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

Buzzed In By Lewis
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Feb 2018
🖨️ Print Article

5 in the morning, ‘The Lewis Sawyer Experience’
early morning Boys Club in Papa Sawyer’s Cave:
My lick for Lewis, “Lewis Sawyer, is my lawyer—”
his classic chuckle-comeback, “Well, you’re in bad shape then!”
Poets and last words, “Well, David McBurney is my attorney…”
But Lewis was a bullhorn, shouting names of our Political Prisoners,
Prisoners Of War, languishing forgotten in gulags across imprisoned
nation. He put 59,000 watts beneath their wings,without fanfare—
While reminding us: we’re just in Minimum Security…

Being buzzed in to the Mother Ship by Lewis
felt safe, welcome—presence appreciated—in
Good hands, a trillion times more reliable than Allstate
Lewis was the first face I’d see at the station—
unerring source for five-star information

Warmth was his uniform; his smile his badge,
reflecting respect back like a mirror from the
Mountaintop: all the authority a badass Angel,
sweet scientist, who could handle ‘situations…’
Required; I emerged from ‘Lewis Sawyer Experiences’
with double shot expresso optimism

A modest, minimalist, Monk life-stylist—
Count Basie of Kindness—
Not a whole lot of notes there
but his voicings sung and swung;
Duke Ellington of Passion:
Things he loved, he loved madly—
speaking of love—Lewis was LOVE
Not a mushy, gushy, sentimental bubblegum LOVE
But, an I believe in you, when no one else believes LOVE
I honor your light, anything I can do to amplify it LOVE
As you stand on stage, I’ll sit in the audience LOVE
Anything you need early in the morning LOVE
Release your worry beads, I got your back LOVE
Harness your hardships, “too big to fail” LOVE

Let’s suppose that place
preachers speak of Sundays
Exists; suppose I make the cut—
I bet Lewis will be there buzzing me in… Lewis Sawyer:
Presente!

poetry

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report July 10, 2026
    10 Jul 2026
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the fascist, white supremacist organization, Patriot Front, and the meaning of their recent march in Washington on July 4th. But we begin with an update on the…
  • El Obeid
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    War in Sudan: Impacts on the Horn of Africa and West Asia
    10 Jul 2026
    The war in Sudan between government forces and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) backed Rapid Support Force (RSF) continues, and so does what experts call the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The…
  • Patriot Front in DC
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Opposing Patriot Front and White Supremacist Groups
    10 Jul 2026
    Daryle Lamont Jenkins is founder of One People’s Project, which seeks to combat and expose right-wing, white supremacist groups and individuals. He joins us from New Brunswick, New Jersey, to discuss…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    Black Alliance For Peace
    FIFA and the Red Card - A Special Bulletin
    08 Jul 2026
    FIFA and the USA are nothing more than corrupt institutions who rig, renege, and rationalize the fact that neither adheres to their own purported standards - whether it’s the so-called Declaration of…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Patriot Front and What Once Was Chocolate City
    08 Jul 2026
    The Patriot Front’s bold incursions into U.S. cities are a sign of their burgeoning strength and of the weakness of Black movement politics.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us