LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM | British poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who famously rejected an honor from Queen Elizabeth II over Britain's empire and links to slavery, died on Thursday at the age of 65, his family said.
The Rastafarian poet and writer, whose work was greatly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica, also turned his hand to acting when he appeared in series six of the hit show "Peaky Blinders" as the character Jeremiah Jesus.
"It is with great sadness and regret that we announce the death of our beloved husband, son and brother in the early hours of this morning 7th December 2023," his family said on Instagram, adding that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor eight weeks ago.
In 2003 he snubbed an Order of the British Empire (OBE) award from Queen Elizabeth for services to literature, which Zephaniah said prime minister Tony Blair had recommended.
He said the award's name reminded him of his ancestors' "brutal" suffering at the hands of their white masters.
"I get angry when I hear that word 'empire'; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds (me) of thousands of years of brutality -- it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalized," he said at the time.
