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

Amerikkka Was Built on Busting Up Families…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Jun 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Amerikkka Was Built on Busting Up Families…
Amerika was built on busting up families. They're just making Amerika great again.

“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes”           

— Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III,  Human Impersonator

Bottom of the boat

rocking, rolling, thrashing

Violently— the quaking black

hole now her life. She had

No idea where she was

on the awful ocean,

Traveling shackled for

thousands of miles;

belly beginning to bulge

with the baby of her foul-

smelling rapist and his

“Zero Tolerance” policy

for

tears…

She would bore four more for

a ‘Master,’ who’d sell her

to the West Virginian wanting

her in the worst way—

Ripping picaninnies from

nursing breasts to become

bucks and wenches, working

fields and lusts of slavers—“that

was then,” they say, “this is now:”

“Mama, Mama, Papa, Papa, Mama, Papa…”

tears of toddlers flooding searing shrieks,

Torturous cacophony; the satanic symphony,

counterpoint to cool BOP, ICE acronyms—

Amerikkka's great again—

At separating children from parents;

At spinning swastikas into scripture…

Once upon a time, mint julep-sipping,

Bullwhip-wielding christians in castles whitewashed by

Black labor, worked children and parents to death—

“And everyone lived happily ever after…”

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is Black Agenda Report's poet in residence. Click his name in red to see more of his work here at Black Agenda Report. For much more of his work, or to contact him for booking and other purposes visit http://upsurgejazz.com.

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


More Stories


  • Gerald A. Perreira
    Guyana: A Pawn of US Imperialism
    17 Sep 2025
    Guyana’s leadership is a willing pawn for US imperialism, endangering regional peace for the sake of placating the hegemon.
  • Middle East Eye Staff
    New York state sends police chiefs to Israel for 'counterterrorism' training
    17 Sep 2025
    This is the second training visit for US officers that has been hosted by an Israeli government agency during Israel's war on Gaza.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 12, 2025
    12 Sep 2025
    In this week’s segment we discuss a new book analyzing the need to confront counterinsurgency and fight against repression domestically and internationally. But first we hear from an activist on the…
  • DC
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Organizing Against the Trump Takeover in Washington
    12 Sep 2025
    Afeni is an activist and lead organizer with Herb and Temple in Washington, DC. She joins us from Washington to discuss Donald Trump’s declaration of emergency power to take over the operations of…
  • Joy James
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Confronting Counterinsurgency: Cop Cities and Democracy's Terrors
    12 Sep 2025
    Joy James is a scholar and a political philosopher who works with organizers. She is editor of the new book Confronting Counterinsurgency: Cop Cities & Democracy’s Terrors, which is published by…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us