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

…NOW’S THE TIME…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
15 Apr 2020
🖨️ Print Article
…NOW’S THE TIME…
…NOW’S THE TIME…

coronavirus is coming
across treacherous 
food deserts—their Red
Lined decades of diabetes—
over hills of hypertension;
steep mountains of medical
neglect; over shattered ruins
of poverty like a good traveler:
simple and silent; appreciative 
of hosts beneath stars and bars
Below the Canadian Border.

coronavirus is coming
untested in pallbearer perfect
Nazi responses
Hiding, spreading—then 
strangling 
those we know and love;
those we’d love to ‘know…’
Leaving us bereft of  
bent note goodbyes
Gospel release, sermonized
hugs; and second-line send-
offs on tsunamis of tears…

coronavirus is coming
on nightmarish memories. 
Taunting winds. Hovering
helicopters. Flying over and past
rooftops of dehydrated,white
towel-waving families and
Exposing emaciated capitalism’s
cruel curve. Its toxic tendency to
Kill us—again and again and 
again… We charge genocide—
Again—shattering the champagne-
caviar crowd’s fractured fairytale:
“We’re All In This Together!“ 

coronavirus is coming
pulling puny payoffs—rent-short and
smelling like $election hush money—
Downwind of Trillions to Bailout Artists
Working Capitalist Hill like their ATM…
coronavirus is also coming
Questioning: if not now—When?
When will we stop 2/4 dances of death,
whirling in infantile fear—clinging
to trousered legs of Saviors?

coronavirus is also coming
in parked car demonstrations; and
7PM serenades to the Essential 
Class! 
Coming in balconies of banging pots
and pans—wordless droplets of the
“Internationale“ 
in a thousand tongues—
infecting us with solidarity 
in four-part harmony!

coronavirus is also coming
Salt of the Earth—
With wildcat strike, sickout
Militance! 
Coming with Arab Spring Fever and
General Strike coughs! Coming expelling
green TINA(There Is No Alternative)phlegm!
And capitalism has no vaccine 
for ‘30s-‘60s syndrome 

No antidote for fierce symptoms:
closed eyes—Woke—dreaming
wild, humongous dreams—Life
over death! People over profit—
Owning those machines—
Planning production
According to need: ’cause the
impossible’s’ all that’s 
Realistic… right now…

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

COMMENTS?

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

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com               

Coronavirus

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


Related Stories

COVID-19 and America - The Fire This Time
Wilmer J. Leon III
COVID-19 and America - The Fire This Time
06 May 2020
It is immoral if not criminal for the US to increase sanctions through its “maximum pressure campaigns” against Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and Pale
Over 70 Percent of Jobless Americans Didn’t Receive March Unemployment Benefits 
Igor Derysh 
Over 70 Percent of Jobless Americans Didn’t Receive March Unemployment Benefits 
06 May 2020
The problem is even worse in Southeastern states like Florida, where fewer than 8% of applicants received benefits.
Black Oakland Demands in Light of COVID-19 and Rates of Black Death
Black Oakland Leaders and Allies
Black Oakland Demands in Light of COVID-19 and Rates of Black Death
29 April 2020
Unless Black people are healthy and safe then no community is healthy and safe.
Pentagon Brass Can Kiss My Ass
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Pentagon Brass Can Kiss My Ass
22 April 2020
The coronavirus-stricken crew of the USS Roosevelt would be more useful making N-95 masks, building housing for people living on the streets,
Truth and Propaganda About Coronavirus
Vijay Prashad, Weiyan Zhu, and Du Xiaojun
Truth and Propaganda About Coronavirus
22 April 2020
It is unclear if China could have done anything different as it faced an unknown virus.
Resisting Covid-19 in Haiti
Pierre Labossiere
Resisting Covid-19 in Haiti
22 April 2020
There are only around 124 intensive care unit beds and less than 100 ventilators for a population of about 11 million.
Cuba: From AIDS, Dengue, and Ebola to COVID-19
Don Fitz
Cuba: From AIDS, Dengue, and Ebola to COVID-19
22 April 2020
Before Cuba experienced its first COVID-!9 case it had already updated a plan to prevent and control the disease.
Mike Davis On Pandemics, Super-capitalism and the Struggles of Tomorrow
Sharif Abdel Kouddous
Mike Davis On Pandemics, Super-capitalism and the Struggles of Tomorrow
22 April 2020
Capitalist globalization means accepting a permanent triage of humanity and dooming part of the human race to eventual extinction. 
The USS COVID-19, from Guam to Puget Sound
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
The USS COVID-19, from Guam to Puget Sound
15 April 2020
While the world confronts a real-life deadly epidemic, the Covid-afflicted US Navy struggles to maintain the farce of keeping the planet safe from
Systemic Racism Is Making Coronavirus Worse in Black America
Judy Lubin
Systemic Racism Is Making Coronavirus Worse in Black America
15 April 2020
COVID-19 is a perfect storm of systemic inequities operating together to worsen existing vulnerabilities.

More Stories


  • BAR Book Forum: Roderick Ferguson’s “One-Dimensional Queer”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Roderick Ferguson’s “One-Dimensional Queer”
    20 Feb 2019
    Gay liberation didn’t originate as a single-issue movement, and must confront neoliberalism and gentrification as well as anti-queer violence.
  • BAR Abolition Spotlight: Diana Block
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Abolition Spotlight Editor
    BAR Abolition Spotlight: Diana Block
    20 Feb 2019
    Society needs prison abolition in order to heal, but people living in prison need basic humane conditions in order to survive.”
  • Buried Alive: The Story of Police State Racism in Chicago
    Paul Street
    Buried Alive: The Story of Police State Racism in Chicago
    20 Feb 2019
    Chicago media care more about the safety of a killer cop and the Jesse Smollett saga than victims of the city’s rabidly racist police.
  • Prisons Are Building Databases of Incarcerated People’s Voice Prints
    George Joseph and Debbie Nathan
    Prisons Are Building Databases of Incarcerated People’s Voice Prints
    20 Feb 2019
    Hundreds of thousands of inmates’ voices have been imprinted, potentially ensnaring millions of family members, friends and supporters in the huge surveillance net.
  • Venezuela: A Unique Experience in Protagonist Democracy?
    Arnold August
    Venezuela: A Unique Experience in Protagonist Democracy?
    20 Feb 2019
    The issue for us all is: No to military intervention in Venezuela and full support for the right of Venezuela to defend itself.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us