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


  • Haitians Protest UN Occupation and Pending Foreign “Intervention”
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Haitians Protest UN Occupation and Pending Foreign “Intervention”
    19 Jul 2023
    Haitians protest oligarchic rule, UN occupation, and foreign military "intervention."
  • Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti
    Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    Black Alliance for Peace Once Again Calls on International Community To Reject U.S./U.N./CARICOM Plan for An Armed Intervention of Haiti
    19 Jul 2023
    All of Haiti's ills stem from interventions, invasions and interference in its affairs. The new call for a US/UN/CARICOM invasion is part of a long running plan to undermine the sovereignty of the…
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ampson Hagan
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ampson Hagan
    19 Jul 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Ampson Hagan. Hagan is Dean's Research Associate Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University. His article is “Coloniality of…
  • Playing ‘SCOTUS Says’ to death?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Playing ‘SCOTUS Says’ to death?
    19 Jul 2023
    Playing ‘SCOTUS Says’ to death?  
  • RFK, Jr.: It’s Not Genetics, It’s Racial Capitalism
    Jacqueline Luqman
    RFK, Jr.: It’s Not Genetics, It’s Racial Capitalism
    19 Jul 2023
    Black people were disproportionately impacted by the covid pandemic. The causes of the crisis were systemic, not genetic.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us