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

Warriors we are…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Jun 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Warriors we are…
2020 San Francisco Protest (Photo: Kit Castagne)

                                                                                                                              Warriors we are…

                                                                                                 (For my Friend Larry’s lean years/in between years)

                                                                                                     “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,

                                                                                          while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

                                                                                                                                 – Sun Tzu

Pop-pop-pop-pop—explosions! Kaleidoscopic
cracks of color, age, orientation—in motion—
But no one’s running. No one’s hiding behind
doors; behind desks; Fearing AR-15 weekly reports.

No howling lynchers, hangman’s nooses, hockey
sticks! No bear spray, baseball bats, brass knuckles!
No white supremacist supermarket shooters; No homo
phobic haters! No blu klux klan knees/chokeholds; No
Glocks killing because of—You name the verb—
“…while Black…”

Market and Main parade route. Banners waving,
festooned on San Francisco’s streets
Arms are bridges between dancers, huggers, high
fivers; between generous tossers of extra snacks.
Ivory smiles, improvised explosive devices blasting
stink-eye smug/mean mugs from blissful faces.
Joyful faces, cheering and singing harmoniously!
If this is what Warrior wins look like—we will be
Warriors for windmill/solar panel-size victories…

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Rejecting realtors’ flagrant fouls: tarps, tents, card
board mattresses/urine-smelling, shit-slippery streets…

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Sweeping stroke, diabetes, cancer, heart attack in four!
Winning dental/healthcare for ALL! Ejecting barking
bellies; trading Franken ‘food’ for Fresh Fruits/Veggies

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
99% Strength In Numbers—Arab Springs, Occupies, Strike
tobers, George Floyd Summers for un-fracked/unleaded
water
Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE.
Springing up like Splash Brothers for three point
shots at DAs prosecuting killer cops; booking low Barr Boss
Tweet thugs bleeding budgets for death and destruction

Everyday people—Warriors—wanting better.
Seizing strength through LOVE—through
Justice and Peace pleading with us: man/woman up! Be
Spartacus, Che, Harriet Tubman, Douglass, Fanny Lou,
John Brown, Malcolm, Martin and close this game
Out…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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.

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


More Stories


  • presidents
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Bush, Obama, and Biden Gave Trump the Tools for Repression
    23 Apr 2025
    Donald Trump is thought of as a terrible president who doesn’t care about humanity. While that assertion is true, he had lots of help from his like-minded predecessors in developing plans for war and…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    U.S. and Israel Gangsterism Has Created a Hobbesian International State of Nature
    23 Apr 2025
    Gaza has exposed the West’s ‘human rights’ as a colonial farce. Now, the world is experiencing a descent into imperial barbarism, and only collective resistance can build a future beyond fascism.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Introduction: The Black Messiah, Albert B. Cleage, Jr., 1968
    23 Apr 2025
    “Jesus was a revolutionary black leader, a Zealot, seeking to lead a Black Nation to freedom.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Power Shift in the Horn of Africa: Somalia Recognizes SSC-Khaatumo
    23 Apr 2025
    Somalia’s recognition of SSC-Khaatumo as its sixth Federal Member State (FMS) has radically shifted the Horn of Africa’s geopolitical dynamics, with implications for Israel, Palestine, and Ansar…
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Erik S. McDuffie’s Book, “The Second Battle for Africa”
    23 Apr 2025
    This week’s featured author is Erik S. McDuffie. McDuffie is Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His book is The Second Battle…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us