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
Covid-19 is a convenient excuse for governments to ban or restrict activities they don’t like.
It was the Latino Vote… No, it was the Latinix vote! No, it was Black Women! No, it was LGBTQ+ Black Women! No, it was Red State Soccer Moms!
Hampton's body was dragged from the bloodstained bed to the hallway floor, to be displayed as the raiders' trophy “He's good and dead now."
Anti-communists used the full powers of the state to silence, imprison, or deport radical Black activists.
The Democrats’ relentless suppression of the Green Party affected the mind-set of more voters than all the right-wing howls put together.
