A review by laraamaee
Selected Poems by Linton Kwesi Johnson

5.0

An amazing collection of LKJ's dub poetry from the 70's, 80's, & 90's which tackles themes such as institutionalised racism & police brutality in Britain, written in Jamaican Creole (which is itself in opposition to conventional literary/grammatical rules & thus corrupt power structures). Some favourites: 'Sonny's Lettah' (an Anti-Sus poem i.e. against the Vagrancy Act which led to young Black people being disproportionately arrested), 'Reggae fi Dada' (a heartfelt poem for his father who died in 1982), & 'New Craas Massakah' (in memory of the fourteen young Black people killed in the New Cross Massacre 1981). Although the poems are more suited to being read aloud, with reggae music accompaniment, I still very much enjoyed this collection and learned a lot from it.