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


  • COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era Political Prisoners, Prisoners of War, Exiles Are on the Agenda of a UN Panel
    Efia Nwangaza
    COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era Political Prisoners, Prisoners of War, Exiles Are on the Agenda of a UN Panel
    03 May 2023
    A United Nations panel of experts is in the US investigating the condition of political prisoners held in this country.
  • Harry Belafonte - Unashamedly Revolutionary
    Richard S. Dunn
    Harry Belafonte - Unashamedly Revolutionary
    03 May 2023
    The late Harry Belafonte was a great artist and also a committed revolutionary.
  • No More Foreign Interference in Haiti: The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Core Group Do Not Represent Haitian People!
    Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    No More Foreign Interference in Haiti: The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Core Group Do Not Represent Haitian People!
    03 May 2023
    The Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team issued this statement in protest of the latest effort of the Core Group to undermine Haitian sovereignty.
  • Report from Port-au-Prince, Haiti:  How People Protect Their Communities in the Absence of the State
    Jean Ronald Montas
    Report from Port-au-Prince, Haiti: How People Protect Their Communities in the Absence of the State
    03 May 2023
    Note that all western coverage of Haiti over the past ten months has centered on “gang violence” and not the protests by the people against an illegitimate Prime Minister, unending U.S. imperial…
  • Mayotte Crisis: Putrid Leftover of France’s Imperialist and Colonialist Scrooge?
    Gilbert Mercier
    Mayotte Crisis: Putrid Leftover of France’s Imperialist and Colonialist Scrooge?
    03 May 2023
    Mayotte is a French overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It is also near the Comoros Islands, whose citizens travel to Mayotte as undocumented…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us