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
  • omnibus

all their deaths were ruled suicide
JP Sloan
15 Jan 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Memorial site of Emmett Till
Bullet holes riddle the memorial sign of Emmett Till's body was found at the Tallahatchie River. Photo: Emmett Till Memory Project

for Aiyana, for Tommie, for Jordan

all their deaths were ruled suicide

by choosing to live in 71108
by taking a run through 71106
by gorging themselves on government assistance
by jumping into the Atlantic
by refusing to comply
by denying the Gospel of Gender
by boarding the BART to Fruitvale
by inhabiting the food desert
by defending the flag that never defended them
by reading Marx
by preaching “Revolution!”
by protesting peacefully
by speaking in the tongues of the unheard
by playing “cops and robbers”
by sleeping on the couch
by resting in “peace” in a Haynesville cemetery
by drinking the bitter, flinty waters of austerity
by driving too fast through a “Church Zone”
by dreaming drunk in the drive-thru
by practicing self-defense in a “Stand Your Ground” state
by praying without ceasing in a Charleston church
by turning up the music too loud
by whistling...allegedly
by “excited delirium syndrome”
by selling loose cigarettes and cds
by standing at the door and knocking
by “the combined effects of sickl…”
by

JP Sloan is a Louisiana native and a scholar of early Black poetry. He is also an aspiring poet and an organizer with the Black Alliance for Peace.

state violence
Anti-Black Racism
Assassination
Lynching
Emmett Till
Jordan Neely
Black Radical Tradition

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


Related Stories

Black Alliance For Peace
From George Floyd Back to the Structural Violence of Capitalism
28 May 2025
With the ritualistic murder of George Floyd by the occupation forces referred to as the police that roam the streets and barrios of the Black a
Jon Jeter
The Only Language the White Settler Speaks: Ohio Police Say Grieving Black Father Avenges Son’s Slaying By Killing One of Theirs
07 May 2025
The killing of Timothy Thomas in 2001 ignited Cincinnati’s long-simmering tensions over police violence.
Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD
Black Politics and Mutual Comradeship: A Manifesto
07 May 2025
From Gaza to Sudan to the streets of America, the oppressors of our time demand mass resistance.
Jon Jeter
Ready For the Revolution But Unable to See It: Blacks Recognize Racism But Lack Game Plan to Fight It
30 April 2025
Black communities once turned righteous fury into systemic change, but today’s outrage over slights like Shedeur Sanders’ NFL draft slide rarel
NBROC Coordinating Committee
Grounding Our Purpose: The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference
16 April 2025
The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference (NBROC) continues the legacy of Black radical resistance, uniting organizers to confron
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Malcolm X Presente!
19 February 2025
Every year, people around the world honor Malcolm X. Though he was taken from us prematurely, his memory and impact remain.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
F Train Lynching: Papa Cop’s wink and nod
08 January 2025
I.
Jon Jeter
From Bernhard Getz to George Zimmerman to Daniel Penny: Using Vigilantes to Police a Racist Social Order
18 December 2024
The state and vigilante lynchings of Black men and boys in the U.S.
Jon Jeter
The White Settlers’ Bizarre Economic Strategy of Terrorizing Black People
11 December 2024
Jordan Neely's killing and the subsequent acquittal of Daniel Penny can be seen as part of the reactionary existential panic felt by whites whe
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Haiti and Springfield, Ohio
18 September 2024
Haitians are unforgiven for waging a successful Black revolution.

More Stories


  • Jon Jeter
    Tell No Lies, Claim No Easy Victories: Liberal Media Blames Trump for Economic Woes That Began Years Ago
    23 Apr 2025
    Corporate media peddle the myth of a pre-Trump economic golden age, but for working-class Americans, especially Black families, the struggle began long before he took office.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Neo-Kautskyism: Exposing the Bernie/AOC “Fight Oligarchy” Tour de Farce
    23 Apr 2025
    Lenin called out Kautsky’s fake socialism more than a century ago—today, Bernie and AOC are playing the same game, trading radical change for liberal theatrics.
  • Tunde Osazua
    Dictating Security, Ignoring Sovereignty: The Arrogance Behind AFRICOM’s Strategy
    23 Apr 2025
    African Command's (AFRICOM) heavy-handed tactics in Africa have backfired, exposing U.S. arrogance and fueling a wave of resistance. As Sahel nations reject neocolonial bullying, Washington’s…
  • Essam Elkorghli
    NATO’s Depleted Uranium: The Health Consequences of Freedom and Democracy in Iraq, Libya and the Former Yugoslavia
    23 Apr 2025
    NATO’s depleted uranium weapons leave a deadly legacy—cancer, birth defects, and environmental ruin in war-torn regions. The silent genocide continues long after the bombs stop falling.
  • Jocelyn Figueroa
    Working Homeless People: Laboring Without a Roof
    23 Apr 2025
    For millions, a job is no longer enough to afford housing—yet the myth that homeless people don’t work still dominates public opinion.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us