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

Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
17 May 2023
🖨️ Print Article
 Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat
1987 Lakers (Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)

                                                                                   Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat

 

It’s fun falling into fantasy lands. Fun watching sweaty,

dripping wet, teamwork of nephew-grandson men! Brisk

Passing/sharing! Rebounding missed shots! Chasing down

loose balls…

It’s fun escaping School Shooting of The Day—and

War of the Week!

Fun forgetting Pentagon Parties, Pinocchio politicians

and their elephant excrement-donkey dung $campaigns

It’s fun purchasing ‘personal’ pizzas, local pizza place,

and metaphor-watching with working-class ‘strangers!’

Fun following brown round ball whizzing crosscourt;

‘round keys; secretly daydreaming the politically ‘impossible’

It’s fun removing my mind from War House! From W-Drone

Ranger-Boss Tweet-Ol’ Schmo biz. Off sleazy senators, corrupt

congressmen infesting Capitalist Hill. It’s fun forgetting grand

dragon governors and 4th quarter comebacks by confederates

It’s fun watching furious fast breaks of great Jazz quintets—

playing “I can’t breathe!” bent backs; hands on knees—

Substitutions and timeouts… It’s fun when “Hands up, don’t

Shoot!” is ‘bout blocking shots—Not autopsies, flowers, funerals.

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 and PayPal.

sports
Black Sports; Politics

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


Related Stories

Wolfgang Bronner
Entertainment as Militarization: The Spectacle of the Super Bowl & WrestleMania in Nashville
06 May 2026
The spectacle of major sporting events does not simply distract from a city's crackdown on the working class.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
EDITORIAL: After the Olympics: Buying off Protest, Harry Edwards, 1969
16 July 2025
“Racists don’t give up easily, we learned, and the racists in sports are especially dedicated.”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva’s Book, “The End of College Football”
06 November 2024
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
OJ Simpson at his trial
Gus Griffin
O.J. Simpson and Understanding the Black Support He Never Deserved
17 April 2024
O.J.
Colin Kaepernick
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??
21 February 2024
The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??
Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
Gus Griffin
Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
23 August 2023
Michael Oher’s story of exploitation is even worse than the white savior narrative presented by Hollywood.
The Super Bowl and the Trouble with First Black Symbolism
Gus Griffin
The Super Bowl and the Trouble with First Black Symbolism
08 February 2023
Whether Super Bowl quarterbacks, or presidents, or police chiefs, unquestioned admiration of the "first Black" should come to an end.
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Dewitt King
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Dewitt King
21 September 2022
In this feature, we interview organizers, journalists, scholars, and athletes working at the intersection of sports and Black struggle. 
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Courtney M. Cox
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Courtney M. Cox
13 July 2022
In this feature, we interview organizers, journalists, scholars, and athletes working at the intersection of sports and Black struggle.
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Samantha N. Sheppard
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Samantha N. Sheppard
30 March 2022
This week, we interview Samantha N. Sheppard. Samantha N.

More Stories


  • Tunde Osazua
    The “Christian Genocide” in Nigeria: An Unmasking of a Neo-Colonial Weapon
    22 Oct 2025
    A false narrative of "Christian genocide" is being weaponized against Nigeria, which is itself victimized by western neo-colonial policies.
  • Imani Nile
    Every Winter, the Bronx Burns
    22 Oct 2025
    The cause of the explosion at Mitchel Houses in the South Bronx harkens back to the arson-for-profit schemes of the 1970s that caused mass destruction of Black and Latine communities. Decades later,…
  • Hanna Eid
    Data Centers and the AI Bubble
    22 Oct 2025
    The A.I. boom is on the verge of bursting like every other capitalist bubble. Financialization and speculation will result in another economic crisis.
  • Chris Gilbert , Cira Pascual Marquina
    ‘Fishing Provides for Everyone’: The Palmarito Afro-Descendant Commune (Part III)
    22 Oct 2025
    On the southern shore of Lake Maracaibo, communards sustain themselves by fishing, but just as much through practices of solidarity.
  • Francisco Dominguez , Roger D. Harris , John Perry
    Imperial Double Standards: Warfare for Venezuela and Welfare for Argentina
    22 Oct 2025
    The western response to crises in Venezuela and Argentina reveals a stark double standard. One nation faces economic pressure and isolation, while the other receives financial support.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us