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

A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
31 Aug 2017
🖨️ Print Article
A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory
A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory

A Li'l Somethin' for Dick Gregory

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our white-bearded cannon
fell silent—
The day became grayer…
I know, I know, I know, I know…
He was my Mom’s favorite funnyman—
She bought his books, his vinyl
Speaking to her like Malcolm
(who she shared Turkish Coffee
with on his trips west, fishing for men)

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
Doubling us over,
splitting our sides, shaking our cores…

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
Piercing steel veils with X-ray vision
puncturing absurdities with barbed tongue—
Soul-ar powered bullshit detector
administering smell tests

I remember his mantra
He chanted like a Buddhist Priest:
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
“You youngsters got a lotta work to do…”
while coming as close as we’ve come to
Having a Super Hero
putting his body
On the line running,
Marching, fasting, speaking,
Teaching us to follow
the money where the
bodies are buried…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Right Reserved

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


More Stories


  • Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi.
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Red Sea Tensions Increase
    07 Feb 2024
    Tensions increase in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
  • Biden Genocide
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Genocidal Joseph’s coat of many logos or Boss Tweet’s swastika sensibilities?
    07 Feb 2024
    "Genocidal Joseph’s coat of many logos or Boss Tweet’s swastika sensibilities?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Mass incarceration
    Max Parthas
    The Evolution of Slavery
    07 Feb 2024
    In the U.S., a nation built on the enslavement and exploitation of humans, the system of slavery cannot be destroyed. It has merely changed from one form to another.
  • Black Marxism
    Alana Lentin
    Reading Cedric Robinson At a Time of Genocide
    07 Feb 2024
    Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism can be used as a tool to further expand our understanding of Israel's settler colonial domination over Palestine.
  • Haitian Revolution
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Impact of the Haitian Revolution on Resistance History
    07 Feb 2024
    Black scholars have worked to challenge the accepted white supremacist imperialist historical narrative of colonialism and enslavement. The legacy of the Haitian Revolution sits at the center of this…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us