Benjamin Zephaniah — To Michael Menson

Mon Feb 17 2025

Benjamin Zephaniah’s urgent, imperative “To Michael Menson” was written when he was a poet in residence at a human rights barrister in England. His poem resonates with his repeated calls for justice for a murdered Black musician — not a justice that is gullible, impotent, or hopeless but one that is clear-eyed, collaborative, and mighty.

Summary

Poetry Unbound: Episode Summary – Benjamin Zephaniah’s "To Michael Menson"

Podcast Information:

Title: Poetry Unbound
Host: Pádraig Ó Tuama
Producer: On Being Studios
Episode: Benjamin Zephaniah — To Michael Menson
Release Date: February 17, 2025

Introduction to the Episode

In this episode of Poetry Unbound, host Pádraig Ó Tuama delves deep into the poignant poem "To Michael Menson" by the late British poet Benjamin Zephaniah. The discussion navigates through the intricate layers of Zephaniah’s work, exploring themes of justice, systemic failure, and the enduring human spirit.

Host’s Introduction and Book Releases

[00:00] Pádraig Ó Tuama:
Pádraig opens the episode by announcing the release of his two books: 44 Poems on Being With Each Other, a collection of essays accompanying other poets' works, and Kitchen Hymns, his own poetry collection. He emphasizes the richness that different professional vocabularies bring to poetry, illustrating this with anecdotes about friends from various professions aspiring to write poetry.

Notable Quote:
"Each profession carries its own unique vocabulary, offering poets a vast and untapped reservoir of language." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [00:00]

Professions and the Poetic Vocabulary

Pádraig reflects on how diverse professional backgrounds enrich poetic expression. He shares insights from conversations with friends in building and law, highlighting how specialized terminologies can influence and enhance poetic narratives. This sets the stage for understanding Zephaniah’s incorporation of legal language in his poetry.

Notable Quote:
"Legal terminology implies precision, allowing each sentence to hold a singular meaning—a stark contrast to the multiplicity of meanings in poetry." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [Early Transcript]

Benjamin Zephaniah’s Background

Pádraig provides a comprehensive overview of Benjamin Zephaniah’s life and career. Born in Birmingham, England, to a Barbadian father and Jamaican mother, Zephaniah emerged as a multifaceted artist—poet, musician, actor, and activist. Notably, he portrayed Jeremiah Jesus in the acclaimed series Peaky Blinders and served as the poet in residence at human rights barrister Michael Mansfield’s chambers.

Notable Quote:
"Benjamin Zephaniah was not just a poet; he was a voice for justice, weaving his activism seamlessly into his art." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [00:06]

Analysis of "To Michael Menson"

The focal point of the episode is Zephaniah’s poem "To Michael Menson." Pádraig dissects the poem’s structure, language, and emotional depth. He notes the repetitive "There must be" and "It may take" phrases, interpreting them as a manifesto for justice and a call for systemic change.

Poem Excerpt:
"There must be some light somewhere. There must be a true other. There must be more than despair..." [Transcript Excerpt]

Notable Quote:
"The repetition in 'There must be' serves as a relentless demand for justice, echoing the urgency for systemic accountability." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [Detailed Analysis Section]

Historical Context: Stephen Lawrence and Michael Menson Cases

Pádraig contextualizes the poem within the harrowing realities of racial violence and systemic inadequacies in the UK. He recounts the tragic murders of Stephen Lawrence and Michael Menson—both young black men whose deaths highlighted profound failures in law enforcement and justice systems. Zephaniah’s work, particularly during his residency with Michael Mansfield, was deeply influenced by these cases, driving his activism through poetry.

Notable Quote:
"Zephaniah used his poetry as a vehicle to expose the heinous failures of systems meant to protect, turning verses into acts of resistance." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [Historical Context Section]

Language and Repetition in the Poem

Delving deeper, Pádraig explores Zephaniah’s strategic use of legal and pastoral language. Terms like "informant," "judgment," and "appeal" intertwine with themes of family, coping mechanisms, and hope, creating a multifaceted narrative. The repetition emphasizes the persistent and layered struggles faced by marginalized communities.

