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

Meet me at Mary’s Place…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Mar 2021
🖨️ Print Article
Meet me at Mary’s Place…
Meet me at Mary’s Place…

“…he said if you can enjoy
A real nice affair
(Over at Mary's place—oh)
Then you'll make it
Your business to be right there…
(Over at Mary's place— oh)” 
—Sam Cooke

All her friends were brilliant.
Brilliant bakers, bus drivers, 
plumbers, poets, professors, 
lawyers, filmmakers, activists, 
organizers, students, writers,
guitarists gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room;
Where she’d wrestled Rumi
and sucked pomegranate
juice from every nano second

All her friends were brilliant.
Brilliant Native Americans, 
Armenians, Mexicans, Ethiopians,
Turks, Iranians, African-Americans,
Indians, Filipinos, Japanese and Jews
gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room:
roasting marshmallows of ‘race;’
herding truth; grappling with and
wrestling racism to a mauling draw

All her brilliant friends showed up at 
Mary’s Place* minus psychic body armor;
sans anti-‘white’ supremacy shields and
swords—And begging the question(s):
“When did Irish and Italian become
‘white?” “When did Jews become ‘white;’
when might Mexicans become ‘white?’”

They gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room
alerted by the clanging, jangling triangle— 
Her grub: fierce, uncured love! They washed it
down with cowboy coffee and shots of  brandied
Resistance; before filling their canteens from her 
spring of Solidarity…

They gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room—
Devout do-it-yourself sorcerer who gave less than a
“flying fuck” ‘bout blind haters disguised as ‘experts’

They gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room—
An organizer’s organizer—so systematized— 
so organized! Clipboards for writers without
hard surfaces; magic second and third calls
Transforming chip/dip/cheese food failures
Into internationalist horn of plenty feasts.
Her mystical signup sheets and lists made 
many hands, made setup, made breakdown, 
made cleanup magic ritual/spirit chatter/fun!

They gathered ‘round the 
Campfire in her living room—
telling torturous tales corporations and 
nonprofit junior partners, at imaginary 
Tables, pay premium lip service to…

*My beloved teacher, the late Mary H. Webb, legendary Berkeley City College Writing Instructor.

© 2021. 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 https://www.youtube.com/user/zigilow

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 

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

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
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.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • Too Black
    Unburdened by Palestine: Shedding Black liberalism for anti-imperialism
    04 Sep 2024
    Liberals are demanding that Black people in the U.S. put aside our long tradition of anti-imperialism to support Kamala Harris and sacrifice Palestine in the process.
  • Tamara Nassar
    Israel’s intensifying killing can’t defeat West Bank resistance
    04 Sep 2024
    Israel has increased its attacks in the West Bank as it pushes to expand its settlements and attempt to expel Palestinians from their lands.
  • Hanna Eid
    Review: Cabral Writings
    04 Sep 2024
    Amilcar Cabral's work and writings are still as relevant today as they were when he walked the earth. The struggle for liberation in Palestine and across the continent of Africa is still alive and…
  • Brasil de Fato
    Venezuela suffers national blackout, government denounces “sabotage” to electrical grid
    04 Sep 2024
    The outage began at 4 am on August 30 and affected several states in the country, including the capital Caracas.
  • Jemima Pierre
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Reclaiming the Narrative on HAITI with Dr. Jemima Pierre
    04 Sep 2024
    Dr. Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor spoke to The Other Narrative about why Haiti is paying a price - 220 years after it won Independence from the jaws of colonizers. She discussed…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us