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

What Would the Ancestors Say?
Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
14 Nov 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop”

 

What Would the Ancestors Say?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

I know

I know

I know...

Harriet Tubman didn't slide

In and out of the slave south

Nineteen times, $40,000 reward

Hanging over her head like a

Scimitar, or Samurai sword;

Medgar didn't die in his driveway

Like a dog put down in the pound;

Malcolm didn't die on floor

Of the Audubon Ballroom;

King didn't die on chitlin' curcuit

Balcony of the Lorraine Motel;

Fred didn't die in his bed, under

Hooves of Chicago death squads

For tomfoolery---nappy-headed

Foolishness--- Negroz shrinking

To plantation Rip Van Winkles

Hung over on Ol' Massa's

Jim Jones Juice (January '09)

The eve of world revolution...

 

I know

I know

I know...

She would be leveling her pistol,

Leaving at least a half dozen dead

Negroz, after commanding "Forward,

Or die!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be tongue-lashing

Negroz with his Harlem-tinged

Tough love: "You've been had,

You've been took, you've been

Hoodwinked, you've been bamboozled!"

 

I know

I know

I know...

He would be intoning in African,

Baptist, baritone strains:

"I've been to the mountaintop,

But this is not the mountaintop,

No, and I'm concerned that if you

Continue traversing this treacherous

Trail you're on, during the dark and

Difficult days ahead, not only will you

Not get to the mountaintop, you will

Find yourselves descending to depths

So low that it will require you taking an

Elevator up eighty-six floors; climbing

Forty flights of stairs to a sub cellar of

Sin, standing on a step ladder on your

Tiptoes, just to suck the Devil's dick---

 

No, I'm afraid I can't be your drum

Major on this one---

The drones must be stopped,

The satanic wars ceased, and

The barbaric killing of other peoples'

Babies ended---forever..."

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2012 All Rights 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


  • Djibo Sobukwe
    FIFA, World Cup 2026, Sports and the Contradictions of US/EU Colonial Hegemony 
    15 Jul 2026
    Haiti qualified for the World Cup on the anniversary of its revolution, the DRC brought the spirit of Lumumba to the pitch, and Iran wore pins for children killed by U.S. bombs, proving that football…
  • Kit Klarenberg
    Exclusive: Fergie Chambers Facing US Extradition Over Dubious ‘terrorism financing’ Charges
    15 Jul 2026
    The Grayzone has reviewed a sealed indictment for pro-Palestine donor Fergie Chambers, who was arrested in Spain on dubious money laundering charges concocted by the Trump DOJ. His partner accuses…
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Attacks in South Africa Undermining the Country and Africa as a Whole
    15 Jul 2026
    Parallels can be drawn between MAGA in the United States and retrograde elements domestically, as well as other Western imperialist states.
  • Gary Wilson
    Pentagon Turns Earthquake Into Occupation of Venezuela
    15 Jul 2026
    The same U.S. sanctions regime that gutted Venezuela's hospitals and left its buildings in ruins now lands Marines at its airport in the name of earthquake relief, which is not rescue but occupation.
  • Sondos Asem
    Senior UAE and regional officials referred to ICC over role in Sudan atrocities
    15 Jul 2026
    Coalition of NGOs accuses foreign officials, primarily from the UAE, of aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Darfur.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us