that we may know… “What’s Goin’
On?”

So that we may know…precious truth-tellers, whistleblowers,
journalists…Never know when two men on motorcycle arrive,
Making good on thousands of threats. Never know when the
elevator door opens for the last time…

Camera and pen original sin—punishable by death— 55
slaughtered south of the border…And 46 slaughtered by
apartheid state agents…And 20 by czarist
carnage…And…

Silence: the sound of gangster states. Darkness: their view.
We ‘know' what they tell us of Desert Shield. Desert
Storm; Special Military Operation; mowing the grass; Cast
Lead;Iraqi Freedom—And other Orwellian operations
Mengele medicine men secretly perform on peace-loving
peoples…

II.

Jesus may have had his eye on the sparrow; but the 20yr old’s
Eye is on the glass.
He sees the world through his scope. She’s math.Wind. A dot.
The raid her trap. He watches; waiting in sand with rifle nick
named “Gritty Golda.”

Loner. Few friends. Below average kid. 8 weeks of sniper school.
Robot programmed to hate; to kill. Several weeks more of precision
shooting. 100 meters. 200 meters. A mile or more… Attention to
detail.

Enemy—not sister; niece; aunt; daughter; Mother—appears in his cross
hairs. Feminine neckline between helmet and vest. Two second flight—
crimson aerosol— “Without warning, without remorse…” as he was
Taught. Doing his job. Following orders.…His 54th confirmed kill.
“Thank you for your service…”

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Palestine
Shireen Abu Akleh

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


Related Stories

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says that calling Israel an apartheid state is anti-Semitic. 
Ali Abunimah
EU Says It’s Anti-Semitic to Call Israel an Apartheid State
25 January 2023
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says that calling Israel an apartheid state is anti-Semitic. 
BAR Book Forum: Lara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi’s Book, “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation”
Roberto Sirvent
BAR Book Forum: Lara Sheehi and Stephen Sheehi’s Book, “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation”
14 December 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Israel’s True Target Is Not Islamic Jihad
Ahmed Abu Artema
Israel’s True Target Is Not Islamic Jihad
10 August 2022
Israel's periodic and deadly attacks on Gaza continue.
War on Palestine:  The Battle for Masafer Yatta
Chelli Stanley
War on Palestine: The Battle for Masafer Yatta
15 June 2022
A twenty year battle in Israeli courts ended with a decision to evict more than 1,000 Palestinians from Masafer Yatta.
German Police Attack Palestine Supporters on Nakba Day
Ali Abunimah
German Police Attack Palestine Supporters on Nakba Day
18 May 2022
The city of Berlin, Germany banned pro-Palestinian protests on May 15, Nakba Day. But solidarity with Palestine could not be stopped.
Al Jazeera’s Iconic “Voice of Palestine” Killed During Israeli Raid
Ali Abunimah
Al Jazeera’s Iconic “Voice of Palestine” Killed During Israeli Raid
11 May 2022
Apartheid Israel continues its shameful tradition of targeting journalists. Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh is the latest person clearly identif
Moroccans Protest Normalization of Ties with Israel
Peoples Dispatch
Moroccans Protest Normalization of Ties with Israel
07 December 2021
Governments choose to make deals that often do not reflect the wishes of the people. Normalization of relations with Israel elicited p
Banning of Palestinian NGOs: How Israel Tries to Silence Human Rights Defenders
Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo
Banning of Palestinian NGOs: How Israel Tries to Silence Human Rights Defenders
23 November 2021
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is celebrated on November 29.

More Stories


  • The Editors
    BlackAgendaReport.org
    26 Oct 2023
    Find our work at BlackAgendaReport.org. Thank you.
  • Update on the Black Agenda Report Site
    The Editors
    Update on the Black Agenda Report Site
    24 Oct 2023
    Thank you for your patience as we overcome an unusual circumstance which impacted our ability to publish.
  • Deploying Kenyan Police in Haiti is Unconstitutional
    Willy Mutunga
    Deploying Kenyan Police in Haiti is Unconstitutional
    29 Sep 2023
    Kenya's decision to join a US led occupation of Haiti is an example of imperialism in Black face. According to a former Chief Justice the act is also a violation of Kenya's constitution.
  • Black Agenda Radio September 29, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 29, 2023
    29 Sep 2023
    In this week’s segment we discuss US policy towards African nations, Canada's revelations of Ukraine’s and its own connections with Nazis, and how the restriction on federal funds for abortion…
  • International Month of Action Against AFRICOM
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    International Month of Action Against AFRICOM
    29 Sep 2023
    Netfa Freeman is Co-Coordinator of the Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team. He joins us from Washington to discuss the 4th International Month of Action Against AFRICOM which kicks off with a…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us