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


  • Canada, Ukraine, and Nazi Connections
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Canada, Ukraine, and Nazi Connections
    29 Sep 2023
    In this week’s Black Agenda Report Margaret Kimberley wrote about Canadian and Ukrainian Nazi connections after a former member of a Ukrainian SS unit was honored in Canada's…
  • Abortion Services Under Attack After 47 Years of the Hyde Amendment
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Abortion Services Under Attack After 47 Years of the Hyde Amendment
    29 Sep 2023
    Shayla Walker is Executive Director of Our Justice, an abortion fund and advocacy group which provides direct financial and logistical support for people seeking abortion care.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Canada, Ukraine, and Nazis
    27 Sep 2023
    The Canadian government turned what should have been an ordinary photo opportunity with Ukraine's president into a political debacle when a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator was honored in parliament…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Haiti Had Its Sandino, Jean Lamonthe, 1929
    27 Sep 2023
    Remembering Haitian resistance “Caco” fighter Charlemagne Peralte, demonized by the  U.S. occupation forces as a “bandit,” the same label given to Nicaraguan freedom fighter, Augusto Sandino.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Menendez Bribery Scandal: Egypt versus Ethiopia
    27 Sep 2023
    Why did Menendez ignore Egypt’s human rights record and attack Ethiopia’s?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us