Context/Abt the Poet

• Benjamin Zephaniah was born to a postman from Barbados and a Jamaican nurse in a part of Birmingham he refers to as “the Jamaican capital of Europe.”
• He was offered an OBE in 2005 and turned it down, because the word “Empire” reminds him of slavery and oppression
• He left school at 13, unable to read or write, and has since taught himself
• He is a dub poet. Dub poetry originated in Jamaica and has a musical quality to it. It is designed to be performed, and often has an exaggerated rhythm.
• Zephaniah follows the Rastafarian religion, which is outside of ‘typical’ English culture