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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67646607
Only 65 - a very sad loss.
Seen him live and read a lot of his stuff - he was one of the faces of modern Britain for me and a brilliant social commentator through his poems and performances - and champion of the white poppy.
He'll still be Talking Turkeys this Christmas.
Whilst I didn't agree with everything he said, he was thought-provoking, a great orator, and spoke with dignity and with a great frame of reference.
Always took notice when he spoke on QT and other shows.
RIP
Inspirational, left school at 13 unable to read or write. Rip
Wrong thread or just too subtle for me?Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue
The British
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.
Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.
What a fantastic bloke
May he chill out forever
Came to recite some of his poems at my school once. I wasn't expecting to enjoy listening to poetry but he was great.
Too young 😥
RIP.
I enjoyed this from the article in the Guardian
"In 2003, Zephaniah rejected his OBE. “Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought,” he wrote in the Guardian. "
Jeremiah 'Jimmy' Jesus in Peaky Blinders:
benjamin z in peaky blinders.jpg
That is sad he always came across as a tidy fella , very young , didn't always agree with his views but his views were well worth a listen as it is all about balance and individual freedoms to speak out which the UK provided him with .. unlike some other countries we can name .
He wasn't a fan of your conservatives that's for sure
Just the first part, what another one! (lots of famous people passing away)Wrong thread or just too subtle for me?
Everyone's at it
I am waiting for Braverman
As always, when someone dies, the eulogising goes overboard.
But that "poetry" below shouldn't be lauded as "brilliant" for the simple reason that the opening line has an obvious error. The Silures WERE Celts. The Picts were not Celts so yes they should be treated as a separate category. It cannot be "great" if the opening line is incorrect.
The rest of it is just flakey guff, trying to redefine Britishness. If you were white British living in Iran you would not be "Iranian". This is just simple logic. An Ethiopian living here isn't "British". He is an Ethiopian with a British passport - a citizen. Being precise and accurate is a de facto requirements of greatness, and being consistent at it. Someone may personally like it, but it is not "great".
My opinion is that he was a decent guy, of decent values, and had a good general talent in several areas. He made the best of little opportunity which shows depth of character. He could also show native white British guys the values of getting off your arse and applying yourselves to hard work, something many lazy Lefties could learn from in this country.
So for me, not a "great". Good, but not great. Morgan Freedman would be an example of a "great" for me, but not this chap.
I suspect your last line has an obvious error. Who Morgan Freedman?
So sadly I can't laud your post as great, or even good. Maybe closer to 'flakey guff'?
Naturally, second generation or third generation might tick the "British box". But the first generation arrivals usually don't identify as "British" as they feel connected to other prior cultures. A lot of people say that stuff because it is warm, cuddly, and people-pleasing. Important to be kind and welcoming, but also not being false and inaccurate. It comes across as insincere, and I'd rather than an honest if slightly awkward sincerity, than insincere falseness which doesn't get it out in the open.
Touche, and correct you are. But I do not think at any point I claimed my post to be great!
I liked him as a poet because most of his poetry rhymed - now that's what I call proper poetry.
I agree and romanticising the "melting pot" isn't great. All a bit simplistic. Ultimately, the melting pot destroys distinct cultures. And studies show that diversity reduces social cohesion.
Nevertheless RIP.
Perhaps a discussion for another day
Don't listen to these tory idiots Benjamin
I mean are people going to remember Gary Barlow for his dreadful songwriting or the fact he was a tax dodging conservative supporting fatty ?
He was a strong advocate for multiculturalism, not cultural uniformity as seen here in his piece on the Eisteddfod
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/33841602?s=09
You are gonna give yourself an ulcer with your hatred of the Tories. Most of us know what a greedy and out of touch mob they are, but you need to chill a bit and get yourself a woman.
It sounds like you’ve been shagging the palm of your hand for way too long.
And yet another thread gets derailed.
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