Benjamin Zephaniah is a British Jamaican poet known for his dub poetry as well as his musical abilities.
Major themes in his poetry relate to the British Empire and his favour of dis-establishing the Crown. Zephaniah considers himself an anarchist and condemns the acts of slavery that occurred under the Empire. He was offered appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003 but refused the position, stating “I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
Moreover, Zephaniah has spoken up about the homophobia stemming in Jamaican and African communities in the UK. He has stated that he feels disappointed that his own people, who had been subject to much violence, would subject others to such. He has been quoted to say "For many years Jamaica was associated with freedom fighters and liberators, so it hurts when I see that the home of my parents is now associated with the persecution of people because of their sexual orientation.”
Zephaniah has been the recipient of many awards, including being listed as 48 in The Times list of 50 greatest post-war writers in 2008, as well as the BBC Young Playwright's Award in 2002. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates in multiple universities – a dry irony considering he left school at without knowing how to read or write and without any interest in academia.
