Benjamin Zephaniah declines an OBE in protest against colonialism

[N.O.R.F]

By Danielle Demetriou

27 November 2003

 

 

Benjamin Zephaniah, the acclaimed poet, has refused his appointment as an OBE from the Queen, describing it as a legacy of colonialism.

 

The Rastafarian poet declined the award because of his opposition to the policies and principles of the Government and the monarchy.

 

In doing so, he joined the ranks of a select group, including the actress Helen Mirren and the film director Ken Loach.

 

But Mr Zephaniah chose to publicise his decision in a newspaper article, published in today's Guardian.

 

Describing his reaction to the unexpected arrival of a letter from the House of Commons earlier this month, he wrote: "Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear the word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised."

 

He added: "My obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-Empire."

 

Mr Zephaniah highlighted the incongruity of his invitation by referring to his previous visits to Downing Street, which were been limited to protests on the doorstep of the Prime Minister.

 

He went on to challenge Mr Blair to meet him to discuss the death of his cousin Michael Powell at Thornhill Road police station in Birmingham. "All that my family can do is join with all the other families who have lost members while in custody because no one in power is listening to them. Come on Mr Blair, I'll meet you anytime. Let's talk 'bout your Home Office, let's talk about being tough on crime."

 

One significant reason behind the poet's decision to refuse the accolade was his opposition to government policies. He said: "You can't fool me, Mr Blair, You want to privatise us all; you want to send us to war; you stay silent when we need you to speak for us; preferring to be the voice of the USA."

 

However, Mr Zephaniah also criticised fellow artists who he claimed succumbed to their ego and subsequently compromised their artistic integrity by accepting the honours. "There are many black writers who love OBEs, it makes them feel like they have made it ... They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the Palace." His words were echoed in a poem, "Bought and Sold", which accompanied his article, the first lines of which were: "Smart big awards and prize money/Is killing off black poetry."

 

 

BIG UP!

[Thinkerman]

Bigg Respect for the action, very admirable

[AYOUB]

^^^admirable indeed, if only you did the same when SOL came to you with the moderator offer, but you couldn't resist to be part of the establishment did you? Is it true you had to go through some initiation ceremory and did they make you changed your nick to Mancini?

[Thinkerman]

lol cheap shots are becoming your trade mark bro.

[Sophist]

'Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought'

 

An invitation to the palace to accept an New Year honour... you must be joking. Benjamin Zephaniah won't be going. Here he explains why

 

Thursday November 27, 2003

The Guardian

 

 

Angry: Benjamin Zephaniah

 

I woke up on the morning of November 13 wondering how the government could be overthrown and what could replace it, and then I noticed a letter from the prime minister's office. It said: "The prime minister has asked me to inform you, in strict confidence, that he has in mind, on the occasion of the forthcoming list of New Year's honours to submit your name to the Queen with a recommendation that Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve that you be appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire."

 

Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. 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. It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters. It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture. I am not one of those who are obsessed with their roots, and I'm certainly not suffering from a crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire.

 

There's something very strange about receiving a letter from Tony Blair's office asking me if I want to accept this award. In the past couple of months I've been on Blair's doorstep a few times. I have begged him to come out and meet me; I have been longing for a conversation with him, but he won't come out, and now here he is asking me to meet him at the palace! I was there with a million people on February 15, and the last time I was there was just a couple of weeks ago. My cousin, Michael Powell, was arrested and taken to Thornhill Road police station in Birmingham where he died. Now, I know how he died. The whole of Birmingham knows how he died, but in order to get this article published and to be politically (or journalistically) correct, I have to say that he died in suspicious circumstances. The police will not give us any answers. We have not seen or heard anything of all the reports and investigations we were told were going to take place. Now, all that my family can do is join with all the other families who have lost members while in custody because no one in power is listening to us. Come on Mr Blair, I'll meet you anytime. Let's talk about your Home Office, let's talk about being tough on crime.

 

This OBE thing is supposed to be for my services to literature, but there are a whole lot of writers who are better than me, and they're not involved in the things that I'm involved in. All they do is write; I spend most of my time doing other things. If they want to give me one of these empire things, why can't they give me one for my work in animal rights? Why can't they give me one for my struggle against racism? What about giving me one for all the letters I write to innocent people in prisons who have been framed? I may just consider accepting some kind of award for my services on behalf of the millions of people who have stood up against the war in Iraq. It's such hard work - much harder than writing poems.

 

And hey, if Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to lay all that empire stuff on me, why can't she write to me herself. Let's cut out the middleman - she knows me. The last time we met, it was at a concert I was hosting. She came backstage to meet me. That didn't bother me; lots of people visit my dressing room after performances. Me and the South African performers I was working with that night thought it rather funny that we had a royal groupie. She's a bit stiff but she's a nice old lady. Let me make it clear: I have nothing against her or the royal family. It is the institution of the monarchy that I loathe so very much, the monarchy that still refuses to apologise for sanctioning slavery.

