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

For a neighbor: Hall of Fame Herb
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 Oct 2026
đŸ–šïž Print Article
Herb Boyd
Herb Boyd, author and New York Amsterdam News columnist

“If you know whence you came, 
there is really no limit to where you can go.” 
—James Baldwin

How do we describe Hall Of Fame Herb?
Is he adjective, noun — or a swinging verb?
Bombing-ham-born — but raised in The D —
Where he would meet Malcolm before ’63!

He arrived determined. And he came equipped.
Bebop, Doo-Wop schooled — Hard Bop hipped.
Gracing BAI Fridays to “kick it” and schmooze,
Gifting riffs of news and views People can use.
Swingin prose infused with Black Bottom Blues
Harlemite manner of great Langston Hughes.

From Black Bottom Blues, to swing of Sugar Hill
His prose waltz through history with dazzling skill,
His anecdotes bequeathing us with thrill after thrill —
Since his old army sword recycled into African quill 


© 2026. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

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.
 

Literature
Herb Boyd
Black Writers
Detroit

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


Related Stories

BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tyrone S. Palmer
23 February 2022
As part of the Black Agenda Report Book Forum, we interview scholars about a recent article they’ve written for either an academic journal or p

More Stories


  • ElĂ­as Jaua , Federico Fuentes
    Former Chávez VP: Venezuela Needs a New ‘struggle for liberation’
    27 May 2026
    A former vice-president who served with Hugo ChĂĄvez provides analysis on what he calls neo-colonial control and coercion the U.S. is exercising against Venezuela.
  • Matt Sledge , Sam Biddle
    ICE Recruitment Tweets Are So Racist That Cops Feared They Could Incite Neo-Nazi Violence
    27 May 2026
    A newly uncovered police bulletin warns that white supremacists may interpret ICE social media content as a call to violence.
  • Stephen Kimber
    True Lies Across the Water
    27 May 2026
    The real story behind the so-called murder charge against former Cuban President RaĂșl Castro.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 22, 2026
    22 May 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the issue of deed theft, the loss of property by fraudulent means, which disproportionately impacts Black communities. But we begin with a conversation about Congo

  • Congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Congo, Ebola Virus Disease, and Colonial Exploitation
    22 May 2026
    Maurice Carney, Executive Director of Friends of the Congo, joins Black Agenda Report to discuss the latest outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease and explains what it tells us about conditions in that

  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us