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

Trigger Warning
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Nov 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Protest for Palestine at the White House (Photo: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Trigger Warning

Palestine’s the
Answer—
What was the
Question?

Why the red line in the tan sand—splitting the
World into irreconcilable camps? Oppressed-
oppressors; Exploited-exploiters; haves-Have nots?
Why the flashing cherry red moral lights—Demanding
Decisive Action—NOW?

Why siren urgency of squawking shofars? Of searing
saxophones? Why are anti-genocide guerrillas riding
in the moment? Improvising like Jazz Masters? Rallying
Scorched earth actions— cutting off Business As Usual
Choke-points?

Why the occupations of great train stations? The re-routing of rail-
roads? Why the blocking of bridges? Why are ports being held hostage—
From the Hudson to the Pacific? Why the sit-ins in offices of Lilliputians
posing as lionized leaders? Why are corrupt congress members’ and
sleazy senators’ steer manure messages being blown out of the water?
Why are Moby Dick-sized lies of bought and bossed windbags getting
Shot down…. one-by-one?

Why do Hellfire Missiles of murderous, mustard seed-hearted men
incinerate our holiness? Coat our hearts with white phosphorus?
Strangle our souls?
Killing us softly with their
Wars?

Palestine’s the
Answer—
What was the
Question?
 

© 2023. 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.

Palestine
poetry

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


Related Stories

Al Jazeera Staff
‘If you sleep, settlers will burn your house’: fear in the West Bank
28 January 2026
The Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja has held out against violent Israeli settlers – until now.
Ramzy Baroud
Teetering on the Brink of Genocide: Why Netanyahu is Keen on Prolonging the Gaza War
21 January 2026
Netanyahu's continuation of the Gaza genocide is integral to the continuity of the zionist project.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Breaking the Silence Revisited: Gaza, Venezuela, and the Enduring Relevance of Dr. King’s Critique of Empire
14 January 2026
The annual ritual of sanitizing Martin Luther King Jr.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Venezuela, Even More Than Palestine, Is the Linchpin of a Consistent Radical Left in The Era of Global Neofascism Led by the U.S.
07 January 2026
Solidarity with Palestine tests morality, but solidarity with Venezuela tests politics. The recent U.S.
Elis Gjevori
Israel kills over 700 relatives of Palestinian journalists in Gaza: Report
07 January 2026
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says Israel is using collective punishment to crush reporting of its genocidal war in Gaza.
Cradle Correspondent
Gaza's Smoke Clouds the West Bank's Flames: The Colonial Project Made Permanent
10 December 2025
As international eyes stay locked on Gaza, Tel Aviv is executing its most aggressive campaign of ethnic cleansing and land theft in the occupie
Jill Clark-Gollub , Margaret Flowers
First International Day Against Unilateral Coercive Measures
10 December 2025
Unilateral coercive measures, sanctions, are weapons of mass suffering.
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
United Nations Security Council Resolution on Gaza is a Surrender to U.S. Led Global Fascism
26 November 2025
By approving a U.S.
Gary Wilson
Palestinians Reject U.S.–Backed U.N. Plan: ‘A new form of occupation’
19 November 2025
The so-called 'peace plan' resolution passed by the UN Security Council is nothing more than a newly branded occupation and the Palestinian peo
The Cradle News Desk
Israeli soldiers confirm Palestinian civilians murdered 'without restraint' in Gaza 'free for all'
12 November 2025
A new film shows that Israeli troops were encouraged to exterminate Palestinians, including women and children, by their politicians and Jewish

More Stories


  • Minneapolis anti-ICE protest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    ICE Invades Minnesota
    16 Jan 2026
    Suleiman Adan is Deputy Executive Director of the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. He joins us from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Donald Trump has unleashed ICE…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Renee Good, Keith Porter and the Normalization of Police Violence
    14 Jan 2026
    Law enforcement in the United States are responsible for more than 1,100 deaths in a typical year. This level of bloodshed goes unnoted even when police killings are deemed newsworthy and attract…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Breaking the Silence Revisited: Gaza, Venezuela, and the Enduring Relevance of Dr. King’s Critique of Empire
    14 Jan 2026
    The annual ritual of sanitizing Martin Luther King Jr. serves to obscure his radical anti-war politics, which are urgently needed to challenge U.S. imperialism.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Autocracy in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Eric D. Walrond, 1923
    14 Jan 2026
    “[T]he United States on March 31, 1917,...acquired the three Danish West Indian isles…subsequently rechristened “the Virgin Islands of the United States.” 
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Bolivarian Legacy, from Hugo Chávez to Nicolás Maduro
    14 Jan 2026
    Attorney Dan Kovalik is an attorney representing Colombian President Gustavo Petro. He is also author of The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil. Skyhorse…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us