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

Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
08 Jan 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?

This Orange Age outrage—
Reich of the child’s cage
Cancer at fourth stage—
Rogue state’s rampage…
is a tiny blip on capitalism’s 
Continuum…
Its hypnotic ebb and flow,
distilled decades of woe—
decades of darkness,
Slowly bend in scalding
magma, bubbling up from below…
Sorry for the inconvenience—
the beginning is near…
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

Was it a Night in Tunisia? 
Ferguson? Occupy? Palestine? 
Baltimore? Madison?
A single spark in the dark
setting off prairie fire?
Was it Standing Rock, ‘Red’
State teachers’ strikes? Was it
the tick of Time’s Up-Me Too? The
Howl of climate chaos—Extinction 
Rebellion—Or harmony 
of… “All the above…”
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s?

Tsunamis of struggle sweep
World streets into 99% gyms—
Core/cardio spaces building big hearts;
Strength training, flexing, stretching—
muscling up militant mass movements
Against corporate olympics: Race to the 
bottom!
Strength training, squeezing concessions
from barbarians in Brooks Brothers suits
and other capitalist costumes—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s!

No Charleston, flappers, speakeasies.
No bootleg liquor. Fewer pain dulling
shots. Less low sodium tears in beer…
Militant mass action’s tonic and gin—
Magic potion; prayer; voodoo—and a 
Vote for the lesser of evils…
“Happy Hour’s” the 99% cheering
favorite forms of 
Resistance on bars’ big screens—
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s
Sweeping in the Roaring ‘20s…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

poerty

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


Related Stories

Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Piece Process
23 May 2018
Breathe, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze it’s a joy-stick; a video game to him He has orders to “light up” anything that moves;

More Stories


  • Combating Lies thumbnail
    Solomon Comissiong , Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Netfa Freeman , Jacqueline Luqman , Gus Griffin
    Combating the Lies and Propaganda that Fuel the USA-Israel War on Iran
    25 Mar 2026
    Jacqueline Luqman, Margaret Kimberley, Netfa Freeman, and Gus Griffin were among the panelists joining Your World News Media to discuss the lies and war propaganda that fuel the brutal war of…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Donald Trump and the Truth About Robert Mueller
    25 Mar 2026
    Donald Trump is not lying about Robert Mueller. Mueller was the point man for a plot involving the Democratic Party establishment, intelligence agencies, and corporate media. Russiagate was a…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Black Folks and Foreign Policy, June Jordan, 1983.
    25 Mar 2026
    “Who will we become if we remain the silent partners to this white arrogance?”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Dan Kovalik
    U.S. Takes Aim at President Gustavo Petro, but He's Akin to a Rock Star in Colombia
    25 Mar 2026
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor, spoke to attorney and author Dan Kovalik, President Petro’s legal representative in the US and in international courts. 
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    War Crime Cafe
    25 Mar 2026
    "War Crime Cafe" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us