She was a revolutionary force! A vibrating energy that radiated liberation for her people from every particle of her being. A fearless essence, whose courage and commitment to the community knew no bounds. There was not an issue that she would not take on. There was no injustice that she was not willing to overturn. From housing issues, to gentrification, to community control of the police, to reparations, to all things Africa, to international affairs, Viola Plummer spent over sixty years of her life on the front lines of the struggle for the liberation of African people and all oppressed communities. Her activism began at age 17 with the NAACP. Says Plummer, “I didn’t just want to be a witness; I wanted to be a part of the movement.” Since that time she has traveled extensively protesting the injustices of colonialism, US Imperialism and capitalism. Her work found her traveling the Caribbean, Haiti, Latin America, Cuba, Zimbabwe and all throughout Africa, breaking the tentacles of colonialist exploitation.
In 1985 the US government resorted to its centuries old play book of attempting to destroy the Black Liberation Struggle by falsely charging Black freedom fighters with spurious allegations, and Plummer , with 7 of her comrades, stood trial in what became known as the case of the New York 8. According to the Amsterdam News “they faced charges that included racketeering, conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, bank robbery and prison breaks. There was no evidence of them actually carrying out the alleged conspiracy and all of them were acquitted of the most serious charges. ” Their defense was that they were only involved in constitutionally protected political activity. Says Plummer of that time, ” We are [were]eight people who were doing nothing more than organizing and fighting for freedom.”
A year later she, along with many other activists founded the December 12th Movement (D12m), and in 2002, after the death of Sonny Abubadika Carson, Plummer became the Chairperson of the organization. Her vision, dedication and leadership helped bring D12m to international recognition with consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The organization has firm ties with nations and international organizations around the world. Of all of its many accomplishments, one of its highlights was playing a key role in establishing the third World Conference Against Racism and bring the largest lead delegation of people in history, known as the Durban 400 to participate. It was at that conference that the world declared the transatlantic kidnapping of African people a crime against humanity and called for reparations.
And in 2022, when the US Government launched an attack on Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru Movement, Viola Plummer and D12m took the initiative to immediately organize a huge press conference consisting of numerous organizations to condemn the attacks and to pledge their solidarity in helping the Uhuru Movement fight the scurrilous accusations, for which the Uhuru 3 are facing 10-15 years in prison. 
The Black Is Back Coalition remains forever grateful to the contributions that our stalwart, revolutionary, and visionary freedom fighter, Viola Plummer has made to the African Liberation Movement. We offer our most heartfelt condolences to our sister organization D12m and to the Plummer family. We pledge to honor her by continuing the work.
The wake is Friday, January 26, 2024, from 4 – 7:00 pm, J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, 179-24 Linden Blvd, Queens, NY.
Funeral services are Saturday, January 27, 2024. Doors open at 4:30 pm. Services begin at 5:00 pm. House of the Lords Church, 415 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.
Services will be live streamed at: bit.ly/VPfuneral on zoom. On FB please go to The December 12th Movement.
Memorial donations may be made to Harriet Tubman Fannie Lou Hamer c/o Sistas’ Place, 456 Nostrand Av. Brooklyn, NY 11216. Online to CashApp: $HTFLH
For more info contact: 718-398-1766
