Remembering Benjamin Zephaniah

Kaya Gromocki shares a tribute of the unapologetically and radical greatly missed activist and creative

Benjamin Zephaniah became an Ambassador for The Vegan Society in 2004. He was born in Birmingham, a home town he shared with The Vegan Society, and he dedicated much of his working life to advocating for the vegan cause. He was an inspiration to many in his numerous roles and pursuits as a poet, novelist, actor, musician, anarchist, Rastafarian, academic, activist and of course, vegan. His untimely death in December 2023 was felt deeply across the vegan community.

Vegan roots

Vegan since he was a teenager in the 70s, Benjamin used his engaging slam poetry to plant a seed in the minds of his non-vegan fans, advocating for the rights of both people and animals. People of all ages have been educated on the benefits of a vegan lifestyle by reading his work. I have personally learnt stories of the Windrush generation, Palestinian liberation and many other human-justice causes that he bravely advocated for. Much like The Vegan Society’s vision for a more vegan world, he never ceased to campaign for a kinder humanity, even in the face of apathy.

When interviewed by The Guardian in 2010 Benjamin said “As the only black kid in my primary school playground, animals had become my friends. By 15 I was vegan, although I didn't give up honey until 16. For a while my mother thought it was just "a Rasta phase.” He went on to dedicate his life to advocating for the vegan lifestyle, proving it to be far from a phase and publishing a collection of 22 vegan poems in 2001.

The power of poetry

Throughout Benjamin’s life he used his gift with words to inspire empathy in people who might not otherwise have given much thought to their decision to eat animals. He implored listeners of his poem ‘Talking Turkeys’ to: 

“Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas 
An spare dem de cut of de knife.”

In 1994 Benjamin presented a short documentary for The Vegan Society titled Truth or Dairy in which he ate a plethora of delicious vegan food to the beat of his own poem ‘Vegan Delight’.

I met Benjamin as a young child, when I attended his poetry performance in Leeds in the early 2000s. As a vegan child I was excited to meet the person whose poems inspired my own. He was a vegan voice at a time when questioning why people ate animals was more often met with outrage than curiosity.

At the end of the night, I asked to give Benjamin a poem I had written. I was led backstage and shyly handed it over. I don’t think I had expected a response, but shortly afterwards I received a letter in the post. Typed on paper with a colourful border, it contained words of encouragement like none I had received before. He also made a personal request: "I need you to carry on spreading the message of peace to all beings and to stand up against racism and war. I need you to keep writing and showing those in this world who have little faith that there is another way.” He praised my writing and closed his letter with an invitation to perform on his stage one day. Sadly, I never took him up on that opportunity, but the impact of his words on a little working-class girl were felt for years to come. It certainly played a part in my continuing to pursue writing my own poetry even to this day.

Leaving a legacy

I’m sure I am one of many for whom Benjamin had this impact. Two of our volunteers who are also teachers recall accompanying their students to his performances and teaching his young-adult novels to their classes. Volunteer proofreader Anna Cook remembers, “The students loved him. He was really engaging and spoke to them on their level.”

Our Community Organiser Carol Lee, who runs a vegan BnB on the Isle of Arran, shared some of her favourite memories of meeting Benjamin over the years at both vegan events and poetry festivals. She describes him as being “not only one of the most personable and kind people you could meet but also multi-talented. He wowed audiences when he performed with his band The Revolutionary Minds.” She shared a memory of being whirled joyously around by him when he came down from the stage to dance with the audience at his gig at Vegan Camp Out.

AC Baker, our Policy and Research Advisor, communicated with Benjamin a number of times as part of their role. AC says, “Long may we be inspired into ‘good trouble’ (as the late civil rights activist and USA congressperson John Lewis coined) by the positive anger that Benjamin Zephaniah embodied.”

Sam Calvert, our Head of Communications, shares the lasting impression that Benjamin made everyone he met feel seen and appreciated. Sam remembers “We put out an appeal for people to come and sing and dance in a music video with Ben. It was done at very short notice, and we had no idea who or how many people would turn up. A fabulous and wonderfully diverse group of engaged people arrived on the day, and they clearly had a great time filming. It is a tribute to Ben’s appeal that he attracted such wide support.” 

Danielle Saunders, who held the role of Communications Manager, describes working with Benjamin as an “absolute privilege”. She says, “He was one of the most the humble, charismatic and warm people I've ever come across. We shot a music video for his vegan track ‘Love the Life’, and it was such a joyful day. It was wonderful to have so many people from all walks of life come together to sing, dance and just celebrate being vegan. Benjamin took his time to engage with everyone there, even my companion dog Kiki! I will always cherish that day. The vegan community has lost a great asset, and we should all be grateful for Benjamin's unwavering commitment to a kinder world.” 

Benjamin’s premature death is a tragic loss for so many communities. But if the letter he sent to me over 20 years ago is anything to go by, the ripple effect of his message of empathy will continue to inspire for as long as it is needed.

This article was first published in our membership magazine The Vegan 2024 Issue 2.