by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
Molefi Asante’s brand of “Afrocentricity” means McCarthyism and race and class betrayal.
My Wise Country Cousin on Judas comin’ to Cali…
by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
What de O’Jays say ‘bout how “Dey smile in ya face”
While, Afro-sin-triss-ticly, “tryin’ ta take ya place?”
Smilin’ Faces: “Don let de hanshake and smile ful ya”
Dey say “take mah advice, ahm only tryin’ ta school ya—”
Son, you beware ob de one, “Baba” dis, an “Ase” dat
‘Cause, mos lakly he de one wit de razur in his hat!
Negroz Wes’ getin’ nuz stagecoach, or Pony Express,
Bringin’ dat ol’ Moeffy boy to Cali to talk his mess?
In de lounge named after Huey Newton an Bobby Seal—
Dey heard ‘bout de brotherly love, back-stabbin’ deal?
Dey bringin’ Afro-Sin-tris-sick Judas in cap an’ gown
Dat caint eben draw five Negroz in his own town?
Seem lak dat Monterror boy at Tempull doin’ sum gud,
Teachin’ troof ‘bout Blak folk fight, to dose in de ‘hood
Wen dat Judas Moeffy boy start de bad-moufin’ an’ hatin’—
Dirty work ob de Tempull massas wit all dey red-baitin’…
Dey say de Monterror boy a Sowshallus an Marksis—
We say, “Gud, if he heppin’ de Norf Philly folk resis!”
Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved
"City of Angels" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
From ICE courtroom ambushes to sheriffs' execution threats, America's domestic repression now openly wields the tools it honed in overthrowing foreign governments.
Homelessness isn’t policy failure—it’s policy. From 19th-century British 'clearings' to today’s police sweeps and Blackstone evictions, the playbook stays the same: displace the poor, privatize the…
To honor Kwame Ture is to condemn Zionism. Yet the lecture bearing his name platformed a speaker who calls anti-Zionism 'hate', erasing Ture’s clarity that Palestine’s liberation is inseparable from…
Decades of U.S. military aid and Israeli occupation created the conditions for the attack on Iran in an unbroken chain of imperial violence.
