POETRY > “British History”

British History

⚠️ I wrote this poem about racism and deportations. Notes below.

Some days it feels like

this place sucks you dry

just to spit you out

This is a land of lies

banks of bones

bricks of blood

White Britain deals in

bodies, drugs, guns

why blame a youth for trying?

All you have is this place

but it doesn't love you

You RAISE the dead they killed

Your POWER. Your STORIES.

NOTES:

I wrote this poem about racism, Windrush deportations, deportations. One of the key steps that an artist / writer has is to be aware of how hypocrisy has been deployed
as a tool by racists. And ultimately, there are many advantages to disbanding the negative attitudes together and evolving as people. For example, immigrants are
characterised by the tabloids as lazy but where would the NHS be without immigrants? But tabloids do not exist by and of themselves. People in power have the ability to
control the media - yet they do not. And so I feel that my anger is justified.

The original title was “British History Sucks”. The use of irreverent language is somewhat childish / youthful and is deliberate. I have since removed the word “sucks” as I want people to come to the poem thinking it’s “traditional” and then surprise them.

When I was at school, I did not learn about how many countries the British colonised.

All but 22 countries in the world. I did not learn that the British got the Chinese addicted to opium. We did not discuss racism. If that was just my experience, that is also
the experience of many others of my generation. I think that accountability shows maturity and evolved reasoning, and that culture critique and conversations with
silenced voices are essential to humanity’s advancement. I believe that harmony is possible through non-violent communication and that poetry, music and other forms
of art are integral to this.