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 wonderinâ how I knew
Few are willinâ to perform for you?
I heard it through the grapevine
Also on TV, radio and onlineâŚ
I ainât A-listâ
F-list, maybe?
Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the
Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoosâ
Yet, Iâm willing to serve, sir:
Call it Patriot Act III!
Willing to audition, practice, rehearseâgratisâ
get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,
greasy fried chicken, like the good olâ daysâŚ
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
Iâm willing to get William Withers with you, sir:
Itâs my appointed duty
To let you use me
Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to meâ
âCause I wanna spread the news:
That if it trends this good gettinâ used
Come on, use me âtil you use me upâ
My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.
As part of our mission to supplement BARâs historical perspective, the Black Agenda Review examines the Harlem meeting and manifesto that shook the Black world, a century ago.
It wasnât led by lineage of Robert E. Leeâ it was nuts demanding healthcare for free! It wasnât a lynch mob, a putsch, or a coupâ what good does divisive descriptions do?
White supremacist culture is a permanent site of predatory consumption, extraction and violation.
The federal governmentâs stimulus payments and the role of black police officers were on your minds.
Racial capitalism is insidious and malleable, and can adapt to nearly any political context.
