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
  • omnibus

Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
17 May 2023
🖨️ Print Article
 Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat
1987 Lakers (Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)

                                                                                   Lakers/Warriors; And Knicks/Heat

 

It’s fun falling into fantasy lands. Fun watching sweaty,

dripping wet, teamwork of nephew-grandson men! Brisk

Passing/sharing! Rebounding missed shots! Chasing down

loose balls…

It’s fun escaping School Shooting of The Day—and

War of the Week!

Fun forgetting Pentagon Parties, Pinocchio politicians

and their elephant excrement-donkey dung $campaigns

It’s fun purchasing ‘personal’ pizzas, local pizza place,

and metaphor-watching with working-class ‘strangers!’

Fun following brown round ball whizzing crosscourt;

‘round keys; secretly daydreaming the politically ‘impossible’

It’s fun removing my mind from War House! From W-Drone

Ranger-Boss Tweet-Ol’ Schmo biz. Off sleazy senators, corrupt

congressmen infesting Capitalist Hill. It’s fun forgetting grand

dragon governors and 4th quarter comebacks by confederates

It’s fun watching furious fast breaks of great Jazz quintets—

playing “I can’t breathe!” bent backs; hands on knees—

Substitutions and timeouts… It’s fun when “Hands up, don’t

Shoot!” is ‘bout blocking shots—Not autopsies, flowers, funerals.

Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.

sports
Black Sports; Politics

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
EDITORIAL: After the Olympics: Buying off Protest, Harry Edwards, 1969
16 July 2025
“Racists don’t give up easily, we learned, and the racists in sports are especially dedicated.”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva’s Book, “The End of College Football”
06 November 2024
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
OJ Simpson at his trial
Gus Griffin
O.J. Simpson and Understanding the Black Support He Never Deserved
17 April 2024
O.J.
Colin Kaepernick
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??
21 February 2024
The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??
Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
Gus Griffin
Yes! An NFL Player Can Be Exploited
23 August 2023
Michael Oher’s story of exploitation is even worse than the white savior narrative presented by Hollywood.
The Super Bowl and the Trouble with First Black Symbolism
Gus Griffin
The Super Bowl and the Trouble with First Black Symbolism
08 February 2023
Whether Super Bowl quarterbacks, or presidents, or police chiefs, unquestioned admiration of the "first Black" should come to an end.
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Dewitt King
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Dewitt King
21 September 2022
In this feature, we interview organizers, journalists, scholars, and athletes working at the intersection of sports and Black struggle. 
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Courtney M. Cox
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Courtney M. Cox
13 July 2022
In this feature, we interview organizers, journalists, scholars, and athletes working at the intersection of sports and Black struggle.
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Samantha N. Sheppard
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum “Sports and Black Struggle”: Interview with Samantha N. Sheppard
30 March 2022
This week, we interview Samantha N. Sheppard. Samantha N.
BAR Book Forum: Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson’s “Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson’s “Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back”
01 December 2021
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.

More Stories


  • Jon Jeter
    The Dog Whistle Heard ‘Round the World: How Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City Bombing Birthed the Trump Era
    16 Apr 2025
    Thirty years after Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing, his legacy lives on in the racist mass shooters, anti-government extremists, and MAGA reactionaries who continue to target Black…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Claudia O'Brien Moscoso , Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    A Snapshot of the Global War Against African People: Reflections From Ecuador
    16 Apr 2025
    Defying Ecuador’s attempt to bar international monitors, election observers documented how Daniel Noboa’s contested victory, secured amid militarized polling stations and state violence, escalates…
  • Too Black , Rasul Mowatt
    Bootleg Rehab: Still Laundering Black Rage
    16 Apr 2025
    DEI isn’t dead—it was never alive to begin with. A corporate pacification project dressed as progress, it launders Black rage into diversity statements while police budgets grow and material…
  • NBROC Coordinating Committee
    Grounding Our Purpose: The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference
    16 Apr 2025
    The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference (NBROC) continues the legacy of Black radical resistance, uniting organizers to confront imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy while…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Black Alliance for Peace and MANE Reflect on Ecuadorian Elections
    16 Apr 2025
    Despite Ecuador's attempts to block international observers, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and Movimiento Afrodescendiente Nacional Ecuatoriano (MANE) documented the violent realities of Daniel…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us