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 My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Sep 2021
🖨️ Print Article
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)
For My Friend Keasley (Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

For My Friend Keasley

(Autumn and E-Crew, 25/22)

I.

In my mind—and sometimes

sub-vocally—I say his name 

almost every day.

You see, I call my wallet, “Wally 

Gator;” my keys, “Keasley Jones.”

I don’t leave home without them—

A memory trick for remembering

things essential.

II.

Moist morning air burns off into a mild

Mediterranean climate; quiet confidence;

soft spoken humility; Artist’s sensitivity…

and walks in Modesty’s moccasins, Compassion’s

cape, Humility’s tights—and does good deeds sans 

Fanfare.

Call him Keasley Jones. Go-to-guy for all things

Science. Suave wiseguy with Whole Earth solution 

catalogue. The dude I consulted when fantasizing

Nature ventures.

Hands on superhero masquerading as under-

achiever; Sipping Stanford, Odwalla and other 

Brands—before mergers and acquisitions. Be-

fore hitting his Pit Pony Hey-

day. Before managing as Swiss Army Knife of 

publishing!

I remember him lending his height, helping

hang photos, posters and shadowboxes on

virgin Freight & Salvage walls: Celebrating 

20 years of UpSurge!

I remember unanticipated appearances at

Gigs—sage smile, bent down, semi-squat hug;

I remember messages 2 weeks before his

Death asking if I still needed dental work—

I remember his generous response…Flagged

“For poetry and dental work.”

III.

I beg my ‘white’ people—my Euros—forget a-

bout being like Mike, Oprah—or even John 

Brown.

Walk in Keasley’s moccasins a minute— 

now and then, here and there…Try

Reinventing yourselves as woke *Prison Radio

Mensches—Assistant Saints like him! Refuse

to turn blind eyes of sand-buried heads away 

from concertina wired walls of concentration

camps; guard-towered gulags—violent hellholes 

of endless torture… 

Paddle in Keasley’s kayak a minute— 

now and then, here and there… Try

Scouting downstream hungry, unhoused, hurricane-

ravaged peoples having less than you can imagine…

IV.

November 6, 2019 I wrote on Facebook:

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Keasley Jones, and

best wishes for many, many, many MORE…"

Then I perused his LinkedIn titles and skills and

noticed the one not listed that I’m most missing:

Friend… 

 

*Besides serving as Prison Radio’s Publishing Consultant and Office Manager for several years, Keasley was also part of the Peachpit Press/Addison-Wesley team that published Mumia Abu Jamal’s 1995 book, Live From Death Row.

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

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

Prison Radio

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


More Stories


  • Justice was served from Warfare States’ gaslit woks
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Justice was served from Warfare States’ gaslit woks
    29 Apr 2021
    Justice was served sweet and sour in pepper spray soup—tear- gas gumbo—tears mixed with milk and milk of magnesia in crimson curry sauce; Served from warfare states’ woks on
  • The Class Collaboration of “Justice” 
    Erica Caines
    The Class Collaboration of “Justice” 
    29 Apr 2021
    After the guilty verdict, the clarity that was collectively growing became squandered with the words “it’s not justice, it’s accountability.”
  •  Reflections on Cuba’s Black Radical History, Revolutionary Health, and Grassroots Media
    Semassa Boko and Jeanette Charles
    Reflections on Cuba’s Black Radical History, Revolutionary Health, and Grassroots Media
    29 Apr 2021
    It is vitally necessary to bridge the gap in knowledge and dismantle US misinformation campaigns against Cuba’s realities for international English-speaking audiences.
  • Compliance Will Not Save Me
    Ibram X. Kendi
    Compliance Will Not Save Me
    29 Apr 2021
    American policing is defended as good despite its unmatched amounts of lethal violence.
  • Notes From the Underground
    Scott McLernee
    Notes From the Underground
    29 Apr 2021
    Richard Wright’s 1942 novel was testing the limits of what the white novel-reading public would have found imaginable.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us