by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
Our poet reflects on the life and enduring legacy of the people's champ, the greatest, Muhammad Ali.
Masses, Movements, Muhammad Ali!
by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
I.
He came like a Jack Johnson flashback, wrapped
In Gorgeous George game, mentored by Malcolm
He came, fancy footwork, flamboyant flurry of fists
And flaming tongueāwhen a hero was needed to go toe-to-toe with Jim Crowāoutpoint Amerikkan
Apartheid in rings āround the globe!
He came telling the world about brave
Children facing firehoses, fangs of snarling
German Shepherds, billy clubs, cattle prods,
And crackers with stars; He came as a mirror,
Face reflecting beauty of our mighty mass movementsāwelts, warts, zits, imperfections and allā¦
He came, Bojangles in boxing gloves, fighting
Shoulder to shoulder, side by side with Watts, Detroit, Newark, Montgomery millionsā
Makers of history in anonymous gloryā¦.
He came, defying grand dragon draft boards and
Speaking truth to peopleāAli Shuffling Black
Men out cul-de-sacs as cannon fodder; off bottom
Lines and balance sheets of war profiteers; off
Rope-a-Dope of rich menās wars; off killing, āservingā
The worldās greatest purveyor of violenceāmurderers of Malcolm, Medgar, Martin, Lumumba,
Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman and good men and women in the Philippines, Korea, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran; He came Nina-Langston-like
āBacklash Bluesā āAināt No Viet Cong ever called me
N#$$%@!ā
He came healing, practicing preventive medicine on
PTSD and suicideā¦He came reinvesting tears of Black families in graduations and weddingsāmaking
Black Lives Matterā¦
He came Coltrane, like the blues, āI aināt got no
Quarrel with them Viet Congā¦ā Cliff Notes on
Leninās Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
II.
I sat silently on Facebook clicking red hearts
Emblazoned, āLOVEā and occasionally writing
āRight onā or āTEACHā my ā60s taught response
To righteous truth-tellingāI didnāt want to write
Aliās heroic deeds, simple words are Shakespearean,
Leaving us blind men and women foolās errands of
Feeling an elephant and claiming deep grasp of its
Natureā¦intersectionality, binary Huxtabullshit to
āde-constructā or āunpackā
Aliās a real role modelāno Shaq/Chuck shuckā¦
No Nobel Peace Prize mass murderer; no prop
In hands of clownsāacrobats skillfully hoisting him and supporting the troops while dangling on the dick of the Drone Ranger!
Aliās a real role model. His words and deeds stoked
Dream machines, made us think and believe we can run Miles and Traneā¦and be āThe Greatestā at somethingā¦
Raymond Nat Turner Ā© 2016 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed NYC based poet and performance artist. You can find more of his work at www.upsurgejazz.com
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āProfessional soccer does everything to [destroy] that energy of happiness, but it survives in spite of all the spites.ā
