den di crash
an di bang
an di flames staat fi trang
di heat
an di smoke
an di people staat fi choke
di screamin
and di cryin
and di diein in di fyah…
(LKJ, MRF, 52)
What starts off as a celebration of a 16-year-old (black) girl’s party in Deptford, London becomes a racially motivated arson attack to be played down by the media and subsequent criminal investigation. These are just a couple of examples that demonstrate what makes Johnson’s work so historically and culturally significant – it records the experience of Jamaican-born British immigrants, speaking for them when others would silence them. It is hardly surprising therefore that he is the second living poet (as well as the first black poet) to be included in Penguin Books’ Modern Classics imprint in the UK.
To coincide with the debut publication of Mi Revalueshanary Fren in the US, LKJ, as he is known to his fans, will be having a reading tour in selected cities throughout the States and anyone who is interested in this revolutionary man’s work is strongly encouraged to attend.
For those of us not quite so fortunate, Mi Revalueshanary Fren comes with a companion compact disc of Johnson reciting his poetry unaccompanied – this is essential if one truly wants to understand his body of work. Russell Banks’ introduction in the book is extremely well-written and informative, giving background on the poet and his work.
As mentioned in the beginning, the language isn’t always easy but the recording definitely helps, and enhances the reader’s experience and comprehension. Chaucer could tell a decent tale or two, but for now I’m inspired to discover more of LKJ’s work.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - Snarkattack
Thanks very much Natalie! I'm so flattered, truly.
3 - Ray Ellis
Nice and informative article. I used to listen to listen to Linton Qwesi Johnson's reggae recordings, but you provided a new insight into his work--I would have never connected him to Chaucer! Good work, and congrats!
4 - Snarkattack
Thanks Ray, for your comment and kind words. I'd love to hear his reggae recordings, he's a bit before my time but he writes a lot about the London I was born into. Chaucer was a Londoner I believe, so they do have more in common than we think.
5 - -E
Congrats! This article has been selected as one of this week’s Editors’ Picks.
6 - Snarkattack
Aw, thank you! It means so much to me that the Blogcritics folk seem to enjoy my reviews.
7 - Douglas Watts
This is a fair review. LKJ's Jamaican patois is not easy to understand on the printed page unless you already know the words from listening to his recorded versions. His CD "Live with the Dub Band -- 1984" (LKJ Records) is good because he introduces each poem with a concise description of what it is about and why he wrote.
8 - Snarkattack
I do hope that means it's satisfactory, Douglas? :) Either way, thank you very much for your comment.
Personally, I'm fortunate in that my father and some of my Anglo-Indian relatives are originally from the West Indies, so the inflections and rhythms of the patois is a little less foreign to me but I wanted to try and encourage the reader who may have less background.
Naturally, emotion is conveyed very well in LKJ's readings, so it's not necessary to understand each and every word but rather to rely on our personal humanity, and intuition.
He really is an amazing artist, I'm very glad to have discovered his work.