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

March, March, March… (For Million Worker March and Brother Ray Quan)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Apr 2025
Black labor

1.
Dust dances on sunbeams
streaming through busted eyes;
Lunch bucket language
no longer lingers
in forklift fumes

Ghostly weeds peek
through concrete once
rumbling with machines;
crippled pallets loiter
on loading docks,
No longer loaded
with dark skins sparkling
beneath fresh coats of sweat…

WILL WORK FOR FOOD
Reads the crumpled cardboard
sign at the long light—
“Recovery’s
right around the corner—”
getting the vote out…

2.
We tattoo highways
on mountainsides;
Weave jeweled towers
in skylines;
Scoop diamonds from
Mother Earth’s womb…

We conjure City-
sized ships, that glide
smoothly under horses
trotting above ports;
We crown chassis
with treasure chests that
waltz through traffic to
warehouses, windows and
Bellies of the world

3.
We flip the burgers and peel the potatoes,
We pick the grapes, lettuce and tomatoes…
We print the Bible, Koran, pesos and dollars
We stitch the britches, shirtsleeves, and collars…
We print the newspapers, phone and electric bills,
We press stethoscopes, scalpels and dental drills…
We stitch belts and shoes; we ship rhythm and blues…

March, March, March
Militant rank-and-file

March, March, March
Forward an inch—a mile

March, March, March
We never march alone

March, March, March
With leaders of our own—

We divine water—
Electricity and gas;
We clarify sewage—
Transport the mass…

March, March, March
Militant rank-and-file

March, March, March
Forward an inch—a mile

March, March, March
We never march alone

March, March, March
With leaders of our own—

We push the papers—
Monitor the screens;
We count the rand—
Rupees and beans…

March, March, March
Militant rank-and-file

March, March, March
Forward an inch—a mile

March, March, March
We never march alone

March, March, March
With leaders of our own—
March, March, March
Militant rank-and-file

March, March, March
Forward an inch—a mile

March, March, March
We never march alone

March, March, March
With leaders of our own—
March, March, March
Workers on the rise…

March, March, March—
October surprise!

March...

© 2004. 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.

Black Labor
Working Class
class consciousness

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
One Big Beautiful Bank Job!
28 May 2025
Masked. Armed to the teeth. Synchronized
Louisiana Workers Council
Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful’ Cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and More
28 May 2025
Following is a fact sheet about how Trump’s “big beautiful” budget bill cuts essential services and benefits for workers to give to the wealthy
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
DOGE— Department Of Grifter Enrichment
07 May 2025
“Empathy is the bane of western civilization.” 
Jocelyn Figueroa
Working Homeless People: Laboring Without a Roof
23 April 2025
For millions, a job is no longer enough to afford housing—yet the myth that homeless people don’t work still dominates public opinion.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
One Spring Day …
09 April 2025
“I believe there is yet a spirit of resistance z
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The Fog of Class War
12 March 2025
A class consciousness among the working masses, one that takes the issue of race seriously, is critical at this moment.
Working Families Party
David K. Cobb
The Working Families Party and Fusion Voting: A Historical and Political Analysis
12 March 2025
The Working Families Party presents itself as a political party that works for the interest of working class people.
Elon Musk
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Is this ‘Constructive Engagement' 2.0— Or, Freddo frontin’ for Heil tech Hitler?
05 March 2025
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
History’s Hired US
11 December 2024
Artificial intelligence cries
Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
Implications of a Second Trump Term for Working Class and Oppressed Peoples
13 November 2024
Irrespective of the rhetoric that characterized the campaign, the world’s majority will continue to be compelled

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 13, 2025
    13 Jun 2025
    In this week’s segment, we hear about how a tornado impacted the Black community of St. Louis, which already suffered as a result of decades of destructive public policy. But first, we discuss…
  • Global March to Gaza
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He joins us from Johannesburg to discuss his work in solidarity with Palestine…
  • St. Louis after tornado
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    St. Louis Black Community Organizes Against Racist Policy and Tornado Impact
    13 Jun 2025
    Our guest is Christopher Gladney. He is president of the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association in St. Louis, Missouri. He joins us from St.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Solidarity Against ICE and the Entire State Apparatus
    11 Jun 2025
    Popular resistance against the Trump administration in Los Angeles and other cities is a very positive development and one that Black people must embrace.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
    11 Jun 2025
    “any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us
OSZAR »