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


  • ‘Go back to the plantation’ – Curitiba, Brazil Moves to Impeach Black City Councilor
    Brian Mier
    ‘Go back to the plantation’ – Curitiba, Brazil Moves to Impeach Black City Councilor
    17 May 2022
    The first impeachment process against a city councilor in the 329-year history of Curitiba – the Brazilian city that most cherishes its “European heritage” – is underway, and it has nothing to do…
  • How Global McCarthyism Shaped the World
    Peter Hogart
    How Global McCarthyism Shaped the World
    17 May 2022
    Military coups are a CIA tool used to control the Global South and ensure U.S. hegemony in many parts of the world.
  • The Sun Never Sets: Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia?
    Jeremy Kuzmarov
    The Sun Never Sets: Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia?
    17 May 2022
    Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia? Because of Zambia’s Copper and to Thwart the Chinese.
  • Black Agenda Radio May 13, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 13, 2022
    13 May 2022
    Black and Palestinian solidarity, the Cuban revolution lives, and say political prisoners' names while they're still alive.
  • Black and Palestinian Solidarity
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black and Palestinian Solidarity
    13 May 2022
    Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture is an organizer and dues paying member of Black Alliance for Peace Philadelphia. She recently spoke at the Al Awda conference in New York, to discuss the history of Black and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us