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

City Of Angels
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Jun 2025
🖨️ Print Article
immigration protest

“There is no power greater than 
a community discovering what it 
cares about.”
  â€“ Margaret Wheatley

City Of Angels where
Camouflaged kidnappers; Fascist wrecking-crews rip
Seamstress, roofer, warehouse worker, dishwasher families
Apart. Apart for private prison-profiteers. Apart for a flash-
Bang-buffoon-king of chaos and cruelty. Whose strongman
Handler has him by the short-hairs— Dancing for dollars

City Of Angels where 
Folks know that masters of misdirection mix fantasy with
Fascism. Sprinkle spectacle in with torture.  And laugh
In teargas and rubber bullets—All the way to the bank—
Stealing SNAP; Medicaid; Social Security; and veterans’
Benefits 

City Of Angels ruled by devils
Reflecting fire and ICE.
City Of Angels where everyday 
Angelenos strap on resistance
Wings— And fly in solidarity
Formations through fog

City Of Angels where
Everyday Angelenos strap on mutual aid
Wings— And fly warp speed
Through blitzkrieg. Through hurricanes 
Of big lies. 
Through whirlwinds of racist rubbish

City Of Angels where
“To protect and serve” translates into sonic boom slogans
Bouncing off buildings! Ricocheting as linked arms.
Morphing shoulder-to-shoulder. Out from unlikely alliances.
Into united fronts ten toes down! Into militant movements
Organizing and building. Mastering pressure, mastering choke-points

City Of Angels where 
Everyday Angelenos know it’s no video game
On colorful screens. Know it’s soldiers on their streets
And Marines. Know “less lethal” is Pig Latin for Palestine—
On the down-low—Cookin’ slow … Know Gaza is Raza—
Writ large …

City Of Angels where 
The streets are universities of class struggle
Attended by allies, accomplices, comrades.
The streets are universities of class struggle paved with smoking tear-
Gas canisters; bloody, rubber-coated, steel bullets. And goose-steppers
Coming for Mexicans in the morning— And back for Blacks by noon 

City Of Angels where
Everyday Angelenos hate The Orange Age—
Its latest outrage of tilted table. Loaded dice.
Marked cards. Everyday Angelenos hate the
Capitalist decay—that must be swept Away
With 8.5-hour days of resistance!

© 2025. 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.

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


More Stories


  • JosuĂ© Veloz Serrade
    Cuba at the Crossroads of a Bogus Multilateralism
    25 Mar 2026
    “Cuba en la encrucijada de un multilateralismo hipócrita,” by Josué Veloz Serrade, appeared on La Tizza on 17 March 2026.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    In Solidarity with the Prairieland Nine
    25 Mar 2026
    The Prairieland Nine convictions are an example of lawfare designed to criminalize political dissent and intimidate movements challenging the national security state.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 20, 2026
    20 Mar 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran and crises in the Horn of Africa. Sudan is experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe created by United Arab Emirates proxy…
  • Iran
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Iran Resists the U.S./Israeli Attack
    20 Mar 2026
    Bahman Azad, president of the US Peace Council, joins us to discuss the US/Israeli war of aggression against Iran. The US has committed war crimes by assassinating Iranian leaders, and bombing…
  • Horn of Africa
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Iran, UAE, Sudan, and Crises in the Horn of Africa
    20 Mar 2026
    Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of Pan-African Newswire, discusses events in the Horn of Africa. The U.S. war against Iran is impacting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose Rapid Support Force proxies are…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us