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

“No Matter What Sign You Are,”4th Supreme
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
16 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
the supremes
The Supremes

Mary was mysterious,
but the best dancer
Diana, the magnetic,
cooing romancer—
But, here’s a secret I know:
cats like me dug Miss Flo—
And the 4th Supreme’s ‘fro!

The 4th Supreme came
Singing tones ‘tween
Douglass and Carmen McRae—
Malcolm X and Lady Day

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Stop In The Name Of Love!”
by way of Brandeis/Bombing-ham—
hitting Dynamite Hill high notes

The 4th Supreme came
Singing “Reflections”
in silver bracelets, on a
Newsweek cover captioned:
“Red, Black and Wanted!”

Hoover hated her harmonies with millions…
But I heard, “Set me free, why don’t you, babe?”
Rocking me to “ …Try Something New:”
Dialectics…

 

The 4th Supreme came
Singing, “I Hear A Symphony—”
“No Matter What Sign You Are,”
in ’08—but I
forgive her and comrades
and friends for singing flat
Madison Avenue smash hits: “Yes,
we can and bottle Jim Jones Juice;”
“regime Change you can believe in—”
delivering “Nothing But Heartaches” to
Honduras, Libya, Syria, Mother Africa…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner, our poet in residence, is an accomplished performing artist. You can 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


  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 21, 2025
    21 Mar 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the Trump administration's attempt to force CARICOM member nations to end their participation in a Cuban medical program. The administration is also sending…
  • Cuban doctors leaving Venezuela
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    U.S. Pressures CARICOM to End Cooperation with Cuba and Sends Venezuelans to El Salvador
    21 Mar 2025
    Camila Escalante is an editor for Kawsachun News and a Latin America correspondent for PressTV. She will discuss the latest Trump administration policies moves in Latin America. Secretary of State…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Will Trump Send U.S. Citizens to El Salvador?
    19 Mar 2025
    Showdowns between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary will determine the fate of everyone in the country, including whether the government has the right to send citizens to jail in…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Israeli Fascism Is Fueled by U.S. and European White Supremacy
    19 Mar 2025
    The unlimited support western powers give to Israel is a continuation of colonial violence and white supremacy. The U.S. and the west wield a false moral superiority over…
  • Ntozake Shange
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Bocas: A Daughter's Geography, Ntozake Shange, 1983
    19 Mar 2025
    Ntozake Shange reminds us that whether we come from Haiti, Savannah, Luanda, or Palestine, we may not speak the same language, but “we fight the same old men.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us