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George the Poet has revealed he turned down an MBE because he believes the British Empire is “pure evil”.
The spoken word artist, real name George Mpanga, made the remarks in the final episode of Have You Heard George’s Podcast ? , in which he discusses the legacy of colonialism.
A recipient of an MBE becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire, an accolade Mpanga said he could not accept because of the “colonial trauma inflicted on the children of Africa”.
London-born Mpanga, who is of Ugandan heritage, said he initially told a friend he would accept the award if he was offered it, but when they nominated him and he was selected, he felt “a burning sensation in my chest”.
He said: “I’d like to apologise to the friend who recommended me on my assurance that I’d accept. I didn’t know I would feel this way.
“I see myself as student, admirer and friend of Britain, however, the colonial trauma inflicted on the children of Africa, entrenched across our geopolitical and macroeconomic realities, prevents me from accepting the title Member of the British Empire.”
28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever writtenShow all 28 1 /2828 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Because I could not stop for Death', Emily Dickinson Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me; / The carriage held but just ourselves / And Immortality
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'To My Wife', Oscar Wilde And when wind and winter harden / All the loveless land, / It will whisper of the garden, / You will understand
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Variation on the Word Sleep', Margaret Atwood I would like to be the air / that inhabits you for a moment / only. I would like to be that unnoticed / & that necessary
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'The Hollow Men', TS Eliot This is the way the world ends / not with a bang but a whimper
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Dulce et Decorum est', Wilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, / Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs / And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Sonnet XVII', Pablo Neruda I love you as certain dark things are to be loved / in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'the boys i mean are not refined', ee cummings they speak whatever’s on their mind / they do whatever’s in their pants / the boys i mean are not refined / they shake the mountains when they dance
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Dark Pines Under Water', Gwendolyn MacEwen But the dark pines of your mind dip deeper / And you are sinking, sinking, sleeper / In an elementary world; There is something down there and you want it told
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'O Captain! My Captain!', Walt Whitman O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Cuz He’s Black', Javon Johnson Don’t like the / fact that he learned to hide from the cops before he knew / how to read. Angrier that his survival depends more on his ability / to deal with the “authorities” than it does his own literacy
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Song', Allen Ginsberg The weight of the world / is love / Under the burden / of solitude, / under the burden / of dissatisfaction / the weight, / the weight we carry / is love
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings', Maya Angelou The caged bird sings with a fearful trill/ Of things unknown but longed for still/ And his tune is heard on the distant hill/ For the caged bird sings of freedom
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written The Second Coming', WB Yeats The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned; / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity '
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Lady Lazarus', Sylvia Plath Out of the ash I rise / With my red hair / And I eat men like air
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Dirge Without Music', Edna St Vincent Millay Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave / Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; / Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. / I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Leaves of Grass', Walt Whitman I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love / If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Eloisa to Abelard', Alexander Pope How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot. / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Sonnet 116', William Shakespeare Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove: / O no; it is an ever-fixed mark, / That looks on tempests, and is never shake
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'A Girl', Ezra Pound Tree you are, / Moss you are, / You are violets with wind above them. / A child - so high - you are, / And all this is folly to the world
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Still I Rise', Maya Angelou You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'The Unblinking Grief', Charles Bukowski you are much more than simply dead/ I am a dish for your ashes / I am a fist for your vanished air / the most terrible thing about life/ is finding it gone
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Daddy', Sylvia Plath At twenty I tried to die / And get back, back, back to you. / I thought even the bones would do./ But they pulled me out of the sack, / And they stuck me together with glue
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Howl', Allan Ginsberg I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, / dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix / angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Masks', Shel Silverstein She had blue skin,/ and so did he./ He kept it hid/ and so did she./ They looked for blue/ their whole life through./ Then passed right by--/ and never knew
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night', Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Samuel Taylor Coleridge Water, water, every where, / And all the boards did shrink; / Water, water, every where / Nor any drop to drink
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Let America Be America Again', Langston Hughes I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart / I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars / I am the red man driven from the land, / I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek - / And finding only the same old stupid plan / Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak
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28 of the most powerful lines of poetry ever written 'Suicide in the Trenches', Siegfried Sassoon You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye / Who cheer when soldier lads march by, / Sneak home and pray you'll never know / The hell where youth and laughter go
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He added that while “the gesture is deeply appreciated, the wording is not”.
“It will remain unacceptable to me until Britain takes institutional measures to address the intergenerational disruption brought to millions as a result of her colonial exploits,” he said.
“I have no issue with other black people who have embraced this title. I encourage variety of thought across our society and within my community.
“I encourage future generations to seek the relevant information to make an informed decision. What do the words British Empire mean to you? I love this country but I do so with transparency.
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Try for free “I do so with a belief in the integrity of the British people. I will continue to give my life to the improvement of British society. But I will not be told how to feel about my history.”
Mpanga is not the first culture star to have turned down the honour, with Danny Boyle, Jon Snow and Stephen Hawking among the other celebrities to have shunned the offer of an MBE, OBE or CBE in the past.
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