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

Gunmen
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
04 Apr 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Stephon Clark's grandmother
Stephon Clark's grandmother

Hm, March 18th… my Mother’s birthday… I
heard lead bees stung the young man’s
Back, severed vertebrae, collapsed his lung,
left his arm bits of bone…on a ruby red river

Tear droughts betray me, though
Another Mother’s son was stolen—not
“Lost.” Though he didn’t “pass away”
on Disney sets of sci-fi
Where pigs fly
in firing squad formations,
under color of law, as
Gunmen—rerun-men:
Raising right hooves, testi-lying
about muted body-cams and
Special effects, puffing up Black men
as Hulk; Transmuting them into Black
Magic stunt men, simultaneously running
Away and Moonwalking “toward officers—”
Superman metallurgists, sorcerers turning
Wallets, candy bars, car keys, phones into guns…

The Town Crier, Raymond Nat Turner © 2018 All Rights Reserved

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Reese Piece…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Reese Piece…
15 April 2021
Salute to City of Angels’ son! He wrote, he wrote, he wrote And he wrote… Ramparts, The Progressive, The
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
27 January 2021
Everybody’s wild ‘bout this ‘new’ dance craze— this lewd, crude dance called “The 1st 100 Daze…”
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
20 January 2021
Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots, overthrowing Black elected officials and Massacring those that VOTED for them— 
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
13 January 2021
“It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation
Think…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Think…
06 January 2021
Think of peoples having the most tanks, the most drones, the most missiles, bombs, aircraft carriers, 

More Stories


  • MLK outside Riverside Church
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Ban the War Criminals from King Day Celebrations
    10 Jan 2024
    Most Martin Luther King birthday celebrations are tawdry displays of political cynicism and cooptation. The people must recapture the day from war criminals and their Black misleadership puppets
  • Haiti
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Haiti: A Black Revolution Will Repeat Itself, 1966
    10 Jan 2024
    On the 220th anniversary of Haitian independence, we reprint the speech given at the first Solidarity Conference of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America by Haitian revolutionary, Paul…
  • Gavin Newsom
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Gavin Newsom: Zionist in Waiting
    10 Jan 2024
    The Democrats' rising star Gavin Newsom offers more of the same: Zionism and militarism.
  • Ralph Poynter
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    When I Grow Up…
    10 Jan 2024
    "When I Grow Up" is the latest work from BAR's poet-in-residence.
  • Nessette Falu and her Book, “Unseen Flesh”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Nessette Falu’s Book, “Unseen Flesh”
    10 Jan 2024
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their books. This week’s featured author is Nessette Falu. Falu is an Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us