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Benjamin Zephaniah RIP

Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas
Cos’ turkeys just wanna hav fun
Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked
An every turkey has a Mum.
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas,
Don’t eat it, keep it alive,
It could be yu mate, an not on your plate
Say, Yo! Turkey I’m on your side.
I got lots of friends who are turkeys
An all of dem fear christmas time,
Dey wanna enjoy it, dey say humans destroyed it
An humans are out of dere mind,
Yeah, I got lots of friends who are turkeys
Dey all hav a right to a life,
Not to be caged up an genetically made up
By any farmer an his wife.

Turkeys just wanna play reggae
Turkeys just wanna hip-hop
Can yu imagine a nice young turkey saying,
‘I cannot wait for de chop’,
Turkeys like getting presents, dey wanna watch christmas TV,
Turkeys hav brains an turkeys feel pain
In many ways like yu an me.

I once knew a turkey called…Turkey
He said “Benji explain to me please,
Who put de turkey in christmas
An what happens to christmas trees?”,
I said “I am not too sure turkey
But itÕs nothing to do wid Christ Mass
Humans get greedy an waste more dan need be
An business men mek loadsa cash’.

Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
Invite dem indoors fe sum greens
Let dem eat cake an let dem partake
In a plate of organic grown beans,
Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
An spare dem de cut of de knife,
Join Turkeys United an dey’ll be delighted
An yu will mek new friends ‘FOR LIFE’.


RIP Benji. X
 
Meh, that's well crap. A much-loved man for those who were counter-culture in many ways. I saw him perform a couople of times, most recently with this 'Revolutionary Minds'.
Always loved this track.
RIEP, thanks for the sounds and the words.

 
andysays said:
Don't know that much about it him, but always cane across as being clued up and politically sound.

I vaguely recall he once turned down the offer of some sort of official honour - maybe others remember more.
Click to expand...
He was offered an OBE in 2003. In 2001, he had written this poem. Understandably, he wrote back questioning how familiar they were with his work.

Bought and Sold

Smart big awards and prize money
Is killing off black poetry
It's not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.
The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The ancestors would turn in graves
Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder
How our souls were sold
And check our strategies,
The empire strikes back and waves
Tamed warriors bow on parades
When they have done what they've been told
They get their OBEs.

Don't take my word, go check the verse
Cause every laureate gets worse
A family that you cannot fault as muse will mess your mind,
And yeah, you may fatten your purse
And surely they will check you first when subjects need to be amused
With paid for prose and rhymes.

Take your prize, now write more,
Faster,
Fuck the truth
Now you're an actor do not fault your benefactor
Write, publish and review,
You look like a dreadlocks Rasta,
You look like a ghetto blaster,
But you can't diss your paymaster
And bite the hand that feeds you.

What happened to the verse of fire
Cursing cool the empire
What happened to the soul rebel that Marley had in mind,
This bloodstained, stolen empire rewards you and you conspire,
(Yes Marley said that time will tell)
Now look they've gone and joined.

We keep getting this beating
It's bad history repeating
It reminds me of those capitalists that say
'Look you have a choice,'
It's sick and self-defeating if our dispossessed keep weeping
And we give these awards meaning
But we end up with no voice.

ETA:

He wrote this in a Guardian article about it. He really was a fantastic writer.

Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised. It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters. It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture. I am not one of those who are obsessed with their roots, and I'm certainly not suffering from a crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire.
Click to expand...

Benjamin Zephaniah: 'I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought'
 
Here he is talking about his violent past. It wasn’t in his autobiography but I think it’s a really important part of his story. The courage it takes to be honest about our own failings, the strength it takes to fix up. The hope it gives to others that such a thing is possible.

www.theguardian.com

Benjamin Zephaniah admits to hitting a former girlfriend

Speaking on BBC radio the author, who has written in the past about his father beating his mother, said the violence had ‘burned his conscience’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Very sad 😥

I saw him perform at a poetry conference I went to for school when I was around 15. He really made an impression on me, he was absolutely inspirational and I thought he made all of the other poets seem really stuffy and pretentious in comparison. He breathed and lived his words with such passion and emotion.

