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

this year's coup
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
14 Mar 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Venezuela's fantasy president, Juan Guiado with co-sponsors President Marquez of Colombia and US vice president Mike Pence
Venezuela's fantasy president Juan Guiado

Who knew him
five days ago?
Today, he’s Play Dough—
President—
in handlers oily hands…
Brazen 1% switcheroo,
another king nobody knew—
rosy World Bank worldview
Championing the well-to-do…

Who knew they’d install him?
Or, just what they’d call him?
Maybe he’d be called “the law?”
Maybe he’d be crowned “Shah?”
Or—just for a sense of déjà vu—
Maybe “Mobutu” might do…
for a name in this year’s coup?

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Venezuela
poetry

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


More Stories


  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    An Electoral Victory Is Not the Defeat of Fascism: A Black Radical Perspective on the Democratic Party's Midterm Victories
    04 Nov 2026
    Democratic victories are a setback for Trump and the Republican Party, but not a defeat of the forces driving fascism.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Organizations and White Money, Glen Ford, 1975
    04 Nov 2026
    “It is clear that the availability of white money caused Black organizations to restructure themselves into fund-raising agencies.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Daniel Teklai
    Ethiopia–Eritrea Tensions: Is the Media Telling the Full Story?
    04 Nov 2026
    BAR Contributing Editor Ann Garrison joins Daniel Teklai to examine the reporting, competing narratives, and U.S. foreign policy interests surrounding the Ethiopia–Eritrea confrontation.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    AIPAC Going Dark Sheds New Light on the Derelictions of the Democrat Party
    04 Nov 2026
    AIPAC's decision to stop directly endorsing and funding candidates is merely a shift to dark money. Democratic Party leaders are completely in sync with AIPAC's goals and will not cut them out of…
  • Netfa Freeman
    The Inescapability of the Struggle for the African United Front In the U.S.
    04 Nov 2026
    African people in the U.S. must consolidate their myriad organizations into a united front. A U.S. revolution is impossible without first building local alliances among Black radical organizations…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us