short school struggle poem…
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice.
Then he made school boards.”
—Mark Twain
Ignoring hot tears in tones of cracking voices
Ignoring Town Black and Brown children
parents— Ignoring ravenous bodies of heroic hunger-
striking
Teachers…
Real estate-powered, battery-operated, school board
members
Voted in wee hours to close several precious schools:
capitalism’s eating children/schools/hunger strikers…
Bought and bossed board members gifted Town
Children class struggle college educations—gifted them
mass
matriculation in George Floyd Summer School for an
Arab Spring Semester—promising to last a lifetime…
© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;
BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC.
You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund
PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT
“Mr. Washington represents in Negro thought the old attitude of adjustment and submission…Mr. Washington’s programme practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro races.”
We reprint Dr. Gerald Horne's keynote speech at Black Agenda Report's 20th anniversary celebration.
"Pentagon pimpin" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence and was delivered at the 20th anniversary celebration for Black Agenda Report, New York City, November 7, 2026.
The meticulously scripted spectacles of the two corporate party conventions are very poor backdrops for clear thinking – but luckily, the ordeals are almost over. What remains after the tents are…
Vermont senator and ostensible socialist Bernie Sanders is playing the sheepdog candidate for Hillary Clinton this year. Bernie's job is to warm up the crowd for Hillary, herding activist energies…
