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

That is not the Question
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
04 Nov 2020
🖨️ Print Article
That is not the Question
That is not the Question

The question is not if teargas breath thugs
weaponizing COVID; co-signing starvation;
stage whispering, “Lock her up!” ripping
children from mothers’ arms—splintering 
families—will abandon their bunkers and
vacate the War House…

The question is when will the general strike
sprout wings, gliding cross country; and how 
crammed Capitalist Hill and city streets get; 
How surrounded the War House is—and for how
many days, weeks, months—years if necessary? 

The question is not if assassins, coup plotters,
war profiteers plant themselves in perpetuity 
in fertile soil of socialism…
The question is community clinics, postal
banking, solar panels, windmills—when—
And until we’ve boned up on restorative justice—
Terre Haute or Beaumont for Boss Tweet—
Leavenworth or Lompoc for lawless low Barr?

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com   .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

poetry

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: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    On the Twentieth Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq It Must Be Clear: The U.S. is the Greatest Threat To World Peace and Collective Humanity
    15 Mar 2023
    History teaches that the greatest threat to peace today is the United States. No other nation creates dangers as great as those emanating from the U.S. commitment to the doctrine of Full…
  • Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Forever Wars vs. Armageddon
    15 Mar 2023
    The call for the U.S. to end military involvements is often made in order to advocate for new wars against more powerful countries. It appears that the only choices are forever wars or the end of the…
  • Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Will Boss Tweet run for exercise at Lompoc or Leavenworth?
    15 Mar 2023
                                                         
  • China's Example of Leadership Injects Hope Into a World of Uncertainty
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    China's Example of Leadership Injects Hope Into a World of Uncertainty
    15 Mar 2023
    As the U.S. makes threats and wages proxy wars, China is the new leader in international diplomacy. 
  • The Soul Will Find a Way
    Kevin Alexander Gray
    The Soul Will Find a Way
    15 Mar 2023
    Kevin Alexander Gray mixed the political and the cultural as he evoked life for Black people in the rural south and made connections with James Brown in one beautiful essay.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us