Benjamin Zephaniah was a British writer who won the BBC Young Playwright’s Award and received honorary doctorates from several universities in the United Kingdom. His work was included in The Times list of 50 best post-war writers. Zephaniah has also released volumes of his music.
Zephaniah’s ‘Dis Poetry’ is a vibrant manifesto of identity and freedom, breaking from tradition to celebrate authentic self-expression.
Dis poetry is like a riddim dat drops
De tongue fires a riddim dat shoots like shots
Dis poetry is designed fe rantin
Dance hall style, big mouth chanting,
‘We Refugees’ emphasizes shared vulnerability to displacement, urging empathy for refugees and challenging prejudice.
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
‘Everybody Is Doing It’ by Benjamin Zephaniah is a poem that, at first glance, would seem to describe a series of “dance[s]” that occur across the globe.
In Hawaii they Hula
They Tango in Argentina
They Reggae in Jamaica
And they Rumba down in Cuba,
‘No Problem’ addresses racial discrimination, blending personal experience with a distinctive poetic voice.
I am not de problem
But I bare de brunt
Of silly playground taunts
An racist stunts,
‘Save Our Sons’ focuses on the struggle the African men of England have faced and continue to face against racism and violence.
We Black men of England
Too proud to cry for shame,
Let’s cry a sea
Cry publicly,
‘The British (serves 60 Million)’ is a quirky and amusing poem celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of Great Britain.
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
‘The Death of Joy Gardner’ by Benjamin Zephaniah is a interesting narrative poem about an incident that took place in 1993.
They put a leather belt around her
13 feet of tape and bound her
Handcuffs to secure her
And only God knows what else,
‘The Race Industry’ by Benjamin Zephaniah is, at least in part, autobiographical. It is a commentary on how society is quite authoritarian.
The coconuts have got the jobs.
The race industry is a growth industry.
We despairing, they careering.
Zephaniah’s ‘What If’ urges strength amid trials, echoing Kipling through a modern, inclusive lens to celebrate perseverance.
If you can keep your money when governments about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust your neighbour when they trust not you
And they be very nosy too;
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