Benjamin Zephaniah’s close friends and family gathered today as the late poet and author’s funeral took place.
The dub poet, who made it his life’s work to make poetry more accessible, died aged 65 on 7 December. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Fans have been asked to plant flowers, trees or plants in Zephaniah’s honour, rather than sending cut flowers.
A statement on X, formerly Twitter, said: “Today is Professor Benjamin Zephaniah’s funeral day. We know a lot of people want to show respect to him but cannot join his funeral.
“As Benjamin does not like flowers without roots, we recommend that if you want to, please plant something like flowers, trees or any plants you want to, anywhere you wish, name them as Benjamin Zephaniah in memory of him.”
Alternatively, supporters have been invited to send money to the charities Inquest or The Vegan Society.
Inquest helps bereaved families of people who have died in police custody or prison, immigration detention, mental health settings or where there have been failings by the state.
The Birmingham-born Zephaniah, who rejected an OBE in 2003 because of the honour’s association with the British Empire and its history of slavery and colonialism, was often outspoken on racial abuse and campaigned heavily for improved education and opportunities for young people.
“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. 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,” he said, explaining why he rejected the OBE.
Born to a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse, Zephaniah was kicked out of school at the age of 13, unable to read or write, and had dyslexia. When he was 18, his friend gave him a typewriter, currently on display at the Birmingham Museums Trust, that inspired him to become a writer.
He travelled to London in his twenties, when his debut book, Pen Rhythm, was published by Page One Books.
His first writings used dub poetry, a Jamaican style of work that has evolved into the music genre of the same name, and he would also perform with the group The Benjamin Zephaniah Band.
He was nominated for autobiography of the year at the National Book Awards for his work, The Life And Rhymes Of Benjamin Zephaniah. The book was also shortlisted for the Costa Book Award in 2018.
He was also remembered for playing preacher Jeremiah Jesus on Peaky Blinders, the BBC’s gritty gang drama set in his home city of Birmingham, opposite stars including Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy.
Additonal reporting by Associated Press
