Social workers pay tribute to the ‘people’s laureate’
![Benjamin Zephaniah](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_s/public/2023-12/Benjamin-Zepheniah-template_0.png?h=2671ff76&itok=AOQgTUTw)
The social work world has paid tribute to poet, activist and intellectual Benjamin Zephaniah who died on 7 December, eight weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
One of the UK’s best-known poets, whose lyrical brilliance and biting social commentary has inspired many, Zephaniah’s influence extended far beyond the literary world.
His work is taught in British schools, examining issues around race, whiteness, colonialism, state violence and social injustice.
His personal experience of racism influenced his work with a number of organisations promoting anti-racism. In 2003, he famously turned down an OBE from the Queen because of connotations with the brutalities of the British empire.
He said at the time: “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 has also spoke out against homophobia, including in Jamaica, the birthplace of his mother, and championed those in the criminal justice system, based on his own experiences of prison.
Social workers have paid tribute to the writer whose values and actions aligned so closely with their profession.
Ruth Allen, chief executive of BASW UK, said: "Benjamin Zephaniah was one of the first Caribbean heritage voices I really listened to when I was young.
"I feel so sad we have lost him too soon. I didn't grow up in anything like his world, but his amazing combination of warmth, humour and telling it like it is - wrapped up in an inimical poetic style- connected across boundaries of identity and place.
"He was always exciting and he represented change in British society - and the struggle to bring about that change. And when I think of him I hear him talking of the importance of kindness. A simple, profound message for all of us."
BASW chair Julia Ross said: “The words I will always remember are those from his poem, We Refugees where he says: ‘I come from a beautiful place’. I think that is a fitting tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah.”
John McGowan, general secretary of the Social Workers Union, said: “We have lost a true hero of our age. His presence and poetry enlightened many to society’s inequalities. He will forever be an inspiration. His words will continue to connect others with hope for a fairer world.”
BASW England professional officer and anti-racism campaigner Wayne Reid said: “Benjamin Zephaniah was prescient. Clear of thought. The mind of a genius. Eloquent. ‘Edutaining’. Years ahead of his time. A trailblazer. Unprecedented. Funny. Impossible to dislike.
“These tributes are afforded to many at their death, but this humble man evidenced each, and other qualities too many to list.
“All of us have lost another real one in Benjamin Zephaniah, but his legacy and spirit will remain ever-present.”
Social worker Jaison Musindo described Zephaniah as an icon who would be remembered as "a champion for racial equality and challenging the status quo".
He said: "In the world of social work your values resonate with many social workers out there who come across challenges and remain focused in line with their values."
BASW England professional officer Liz Howard said: “He used poetry and music to connect people to politics and the issues of our time, reminding us of the importance of community, talking, listening and sharing ideas and that within us we have the power to create change."
Independent social worker Tina Waas said: “He was such an inspiration to so many social workers and demonstrated with his written and spoken word such clarity on social and racial justice.”
Zephaniah was awarded some 16 honorary doctorates during his lifetime, in stark contrast to his early experience of the education system growing up in Birmingham. He was expelled from school aged 13 unable to read or write due to undiagnosed dyslexia.
By his late teens he had a criminal record and served time in prison for burglary. He moved to London in his early 20s where he experienced racism, and was also caught up in the race riots of the 1980s.
Writing about that time, he said: “Back then racism was very in your face. There was the National Front against Black and foreign people and the police were also very racist.
“I got stopped four times after I bought a BMW when I became successful with poetry.”
His collections of poems include Pen Rhythm and The Dread Affair. He also published a novel, Face, and a memoir, The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah.
In recent years, Zephaniah cemented his iconic status with acting roles in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders and the soap EastEnders.
The Times has rated the professor of poetry and creative writing as one of the top 50 most influential postwar writers in the UK.
But for his passion and compassion in representing the voiceless and oppressed in society, he will simply be remembered by many as ‘the people’s laureate’.
Image: David Morris, University of Hull