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

A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
27 Apr 2022
🖨️ Print Article
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
Donald Smith at @ Muhu Future Music Festival JUU JÄÄB 2010 (Photo: Youtube)

Donald Smith always performed at Black Agenda Report events in New York City. He was a great musician and friend to the Black Agenda Report team. He will be missed.

                                                                          A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…

Humble Harlem musicmaster

strolled softly bearing gifts

Fingers fluent in 88 languages.

Those who know—KNOW—Virgo

flow of piano prodigy.Know The Big

Bend of great gospel genes from way

Down Where the South Begins

Humble Harlem music master

strolled softly as the morning sun-

rise. Through 5 decades of Cat calls for

playing Great Black Music outside tiny

boxes: BebopDoowopHiphop…

Sing/sang some‘Starlight & You’ like

a Nat King Cole kinda Cat

Humble Harlem music master,

strolled softly—until Now Is The Time for

Illuminating scintillating Cosmic Echoes—

vapor trails…Shadows of Saturn out where

Ra’s running rings ‘round the rest and best

from Showman’s, St. Nick’s, Benta’s in the

key of greatness… You will be welcomed!!!

Humble Harlem music master,

strolled softly…Farewell dear friend/neighbor.

Miss Sugar Hill stoop extended conversations—

Miss catching up before or after your Texas Star

stop

Who will answer my questions? Who will offer

guidance—share an obligatory Bu story or stories

of other legends infusing your legacy?



© 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   PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

African American Culture
Music
Harlem
Donald Smith

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
LYRICS: Bicentennial Blues, Gil Scott-Heron, 1976
01 July 2026
“George Washington/Slave-owner general/Ironic that the father of this country/
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
SONNY
27 May 2026
Our wise Monk-guru, White winter mane and Douglass beard,Sonny's anOak tree growing outSugar Hill concrete—
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: In Our Hands: Thoughts on Black Music, Bernice Johnson Reagon, 1976
31 July 2024
For the late Dr.
JoeSam art
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
24 January 2024
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?
Jason England
50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?
06 September 2023
Nothing is sacred under capitalism.
Hip Hop: A Global Lingua Franca for the Dispossessed
Jon Jeter
Hip Hop: A Global Lingua Franca for the Dispossessed
06 September 2023
Any celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip hop must reference its worldwide political appeal.
Avotcja’s Love…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Avotcja’s Love…
22 March 2023
                                         
For Larry Roland
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
For Larry Roland
08 March 2023
                                         
BAR Book Forum: Boukary Sawadogo’s Book, “Africans in Harlem”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Boukary Sawadogo’s Book, “Africans in Harlem”
24 August 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Photo: Kevin W. Thorbourne
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
08 September 2021
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)  

More Stories


  • Caste Does Not Explain Race
    Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD
    Caste Does Not Explain Race
    06 Jan 2021
    The celebration of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste reflects the continued priority of elite preferences over the needs and struggles of ordinary people.
  • Freddie Gray and Why the Wealth of Sports Franchises Matter
    Gustavus Griffin
    Freddie Gray and Why the Wealth of Sports Franchises Matter
    06 Jan 2021
    A significant portion of sports franchise wealth can be traced directly to the oppression and displacement of Black and Brown bodies.
  • How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men
    Akilah Johnson and Nina Martin
    How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men
    06 Jan 2021
    To understand why COVID-19 killed so many young Black men, you need to know the legend of John Henry. “Covid-19 is a new gear in an old machine.”
  • The Freedom Struggle Is a Labor Struggle, Then and Now
    Robin D.G. Kelley
    The Freedom Struggle Is a Labor Struggle, Then and Now
    06 Jan 2021
    Black labor militants, many of whom were Communists, were the key to building the CIO in the South.
  • The Activist Roots of Black Feminist Theory
    Linda Burnham
    The Activist Roots of Black Feminist Theory
    06 Jan 2021
    Intersection theory insists on the simultaneity of condition, the both/and of Black women’s oppression.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us