Never missing a beat
by Olivia Woodhouse
“This particular period of time has been a crystallisation process for some of us. We don’t see this as the revolution to end all revolutions but it is definitely a revolution that shapes how the next one works.”
Poem and image courtesy of the artist
‘Wise beyond his years’ seems like the appropriate phrase to bestow upon Taiwo Ògúnyinka (or Tai Ògún for short), a young spoken-word poet from Leeds; but then, to be a poet in our day and age willing to contest the world around you, knowledge becomes invaluable. As with many emerging creatives, Ògún has an array of poetic strings to his bow, co-running his own poetry collective, Say It With Your Chest, and acting as a founding contributor for the zine, POContent.
Tai explains that poetry has always been a constant in his life — he has always relished the unpicking of a poem’s meaning and how it conveys “really grandiose or microscopic points using words.” He bashfully recounts his use of poetry to impress a girl at university, which, whilst falling on dull ears, did spur him on to keep writing.
Yrsa Daley-Ward’s Bone — a raw narration of the poet’s life as a Black woman — is the first collection Tai read cover to cover; a popular choice amongst the Instagram generation and poets alike. His politically charged vim, however, can be mirrored in Beat Generation’s luminary Allen Ginsberg. The legacy of his work (the subjugation of western society) Tai says, “is what poetry should aspire to be.” He presses this point, the importance of using “a platform to challenge something.”
This, again, can be seen in his adoration for Danez Smith, a Black queer poet, whose Don’t Call Us Dead collection gained critical acclaim, and for good reason. His piece, “Dear White America”, packs a devastating punch, similarly to Ògún’s piece “My Dad’s Back is Black” in which he candidly spits truth on colonialism, allowing collective anger to vibrate through his alliteration.
It was this piece in particular that I was eager to pick his brains about. His tumbling sentences alluding to the cotton fields of his ancestors' past — the colonial reign that has impacted generation on generation — collide with the pavement around him. Ògún explains that, as a second-generation immigrant, he sees the effects of colonialism day to day which, while different in nature to his Nigerian father’s experience, remain “just as insidious.”
Now, more than ever, it feels the white western world is being called to take accountability for its attitudes towards racism. Tai explains that just because George Floyd’s murder has spurred more sustained media attention than usual, it doesn’t mean change will happen overnight: “It’s something that will be built on the bodies of so many martyrs, it will make martyrs of our brothers and sisters.” A poignant statement and, I’m sure, one that will have painful familiarity.
Justice is clearly a powerful motivator for Ògún. When he isn’t writing his thoughts down, he’s preparing for his Graduate Diploma in Law. His recent study has, unsurprisingly, relegated poetry to the “backseat for a little while.”
Though the two professions don’t necessarily cross over in a practical sense, Tai believes they are both “vehicles to effect the change” he wants to dedicate his life to. He hopes to pursue avenues within law that sit at the “core of the ordinary person and society.” It’s hard not to be humbled by Tai’s unadulterated dedication to helping the oppressed.
Ògún’s poetry book, Mumble and Collected Poems, is available to buy on Amazon with all funds raised going towards the Free Black University fund. This particular initiative, of which Tai is a passionate supporter, aims to challenge the way knowledge is shared and disseminated through the decolonisation of educational practices and materials. Ògún espouses the importance of portraying Black history truthfully and, in turn, shedding light on the atrocities of imperialism and dismantling its reincarnation in our modern-day society.
It feels fitting to finish on the reimagining of society as we know it, something that Tai is trying so hard to effect in so many avenues of his life and career. For now, he is looking to manage the small scale obstacles of graduate life before throwing himself into tackling the large scale struggles of humanity.