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Benjamin Zephaniah RIP

He visited my school and read some of his poems. I don't think I remember a great deal of these type of things but I do remember him, some of the subjects and the style of delivery. I was just some nobhead but I think everyone was impressed, myself included.
 
story said:
He was a man of integrity. He was emotionally courageous and honest. That’s what we all want from others, and what we should aspire to for ourselves.
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Really, really awful news that he's died. It's always a cliche to say you are shocked and that he looked a picture of health (vegan for one thing), but still. :( He was a significant poet who was part of the soundtrack of black and left politics since the 1970s. But as you say, beyond the poetry itself was the integrity and that's what really matters.

Well, that's 2 great poets gone in a week. Rest in peace, rest in power. :(
 
I had a very middle class suburban upbringing in what was quite a monocultural area, and he is the first black person I remember seeing within the context of the arts, doing some poetry aimed at children, I would have been in primary school and it must have been some time in the late 80s. So an important trailblazer in that aspect; I am sure I was not the only one with that experience.

Theres a real rhythm and timbre in his delivery. I remember that from that first time, and it leaps out when watching videos of him perform.
 
Oh no, so very sorry :(
I have a couple of his poetry books and I went to a talk he gave at Keats House in Hampstead some years ago which was great. He asked if there were any Brummies in the audience so I raised my hand :D

RIP Benjamin you won't be forgotten.
 
editor said:
Craig Charles has done a really nice tribute on BBC6 today and it's been great hearing listeners adding their stories about meeting the man.
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Yeah just heard Rong Radio
(lyric extract)

I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to believe that all muslims are terrorists
And christian terrorists think they existed
I really did believe that terrorism couldn't be done by governments
Not our government, not white government
I just could not see what was wrong with me
I gave hungry people hamburgers you see
I was beginning to believe that our children were better than their children
Their children would die from terrorism but i couldn't hear their children call
And a child from Palestine simply didn't count at all
What despair
No children i was not aware
I'd been listening to the wrong radio station
 
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'
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Thanks for posting both the poem and the later article- they're both great.

A sad loss, but a life well lived.
 
Poor sod, what a shitty thing to happen (I know too many who have gone that way).
Genuinely moved to hear this sad news. He'll be missed.
 
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