[Marxism] I am profoundly anti-empire

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

'Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought'

An invitation to the palace to accept an New Year honour... you must be
joking. Benjamin Zephaniah won't be going. Here he explains why

Thursday November 27, 2003
The Guardian

Angry: Benjamin Zephaniah

I woke up on the morning of November 13 wondering how the government could
be overthrown and what could replace it, and then I noticed a letter from
the prime minister's office. It said: "The prime minister has asked me to
inform you, in strict confidence, that he has in mind, on the occasion of
the forthcoming list of New Year's honours to submit your name to the Queen
with a recommendation that Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve
that you be appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire."

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. It is because of this concept of empire that my
British education led me to believe that the history of black people
started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be
grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters. It is
because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even
know our true names or our true historical culture. I am not one of those
who are obsessed with their roots, and I'm certainly not suffering from a
crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political
rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs
Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire.

full: http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetry/features/0,12887,1094009,00.html


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