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
  • bandar togel
  • maincuan
  • neko77
  • omnibus
  • raja slot
  • situs bandar togel
  • slot gacor
  • slot qris
  • slot zeus
  • slot777
  • slot88
  • stm88
  • stm88
  • winsgoal

For a young labor leader leading by example
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Aug 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Chris Smalls
Democracy NOW

“The future of labor is the future of America.”  
                                  —John L. Lewis

When butchers boarded in 
International waters—
Drenching our screens scarlet with blood lust
Bankrolled by our treasure—despite our oceans of tears …

When buccaneers boarded in
International waters— 
And laughed at lawful orders to stand down. To not
Kidnap, shanghai, pressgang peace activists aboard

When freebooters boarded in
International waters—
Shocking shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back body
Language greeted them: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

When pariah state pirates boarded in
International waters— 
Gold doubloons disappeared and became baby formula,
Diapers, stuffed animals, and assorted hygiene supplies

When scurvy bigots boarded in 
International waters—
We prayed against ‘sand-nigger’ servings of rifle-butts; and other
DEI (Death Emaciation Injury) ‘perks,’ hourly granted Palestinians

When bellicose ship wreckers boarded in 
International waters— 
We held historical breaths. Imagined a U.S. traffic
Stop. Militant Black labor leader shot on the spot!

Alas, our young labor leader’s home! Life uncrushed like cigarette butt— by
Bulldozer. Un-pierced by whistling sniper’s bullet. Home, warehousing curses,
Taunts, knees, blows— pitiful— feeble in hand-to-hand combat with hands of
Time …

Š 2025. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

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.

labor
Christian Smalls
Palestine
Gaza
Israel
humanitarian

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
School Shooting Du Jour. War Of The Week
17 September 2025
6 journalists slaughtered in a tent. SNOOZE. 11 Venezuelans —Blip on a screen — blown to smithereens with their boat. YAWN.
Abayomi Azikiwe
Poverty and Declining Real Wages in America: Philadelphia Municipal Strike Highlights Worsening Plight of the Working Class
23 July 2025
An eight-day strike by municipal employees in Philadelphia disrupted the operations of one of the largest cities in the United States amid syst
Caitlin Johnstone
AOC Is a Genocidal Con Artist
23 July 2025
She’s actively stopping American politics from moving any further left than the nightmare we see before us.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Biden's Fate and Israel's Sadistic Revenge
21 May 2025
Israel is starving Gazans to death and continuing its bombing attacks on civilians.
Sean L. Malloy
How the creation of the ‘New Antisemitism’ was used to shield Israel and attack the Left
30 April 2025
Challenges to Zionism in the late 1960s and 1970s sparked an effort to redefine antisemitism focused on defending Israel while attacking the po
Hands Off protest
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
HANDS OFF NATO? Not Palestine? Who got the memo?
09 April 2025
The Democrats’ HANDS OFF rallies included “HANDS OFF NATO” and excluded “HANDS OFF PALESTIN
Alan MacLeod
Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics
09 April 2025
Betar U.S., a far-right Zionist organization with ties to violent extremism, is quietly shaping Trump administration policy, compiling lists of
Briahna Joy Gray
Why Did MSNBC Cancel Joy Reid?
12 March 2025
Some speculated that racism explains the firing of the liberal anchor. But MSNBC doesn't have a problem with Black hosts.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Liberals Want War in Ukraine, Trump Wants Peace in Ukraine, But All Agree on Death in Gaza
05 March 2025
Donald Trump’s efforts to normalize relations with Russia, and to end the fighting in the Ukraine proxy
Alan MacLeod
Marco Rubio: From ‘Perfect Little Puppet’ to Most Dangerous Man Alive
29 January 2025

More Stories


  • Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    The Useful Tool: Kamala “Heartbeat Away” Harris
    31 Jul 2024
    If Biden wins, Kamala Harris will be put forward as a kind of “co-president,” as a palliative for the lack of substantive relief from the forces that are plaguing Black lives.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Stands in Solidarity with Venezuela Against the Assault on its Democracy
    31 Jul 2024
    The election interference and subsequent US backed protests in Venezuela are another attempt to destabilize the nation and stop the ongoing Bolivarian Revolution. But the masses will remain strong.
  • Netfa Freeman
    The Ruthless and Desperate Pursuit of U.S. Influence and Access Over Africa
    31 Jul 2024
    AFRICOM is growing more bold in its attempts to maintain dominance over the African continent. Now is the time for Pan-African and Black Nationalist forces to organize to sabotage those efforts…
  • Jon Jeter
    How the Democratic Party Committed Suicide by Biting the Black Hands That Feed It
    31 Jul 2024
    The Democratic Party dug its own grave decades ago when it began trying to siphon from the GOP by appealing to conservatives and ignoring the needs of its strong base of African American people.
  • Pan-African Community Action PACA 2568)
    Pan-African Community Action Condemns the U.S. Settler State for the Murder of Sonya Massey
    31 Jul 2024
    The murder of Sonya Massey by the Illinois police is a symptom of a larger, deeply rooted, systemic assault on Black and Brown working-class communities. The only way to protect the people and resist…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us