It feels really important to reflect on Leeds experiences in light of the Black Lives Matter protests.
Playwright and lyricist, Testament, lit up the Minster with his spoken word performance of Come the Revolution, published in the anthology And The Stones Fell Open: A Leeds Poetry Anthology available here . On the night, Testament encouraged us all, those present and the people of Leeds more widely, to believe in ourselves as poets and that we can use language for good.
“Writing this poem I felt frustration at the world around us. A culture apathy, a lethargy and a refusal to confront issues. I felt as if there was a wilful ignorance and a fear to tackle economic injustice, systemic fault lines and the glorification of a one sided historical perspective.
In these last months, the crises we have seen seem to have brought these issues more into the sunlight. And the plea for us to use our voice is as unrelenting as ever.”