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

For Fancy Miss Nancy
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
19 Dec 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018
Nancy Sue Wilson 1937-2018

Guess who I saw
today, black and white photo,
Marching, Montgomery from
Selma, ‘65?

Guess who I saw
at my high school swingin’ the
Trio; urging us to stay in school?

Guess who I,
was privileged to sequence
a later CD for, late one night?

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
put the purr in whisper, with a sultry
Sound that could make subpoenas seem sensuous

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Appeared, sparkling, at the end of the
golden era—looking as good as she sounded—
Her face should grace
Buckeye State flags emblazoned
“There will never be another you…”

…and you don’t know, you don’t know how
Glad I am that she
Hovered earth— stunning hummingbird,
gorgeous humanitarian, giving the greatest
performance of her life, moments I loitered—
not seizing the time and asking, “When did
You leave heaven?”
Though, I think it was maybe ’37? I know she’s

Free Again…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. 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.

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


More Stories


  • Reclaiming the Power of Rebellion
    Elizabeth Hinton, Derecka Purnell
    Reclaiming the Power of Rebellion
    26 May 2021
    The police as they exist today need to be abolished, there’s no question. “Diversity doesn’t change the fundamental dynamics of policing.”
  • Dr. Gerald Horne
    Against Left-Wing White Nationalism
    26 May 2021
    Much of what is called the “left” still insists that the American “revolution” of 1776 is “unfinished,” when history shows that white supremacy was the intended result.
  • BAR Book Forum: Michael Rothberg’s “The Implicated Subject”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Michael Rothberg’s “The Implicated Subject”
    26 May 2021
    Most people contribute to injustice not as direct perpetrators but as indirect participants who enable, perpetuate, benefit from, and inherit histories of violence and contemporary systems of explo
  • BAR Book Forum: C. Riley Snorton’s “Black on Both Sides”
    C. Riley Snorton
    BAR Book Forum: C. Riley Snorton’s “Black on Both Sides”
    26 May 2021
    The inhabitation of the un-gender-specific and “fungible” also mapped the affective grounds for imagining other qualities of life and being for those marked by and for captivity.
  • How Black Lives Matter Changed the American Conversation About Israel and Palestine
    Marya Hannun
    How Black Lives Matter Changed the American Conversation About Israel and Palestine
    26 May 2021
    The surge of attention to the Israeli occupation is unimaginable without last year’s “George Floyd” protests.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us