Editing Benjamin Zephaniah (section)

===Anti-racism activism===
Zephaniah spoke extensively about his personal experiences of anti-Black racism in Britain and incorporated his experiences in much of his written work.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Morris|first=Natalie|date=26 October 2020|title=Benjamin Zephaniah: 'The racist thugs of my youth are older and wear suits now'|url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/26/benjamin-zephaniah-the-racist-thugs-of-my-youth-are-grown-up-and-wear-suits-now-13471030/|access-date=29 April 2021|website=Metro|language=en|archive-date=15 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215142841/https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/26/benjamin-zephaniah-the-racist-thugs-of-my-youth-are-grown-up-and-wear-suits-now-13471030/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2012, Zephaniah worked with anti-racism organisation [[Newham Monitoring Project]], with whom he made a video,<ref>{{cite web|title=Benjamin Zephaniah – Put the Number in Your Phone|url=http://www.nmp.org.uk/2012/03/benjamin-zephaniah-put-number-in-your.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729060656/http://www.nmp.org.uk/2012/03/benjamin-zephaniah-put-number-in-your.html|archive-date=29 July 2012|access-date=14 March 2012|publisher=Newham Monitoring Project}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/21457155.know-civil-rights-2012-games/|title=Know your civil rights during 2012 Games|date=30 March 2012|first=Melissa|last=York|newspaper=[[Newham Recorder]]|access-date=14 December 2023|archive-date=14 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214084649/https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/21457155.know-civil-rights-2012-games/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Tower Hamlets Summer University]] (Futureversity) about the impact of Olympic policing on black communities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/23974506.obituary-trailblazer-poet-benjamin-zephania-aged-65/|title=Obituary: 'Trailblazer' poet Benjamin Zephania dies aged 65|first=Nathalie |last=Raffray|newspaper=[[Ham&High]]|date=7 December 2023|access-date=17 December 2023}}</ref> In that same year, he also wrote about cases of racially abusive language employed by police officers and "the reality of police racism that many of us experience all the time".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/26/police-dont-work-for-us|title=The police don't work for us|first=Benjamin |last=Zephaniah|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 October 2012}}</ref>

In November 2003, Zephaniah was offered appointment in the [[2004 New Year Honours]] as an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE), for which he said he had been recommended by [[Tony Blair]]. But he publicly [[declining a British honour|rejected the honour]]<ref>{{cite news|first=Merope|last=Mills|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/nov/27/iraq.monarchy|title=Rasta poet publicly rejects his OBE|newspaper=The Guardian|date=27 November 2003|access-date=7 June 2012|archive-date=27 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827173437/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/nov/27/iraq.monarchy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citizen.co.za/news/news-world/british-poet-benjamin-zephaniah-dies-aged-65-family/|title=British poet Benjamin Zephaniah dies aged 65: family|website=The Citizen|date=8 December 2023|access-date=9 December 2023|archive-date=9 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209234816/https://www.citizen.co.za/news/news-world/british-poet-benjamin-zephaniah-dies-aged-65-family/|url-status=live}}</ref> and in a subsequent article for ''[[The Guardian]]'', elaborated on learning about being considered for the award and his reasons for rejecting it: "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... Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way [[Tony Blair|Mr Blair]], no way [[Queen Elizabeth II|Mrs Queen]]. I am profoundly [[Anti-imperialism|anti-empire]]."<ref name="ZephaniahNov272003">{{cite news|last=Zephaniah|first=Benjamin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/nov/27/poetry.monarchy|title='Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought'|newspaper=The Guardian|date=27 November 2003|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=10 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510164039/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/nov/27/poetry.monarchy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=Merope |last=Mills |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,3604,1094118,00.html |title=Rasta poet publicly rejects his OBE |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 November 2003 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215142842/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/nov/27/iraq.monarchy |url-status=live }}</ref>