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

Breathe the Bern…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Apr 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our poet in residence muses upon the collective madness engendered by the quadrennial presidential election.

Breathe the Bern…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Right around this time ‘left’ pundits and
Pontificators hitch worn star-spangled
suspenders to an ol’ mule and pretend they’re
Alcoholics— invoking the serenity prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things that I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

They claim theirs is the highest form of self-
discipline; like a form of Yoga, a sacred set of
Breathing exercises in 4yr-cycles—foundation of
their practice is regulation of oxygen to brain cells…

But it looks like the Hokey-Pokey:

You clamp your left nostril down,
Until it feels like you’ll drown…
You clamp your right nostril down,
Until your ‘hood’s like Jonestown—

Then you do the shit again in 4 yrs
As the wily 1% stokes your fears…
Set yourself back another decade
With the practicing of this charade…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • Journalists or Witch Hunters? Examining the New York Times’ Shameful Red Scare History
    Jasper Saah
    Journalists or Witch Hunters? Examining the New York Times’ Shameful Red Scare History
    12 Jul 2023
    Joseph McCarthy carried out his red scare with the help of establishment media like the New York Times. Its recent Sinophobic screeds follow the Biden administration narrative and are consistent with…
  • Black Agenda Radio July 7, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 7, 2023
    07 Jul 2023
    Glen Ford explained the end of affirmative action in 2013, CIA experiments on indigenous children and Black prisoners, and the Peoples' Senate builds its formation.
  • Glen Ford on the End of Affirmative Action
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Glen Ford on the End of Affirmative Action
    07 Jul 2023
    Black Agenda Report co-founder, the late Glen Ford, spoke to the Real News Network after another affirmative action ruling in 2013.
  • New Documents Link CIA to Medical Torture of Indigenous Children and Black Prisoners
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New Documents Link CIA to Medical Torture of Indigenous Children and Black Prisoners
    07 Jul 2023
    Orisanmi Burton is an assistant professor at American University’s Department of Anthropology.
  • Building the Peoples' Senate
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Building the Peoples' Senate
    07 Jul 2023
    Shannon Jones is a member of the Spirit of Mandela’s Peoples' Senate Coordinating Committee.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us