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


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Liberals Want War in Ukraine, Trump Wants Peace in Ukraine, But All Agree on Death in Gaza
    05 Mar 2025
    Donald Trump’s efforts to normalize relations with Russia, and to end the fighting in the Ukraine proxy war are logical and sensible. But years of whipped up anti-Russia hatred make logical solutions…
  • Mary McLeod Bethune
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DOCUMENT: My Last Will and Testament, Mary McLeod Bethune, 1955
    05 Mar 2025
    Mary McLeod Bethune’s testament to a good, ethical life.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Commemorate Genocide against the People of DR Congo
    05 Mar 2025
    The Congolese Action Youth Platform (CAYP) is campaigning for the recognition of the Genocide against the people of DR Congo to be commemorated on August 2nd, the anniversary of Rwanda and Uganda’s…
  • Elon Musk
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Is this ‘Constructive Engagement' 2.0— Or, Freddo frontin’ for Heil tech Hitler?
    05 Mar 2025
    "Constructive Engagement 2.0— or Freddo frontin’ for heil-tech Hitler?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Jon Jeter
    In Maryland, Cracking Down on a Crime Wave that Doesn’t Exist With Laws That Don’t Work
    05 Mar 2025
    Maryland has been enforcing harsher criminal laws, using the claim of a crime wave that does not exist. This crackdown funnels Black children into an incredibly draconian legal system. Now, there is…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us