Ruchell Magee Must Be Set Free!
Elder, brother, comradeâŚBeen gone
too longâŚ
Wanted in the Black Communityâ
Watts writ large!
If 1619 started itâebony/ivoryâ
teenage attraction
Jim Crowâs watchâupped the ante!
Deep South apartheid stench/Emmett
Till terror/Pitched battles on blood riversâŚ
What could the boy be but Black rapist?
Bullwhip warped minds of white menâ
What could this be but âMasterâsâ
midnight visits to slave quartersâPrying
apart Black thighsâoverruling cries, pleas,
Love?
What could the boy be but Black rapist?
Crackers coveted Choctaw landâ
Black soil matteredâŚ
More than visiting terrorâor
Another muddy, mutilated body in Mississippi
or another Dixie river. Crackers coveting
Choctaw land put the boy in his plantation placeâŚ
Crackers coveting Choctaw land gifted 8 Angola yrs,
Under horseback-ridin, shot-gun-totin, tobacco-spittin
gaze; Under King Cottonâs rule; Gifted target embroidered
Jacketâ Gifted exile to: City of Angels/ruled by devilsâŚ
Elder, brother, comradeâŚBeen gone
too longâŚ
Wanted in the Black Communityâ
Watts writ large!
His numbers are no longer:
â6-3-4-5-7-8-9â
no longer:
âBeechwood 4-5-7-8-9â
far too long his numbers been:
#A92051 #T115â 83âCaged since â63â
60 yrs of vengeance-driven torture!
Elder, brother, comradeâŚBeen gone
too longâŚ
Wanted in the Black Communityâ
Watts writ large!
Visualize him homeâsun splashing light comic
book bright colors of L.A. murals!
Visualize him home, pulling three-deep lines snaked
âround crooked cornersâŚholding youth centers, senior
centers, libraries, bookstores captive.
Visualize him homeâspace, light, air, freedom to stretch
out in sensory overload!
Elder, brother, comradeâŚBeen gone
too longâŚ
Wanted in the Black Communityâ
Watts writ large!
No moâ Golden State gulag/COVID
concentration campâ
No moâ Octogenarian barrister behind bars
law book-liftingâiron-pumping mind:
No moâ memoranda, motion, writ and plea
No moâ heroic, litigiousâWar of the Fleaâ
No moâ symbol of strength/wisdom of treeâ
People, Ruchell Magee must be set Free!
Governor, Ruchell Magee must be set Free!
People, Ruchell Magee must be set Free!
Š 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
In âA Southern Panther,â movement elder Malik Rahim talks about his lifetime of battling racism and fighting for peace and environmental justice.
The Trump administrationâs decision to fast-track asylum for white South Africansâclaiming "persecution"âis a political stunt, ignoring that they remain among the wealthiest globally, stillâŚ
Despite Trumpâs tariffs battering the fossil fuel industry, bipartisan policies, including Democrat-backed subsidies, are rescuing Big Oil, locking in climate destruction while working-classâŚ
Accelerating crises of imperialism in Haiti, Ecuador, and beyond highlight the urgent need for regional Pan-Africanist, anti-imperialist unity and strategy.
"Saturday Mornings" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
