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


  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Sam C. Tenorio’s Book, “Jump”
    18 Sep 2024
    This week’s featured author is Sam C. Tenorio. Tenorio is Assistant Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Department of African American Studies at The…
  • Jon Jeter
    From Emma Goldman to Chairman Omali, the Empire’s  Crackdown on Free Speech and Racial Solidarity
    18 Sep 2024
    The ruling class is once again in a frenzied state, seeking to crush political dissent and a growing class consciousness with an iron fist in another wave of repression.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Blue (MAGA) In Green (Or, U.S. Bourgeois Environmental Groups Prioritize the Democratic Party Over Environmental Justice Principles)
    18 Sep 2024
    The Democratic Party markets itself as the party of environmental protection while pursuing policies that are endangering all life on earth. Fossil fuel producers are able to do as they please…
  • Omali Yeshitela
    The Uhuru 3 verdict is in: We work for Black people, not Russia! The U.S. government lied and lost! The Uhuru Movement told the truth and won!
    18 Sep 2024
    Official statement by Chairman Omali Yeshitela on behalf of the Uhuru 3, including Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Convictions of Uhuru 3 As A Fascist Farce
    18 Sep 2024
    The state persecution of the Uhuru 3 is one of the most important battles of this century. It exemplifies the lengths to which the U.S. will go to delegitimize and criminalize Black radical movements…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us