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

Tuesday Takeout
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
08 Nov 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Terror Tuesday is what the White House calls the basement meetings at which the First Black President profiles and targets individuals and groups of people for summary assassination anywhere from Somalia to Standing Rock. Before Donald Trump even assumes the Oval Office, it's already the new normal.

Tuesday Takeout

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

The Commander has a menu:

Yemeni youth at an outdoor café

Grandmother, grandsons gardening okra

in Afghanistan

Hospital in Pakistan

Menu for us, too:

BP Seafood in Sauce of Crude

Gasoline Spill Soup

Bomb Train Tatar

Baked Buffoon’s overdone—

Stinks—like food poison on a plate;

PTS: Permission To Shudder,

Clinging to crimson combat boots

Of Golda-plated Iron Lady

Haliburton, Boeing, General Dynamic,

Monsanto, Exxon Chefs cut corners,

substitute cuts, pass off overpriced,

over-spiced, sodium-laden,

Empty calorie dishes as democracy

We have a menu too:

To our left, two doors down

Resistance Buffet—new dishes constantly—

Ain’t cheap—but all you can eat—filling,

stick to your ribs, seconds are cool—

Even thirds, fourths…of:

Lunch Counter Sit-in

Mass Meeting

Arab Spring Rolls

Tunisian Salad

Standing Rock Soup

Wildcat Strike

Ferguson Fries

Bus Boycott

Occupy/ Wisconsin Coffee

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016
All Rights Reserved

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. You can find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

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


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Ethiopia and Eritrea on the Brink
    07 Oct 2026
    Ethiopia and Eritrea are on the brink of a war that could further destabilize the Red Sea, disrupt oil tanker traffic, and drive gas prices even higher.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of Neocolonial Gang Suppression Force UN Mandate in Haiti
    07 Oct 2026
    The UN's renewal of the Gang Suppression Force mandate is part of a wider hemispheric project to reassert military control across the Americas. Caribbean leaders cannot claim to support a Zone of…
  • The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
    An open letter to the honorable people of the United States of America
    07 Oct 2026
    The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a letter addressed to the American people, outlining its views on recent developments and Iran-U.S. relations.
  • Cheryl LaBash
    Is starvation Rubio’s only strategy? The new attack on Cuba’s private sector
    07 Oct 2026
    The Trump administration's new sanctions on Cuba, are part of a dual strategy to create unendurable hardship while simultaneously making Cuba financially dependent on the United States.
  • Berthony Dupont
    How the OAS Works for Imperialism in Haiti
    07 Oct 2026
    The armed groups in Haiti are not a spontaneous wave of banditry, but a scheme orchestrated by imperialist powers in concert with a reactionary and subservient Haitian political class. The…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us