Gone too early.
 
plurker said:
Meh, that's well crap. A much-loved man for those who were counter-culture in many ways. I saw him perform a couople of times, most recently with this 'Revolutionary Minds'.
Always loved this track.
RIEP, thanks for the sounds and the words.

Click to expand...

I love Rong Radio.
 
Chemical needs said:
Very sad 😥

I saw him perform at a poetry conference I went to for school when I was around 15. He really made an impression on me, he was absolutely inspirational and I thought he made all of the other poets seem really stuffy and pretentious in comparison. He breathed and lived his words with such passion and emotion.

Gone too early.
Click to expand...

He was so dedicated to bringing poetry to children. He knew the importance and the power of the written word, the rhythm, the beat,
and the way it allows us to understand what’s inside another person. Kids who otherwise felt utterly isolated within their inner world would hear or read BZ and realise it didn't need to be so. That’s like giving someone the keys to their prison door.
 
story said:
He was so dedicated to bringing poetry to children. He knew the importance and the power of the written word, the rhythm, the beat,
and the way it allows us to understand what’s inside another person. Kids who otherwise felt utterly isolated within their inner world would hear or read BZ and realise it didn't need to be so. That’s like giving someone the keys to their prison door.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can think of one or two others who are similarly dedicated and effective. Michael Rosen, who thankfully is still with us after his covid scare, is another.
 
littlebabyjesus said:
He was offered an OBE in 2003. In 2001, he had written this poem. Understandably, he wrote back questioning how familiar they were with his work.

Bought and Sold

Smart big awards and prize money
Is killing off black poetry
It's not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.
The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The ancestors would turn in graves
Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder
How our souls were sold
And check our strategies,
The empire strikes back and waves
Tamed warriors bow on parades
When they have done what they've been told
They get their OBEs.

Don't take my word, go check the verse
Cause every laureate gets worse
A family that you cannot fault as muse will mess your mind,
And yeah, you may fatten your purse
And surely they will check you first when subjects need to be amused
With paid for prose and rhymes.

Take your prize, now write more,
Faster,
Fuck the truth
Now you're an actor do not fault your benefactor
Write, publish and review,
You look like a dreadlocks Rasta,
You look like a ghetto blaster,
But you can't diss your paymaster
And bite the hand that feeds you.

What happened to the verse of fire
Cursing cool the empire
What happened to the soul rebel that Marley had in mind,
This bloodstained, stolen empire rewards you and you conspire,
(Yes Marley said that time will tell)
Now look they've gone and joined.

We keep getting this beating
It's bad history repeating
It reminds me of those capitalists that say
'Look you have a choice,'
It's sick and self-defeating if our dispossessed keep weeping
And we give these awards meaning
But we end up with no voice.

ETA:

He wrote this in a Guardian article about it. He really was a fantastic writer.



Benjamin Zephaniah: 'I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought'
Click to expand...



He also removed himself from any possibility of being named Poet Laureate.

www.theguardian.com

Benjamin Zephaniah rejects poet laureate overtures: 'They are not worthy'

Poet says he has ‘absolutely no interest’ in state appointment after being speculatively named as a contender to follow Carol Ann Duffy
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
littlebabyjesus said:
Yeah, I can think of one or two others who are similarly dedicated and effective. Michael Rosen, who thankfully is still with us after his covid scare, is another.
Click to expand...

MR is good but he’s pretty Establishment. One of the things that makes BZ extraordinary is that he’s on the cusp of being Outsider, Maverick while also being respected and celebrated by the establishment.

Similarly John Cooper Clarke. I wonder how much longer we’ll have the pleasure of his company.





ETA I‘ve just learned that JCC has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s:(
 
Last edited:
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