Benjamin Zephaniah  

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Benjamin Zephaniah (1958 - 2023) was an English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian.

He is known for songs such as "Rasta" (1983).

In 2003 he was offered appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) but publicly rejected the honour, stating that: "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".

Books

Poetry

• Pen Rhythm (1980)
• The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985), Arena
• City Psalms (1992), Bloodaxe Books
• Inna Liverpool (1992), AK Press
• Talking Turkeys (1994), Puffin Books
• Propa Propaganda (1996), Bloodaxe Books
• Funky Chickens (1997), Puffin
• School's Out: Poems Not for School (1997), AK Press
• Funky Turkeys (Audiobook) (1999), AB hntj
• White Comedy (Unknown)
• Wicked World! (2000), Puffin
• Too Black, Too Strong (2001), Bloodaxe Books
• The Little Book of Vegan Poems (2001), AK Press
• Reggae Head (Audiobook), 57 Productions

Novels

• Face (1999), Bloomsbury (published in children's and adult editions)
• Refugee Boy (2001), Bloomsbury
• Gangsta Rap (2004), Bloomsbury
• Teacher's Dead (2007), Bloomsbury
• Terror Kid (2014), Bloomsbury

Biographies

• We Sang Across the Sea: The Empire Windrush and Me (2022), a biography of Mona Baptiste written by Zephaniah and illustrated by Onyinye Iwu.

Children's books

• We are Britain (2002), Frances Lincoln Publishers
• Primary Rhyming Dictionary (2004), Chambers Harrap
• J is for Jamaica (2006), Frances Lincoln
• My Story (2011), Collins
• When I Grow Up (2011), Frances Lincoln

Other

• Kung Fu Trip (2011), Bloomsbury
• The Life And Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah (2018), Simon & Schuster

Plays

• Playing the Right Tune (1985)
• Job Rocking (1987). Published in Black Plays: 2, ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen Drama, 1989.
• Delirium (1987)
• Streetwise (1990)
• Mickey Tekka (1991)
• Listen to Your Parents (included in Theatre Centre: Plays for Young People – Celebrating 50 Years of Theatre Centre (2003) Aurora Metro, also published by Longman, 2007)
• Face: The Play (with Richard Conlon)

Acting roles

• Didn't You Kill My Brother? (1987) – Rufus
• Farendj (1989) – Moses
• Dread Poets' Society (1992) – Andy Wilson
• Truth or Dairy (1994) – The Vegan Society (UK)
• Crucial Tales (1996) – Richard's father
• Making the Connection (2010) – Environment Films / The Vegan Society (UK)
• Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) – Jeremiah Jesus

Discography

Albums

• Rasta (1982), Upright Records (reissued 1989), Workers Playtime (UK Indie #22)
• Us An Dem (1990), Island
• Back to Roots (1995), Acid Jazz
• Belly of De Beast (1996), Ariwa
• Naked (2005), One Little Indian
• Naked & Mixed-Up (2006), One Little Indian (Benjamin Zephaniah Vs. Rodney-P)
• Revolutionary Minds (2017), Fane Productions

Singles, EPs

• Dub Ranting EP (1982), Radical Wallpaper
• "Big Boys Don't Make Girls Cry" 12-inch single (1984), Upright
• "Free South Africa" (1986)
• "Crisis" 12-inch single (1992), Workers Playtime

Guest appearances

• "Empire" (1995) Bomb the Bass with Zephaniah & Sinéad O'Connor
• Heading for the Door by Back to Base (2000) MPR Records
• Open Wide (2004) Dubioza kolektiv (C) & (P) Gramofon
• Rebel by Toddla T (2009) 1965 Records
• "Illegal" (2000) from "Himawari" by Swayzak
• "Theatricks" (2000) by Kinobe

See also

• List of animal rights advocates