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

Play, Black Girl, play! (For the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s girls)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Mar 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Nina Simone

“The music is the magic through a raging storm …” 

— Abbey Lincoln

Play, Black Girl, play —
Play your piano, now
Come, now, let Sister-
Master show you how

Play, Black Girl, play —
Play your hot saxophone
On shoulders of giants
You don’t stand alone …


© 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.

Music
Black children
culture
Oakland
Black Women

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
Declaration of Independence (for Donald "Duck" Bailey)
15 July 2026
Drummer men, drummer men, fluid loose-limbed rhythm-masters, were you born free?Did you drum? Did you drum? Did you drum
Photo: Kevin W. Thorbourne
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
08 September 2021
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)  
BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
Marisa Fuentes
BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s "No Mercy Here"
06 May 2020
This is a book about the ideological construction of black women as “non-human” and exploitable for capitalist profit in the making of the New Sout

More Stories


  • Laundering Black Rage, Part 2
    Too Black
    Laundering Black Rage, Part 2
    14 Sep 2022
    Rage is a natural human emotion that is denied to Black people. Black rage is dangerous and is washed away, laundered, as if it were an ill-gotten gain. Too Black explains in the second part of…
  • Big Ideas to Stir the Blood: Reimagining Reparations as America's Marshall Plan and Not Just a Payday
    Jon Jeter
    Big Ideas to Stir the Blood: Reimagining Reparations as America's Marshall Plan and Not Just a Payday
    14 Sep 2022
    International law requires that reparations be made for human rights violations. African Americans certainly fall into the category of those entitled to just compensation, restitution, and…
  • Economic Freedom Fighters Statement on the Death of Queen Elizabeth
    Sinawo Thambo, Leigh-Ann Mathys, Sixolise Gcilishe
    Economic Freedom Fighters Statement on the Death of Queen Elizabeth
    14 Sep 2022
    The brutal history of British imperialism should not be forgotten in the wake of the Queen's death. The South African organization, Economic Freedom Fighters, recounts the many crimes…
  • The Global Fragility Act: Washington’s New Tool for Controlling an Indomitable Haiti
    Travis Ross
    The Global Fragility Act: Washington’s New Tool for Controlling an Indomitable Haiti
    14 Sep 2022
    Haiti is the first target of the Global Fragility Act. Haiti's "fragility" is caused by decades of U.S. interference, and the restoration of its sovereignty is the way to resolve that nation's …
  • Chile’s Boric Is Becoming More Right Wing by the Day
    Carlos Aznárez
    Chile’s Boric Is Becoming More Right Wing by the Day
    14 Sep 2022
    Chilean president Gabriel Boric was hailed as a leftist leader. In fact, his administration has joined the U.S. in condemning Latin America's revolutionary leaders, and voters rejected his …
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us