ABSTRACT
In Great Britain, where literary and cultural critics have often prioritized the white and written poetic tradition, black oral or dub/performance poets, currently hold sway. They seldom work with the printed page in mind, and many are penetratingly political, keen to use the sound and power of words, especially in public settings, to lobby for social justice, and therefore resisting some of the weakening of Rastafari’s message for which certain forms of reggae have been attacked. 1 Often funny, their work nonetheless displays serious attention to the black struggle for survival. Benjamin Zephaniah is the nation’s premier black performance poet; he is also a celebrated novelist, playwright, musician, and radio as well as television presenter. Labeled a “streetwise, post-criminalized artist,” he has been crafting verse for over thirty years, and this chapter catches a spark from his poetic fire, as fanned by Rastafari. 2 After delineating Zephaniah’s life and literary art, I address the Rastological and biblical background to two poems, before closing with a recent, brief interview.
