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

…solidarity sounds like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Apr 2019
🖨️ Print Article
movement
this is what solidarity looks like...

I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m also a Pyongyang, Managua, Manilla,
Teheran Man, too—As opposed to despot
As I am to coup!
When they go high—
Pole dancing palace and peacock throne—
I go low— on my own: grassroots, salt of the earth…
Lookin’ here and there, searchin’ everywhere
for bleach, Windex, Pine Sol scents—
janitors scrubbing toilets, mopping floors;
Lookin’ for blue plumes of forklift fumes—
pallets groaning in harmony with lunch
bucket language of warehouse workers;
Lookin’ for oily mist, machines birthing
stainless steel parts on shop floors;
Listenin’ for punch presses pounding parts
out for machine tools;
Listenin’ for squealing carts of library workers;
Listenin’ for intercoms ordering nurses to stations,
bells releasing teachers to lunch
Lookin’ to stand shoulder to shoulder
with—Workers of the World

I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m a Seoul Man, da-da-da—dat-da-da-da
I’m also a Pyongyang, Managua, Manilla,
Teheran Man, too—As opposed to despot
As I am to coup!
When they go high—
Pole dancing palace and peacock throne—
I go low— on my own: grassroots, salt of the earth…
Lookin’ here and there, searchin’ everywhere
Listenin’ for stiffening spine, rattling chain
leaping from guitars and marching to drums;
Lookin’ for ruby banners and fiery pens;
Lookin’ for actors; not dupes and dopes
dangling on dicks of dictators, kleptocrats,
torturers, Czars—like Negroz and liberals
dangled from The Drone Ranger…

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.,br/> Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and 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


  • Alan MacLeod
    Rappers For Regime Change: How the CIA Recruits Hip Hop Artists Around the World
    28 Oct 2026
    The U.S. government has promoted rap artists to destabilize targeted governments around the world.
  • Ricardo Vaz
    Western Media Accept Trump’s Plundering of Venezuelan Oil as Business as Usual
    28 Oct 2026
    Venezuelanalysis editor Ricardo Vaz exposes how the media establishment presents no principled opposition to the imperialist predation of Venezuelan resources.
  • Timothy Pratt
    US seized American heir’s cellphone in violation of treaty agreement, lawyer says
    28 Oct 2026
    James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, in prison in Spain, has applied for asylum as the US seeks extradition over alleged "Hamas support." With Spain's help, Chambers has become a political prisoner of the US.
  • Geraldina Colotti
    Lula wins in Brazil, but the far right won’t back down
    28 Oct 2026
    Lula's narrow runoff victory over Flávio Bolsonaro preserved Brazil as one of the last bulwarks against the far right in Latin America, a victory achieved through extraordinary popular mobilization
  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report October 23, 2026
    23 Oct 2026
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the ongoing uprising in France against neo-liberal austerity, colonialism, and white supremacy. But first, we discuss a new report that reveals a 25% decline in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us