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

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jan 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Word is that president-elect Donald Trump still has performance openings for next week's inaugural. In the selfless and noble spirit of public service, our poet kindly offers his own services, and anxiously awaits a response from Rump tower.

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Bet you wonderin’ how I knew

Few are willin’ to perform for you?

I heard it through the grapevine

Also on TV, radio and online…

I ain’t A-list—

F-list, maybe?

Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the

Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoos—

Yet, I’m willing to serve, sir:

Call it Patriot Act III!

Willing to audition, practice, rehearse—gratis—

get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,

greasy fried chicken, like the good ol’ days…

Apply a plastic smile, applaud on cue, shuffle, shake hands with

Strong-arm Williams, Sheriff Stephen Judas Clarke, Thom-ass

Clarence, and other warlike Bassackwards Tribal leaders

I’m willing to get William Withers with you, sir:

It’s my appointed duty

To let you use me

Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to me—

‘Cause I wanna spread the news:

That if it trends this good gettin’ used

Come on, use me ‘til you use me up—

My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. 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


  • Blacks May be Bearing the Brunt of Covid-19, But Access to Data is Limited
    Elizabeth Cooney
    Blacks May be Bearing the Brunt of Covid-19, But Access to Data is Limited
    08 Apr 2020
    The feds don’t keep racial data on the coronavirus, but local reports show Blacks are dying at multiple the rates of whites in some cities.
  • In 1918 and 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics
    Soraya Nadia Mcdonald
    In 1918 and 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics
    08 Apr 2020
    A century ago, In cities across the nation, black people struck by the flu were often left to fend for themselves.
  • Moral Leaders Demand Coronavirus Relief for Most Vulnerable
    Jessica Corbett
    Moral Leaders Demand Coronavirus Relief for Most Vulnerable
    08 Apr 2020
    The relief package “leaves out the majority of homeless, undocumented immigrants, the disabled, and anyone too poor to have to file taxes,” says the Poor Peoples Campaign.
  • Trump Sends Gun boats to Venezuela While the World Partners to Fight a Deadly Pandemic
    Vijay Prashad, Paola Estrada, Ana Maldonado and Zoe PC 
    Trump Sends Gun boats to Venezuela While the World Partners to Fight a Deadly Pandemic
    08 Apr 2020
     The Trump administration has used the fabricated narco-trafficking charges against Maduro and other officials as an excuse to intensify pressure on Venezuela.
  • Public Health? Anyone? Twelve Ways to Avoid Talking About Capitalism
    Philippe Gendrault
    Public Health? Anyone? Twelve Ways to Avoid Talking About Capitalism
    08 Apr 2020
    The failure of the American public health delivery system facing the Covid-19 is a socio-political and ideological failure born from the intrinsic contradictions of contemporary capitalism at large
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us