In an introduction to Too Black, Too Strong, Zephaniah wrote, “I live in two places, Britain and the world, and it is my duty to explore the state of justice in both of them… speaking my mind as I go, ranting, praising and criticizing everything that makes me what I am.

Face by Benjamin Zephaniah | Goodreads Face by Benjamin Zephaniah | Goodreads

In addition to his published writing, Benjamin Zephaniah has produced numerous music recordings, including Us and Dem (1990) and Belly of de Beast (1996), and has also appeared as an actor in several television and film productions, including appearing as Moses in the film Farendg (1990). We also encourage the reforestation of rural England by offering free trees and information on self-sustainability. When you look around London and other major cites of Britain now you will find that most of them have a performance poetry, or spoken word scene. Benjamin Zephaniah on fighting the far right: 'If we did nothing we would be killed on the streets' ". I really like his writing style; he’s able to cover such complicated topics such as peer pressure, drugs, youth crime, racism, young relationships, preconceptions and a whole host of others, without it getting too heavy or bogged down.This would be an excellent prompt for discussion about prejudices regarding appearance and our reaction to those less fortunate than ourselves. Benjamin Zephaniah, who has travelled the world for his art and his humanitarianism, now tells the one story that encompasses it all: the story of his life. Zephaniah believes that working with human rights groups, animal rights groups and other political organisations means that he will never lack subject matter. We Sang Across the Sea: The Empire Windrush and Me (2022), a biography of Mona Baptiste written by Zephaniah and illustrated by Onyinye Iwu. Zephaniah became a vegetarian at age 11, [28] and then became a vegan at the age of 13 [29] [30] when he read poems about "shimmering fish floating in an underwater paradise, and birds flying free in the clear blue sky".

Face - Benjamin Zephaniah | Teaching Resources Face - Benjamin Zephaniah | Teaching Resources

He wrote about the many social problems that people were facing in the early 1980s, such as unemployment and homelessness. Can you imagine waking up in a hospital, and not even knowing for sure whether you have still got all your limbs? Based in Stratford East London, Discover Children’s Story Centre is London’s only children’s museum. When another unpublished poem was chanted back to me by thousands of people, I remember thinking: It’s been published in their hearts. Yet, he has made the grade as a published poet including The Dread Affair (1985), Inna Liverpool (1990), Rasta Time in Palestine (1991), City Psalms (1992), Propa Propaganda (1996), and Too Black, Too Strong (2001).In the moving and compelling debut novel from Benjamin Zephaniah, a young man's life is completely changed when his face is badly scarred in a car accident. A couple of days before the reading another friend warned me that Handsworth was one of the most dangerous places in England, he told me that it was a place where no young, (as I was then), Chinese girl would go alone, and he tried to convince me not to go. I was keen to see how Chinese audiences would take to his dub poetry and I was amazed to see how easy he connected with them. Most of the people were Caribbean, some were India and Pakistani, but I was the only Chinese person, still this was 1978 and I was used to this.