This booklet is a small attempt to preserve some of the less well-known words and ideas of Benjamin Zephaniah. By all accounts Benjamin was a lovely person. He was also widely recognised as an amazing poet and performer. Many people know that he was a vegan and an activist for campaigns such as Free Palestine but fewer are aware that he often described himself as an anarchist, as these four texts make clear.
“Most people know that politics is failing. The problem is they just can’t imagine an alternative. They lack confidence. I simply blanked out all the advertising. I turned off the ‘tell-lie-vision’, and I started t othink for myself. Then I really started to meet people – and, trust me, there is nothing as great as meeting people who are getting on with their lives, running farms, schools, shops, and even economies, in communities where no one has power [over others].
That’s why I’m an anarchist.
Fuck power – and let’s just take care of each other.”
Small format A6 pamphlet, published by Active Distribution, 2025.
