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


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Haiti and Springfield, Ohio
    18 Sep 2024
    Haitians are unforgiven for waging a successful Black revolution. Racism follows wherever they go, even in a state like Ohio, which is in need of a labor force and a larger population. Of course,…
  • Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Eating Pets or Devouring Sovereignty? Notes on Anti-Haitian Racism
    18 Sep 2024
    Calling Haitian migrants "pet eaters" is racist and dehumanizing. So is the continued attack on Haitian sovereignty by the US and its global allies.
  • Ajamu Baraka in Iran
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    From the Phony Debate and Gaza to the Uhuru 3: The U.S./EU Commitment to Human Rights is and Has Always Been a Lie
    18 Sep 2024
    State repression increases as the so-called democracies continue in a state of crisis. Only a people-centered human rights struggle can bring true justice and peace.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Sen. McCarthy Called Me, Eslanda Goode Robeson, 16 July 1953
    18 Sep 2024
    Eslanda Goode Robeson stood tall against red-baiting. So should we.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Spoiling the Liberal Party
    18 Sep 2024
    “Never Trump” liberals, still hypnotized by the DNC spectacle, turn a blind eye to their candidate’s record and rhetoric.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us