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

Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Mar 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Nina Simone

“The music is the magic through a raging storm …” 

— Abbey Lincoln

Play, Black Girl, play —
Play your piano, now
Come, now, let Sister-
Master show you how

Play, Black Girl, play —
Play your hot saxophone
On shoulders of giants
You don’t stand alone …


© 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.

Music
Black children
culture
Oakland
Black Women

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


Related Stories

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)  
BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
Marisa Fuentes
BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
06 May 2020
This is a book about the ideological construction of black women as “non-human” and exploitable for capitalist profit in the making of the New Sout

More Stories


  • A.T. Freeman
    US Militarization is a Threat to Peace
    29 May 2024
    U.S. militarization of the Caribbean stands in the way of achieving peace in the region.
  • Eritrean Ministry of Information
    Keynote Address by President Isaias Afwerki on the occasion of the 33rd Independence Anniversary, Asmara, 24 May 2024
    29 May 2024
    Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki delivered this speech during the nation's 33rd Independence Day ceremony.
  • Isabelle Papillon
    The CPT Under the Wings of BINUH!
    29 May 2024
    The Haitian Presidential Transitional Council continues to prepare for the illegal occupation by meeting with the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).
  • Martina Manicastri , Sudip Bhattacharya
    Letter: Why Vote Uncommitted: A Vote for Peace and Justice
    29 May 2024
    The Uncommitted Movement is the means through which voters across the country are resisting forced complicity in genocide and making it clear to the Democratic Party that their positions are not as…
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 24, 2024
    24 May 2024
    This week, we discuss the International Criminal Court's decision to pursue arrest warrants for Israeli government leadership and the 2024 U.S. presidential election. But first, we hear from a…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us