We were shocked and saddened to hear of Benjamin Zephaniah’s death at the age of just 65. We have long been admirers of his poetry and his activism but he had many strings to his bow and others may remember him as Jeremiah ‘Jimmy’ Jesus from Peaky Blinders. We remember him particularly for his support of Football’s Black Pioneers and we were thrilled and honoured when he attended our launch event.
Later, it was our pleasure to help in a small way with the documentary he presented ‘Standing Firm – Football’s Windrush Story’. It is a mark of his generosity of spirit that our book was mentioned in the credits, he didn’t have to do that and many wouldn’t have done so. The documentary was excellent and is well worth watching, sadly it is now behind a pay wall but keep your eyes open, hopefully there will be a repeat:
https://footballs-black-pioneers.com/standing-firm-footballs-windrush-story/
Benjamin was a towering figure and we mourn his loss.