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

Sunshine State of mind
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
06 Aug 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

Just in case one misunderstood

Ground on which this patriot stood

Look up the town called Rosewood

“Creepy crackers” could, would, should!

 

Sunshine State of mind

by Raymond Nat Turner

 

Another bloody forget-me-not

Thickening, eternal war subplot

Spinning into a fierce FOX—trot

For capitalism, the deranged despot

Never ceasing to amaze and astound

Standing stolen Seminole ground

Never ceasing to amaze and astound

Standing stolen Miccosukee ground

 

Yet another patty-rollin’ patriot,

Or, super surveillance-state mascot

Celebrated Johnny-on-the spot

Making a name with a gunshot—

Just in case one misunderstood

Ground on which this patriot stood

Look up the town called Rosewood

“Creepy crackers” could, would, should!

 

Sista Nina sang “Mississippi Goddamn”

Her masterpiece framed like a telegram

So pithily denouncing our Uncle Sam

For his hypocrisy-demockkkracy scam

Now another Dixie inferno of Dante

Has become infamous for upping the ante

For playing most Black folks andante

By vindicating a rather vile vigilante

 

Whether by a single bullet hole

Or magically putting millions on parole

For a purge of the voters roll

When a $election’$ to be stole

Too south of the Mason-Dixon line

Blacks may as well be on the Rhine

Or in the crosshairs of Columbine—

Or even in occupied Palestine!

 

With bellicose bleating for the Pentagon

And ignorance of the Lorraine and Audubon

Masked by shrieks of “LeBron! LeBron!”

Soon there will be yet another Trayvon…

 

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


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: Analyse Schématique 1932-1934, Jacques Roumain and Étienne Charlier, 1934
    13 May 2026
    “To combat Imperialism is to combat Capitalism, foreign or native…”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Mastering the Universe: the Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class
    13 May 2026
    Rob Larson's Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do With Their Money, And Why You Should Hate Them Even More is a fiercely pleasurable polemic. 
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The Similar Praxis of Jim Crow and Lord Voldemort (Or, Why the Democrat Party Ain’t Harry Potter)     
    13 May 2026
    Democrats keep telling us that Jim Crow is a ghost of the past, but the Supreme Court's latest ruling proves otherwise.
  • Mark P. Fancher
    If Iran has the Strait of Hormuz, What Can Black People Use for Leverage and Power?
    13 May 2026
    Tennessee just erased its only majority-Black voting district. Anger is justified but the deeper question is what Black people can do to gain and hold on to real power.
  • Sumona Gupta
    Race to the Bottom: Prison Labor Exploitation in the South
    13 May 2026
    Two car companies are being sued for continuing the southern tradition of exploiting incarcerated workers in Alabama and Georgia factories.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us