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


  • Popular Resistance: The Anti-War Movement Must Not Go Back to Sleep Under Biden
    Margaret Flowers
    Popular Resistance: The Anti-War Movement Must Not Go Back to Sleep Under Biden
    10 Feb 2021
    Biden has chosen the most diverse group of war mongers and torture supporters the nation has ever had.
  •  Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 8, 2021
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 8, 2021
    08 Feb 2021
    Activists Seed Public Schools With Black Liberation Curriculum
  •  Black American Slave Legacy Inherited by Diaspora Immigrants
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black American Slave Legacy Inherited by Diaspora Immigrants
    08 Feb 2021
    Black immigrants are not included in the standard American immigration story because newcomers from the African diaspora “inherit the legacy” of US Black chattel slavery, said Kovie Biakolo
  •  Black Political Party Puts Grassroots Organizing First
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Political Party Puts Grassroots Organizing First
    08 Feb 2021
    Although the Baltimore-based Ujima People’s Progress Party has engaged in electoral politics during its decade of operations, its focus is grassroots organizing, mutual aid, and political education
  •  Activists Seed Public Schools With Black Liberation Curriculum
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Activists Seed Public Schools With Black Liberation Curriculum
    08 Feb 2021
    The Ida B Wells Education Project has begun “centering Black liberation movements” in the classroom curriculum of a growing number of public schools, said Peta Lindsay, a founder o
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us