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

STOP the killers!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Jan 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Fisherman

Burlap bags stuffed with tuna and blue marlin.
Catch of a lifetime! Juan’s already counting the
cash in his head. Visualizing pawn shop guitar
for Gabriel, his 10 yr old son, graduating to guitar
from ukulele. Gabriel’s greeted morning rooster-
like— since age 3—  with “Let’s practice, Papa!”

Before pushing off to sea Juan bought the computer 
Rosario wished for from a journalism student he met
at the fish market training fishmongers to compute. He
also bought the bicycle Maria longed and stashed it at
a neighbor’s house. Juan was out to make his young
family’s Christmas the best ever.

BOOM!
Bloody mess below his waist. Juan’s a strong swimmer. But
he can’t feel his legs. He quickly grabs on to fiery flotsam.
Is that Javier hanging on for dear life across from him?
He hears his children’s joyful shrieks. Sees them jumping
Up and down with joy. He kisses Lourdes long and tenderly …

BOOM!
A pomade man has amplified orders of
his demented Don into “Kill them all!”
Laughing, they dub it  a “double-tap 
strike —”
like some cool dance step
signaling mad moves to come …


© 2026. 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.

Venezuela
imperialism
US Military
Military aggression
extrajudicial killings
Caribbean

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
POEM: O.A.S., Roque Dalton, circa 1970
28 October 2026
“The President of the United States is more/ the President of my country/ than the President of my country.”
Ricardo Vaz
Western Media Accept Trump’s Plundering of Venezuelan Oil as Business as Usual
28 October 2026
Venezuelanalysis editor Ricardo Vaz exposes how the media establishment presents no principled opposition to the imperialist predation of Venez
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Calypso as Comment, Gordon Rohlehr, 1979
21 October 2026
“So the calypso ceases to be entertainment on a trivial level and becomes a vehicle whereby the society is going back and searching f
Belen Fernandez
Israel’s Lebanese Land Grab
21 October 2026
Under the guise of a farcical “pilot zone” project to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, Israel is pursuing a scorched-earth strategy whi
Issa G Shivji
Positioning Pan-Africanism In The Geopolitical Turmoil
21 October 2026
As we are experiencing a world order in disorder, with war and conflagrations and a shifting balance of power, Issa Shivji calls for a Sovereig
Stephen Millies
Don’t Let Them Kill Cilia Flores!
14 October 2026
While Trump pardoned an actual drug lord president, he keeps a kidnapped Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, First Combatant Ce
Black Alliance For Peace
The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of Neocolonial Gang Suppression Force UN Mandate in Haiti
07 October 2026
The UN's renewal of the Gang Suppression Force mandate is part of a wider hemispheric project to reassert military control across the Americas.
Berthony Dupont
How the OAS Works for Imperialism in Haiti
07 October 2026
The armed groups in Haiti are not a spontaneous wave of banditry, but a scheme orchestrated by imperialist powers in concert with a reactionary
Abel Prieto
Venezuela: It Is What You See
30 September 2026
A photograph of Delcy RodrĂ­guez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S.
Pambazuka News Editors
TĂĽrkiye, UAE, and the Imperialist Chain: African Ports and War
30 September 2026
Imperialist competition and wars that facilitate extractivism have long shaped the use of seaports for access to resources, markets, and devalu

More Stories


  • Venezuela Continues To Be the Model for True Democracy in the Americas
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Venezuela Continues To Be the Model for True Democracy in the Americas
    03 May 2022
    The 2002 attempted coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was undone because of popular action. The Bolivarian Republic recently held an international summit commemorating events which…
  •  West African “Coup Contagion” Analysis
    Djibo Sobukwe
    West African “Coup Contagion” Analysis
    03 May 2022
    The people of Africa's Sahel region want truly sovereign governements that act in their interests. But U.S. interference, the continued influence of France and other colonizers, and neo-colonial…
  • A Statement on Ukraine from the Black Liberation Movement
    Black Liberation Movement Organizations
    A Statement on Ukraine from the Black Liberation Movement
    03 May 2022
    Black liberation movement organizations issued a joint statement opposing US/NATO actions in Ukraine.
  • From Black Power to Pan-Africanism with Mukasa Dada
    Ahjamu Umi
    From Black Power to Pan-Africanism with Mukasa Dada
    03 May 2022
    Mukasa Dada was a leader in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and is an unsung hero of the liberation movement.
  • Blame NATO for the Ukraine War
    Eugene Puryear
    Blame NATO for the Ukraine War
    03 May 2022
    Should we really blame NATO for the Ukraine war? The answer to that question is, "Yes!" Blame for the conflict in Ukraine can be laid at the doorstep of the U.S. and its NATO allies.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us