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Benjamin Zephaniah

How renowned poet Benjamin Zephaniah used language and music to take on injustice and discrimination in Britain with the wickedest of flows.

How complete is British history and why do we only hear certain stories? That鈥檚 the question Tomi Dixon poses in Colouring in Britain.

The history lessons he had at school were limited as they never seemed to include stories of British people of colour. So Tomi's going to take you on a sonic trip back to the classroom to fill in those gaps. But this isn鈥檛 your regular day at school - through dramatisation and conversation you'll get to relive the pivotal moments when lives right across the nation were shaken up by a new generation of British heroes and heroines.

Tomi's in search of the people he thinks deserve a page in the history books and his first stop is Handsworth in Birmingham. He meets up with poet, writer, musician and childhood hero Benjamin Zephaniah to talk about the impact of dub poetry and the importance of his work to Tomi's generation.

They travel through his discovery of poetry and his upbringing in '70s Birmingham, taking in his crucial role in the development of the dub poetry scene and his role as a prominent voice against discrimination.

Written, produced and presented by Tomi Dixon
Researcher: Nachael Catnott
Actors: Lloyd Thomas, Matthew Durkan, Colin Ryan, Danielle Vitalis, Ammar Dufffus, Jonathan Forbes, Alexandra Hannant
Technical Producers: Donald MacDonald, Giles Aspen, Keith Graham and Mike Etherden
Production Mentors: Alasdair Cross and Ciaran Bermingham
Executive Producers: Leanne Alie and Khaliq Meer
Commissioned for 91热爆 Sounds Audio Lab by Khaliq Meer
Artwork by Tasia Graham

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Mon 10 Oct 2022 02:00

Broadcast

  • Mon 10 Oct 2022 02:00

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