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

What The Video Shows
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Dec 2015
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Video, as police and military malefactors frequently remind us, is two dimensional.

What The Video Shows

by BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

The officer drove 6 min.
Like Mario Andretti impersonating
Evel Knivel on Chicago streets
The officer alighted from his vehicle
Firing and fearing for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

After being struck by several rounds 
Fired by the responding officer, the 
Suspect assumed a combative prone
Position and began resisting the officer’s
Fire…

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Stay still; notice the suspect’s body 
bouncing, twisting—that’s resisting
Notice the suspect’s body refusing to
Just die—that’s resisting—he’s resisting!

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers whose
Guns were holstered
The officer feared for his safety and
The safety of his fellow officers and
The safety of the suspect, so they let
Him ā€˜bleed out’—a split–second decision
this work’s hard enough without second-guessing 

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Well, on second viewing, the officer may
Have used poor judgment, may have over-
Reacted; the officer may need more training

Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—take that hospital 
Bombed
In Afghanistan—it wasn’t really bombed—it only
Looked bombed. It only looks like splattered blood
on ICU walls. That head only looks like it’s detached 
from its torso. It only looks like 32 people were killed…
Video’s two dimensional—what you think you
See is not what you really see—so repeat after me:
Baby, don’t do it
Baby, don’t you do it
Baby, don’t dare do it
Don’t trust your lying eyes

Raymond Nat Turner Ā© 2015 All Rights Reserved

subscribe to our free weekly email notifying you of new content published at Black Agenda Report

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


More Stories


  • Essam Elkorghli
    Syria’s Fall and Anti-Imperialist Lessons
    18 Dec 2024
    Similar to a predator realizing it is losing a fight and is reaching its end, the U.S. is lashing out and attempting to deepen its claws into subjugated nations like Syria, which just experienced a…
  • Hadya Al Alawi
    In Full: Former Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's First Comments Since Fall of Regime
    18 Dec 2024
    For the first time since his departure from Syria, Bashir Al Assad shared a statement detailing the series of events which led to US backed regime change against his country.
  • Krys Cerisier
    COP29 Contradiction and the Climate
    18 Dec 2024
    Journalist Krys Cerisier attended the COP29 climate conference, where they reported and conducted interviews with activists from around the world demanding funding for climate solutions from the…
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Black Agenda Report Interview with Former Bolivian President Evo Morales
    18 Dec 2024
    The recent attempted assassination of Evo Morales, former President of Bolivia, is part of a larger attempt by the U.S. to strengthen its control over the natural resources of the region. Clau O…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Biden Administration Fails to Win Imprisonment of the Uhuru 3
    18 Dec 2024
    The U.S. sought to once again target Black radical forces, by charging violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act. The Uhuru 3 were acquitted of those charges but convicted under the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us