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


  • Jill Stein
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Jill Stein's Green Party Campaign
    30 Aug 2024
    Green Party nominee for president, Dr. Jill Stein, talks to us about her campaign and how she plans to surmount the challenges the Green Party faces from the Democratic Party.
  • Richard Medhurst
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Richard Medhurst Arrested and Facing Terrorism Act Charges
    30 Aug 2024
    Richard Medhurst joins us to discuss his recent arrest under the Terrorism Act for his journalism, his case, and the implications of prosecuting journalists.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    "Democracies" Attack Journalism as They Attack Democracy Itself
    28 Aug 2024
    What does democracy mean if elections are ignored and journalists are charged as criminals? That is the case today, as western countries descend into crises of their own making and are more blatant…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REPORT: “The People Who Were Left to Die:” Horrors Suffered by Orleans Parish Prisoners in Wake of Katrina, ACLU, 2006
    28 Aug 2024
    Remembering the terrible plight of the incarcerated during Hurricane Katrina.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Protests for Palestine at the DNC
    28 Aug 2024
    DNC protest organizers kept Democrats’ responsibility for the Gaza genocide in the news from October to August.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us