Notable Quote:
"In 'To Michael Menson,' legal jargon meets pastoral longing, crafting a tapestry that speaks to both societal failings and personal resilience." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [Language Analysis Section]

Themes of Justice, Hope, and Judgment

The poem is a powerful exploration of the quest for justice amidst systemic corruption and societal indifference. Pádraig highlights how Zephaniah interlaces hope with a demand for accountability, urging a collective movement towards a "just future." The concluding lines introduce a sense of existential dread and the unpredictable paths justice might take, whether through divine intervention, governmental reform, or societal upheaval.

Notable Quote:
"Zephaniah's invocation that 'it may take God, it may take man... but there must be a judgment' encapsulates the uncertain yet imperative journey towards true justice." — Pádraig Ó Tuama [Themes Section]

Conclusion and Production Credits

As the episode concludes, co-host Chris Heagle acknowledges the source of the poem and credits the production team. Listeners are encouraged to engage further through the Poetry Unbound website and subscribe to the Substack newsletter for ongoing discussions.

Notable Quote:
"Join us in opening your world to poetry by subscribing to our Substack newsletter and visiting poetryunbound.org." — Chris Heagle [Closing Remarks]

Final Thoughts

This episode of Poetry Unbound serves as a profound exploration of Benjamin Zephaniah’s "To Michael Menson," interweaving personal reflections, historical context, and literary analysis. Through Pádraig Ó Tuama’s insightful commentary, listeners gain a deeper understanding of how poetry can serve as a powerful conduit for social justice and personal healing.

Production Credits:

Host: Pádraig Ó Tuama
Co-Host: Chris Heagle
Music: Gautam Srikishan and Blue Dot Sessions
Produced by: On Being Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Publisher Permission: Bloodaxe Books

For more information and to access additional resources, visit poetryunbound.org.

Transcript

Padre Gotouma (0:00)

