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

Malcolm X Tic-Tac-Toe in the Age of…Austerity?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
28 May 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer

 

Malcolm X Tic-Tac-Toe in the Age of…Austerity?

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Vertical, diagonal, horizontal moves

Of Malcolm X, martyr, giant, live on

Like simple grid, paper and pencil games

Of Noughts and Crosses, 3-in-a-row—

Tic-Tac-Toe in the age of… Austerity

 

X, like exciting, expanding, extending,

X, like exalting, exemplary, example,

Excelling, exceeding— revolutionary as

Exponential, unlimited—far as you dare!

 

O, as in hollow, phony, posture, nothing!

O as diversion, like COINTELPRO, Psy-

Op or false consciousness like blue-collar

Workers masquerading as middle-class!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Africom boots on the Congo

Banksters bagging big dough

Mother Africa their hoe

A peculiar quid pro quo

Slaves cheering status quo

Their beer full of GMO—

Madison Avenue mojo!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Negroz go pianissimo

Fiery X’s blocked by O,

Rich white house Negro,

Attorney Generalissimo

Super of Guantanamo

Teachers rise against O

Working-class Tic-Tac-Toe!

 

3-in-a-row, X versus O

Tic-Tac-Toe, X versus O

Shrewd black buck dancer

O a cancer— X an answer!

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2013 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


  • Booker Omole
    Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s Legacy Will Outlive US Imperialism
    08 Jul 2026
    Statement on the Funeral of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei by the General Secretary, Booker Omole, Communist Party Marxist Kenya.
  • black loyalists
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Dr. Gerald Horne
    “The Farce of You Lie”: Gerald Horne Discusses the Founding of the United States
    03 Jul 2026
    Gerald Horne joins editor Margaret Kimberley in analyzing his 2014 book,  “The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America.”
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 3, 2026
    03 Jul 2026
    In this week’s segment, we hear analysis of the situation in Cuba, which is struggling under a U.S. siege meant to undo the revolution. Yet Cuba is resolute in its determination to enact its own…
  • Haiti
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Haiti Under U.S. Occupation and State Violence
    03 Jul 2026
    Dr. Jemima Pierre is an editor and contributor to Black Agenda Report and a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She joins BAR editor Margaret Kimberley to discuss the…
  • Cuban blockade
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Cuba Fights for Its Sovereignty
    03 Jul 2026
    James Counts Early joins Black Agenda Report editor Margaret Kimberley to discuss the latest U.S. efforts to undo the Cuban Revolution and Cuba’s determination to retain its sovereignty while under…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us