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 tongueâwhen a hero was needed to go toe-to-toe with Jim Crowâoutpoint Amerikkan
Apartheid in rings âround 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 movementsâwelts, warts, zits, imperfections and allâŚ
He came, Bojangles in boxing gloves, fighting
Shoulder to shoulder, side by side with Watts, Detroit, Newark, Montgomery millionsâ
Makers of history in anonymous gloryâŚ.
He came, defying grand dragon draft boards and
Speaking truth to peopleâAli 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 menâs wars; off killing, âservingâ
The worldâs greatest purveyor of violenceâmurderers 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
âBacklash Bluesâ âAinât No Viet Cong ever called me
N#$$%@!â
He came healing, practicing preventive medicine on
PTSD and suicideâŚHe came reinvesting tears of Black families in graduations and weddingsâmaking
Black Lives MatterâŚ
He came Coltrane, like the blues, âI ainât got no
Quarrel with them Viet CongâŚâ Cliff Notes on
Leninâs Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
II.
I sat silently on Facebook clicking red hearts
Emblazoned, âLOVEâ and occasionally writing
âRight onâ or âTEACHâ my â60s taught response
To righteous truth-tellingâI didnât want to write
Aliâs heroic deeds, simple words are Shakespearean,
Leaving us blind men and women foolâs errands of
Feeling an elephant and claiming deep grasp of its
NatureâŚintersectionality, binary Huxtabullshit to
âde-constructâ or âunpackâ
Aliâs a real role modelâno Shaq/Chuck shuckâŚ
No Nobel Peace Prize mass murderer; no prop
In hands of clownsâacrobats skillfully hoisting him and supporting the troops while dangling on the dick of the Drone Ranger!
Aliâs a real role model. His words and deeds stoked
Dream machines, made us think and believe we can run Miles and TraneâŚand be âThe Greatestâ at somethingâŚ
Raymond Nat Turner Š 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
"Eating elephant excrementâs a problemâsolidarityâs a solution âŚ" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
Government agencies in the state of Maryland are allowing real estate developers to disturb a sacred place of rest for enslaved people and their descendants. Organizers have continued to oppose theâŚ
The Democratic Party pulls out all the stops to maintain its base of Black voters - except push any policy that will improve their material conditions. Now that Kamala Harris has stepped into theâŚ
The state has put targets on the backs of left-wing independent media outlets it identifies as subversive. African Stream has been accused of being a Russian puppet in an age-old pattern ofâŚ
The U.S. plans to continue with this mission, despite Haitian and world opposition.
