Stand Up and Spit comes to Manchester with a screening of Upon Westminster Bridge at HOME. Legendary reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson will preface the film about the late Jamaican poet Michael Smith, with an introduction about Smith’s life and work, and a live reading of his own poetry.
Made in 1982, Arena director Anthony Wall’s Upon Westminster Bridge focuses on the late Jamaican poet Michael Smith’s first visit to the UK. Smith performs his own work in iconic London areas including Brixton market and on Westminster Bridge, as well as exploring what makes a poet ‘revolutionary’ with renowned historian C L R James and LKJ. His verse, which captures the everyday struggles of ordinary people in Jamaica and beyond, resonates with the poetry of politics and injustice being produced by working class Ranting poets in the UK at the time.
The Stand Up and Spit series celebrates Ranting poetry in all its forms. It was proletarian, accessible and diverse, performed to large audiences who would not have called themselves poetry lovers. Allied to the punk and reggae scenes, it was the real precursor to today’s vibrant performance poetry and spoken word. Ranters responded to reflect the wider state of Britain, particularly friction with Thatcherism, high unemployment and social unrest — themes which still resonate today. This spoken word became a trajectory for protest, underlining the creative and political importance of that cultural moment in the fight for social justice, racial and gender equality, which linked directly to the work of both Michael Smith and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Stand Up and Spit is produced by Speaking Volumes and Tim Wells, and is generously supported by Arts Council England. Find out more at standupandspit.wordpress.com
Upon Westminster Bridge is screened with the kind permission of director Anthony Wall.