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

count ALL votes
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
27 Nov 2019
🖨️ Print Article
count ALL votes
count ALL votes

POW…POW…POW…POW…
My leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths

POW…POW…POW…POW…
MY leaders were voted
out of office with
hot lead ballots: red
runoffs in driveways, beds,
ballroom floors, on balconies,
and college campuses.
Mentioning the masked man
the same breath’s an affront!

Now, all that remains
are sleazy senators,
corrupt congressmen—
strings showing through their
Brooks Brothers suits; as
the market’s invisible hand,
up their asses, moves
their mealy mouths—
POW…POW…POW…POW…
count ALL the muthafukkkin’ votes…

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

Black Misleadership Class

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


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Black Faces in High Places Are Still Not Going to Save Us
11 November 2026
The recent midterm elections have brought more Black people to high elected office, but for 20 years, Black Agenda Report has warned
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
CHAPTER: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others, W.E.B. Du Bois, 1903
11 November 2026
“Mr. Washington represents in Negro thought the old attitude of adjustment and submission…Mr.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The Symone Sanders Minstrel Show Demonstrates the Desolation of the Black Misleadership Class
23 September 2026
Symone Sanders' interview with Hasan Piker exposed her as a bad-faith interlocutor who uses identity as a cudgel while remaining silent on the
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Hakeem Jeffries, Monkeys, Errand Boys, and Black Misleadership
09 September 2026
Hakeem Jeffries climbs the political ladder because he engages in dirty deeds with the world’s worst people.
Wolfgang Bronner
North Nashville's Reckoning: The Fight for Sovereignty in the Shadow of a Data Center
19 August 2026
Fisk University, an HBCU, is presenting a $400 million A.I. data center as progress for the North Nashville community.
x
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
"Real Talk" from Kamala Harris on the Voting Rights Act Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
04 August 2026
The evisceration of the Voting Rights Act is of great concern to Black voters.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Trash Panda Politics Guides the Black Misleadership Class’s Electoral Dumpster Dive
29 July 2026
The Congressional Black Caucus electoral strategy has turned the 2026 midterm elections into a dumpster dive for corporate interests and Zionis
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
In its Lynching of the Voting Rights Act, Did SCOTUS Just Do Us A Favor By Elucidating the Lies of “America?”
06 May 2026
The Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v.
Mark P. Fancher
Political Snobbery Delays Black Liberation
29 April 2026
The conditions are ripe for growing Black political consciousness, but revolutionary movements must broaden their reach to all sectors and clas
Anthony Rogers-Wright
Preserving the Legacy of Martin Luther King and The Black Radical Tradition Requires Saving Both from the Congressional Black Caucus More than from white moderates and white supremacists (Or, I said what I said)
21 January 2026
Preserving the Black Radical Tradition demands struggle not only against white supremacists, but also against the co-opted Black political clas

More Stories


  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    SADC Holds 44th Annual Summit in Zimbabwe as Regional Imperatives Mount
    21 Aug 2024
    Economic integration, peacekeeping and a burgeoning public health crisis take center stage in deliberations.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Pussy’s on the ballot— Again …
    21 Aug 2024
    "Pussy’s on the ballot— Again …" is the latest form BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Rogers-Wright
    Environmentally, There’s Not Enough Daylight Between Democratic Party Policies and Project 2025 to Fuel a Solar Panel
    21 Aug 2024
    Election season has sparked a frenzy of hysteria around Project 2025 and people are leaning on the Democratic party to stand as an oppositional force. However, just as with many other policies, the…
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    “Reflections on Parenting and Revolutionary Struggle”: An Interview with Steven Salaita
    21 Aug 2024
    “Reflections on Parenting and Revolutionary Struggle” is a space for parent-organizers to share their experiences and struggles with parenting. In this piece, Roberto speaks to Steven Salaita.
  • Jon Jeter
    Screams Without Words: How the White Settler Weaponized Sexual Violence Against Men
    21 Aug 2024
    Settler colonial states always include sexual violence as a function of their domination over the colonized population. The genocide in Gaza by Israel and the sadism it inflicts on the Palestinian…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us