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

Riddle of National Sovreignity
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Jan 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Riddle of National Sovreignity
For empire, the national sovreignity of colonized states has always been a polite fiction

Brown body writhing in orange
flames; scents of burning hair
and flesh—so, how do you say
Lynching in Spanish?
Torched clinics were hollowed
out shells without medicines and
Hoarders warehouses stay stuffed
like piñatas while shelves and bellies
stay stuck on empty—so, how do you
say sabotage in Spanish?
Vultures prancing like red,white and blue peacocks
bloody talons pounding cold coup-coup clocks
To bloodthirsty butchers like Bolton, Pompeo and Pence
the notion of national sovereignty makes no sense

The smell of sulfur, of hidden hands—
Hitmen— mired in the ‘90s—1890s…
Rogue state actors craving coltan,
bauxite, gold, gas, oil from the soil—
Flaunting the rule of law, pulling
strings of stooges, strangling aspirations,
dreams— making another economy scream!
Vultures prancing like red,white and blue peacocks
bloody talons pounding cold coup-coup clocks
To bloodthirsty butchers like Bolton, Pompeo and Pence
the notion of national sovereignty makes no sense—
Makes no sense to criminal champagne, caviar,
Cayman Island crowds— Brooks Brothers klansmen,
bedfellows of butchers confusing embassies with
slaughterhouses

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist,
You can find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

poetry
Venezuela

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


Related Stories

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
Abel Prieto
Venezuela: It Is What You See
30 September 2026
A photograph of Delcy Rodríguez smiling with Donald Trump after the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The U.S. Determination to Achieve Full Spectrum Dominance is Not In Decline
23 September 2026
The trope of the United States being in a state of decline is a common one, but it should not be accepted without scrutiny. The U.S.
Jacqueline Luqman
The Perfect Victim Narrative Applied To Foreign Policy Only Keeps U.S. Imperialism Alive
23 September 2026
The demand to call out alleged crimes in Iran or Cuba while those countries face annihilation from the U.S.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Ultimate Betrayal of Alex Saab and the Fate of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan People
16 September 2026
The United States got its hands on Alex Saab a second time in order to use him in its case against Nicolás Maduro. The U.S.
Luciano Vasapollo
Cuba Stands Firm, Venezuela Risks Losing its Sovereignty
09 September 2026
Cuba's leadership has chosen resistance over subordination as the blockade tightens, but Venezuela's sovereignty is being stripped away.
Black Alliance For Peace
Declaration of a Zone of Peace
26 August 2026
From the blockade of Cuba to the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, U.S.
Kimberly D. Miller
Beyond the "Delcyification" of Analysis
19 August 2026
Siege, survival, and the dialectics of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Luis Britto García
Venezuela Is Not Iran
19 August 2026
Venezuela is not Iran or Cuba, but those nations teach us that sovereignty is not given but is obtained through resistance.

More Stories


  • x
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dimitri Lascaris
    The Time for Polite Protest Is Over | Ajamu Baraka & Dimitri Lascaris
    07 Oct 2026
    Ajamu Baraka of the Black Alliance for Peace joins Dimitri Lascaris on BettBeat Media for a conversation about something Western publics have not yet come to terms with — the fact that resistance to…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Mamdani and the Zionist Shakedown
    07 Oct 2026
    Progressive candidates rarely remain so after winning public office. Zohran Mamdani is no exception, but his capitulation to New York zionists angered his supporters, and the people he hoped to…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ARTICLE: “Trade in Blacks” Practiced in Haiti; Tension Among Peasants Increases,” Jacques Roumain, 1937
    07 Oct 2026
    “Between October 2 and October 8, 1937, between 15,000 and 40,000 Haitians and Black Dominicans were slaughtered by Dominican troops…”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Ethiopia and Eritrea on the Brink
    07 Oct 2026
    Ethiopia and Eritrea are on the brink of a war that could further destabilize the Red Sea, disrupt oil tanker traffic, and drive gas prices even higher.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of Neocolonial Gang Suppression Force UN Mandate in Haiti
    07 Oct 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. Caribbean leaders cannot claim to support a Zone of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us