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

Tuesday Takeout
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
08 Nov 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Terror Tuesday is what the White House calls the basement meetings at which the First Black President profiles and targets individuals and groups of people for summary assassination anywhere from Somalia to Standing Rock. Before Donald Trump even assumes the Oval Office, it's already the new normal.

Tuesday Takeout

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

The Commander has a menu:

Yemeni youth at an outdoor café

Grandmother, grandsons gardening okra

in Afghanistan

Hospital in Pakistan

Menu for us, too:

BP Seafood in Sauce of Crude

Gasoline Spill Soup

Bomb Train Tatar

Baked Buffoon’s overdone—

Stinks—like food poison on a plate;

PTS: Permission To Shudder,

Clinging to crimson combat boots

Of Golda-plated Iron Lady

Haliburton, Boeing, General Dynamic,

Monsanto, Exxon Chefs cut corners,

substitute cuts, pass off overpriced,

over-spiced, sodium-laden,

Empty calorie dishes as democracy

We have a menu too:

To our left, two doors down

Resistance Buffet—new dishes constantly—

Ain’t cheap—but all you can eat—filling,

stick to your ribs, seconds are cool—

Even thirds, fourths…of:

Lunch Counter Sit-in

Mass Meeting

Arab Spring Rolls

Tunisian Salad

Standing Rock Soup

Wildcat Strike

Ferguson Fries

Bus Boycott

Occupy/ Wisconsin Coffee

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016
All Rights Reserved

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. You can find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

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


More Stories


  • REVIEW: Radical Black Reading, 2023
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REVIEW: Radical Black Reading, 2023
    20 Dec 2023
    An end of the year radical Black reading list from the editors of The Black Agenda Review.
  • Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament logo
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Ajamu Baraka Report Back from the US Peace Council’s Peace Delegation to the People's Republic of China
    20 Dec 2023
    Ajamu Baraka reports back from the four-person delegation from the US Peace Council, where he serves on the Executive Committee, to Beijing and Shanghai China hosted by the Chinese People’s…
  • Flooding in Somalia
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Climate Profiteers Exploit Somali Suffering
    20 Dec 2023
    NGOs and other climate profiteers treat Somalia as a poster child for global warming.
  • Lucas de Lima and the cover of his book, “Tropical Sacrifice”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Lucas de Lima’s Book, “Tropical Sacrifice”
    20 Dec 2023
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Lucas de Lima. de Lima is Visiting Lecturer in English at Mount Holyoke College. His…
  • image from Attica Uprising
    Jon Jeter
    From Attica to Gaza, Why the Settler Colony Kills its Own
    20 Dec 2023
    The recent killing of three Israeli hostages in Gaza has elevated questions about the policies of the zionist settler state and the occupation forces. The cold callousness with which they have…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us