(Celebrating a Life that Lasted from January 18, 1927-February 9, 2014)
By Ernie McCray
Tanja Winter.
Talking about a woman who had pizzazz.
I wrote, for her 80th birthday,
how she came into the world
about the same time as
Bob Fosse
who gave us
some sexy razz ma tazz
in the name of
All that Jazz;
as
Cesar Chavez
who
in the souls
of the tillers of the soil
turned gray skies blue;
as
Coretta Scott King
who strived
to keep dear Martin’s Dream
fresh and alive;
as
Harry Belafonte
who’s still fighting for justice
each and everyday;
as
Roslyn Carter
who helps the down and out
in many a way.
Tanja was a great human being
is all I’m trying to say.
I remember when she created
Friends of Nicaraguan Culture
to help a people
in their struggles for peace and liberty
while contras
were supported and heralded by a Reagan named Ronnie
who had no heart for common folks who simply
wished only to live free
with roofs over their heads
and food to eat
and clothes on their back
and schools for their children
and all that a human being needs
to live with dignity.
I saw her give refuge
to the nuclear radiated weakened children of Belarus.
She was forever putting her organizing skills to use
for giving vent
to everything from child abuse
to global warming
to toxic pollution
to the lack of solutions
to economic injustices
and immigrants
crossing hot deserts and freezing mountains
and so many folks going to jail unnecessarily
as their precious liberties
were looked over due to their “lack of fees,”
so to speak,
and the wars that continually
deny the people of the world
the air of peace
we so desperately need to breathe.
To put her life in perspective etymologically,
Tanja Winter clearly
was off da hook and off the heezy fosheezy
and “off the hizzle”
or “fo shizzle my nizzle”
to put it synonymously.
She was the bomb,
the bee’s knees,
the cat’s pajamas and/or whiskers, if you please,
the big cheese,
and, do tell, the clam’s cuticles and the snake’s toenails,
and the elephant’s instep
and the caterpillar’s spats,
and the frog’s eyebrows.
She was “all that”
but that’s enough of that,
To put it more realistically, in 3D,
Tanja hasn’t left us spiritually.
She’s in the psyche
of everyone she touched indelibly.
We’ll have to keep our eyes on the prize
because we know if we don’t
and we meet up with her some where out there
we will have to look her in the eyes
and explain why.
And none of us, I’m sure,
will want that tongue lashing
in the sky.
So, in her spirit,
we must continue
to try to turn gray skies blue
for those who need us to
like she and Cesar would want us to.
We have to,
as Coretta did
and Belafonte and Roslyn are continuing to,
stay in the fray,
day after day,
and continue to strive
to keep dreams
of freedom alive,
just like Tanja lived her life.
That would allow her legacy
of unrelenting advocacy
for peace and justice
to last
like the razz ma tazz and sass
of Fosse’s
All that Jazz.
There could be no better way to honor
our beloved Tanja
than to keep on keepin’ on
with class and pizzazz.
Ernie or anyone, where is Tanya’s daughter Kita the nurse ? Ken
Ken: Keta was one of Tanja’s dearest friends. She helped organize and spoke at the memorial last Sunday where Ernie read his wonderful poem. Keta described their relationship as really mother and daughter in many respects. Keta lives in West Hollywood. Send me your contact info and I will let her know you asked about her. hcjpowell@cox.net
Ernie: What a wonderful tribute you composed and read at the memorial celebration for Tanja Winter this last Sunday. Thanks for publishing it here. After so many spoke and said so much of what I felt and had experienced, I just thought for once I would listen.
For some of us, Dave Durkin made a really good point: in the seventies, many of us were young adults who really didn’t have a discernible career path, but we knew what we cared about. And she cared about us and helped us to find a way to continue to work in the public interest and for the common good. I was able to work with wonderful people in the Community Energy Action Network (CEAN) which was fighting nuclear power and promoting renewable, “soft path” energy and then on to the Sierra Club.
Ironically, I have been working again on sustainable energy policy and programs. No doubt Tanja was thrilled to hear about the San Onofre shutdown before she departed our planet. Now, as you note in your poem, we have to make sure that the replacement cure is better than the curse….. ’cause Tanja will be waiting …
(BTW, I gave the family a copy of a drawing I did of Tanja based on the photo in the 2007 San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame Award program book when she was inducted as an “Activist Who Created Structural Change”. I remember that March 24 really well because I was sneaking a peak on my phone after the ceremony of the UCLA March Madness game. Now we have the Cats, the Aztecs and the Bruins all in the Sweet Sixteen this week. Gonna be intense! )
It’s great having three of my favorite teams still in the mix.
Nice tribute Ernie. Makes me wish I had known her. Sorry we never met as I think we would have become good friends. My kind of Gal as they say.