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

Behind the Lead Curtain
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Jan 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

I.
The scent of sulfur, scandalous Skippy-Gate brew—
With an arresting officer; some shit ain’t neurosurgery
or rocket science—ain’t as nuanced, or complicated as
Some claim.
Negroz are in the Way Back Machine—a moral morass—
Slipping into darkness at the speed of light, since the
‘08 date, November deal, with the Devil…

Behind the Lead Curtain

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

I.
The scent of sulfur, scandalous Skippy-Gate brew—
With an arresting officer; some shit ain’t neurosurgery
or rocket science—ain’t as nuanced, or complicated as
Some claim.
Negroz are in the Way Back Machine—a moral morass—
Slipping into darkness at the speed of light, since the
‘08 date, November deal, with the Devil…

A deal to “look away” in thundering silence as
Children are charcoalized for Tuesday Takeout—
Hospitals haphazardly bombed with precision!
A deal to “look away” when white phosphorus-shrouded
Weapons testing slaughters thousands, “look away” if the
Triggerman’s tanned, the butcher’s brown, if the police
statesman’s articulate and sings “Amazing Grace…”

A Strange Fruit deal disconnecting carnage, nightmares,
Crimson rivers behind bloodshot eyes and a Pacific of tears
Staining mourning cheeks; disconnecting “Precious Lord”
loops— funeral after funeral after funeral from endless
Wars coming home—connecting shots: behind the Lead Curtain…

A deal was done locking Negroz in cells under bassackwards spells—
Melanin madness, pigment politics—1% playthings of Strong-Arm
Williams-Thom-Ass Clarence Tribes; in cells under bassackwards
spells of a Negro Attorney General named Lynch, snorting thin blue
Lines off the Lead Curtain; and I
I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
Smacks of spades of symbolism: a slick, false-fingering
‘saxophonist’ from Arkansas, in his shades on Arsenio,
Bamboozling celebrity-worshipping Negroz
He knew Negroz swoon over speeches, go ga-ga over
Talk, rap; Love promises, don’t check facts, don’t look
Ugly numbers in the face

I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
I wanna scream that this…
Smacks of refusing to remember how hot lead ballots
Voted Medgar, Malcolm, Martin, Fred from office—
Leaving just a bloody mule’s head from empire’s deathbed…
Leaving Lenox Avenue Negroz cheering flat screens,
Wishing a Wall Street warlock spoke secret, color-coded
Language—in frequencies his handlers couldn’t detect.
Wishing ‘wink-wink, Nod-Nod Code,’ some claimed the
Commander communicated in, was black cat dander, goober
Dust, Jon de Conquer Root, combined in a supernatural ESP
(Empire Slave Patios) so subtle that:
If he winked, he wouldn’t close 50 schools in Chitown and Philly,
In The Race to the Slop; if he nodded, Negroz could be sure of
Single Payer Healthcare, with none perishing under ‘Pay or Die.’
If he lifted a beer, it meant he’d back po-po off slo-mo genocide.
If he stroked his chin, he and Holder were jailing killer cops.
If he cleared his throat, he’d take out the terrorist KKK.
If he licked his lips, he’d roll back Black incarceration across the nation.
If he touched his left ear, it meant he’d smash elephant-eared walls, pull
Down eagle-eyed poles, back FBI, CIA, NSA, off our phone conversations,
emails, texts, tweets—and redacting the 1st and 4th amendments…
If he lifted his left eyebrow, it meant no more “boots on the ground”
Slogging over Africa—Africom would be shattered into a thousand
Pieces and scattered into the wind; wars one after another like chain
Smokers lighting cigarettes with cigarettes would stop.
If he tugged at his tie, it meant Negroz family wealth would return
To pre-2008 levels, and Wells Fargo-foreclosed homes returned and
Criminals who stole them would be dressed down in orange jumpsuits!
If his nostrils flared, it meant mobilization around green jobs for solving
Negroz Massive Unemployment! If he adjusted his Johnson, rapper-like
With his left hand, the Congressional Black Caucus would left-adjust—
Rhetorically…
…I must admit that this complex shit was over my head…

II.
Negroz operate on superstition & emotion
That ol’ black capitalist, imperialist potion
Loving bling, sizzle, symbolism, trappings
Forget the gifts—give ‘em the wrappings!

Foolin’ Negroz is more a craft than art No need to be brilliant—or even smart Foolin’ Negroz really isn’t that hard— Using that old, crumpled, ‘race card’…

Negroz are vulnerable to slick oratory
Enchanting—like a bedtime story…
Promising them the moon and sun—
Negroz never check to see what’s done

On Negroz, the world will not wait
Behind The Lead Curtain, slave state—
Pigmented politics of “no contest”
For Wehrmacht’s world conquest
Negroz narcoleptic, mulehead spells—
Letting down Douglass, Tubman, Wells!

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 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


  • Tea Troutman , Sherronda J. Brown
    The Southern Truth About Communism
    15 May 2024
    One cannot begin to understand the story of Southern resistance without recognizing the role of communism in the struggle.
  • Sharon Zhang
    As Israel Begins ‘Final Phase’ of Genocide, Biden Slams Pro-Palestine Protests
    15 May 2024
    Just two months ago, Biden said that the invasion of Rafah is a “red line” Israel must not cross.
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 10, 2024
    10 May 2024
    This week, we discuss a lawsuit filed by incarcerated people in Alabama, asking the state to end involuntary servitude and the crackdown on student protests, abortion rights, and a rogue…
  •  Coalition to March on the DNC
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    March on the DNC Will Center Palestine Solidarity
    10 May 2024
    We’re joined by Faayani Aboma Mijana and Hatem Abudayyeh. They discuss plans for mobilization during the Democratic National Convention and why it will focus on Palestine. 
  • Protest sign saying "prison labor = slave labor"
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude
    10 May 2024
    Six incarcerated people in the state of Alabama have filed a lawsuit against their governor and the Commissioner of Corrections. Jessica Vosburgh with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us