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

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Declaration of Independence (for Donald "Duck" Bailey)
15 July 2026
Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
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


  • BDS South Africa staged a Palestine solidarity protest in the Limpopo province
    Salim Vally
    Africa’s role in Palestinian Liberation–an Interview with Salim Vally
    20 Dec 2023
    ROAPE interviews South African Human Rights activist and academic Salim Vally on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the relationship between Palestinian liberation and Africa.
  • Achieng Oneko, Jomo Kenyatta, Makhan Singh, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
    Wairimu Gathimba
    Kenya at 60: Field notes from the Neocolony, and the Civilising Politics of Betterment in the Ruto Hustler Era
    20 Dec 2023
    Despite the veneer of progress, what does a historical critique of East Africa’s capitalist beacon reveal?
  • COP 28 Logo
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    COP28 Summit Concludes with Contradictory Agreement
    20 Dec 2023
    Although the final document calls for “transitioning” from fossil fuels, many developing states and territories wanted stronger language and economic commitments.
  • Two demonstrators standing side by side with one holding Palestine flag and other holding DR Congo flag
    Black Alliance For Peace
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #49
    20 Dec 2023
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin has the latest news from the African continent. AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #49 emphasizes the urgency for Africans and working-class people worldwide…
  • Black Agenda Radio December 15, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio December 15, 2023
    15 Dec 2023
    The Gaza relief effort, construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal in Haiti, and an improved process for crime survivor compensation in New York State.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us