 

There is a part of me that hopes that after writing this article I shall never be considered as a Poet Laureate or an OBE sucker again. Let this put an end to it. This may lose me some of my writing friends; some people may never want to work with me again, but the truth is I think OBEs compromise writers and poets, and laureates suddenly go soft - in the past I've even written a poem, Bought and Sold, saying that.

 

There are many black writers who love OBEs, it makes them feel like they have made it. When it suits them, they embrace the struggle against the ruling class and the oppression they visit upon us, but then they join the oppressors' club. They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the palace. For them, a wonderful time is meeting the Queen and bowing before her presence.

 

I was shocked to see how many of my fellow writers jumped at the opportunity to go to Buckingham Palace when the Queen had her "meet the writers day" on July 9 2002, and I laughed at the pathetic excuses writers gave for going. "I did it for my mum"; "I did it for my kids"; "I did it for the school"; "I did it for the people", etc. I have even heard black writers who have collected OBEs saying that it is "symbolic of how far we have come". Oh yes, I say, we've struggled so hard just to get a minute with the Queen and we are so very grateful - not.

 

I've never heard of a holder of the OBE openly criticising the monarchy. They are officially friends, and that's what this cool Britannia project is about. It gives OBEs to cool rock stars, successful businesswomen and blacks who would be militant in order to give the impression that it is inclusive. Then these rock stars, successful women, and ex-militants write to me with the OBE after their name as if I should be impressed. I'm not. Quite the opposite - you've been had.

 

Writers and artists who see themselves as working outside the establishment are constantly being accused of selling out as soon as they have any kind of success. I've been called a sell-out for selling too many books, for writing books for children, for performing at the Royal Albert Hall, for going on Desert Island Discs, and for appearing on the Parkinson show. But I want to reach as many people as possible without compromising the content of my work.

 

What continues to be my biggest deal with the establishment must be my work with the British Council, of which, ironically, the Queen is patron. I have no problem with this. It has never told me what to say, or what not to say. I have always been free to criticise the government and even the council itself. This is what being a poet is about. Most importantly, through my work with the council I am able to show the world what Britain is really about in terms of our arts, and I am able to partake in the type of political and cultural intercourse which is not possible in the mainstream political arena. I have no problem representing the reality of our multiculturalism, which may sometimes mean speaking about the way my cousin Michael died in a police station. But then, I am also at ease letting people know that our music scene is more than what they hear in the charts, and that British poetry is more than Wordsworth, or even Motion. I have no problem with all of this because this is about us and what we do. It is about what happens on the streets of our country and not in the palace or at No 10.

 

Me, OBE? Whoever is behind this offer can never have read any of my work. Why don't they just give me some of those great African works of art that were taken in the name of the empire and let me return them to their rightful place? You can't fool me, Mr Blair. You want to privatise us all; you want to send us to war. You stay silent when we need you to speak for us, preferring to be the voice of the US. You have lied to us, and you continue to lie to us, and you have poured the working-class dream of a fair, compassionate, caring society down the dirty drain of empire. Stick it, Mr Blair - and Mrs Queen, stop going on about the empire. Let's do something else.

 

Bought and Sold

 

Smart big awards and prize money

Is killing off black poetry

It's not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.

The lure of meeting royalty

And touching high society

Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

 

The ancestors would turn in graves

Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder

How our souls were sold

And check our strategies,

The empire strikes back and waves

Tamed warriors bow on parades

When they have done what they've been told

They get their OBEs.

 

Don't take my word, go check the verse

Cause every laureate gets worse

A family that you cannot fault as muse will mess your mind,

And yeah, you may fatten your purse

And surely they will check you first when subjects need to be amused

With paid for prose and rhymes.

 

Take your prize, now write more,

Faster,

**** the truth

Now you're an actor do not fault your benefactor

Write, publish and review,

You look like a dreadlocks Rasta,

You look like a ghetto blaster,

But you can't diss your paymaster

And bite the hand that feeds you.

 

What happened to the verse of fire

Cursing cool the empire

What happened to the soul rebel that Marley had in mind,

This bloodstained, stolen empire rewards you and you conspire,

(Yes Marley said that time will tell)

Now look they've gone and joined.

 

We keep getting this beating

It's bad history repeating

It reminds me of those capitalists that say

'Look you have a choice,'

It's sick and self-defeating if our dispossessed keep weeping

And we give these awards meaning

But we end up with no voice.

 

· Taken from Too Black, Too Strong. Published by Bloodaxe Books (2001)

[AYOUB]

Shujui or is it Mancini, im pleased to see you have not lost your sense of humour, (you know how power corrupts ) you sure gonna need it!. Would you like to tell us how one becomes a 'moderator' or would that be breaking 'camel milk secrecy act'? Is it an OBE like award from King Libaax or is it more of serious work? And lastly and not least will this be able to end your recent obsession to find out wether Angel Dust is Sami Gurl?

[Thinkerman]

lol u do well to mix compliments with attacks, i see a long and prosperous career for you in the Forums AS .

[AYOUB]

you too bro