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


  • School Safety for Black Students
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    School Safety for Black Students
    05 May 2023
    Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. is an Executive-in-Residence for the School of Education at American University and a former superintendent of Alexandria, Virginia public schools.
  • Whither Black Voters in 2024
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Whither Black Voters in 2024
    03 May 2023
    The duopoly trap for the 2024 election has been set, but Black voters can refuse to step into it.
  • SPEECH: “I’ll Be Damned if I Go Back to Work Under Those Conditions!” Lucy E. Parsons, May 1, 1930
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: “I’ll Be Damned if I Go Back to Work Under Those Conditions!” Lucy E. Parsons, May 1, 1930
    03 May 2023
    A 1930 speech by Black anarchist and labor organizer, Lucy Parsons, recalls the radical origins of May Day.
  • Africans in the US are a Colonized People: A Comment on the Indictment of the African People's Socialist Party
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Africans in the US are a Colonized People: A Comment on the Indictment of the African People's Socialist Party
    03 May 2023
    Red Scares, McCarthyism, COINTELPRO, "Black Identity Extremists" are all indicative of how the colonized are treated by the state.
  • May Day and Workers’ Rights in Eritrea
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    May Day and Workers’ Rights in Eritrea
    03 May 2023
    The Eritrean people struggle against sanctions and warfare instigated by the US. They recognize their efforts on International Workers Day, May Day.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us