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

Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
23 Jul 2021
Our ‘democracy’
Our ‘democracy’

Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne-
caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pay nothing for water washing their waste to sewage 
treatment plants; Roads delivering their indulgences
to gated palaces; Schools researching their earthly 
strategies for class war—and cunning space escapes!

“Our democracy:” 
Nirvana where voting’s a work day—special Olympics—
dehydrating decathlon jumping through Jim Crow hoops;
climbing confederate concertina wired walls; hurdling
Apartheid pass laws; scaling polling place pitchforks;
And vaulting oiled obstacles to $elect slippery senators, 
compromised congressmen deep in corporate pockets

“Our democracy:” 
Oz of lynch mob mad white men—lawless law enforcers—
Drunken devil assassins storming Capitalist Hill with to-
die lists half-mile long; Armed actors acting out Birth of
A Nation fantasies with impunity. Yes, “Our democracy:”
greasy-thumb superheroes, bareback, backwards on dis- 
abled donkeys braying platitudes every two-four years. 
Charlatans causing us to shudder and doubt ourselves… 

“Our democracy:”
By the power of Poetic License granted me to practice
Poetry in Empire and Golden States
hereby grant you permission to call “Our democracy” a
Corporatocracy, autocracy, kleptocracy, plutocracy—even
White minority warfare state. By the power of Poetic License
granted me to practice poetry in Empire and Golden States I
hereby grant you permission
To pimp slap and kick to the curb anyone as old as I am caught
babbling ‘bout “Our democracy…” Effective until we are freed to
Vote directly for the generals: General Atomics, General Dynamics,
General Electric, General Motors, General Mills…© 2021. 

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 [email protected]

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 I
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 r
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
                                                                                              Another June 1  
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.
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 13, 2025
    13 Jun 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about how a tornado impacted the Black community of St. Louis, which already suffered as a result of decades of destructive public policy. But first, we discuss…
  • Global March to Gaza
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He joins us from Johannesburg to discuss his work in solidarity with Palestine…
  • St. Louis after tornado
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    St. Louis Black Community Organizes Against Racist Policy and Tornado Impact
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Christopher Gladney. He is president of the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association in St. Louis, Missouri. He joins us from St.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Solidarity Against ICE and the Entire State Apparatus
    11 Jun 2025
    Popular resistance against the Trump administration in Los Angeles and other cities is a very positive development and one that Black people must embrace.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
    11 Jun 2025
    “any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us