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
šŸ–Øļø 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—

ā€˜Cause I wanna spread the news:

That if it trends this good gettin’ used

Come on, use me ā€˜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


  • Chinese "Police Stations" and War Propaganda
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Chinese "Police Stations" and War Propaganda
    19 Apr 2023
    The U.S. can shoot down balloons, call names, and claim that China has "police stations" in New York City. It cannot stop the decline of its own making as it engages in war propaganda theater.
  • MANIFESTO: A Call to Workers and Peasants of Curacao, 1932
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: A Call to Workers and Peasants of Curacao, 1932
    19 Apr 2023
    Reparations for slavery? What about imperialism? A 1932 statement on Dutch imperialism as the exploiter of the masses of CuraƧao suggests why.
  • The Tennessee Three speak in We
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    The Tennessee Three speak in We
    19 Apr 2023
                                                           ā€¦
  •  BAR Book Forum: Malcolm Harris’s Book, ā€œPalo Altoā€
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Malcolm Harris’s Book, ā€œPalo Altoā€
    19 Apr 2023
    This week’s featured author is Malcolm Harris. Harris is a freelance writer and the author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials and Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit: History Since the End of…
  • Modern Day Reconstruction and Tennessee's Expulsion of Black Lawmakers
    Jon Jeter
    Modern Day Reconstruction and Tennessee's Expulsion of Black Lawmakers
    19 Apr 2023
    The temporary expulsion of two Black Tennessee legislators was a reminder of why even a tiny semblance of Black political independence is feared and hated. The expressions of support from ā€¦
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us