WINNIE (2023)

Harriet Tubman, Assata Shakur, Winnie Mandela

WINNIE (2023)

By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

When I exalt the name Mandela,
I’m not invoking the fella.

Compared to her weight in gold,
Nelson couldn’t hold.

A single penny,
Yes, I’m speaking of Winnie.

The heart and guts of the two,
She was the true.

Fighter
Served the people with her all,
Never wavered
Remained at their call.

Lived and suffered by their side,
For the hungry she’d ride.

Commandeered convoys
Of water, clothes and food,
Faced down racist soldiers
To deliver those goods.

Refused to be cowed,
Never once bowed.

Broke an apartheid officers neck,
For disrespect.

For daring to enter her home,
While she was alone.

Even under house arrest,
She defied their tests.

How many times was she banished,
They hoped she’d vanish.

But she’d come right back,
With not even a crack.

In her armor,
Never avoided the drama.

Stood by her man imprisoned for decades,
How many would have stayed.

Her pride was rooted in the people,
Dignified and the equal.

Of any white in power,
Above them all she towered.

Even wore Nelson’s betrayal,
With dignity, and his false portrays

Of himself as unbroken,
As he became a token.

A black face given the wheel,
By racist whites who continued to steal.

The wealth and power of the masses,
He became a neocolonial tool of the classes.

Ruling South Afrika
The wealthy white elite,
He tricked the underground fighters
To come in off the streets.

Exposed them all
So they couldn’t return to the fight,
Staged a one-man counterrevolution overnight.

Released from prison to high office elected,
Only because he defected.

Denounced Winnie and tried to make others hate her,
For her role in correcting a snitch a traitor.

But the people’s love of this comrade sista ran deep,
Nestled in third bosom the would keep.

Her in life and beyond,
Her example will inspire generations to come.

Not just in Azania
But around the world,
What greater role model
For little Afrikan girls!