Racist violence was never far away for the poet and author when he was
growing up. And even when the thugs keep on suits,the threat of the far right never disappeared. In this exclusive extract, he explains how he learned to fight backThis is personal. It started when I was approximately eight years archaic. I was walking on Farm Street in Hockley, and Birmingham,where my family lived. I was in my own puny world, having poetic thoughts and wondering what the future held for me.
Then, and bang,I felt an almighty slap on the back of my head and I fell to the floor. A boy had hit me with a brick as he rode past on his bicycle. As I lay on the ground with blood pouring from the back of my head, he looked back and shouted: Go domestic, or you black bastard.” I had no idea what he was talking approximately. I was going domestic. Who was black? What was a bastard?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com