After the death of Benjamin Zephaniah at the age of 65, we are revisiting this episode from 2020.
Benjamin Zephaniah had his first poetry book published by a worker’s co-op in 1980. He believed poetry should be accessible and that readings should be as lively as gigs, so he started performing with a reggae band. George the Poet (real name George Mpanga), who was born in in 1991, rose to prominence first as a spoken-word poet, then as a rapper, and more recently as a podcaster mixing narrative fiction with contemporary news and rap.
Anushka Asthana talks to them both about growing up as young black men in England, the issues that inform their work and why the British empire’s legacy means they have both turned down honours.
This conversation was inspired by the Guardian’s Black British culture special, a series of interviews between generations of black British artists talking about their lives and work in the era of Black Lives Matter.
Archive: Channel 7; Pulse X; Ruff Squad; Danny Weed; Rasta Village
Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
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