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

if it takes 100 years
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
06 Dec 2017
🖨️ Print Article
if it takes 100 years

I am the North Star—
Hope; Never wavering, organizing,
burning thorough bars, walls, wire—
I am consciousness of all
creatures, crystalline water,
clean, sweet air, black soil
From forgotten reservations

I am non-GMO, organic apples,
pears, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach
Springing from beads of sweat
mixed with midnight oil—
I am not the latest sneakers, phones
from Black Friday Madness,
Celebrity Worship or
Dumbed-down gossip ‘bout ‘stars’

I am coagulated blood
of gunned down doctors wafting from
Women’s reproductive rights—
Flowering from fertilizer of guilt
I am freedom, loving
Whomever I choose…

I am single-payer
Healthcare rising from Big Pharma
body-slams/lies of lobotomized politicians;
I am affordable housing
clubbed from corrugated cardboard sleep;
I am free education—
Peace studies writhing free of
handcuffs, cutting off circulation…
I am smoldering ashes of a
burned down Black Baptist Church
Repudiating ‘race’ with pain

I am revolution—
Socialism passing freely, back and forth
between metal detectors/bomb-sniffing dogs—
Arriving just moments ago:
…Having been here forever…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. Find much more of his work at http"//upsurgejazz.com.

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Cory Booker at AIPAC conference in 2020
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Cory Booker's Boot Licking, Butt Kissing, and Buck Dancing for Zionism
    18 Oct 2023
    Cory Booker has been a favorite of right-wing interest groups ever since he first ran for office to become mayor of Newark 20 years ago.
  • The bodies of the dead in a bombing on al-Ahli Hospital are gathered outside another hospital in Gaza
    Ramzy Baroud
    It's Not a Hamas-Israeli Conflict: It's an Israeli War Against Every Palestinian
    18 Oct 2023
    The people of Gaza are completely at the mercy of Israel, without help from the outside world.
  • DEPLATFORMED
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Leftists Embracing Imperialist Narratives Laid The Groundwork For This Wave Of Censorship
    18 Oct 2023
    So-called leftists allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the Russiagate narrative. Great damage has been done to journalism, particularly that of the Black left, who are at great risk of being…
  • Child in a hospital in Gaza
    Haidar Eid
    From Gaza We Ask You to Stand Up Against Genocide!
    18 Oct 2023
    Depriving human beings of food, water, and electricity is a war crime. Exacting collective punishment of civilian populations is also a war cime. The U.S./Israeli attack on Gaza is a genocide by…
  • Nakba Day Commemoration
    Essam Elkorghli
    Genocide and Imperialism in Palestine: A Call for People’s Action!
    18 Oct 2023
    Genocide and Imperialism in Palestine: A Call for People’s Action!
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us