POET BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

There are poets and there are poets but Benjamin Zephaniah is an outstanding poet. The Rastafarian of Jamaican origin was born in Birmingham on 15 April, 1958. He is also a novelist, playwright, human rights activist and campaigner for animal rights. It is almost impossible to disassociate him from the annual Black History Month events in the UK; held every October. According to the Black History Month, ‘he has been Writer in Residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and Creative Artist in Residence at Cambridge University. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of North London (1998), the University of Central England (1999), and the University of Staffordshire (2002). In 1998, he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education to advise on the place of music and art in the National Curriculum.’
As a school boy he was visualised as a 'failure' because he was dyslexic but he had hope in oral poetry and actually wrote a letter to Bob Marley who sent him words of encouragement. According to the BBC, ‘his work has earned him honorary doctorates from a variety of places including the London South Bank University, the University of Exeter and the University of Westminster. In 2003, he turned down an OBE, remarking that anyone who'd ever heard his poetry would know he didn't want to be associated with the injustices of the British Empire’. Zephaniah's hero is CLR James but he ‘narrowly missed winning the title of Oxford Professor of Poetry’ in 1989 as the third candidate.

Everybody Is Doing It

In Hawaii they Hula
They Tango in Argentina
They Reggae in Jamaica
And they Rumba down in Cuba,
In Trinidad and Tobago
They do the Calypso
And in Spain the Spanish
They really do Flamenco.

In the Punjab they Bhangra
How they dance Kathak in India
Over in Guatemala
They dance the sweet Marimba,
Even foxes dance a lot
They invented the Fox Trot,
In Australia it’s true
They dance to the Didgeridoo.

In Kenya they Benga
They Highlife in Ghana
They dance Ballet all over
And Rai dance in Algeria,
They Jali in Mali
In Brazil they Samba
And the girls do Belly Dancing
In the northern parts of Africa.

Everybody does the Disco
From Baghdad to San Francisco
Many folk with razzamataz
Cannot help dancing to Jazz,
They do the Jig in Ireland
And it is really true
They still Morris dance in England
When they can find time to.

Benjamin Zephaniah[/B]

White Comedy

I waz whitemailed
By a white witch,
Wid white magic
An white lies,
Branded by a white sheep
I slaved as a whitesmith
Near a white spot
Where I suffered whitewater fever.
Whitelisted as a whiteleg
I waz in de white book
As a master of white art,
It waz like white death.
People called me white jack
Some hailed me as a white wog,
So I joined de white watch
Trained as a white guard
Lived off the white economy.
Caught and beaten by de whiteshirts
I waz condemned to a white mass,
Don’t worry,
I shall be writing to de Black House.

Benjamin Zephaniah[/B]

POSTSCRIPT…

'MRS' JOLLOF RICE

Recently a lady asked me to teach her how to cook jollof rice and I shook my head vigorously because I knew she only wanted to learn because her wedding day was just some months away. I will not be there when her in-laws give her a hard time. Your inability to cook can cost you your African marriage so the choice is yours and stubborn in-laws can render your PhD useless if you cannot cook. In fact, I have better things to do since I am not a chef. Cooking is common sense and nobody taught me how to cook but women do admire men who are good cooks. A bad cook 'should' marry a chef. I once caught a man eating in his girlfriend’s house early one morning. She said his wife forced him to fast so she was feeding him. I told her they were both going to hellfire and she told me to shut up.
This is how to cook jollof rice, fried rice, afang soup, banga soup, bitter leaf soup and egusi soup. There are several jollof rice recepies e.g. the University of Pennsylvania – African Studies Center method is a bit different but it is good if you are using easy cook rice. You can try the Mali, Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, UKTV, Celtnet and the BBC methods but my personal style is a bit different. All the cooking instructions failed to tell the cook to stir the rice in order to prevent it from burning or sticking to the pot. Best Tip: Never use a metal spoon to stir the rice instead use a wooden spoon. Why? You may end up with ‘mushy’ rice. As for egusi soup you can ‘cheat’ the Lagos way if you are having a party because it is a cooking secret. How? You can use egg white to mix the egusi but the left over’s must be thrown away. I did not mention egg yolk so no egg yolk. Do not try to 'store' egusi prepared this way because it will not taste good. It is not recommended for home cooking unless you are a bad cook.
S*X BOMB

There is nothing 'worse' than running from most blog sites because they contain too much 'human traffic' and 'land' here only for a fellow blogger to start calling you a s*x bomb a la Tom Jones. This is not a s*x blog and my reaction did not go down well with some people but that’s me for you. It does not make sense to me. There are some blogs with bikini girls so please go there and call them whatever you wish. I hope this is the end of penkelemess.
***Trying to explain was a waste of time. E get as e bi o… I found the latest message 'embarrassing'. Some men are blogging for s*xual reasons and a leopard does not change its spots. It may be better for them to see a s*x therapist than 'pick' on me or put the blame on me a la Akon. Once again, this is not a s*x blog.