Hapi B Day, Viola Plummer, The Most Revolutionary Woman in New York--Marvin X

Feb 16 , 2017

 

VIVA LA VIOLA

By

George Edward Tait

(For Viola Plummer on the Octogenerian Occasion of Her Eightieth Birthday)

Hewn from the hem of Harriet’s garment

Adorned with the apparel and arsenal of Asantewaa

Girded within the Nubian garrison of Granny Nanny

A weusi woman warrior with a D-12 dossier

Documenting decades of dedication and devotion

Documenting decades of discussion and debate

Documenting decades of discourse and diplomacy

Documenting decades of determination and decisiveness

Documenting decades of dispatch and deployment

Documenting decades of daring and discipline

Definitive dates on the calendar of combat

Doyenne to the twelfth power

Dynamics of a D dominant 12th chord in a Coltrane composition

A December detail with 12 disciples

A diurnal declaration to the 12th of Forever

Building a bustling Brooklyn base into a pan-Afrikan place.

Viva La Viola! – weariness-proof and weather-proof

Armed with the aura of Abubadika

Enveloped within the erudition of Elombe

Motivated by the might of Mugabe and the magnificence of Malcolm -

In the trenches, in the courts; on the tarmacs, at the ports

On the sidewalk, in the street: a movement of melanin fists and marching feet.

Viva La Viola!! – with grassroots grace and global grasp

Asante Sana Afrikan soldier – Freedom ferocity and frontline fearlessness;

Asante Sana Afrikan sage – visceral voice and veracious values.

Viva La Viola!!! – An anointed anthem always sung

An everlasting epic, Eighty Years Young – Happy Birthday!

© 2017 by George Edward Tait