The coconuts have got the jobs.
The race industry is a growth industry.
We despairing, they careering.
We want more peace they want more police.
...
I am the type you are supposed to fear
Black and foreign
Big and dreadlocks
An uneducated grass eater.
...
I waz walking down Wyefront street
When me trousers ran away,
I waz feeling incomplete
But still me trousers would not stay,
...
I am a veggie table
A table made of veg,
There’s so much fruit upon me
All living on the edge,
...
We Black men of England
Too proud to cry for shame,
Let's cry a sea
Cry publicly,
...
There was a young vegan
Called Steven,
Who just would not kill for no reason,
This kid would not eat
...
We know who the killers are,
We have watched them strut before us
As proud as sick Mussolinis',
We have watched them strut before us
...
They put a leather belt around her
13 feet of tape and bound her
Handcuffs to secure her
And only God knows what else,
...
We first met on a golden night
As the moon radiated love light
On the dock of the bay.
Somewhere between the real deal and an illusion
...
Remember that vegan called Steven
Yes he would not kill for no reason,
Well I saw him today
Wearing nothing I say
...
Benjamin Zephaniah was born on April 15, 1958 in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Peaky Blinders (2013), Percy Lifar and Standing Firm: Football's Windrush Story (2021). He was previously married to Amina. So, what is Benjamin Zephaniah famous for? Here, Benjamin Zephaniah poems and facts.
Dr. Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah grew up in Birmingham, England. He cannot recall a period when he did not write poetry, and this had nothing to do with school, where poetry meant very little to him; in fact, he had completed full-time study at the age of 13.
His poetry is heavily influenced by Jamaican music and poetry, as well as what he refers to as "street politics." His first real public performance was in church when he was ten years old, and by the age of fifteen, he had developed a strong following in his hometown of Handsworth, where he had established a reputation as a young poet capable of speaking on local and international issues.
He was previously described as "Britain's most filmed, photographed, and recognisable poet" due to his ability to perform on stage, but especially on television, bringing Dub Poetry directly into British living rooms. The mission was to take poetry everywhere; he despised the dead image that academia and the establishment had given poetry and declared that he was out to popularize poetry by reaching out to people who did not read books; those who were interested in books could now see a book come to life on stage. This poetry was political, musical, radical, timely, and shown on television.
His book publishing, record releases, and television appearances surged in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, but he has since focused on performing outside of Europe. He feels at home everywhere the oral tradition is still alive and well, and some of his most memorable trips have taken him to South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, and Colombia. In reality, life has been one lengthy journey, yet this is the only way the oral tradition can continue to exist. He performed on every continent within a 22-day span in 1991.
The British writer Benjamin Zephaniah is known for his poetry as well as novels, plays, and other works. His poetry is called “dub poetry,” which means that is performed—the words are recited over the beat of reggae music.
Biko the Greatness
City River Blues
Dis Poetry
Eat Your Words
Everybody Is Doing It
Faceless
Fair Play
It’s Work
Miss World
Nature Trail
Neighbours
People will always need people
Ride
S.O.S [Save Our Sons]
The British
The Death Of Joy Gardner
The Race Industry
We Refugees
What Stephen Lawrence Has Taught Us
White Comedy
Who's Who
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