Friends, I am delighted to let you know that I've got two books that are out now. 44 poems on being with each Other is a collection of 44 essays accompanying other people's poems. It's a poetry unbound collection. There's poems from Jericho Brown and Mary Oliver and Lucille Clifton in there, and a collection of my own poems, Kitchen Hymns, is also out. You can get them wherever books are sold and you can find out more information@poetryunbound.org thanks very much. My name is Padre Gotouma and I'm fascinated by how different professions carry with them very different vocabularies. I've got a friend who is a builder and he was saying to me that what he really wants to do is to write poems, but I was saying to him what an amazing resource and archive of vocabulary he'll have about building that hardly any other poet would know how to include. Other friends of mine who work in law have not only precise legal language, but also the approach to language that legal terminology seems to imply, that each sentence can only be understood with one particular meaning, which is almost like the antithesis to a poem where you're hoping to write something that can have multiple meanings. Benjamin Zephaniah, a great British poet who died in 2023, was poet in residence with a human rights barrister. And he has written about a lot, horrific circumstances of murders of black people in London and also then the failures of systems of governance, systems of policing, to respond properly and adequately to that. And what he does in some of these poems is incorporate legal language into the poetry, like this poem to Michael Menson by Benjamin Zephaniah. There must be some light somewhere There must be a true other There must be more than despair There must be more, my brother. There must be so much unsaid There must be an informant There must be some truth ahead There must be a judgment There must be a little hope There must be a truth culture There must be ways for us to cope There must be a just future There must be somewhere to go There must be some movement There must be much more to know. There must be a judgment There must be ears for our appeal There must be some progress There must be a better deal There must be more than this mess There must be ways, There must be means There must be some acknowledgment There must be honest go betweens There must be a judgment it may take God, it may take man it may take lords of Fire it may take burning Babylon it may take something higher it may take bad rebellious Youth. It may take a sane government, it may take liars with the truth, but there must be a judgment. Benjamin Zephaniah is a renowned poet from Britain and he is a writer of so many genres, as well as a musician and a campaigner. His father was from Barbados, his mother from Jamaica. He was born in Birmingham in England and he called Birmingham the Jamaican capital. He also was an actor. He played the street preacher Jeremiah Jesus in Peaky Blinders, for anyone who's watched that. He was also poet in residence at the chambers of the human rights barrister Michael Mansfield in England for a number of years. And it was during that time, it seems, that this poem was written. He also wrote a lot about the investigation that happened after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, who was an 18 year old black Londoner who'd been murdered in a racial attack in 1993, and the investigation of which was found to have been completely lacking. And then also this incident with Michael Manson. Michael Manson was a musician just like Benjamin Zephaniah, and he was murdered in 1997. He'd been set alight. And it took a period of time between that atrocious, murderous attack and when he died, during which time he had given testimony to say that this had been an attack. The police didn't believe him and his family were the ones who pursued and pursued and pursued justice. And Benjamin Zephaniah was working alongside a whole bunch of these cases where crimes against people of color were not taken as crimes and where police collusion and corruption were really needing to be investigated in order that the lives and the deaths of black people in Britain could be honoured with a sense of justice that was justly deserved. I look at the poem and see the repetitions within it. They occur to me as some kind of manifesto for law. There must be, there must be, there must be 26 times. Sometimes it seems to me that he's taken the let there be that you get in English translations of the Genesis poem of creation, and he's trying to apply that now to the city, the brutal city, and trying to say there must be, there must be. It's absolutely declarative, it's imperative. And repeated four times. There must be a judgment. And I found myself thinking, I think I know what judgment means and what judge means, but I wanted to look it up. It can mean to examine as well as to pronounce and to rule and to decide as well as to condemn and to state categorically or finally. And I suppose what the poem is imagining is that there must be a Judgment that examines and rules, decides and offers condemnation where it needs to be condemned, even if that's going to cause people to have to examine their own hallways of judgment. That judgment doesn't just go in one direction. Judgment, if it's to be pursued, needs to be allowed to be pursued in all the directions it takes you. The last stanza has the repetition not of there must be, there must be, there must be. It has an Eightfold repetition of it may take. And it's saying how demanding that this is going to be for judgment to be pursued. And I love the way that it escalates and highlights things that seem beyond us and then says it might be even more than that. It may take God, it may take man, it may take Lords of Fire, it may take Burning Babylon, it may take something higher and then it turns. It may take bad rebellious youth, it may take a sane government, it may take liars with the truth. And I like how what he's speaking to here is the ways within which predictable lines of blame can occur in the way that we talk about whatever the problems of our big cities are. Bad, rebellious youth. And the fact that too, sometimes, as you're pursuing justice, you might need to keep company and might need to learn from those from whom you do not wish to learn. It may take liars with the truth. And then the final line of the final stanza returns to the echo of what has ended all previous stanzas up until now. But there must be a judgment. Legal language comes across hugely throughout this poem. References like informant, truth, culture, just future, appeal, deal, honest go betweens as well. And not only is there legal terminology, there's also, I suppose, what I'd call pastoral terminology toward family members who might be appealing for some kind of way within which justice and a judgment can also come with some relief. He says there must be more than despair. There must be ways for us to cope. I think there's so much knowledge about the long ache, not only of living with a terrible crime, of this murder, of Michael Manson and all of the other people whose trials Benjamin Zephaniah worked on, but also the torture that it is for families as they live with their grief and also live with the living grief of justice being denied and a proper trial being granted, the life and the dignity of the one that they're grieving over. To Michael Menson by Benjamin Zephaniah. There must be some light somewhere. There must be a true other. There must be more than despair. There must be more, my brother. There must be so much unsaid. There must be an informant. There must be some truth ahead. There must be a judgment. There must be a little hope. There must be a truth culture. There must be ways for us to cope. There must be a just future There must be somewhere to go. There must be some movement. There must be much more to know. There must be a judgment. There must be ears for our appeal. There must be some progress. There must be a better deal. There must be more than this mess. There must be ways, There must be means. There must be some acknowledgment. There must be honest go betweens. There must be a judgment. It may take God, it may take man, it may take Lords of Fire, it may take Burning Babylon, it may take something higher, it may take Bad rebellious Youth, it may take a sane government, it may take liars with the truth but there must be a judgment.