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

How Long?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
25 Apr 2018
🖨️ Print Article
civilian casualties
Collateral damge, civilian casualty..... how long?

How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
have massacres become
‘clashes’ on tongues of
talking heads and pens of scribblers

How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
have ‘other’ peoples’ children
become bomb-test babies, named
Collateral Damage; Civilian Casualty

How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
have wallets, car keys,
cell phones, candy bars,
become guns in raised black hands

How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long…
How long? Too long—

Or, until aggrieved
People mistake donuts
for bullseyes; and
$elections
for signals to RISE…

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is Black Agenda Report's poet in residence. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry
Department of War

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Reese Piece…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Reese Piece…
15 April 2021
Salute to City of Angels’ son! He wrote, he wrote, he wrote And he wrote… Ramparts, The Progressive, The
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
First 100 Daze: A ‘new’ dance craze
27 January 2021
Everybody’s wild ‘bout this ‘new’ dance craze— this lewd, crude dance called “The 1st 100 Daze…”
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
mashing the state— Kristallnacht-style
20 January 2021
Kristallnacht came casting lead ballots, overthrowing Black elected officials and Massacring those that VOTED for them— 
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
13 January 2021
“It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation
Think…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Think…
06 January 2021
Think of peoples having the most tanks, the most drones, the most missiles, bombs, aircraft carriers, 

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 13, 2026
    13 Mar 2026
    This week’s segment is devoted to the United States latest war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We hear the perspectives of a U.S. based activist and organizer with Black Alliance…
  • Man carrying Iranian flag
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Navid Zarrinnal’s Perspectives From Iran
    13 Mar 2026
    Navid Zarrinnal is an Iranian journalist and host of The Colony Archive podcast. He joins us from Tehran to discuss the US and Israeli aggression and explains why the left must be in solidarity with…
  • Bombing of Iran
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the U.S. War on Iran
    13 Mar 2026
    The United States attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran began on February 28. Our guest provides analysis on this U.S. aggression from an anti-imperialist and Black left perspective. Erica Caines is…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Urgent Need for the Black Radical Tradition
    11 Mar 2026
    The U.S. is careening towards economic and military disaster, a moment when the Black radical tradition is missing but badly needed.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SONG: International Organizations/Oganizasyon Mondyal, Manno Charlemagne, 1986
    11 Mar 2026
    “We salute all peoples who are fighting/We honor all those who have died/For the cause of freedom.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us