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


  • Cornel West: Palestine Is a “Taboo Issue Among Certain Circles in High Places”
    Azad Essa
    Cornel West: Palestine Is a “Taboo Issue Among Certain Circles in High Places”
    03 Mar 2021
    West, considered one of America's foremost intellectuals, said he is confident that it is his criticism of Israel that cost him tenure at Harvard.
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    03 Mar 2021
    This week the blackout in Texas, the recent film on Fred Hampton, and Democracy Now’s international coverage were on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Short Meditations on Christina Sharpe’s "In the Wake" 
    Imani A. Wadud
    BAR Book Forum: Short Meditations on Christina Sharpe’s "In the Wake" 
    03 Mar 2021
    We adapt to make life livable, to uplift ourselves, and through us we show our community that we are prepared for the mysteries of what the day will bring.
  • BAR Book Forum: Asma Barlas’s “Believing Women in Islam”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Asma Barlas’s “Believing Women in Islam”
    03 Mar 2021
    This book focuses on whether discrimination and violence against Muslim women are sanctioned by the Qur’an, as critics of Islam allege.
  • How Should Revolutionaries Relate to this Film? 15 Lessons from Judas and the Black Messiah
    Joseph G. Ramsey
    How Should Revolutionaries Relate to this Film? 15 Lessons from Judas and the Black Messiah
    03 Mar 2021
    Let’s not allow our revolutionary wish-list to keep us from appreciating the ways this film intervenes—with force and clarity—in our present American political discourse.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us