“I definitely want people to know that you are capable of taking your journey in a direction that aligns with what is best for the world, and education is the key in doing that.”
Our conversation harks back to the introduction of George The Poet’s latest venture; his book, Track Record. The book begins with an anecdote where George is discussing issues faced by the Black community with a fellow Black person, and fan of his work, at a party. The conversation comes to an uncomfortable halt when their white partner interjects with his myopic thoughts, attempting to mansplain Black issues to Black people. Our conversation, luckily, was devoid of the white man in more ways than one, allowing George to speak freely on themes within and outside of the book. “This is very much a deep dive.”
Track Record takes readers on a historical and contemporary journey of race, music, and George’s personal experiences of both. “My intention with the book is for you to be at least aware of all the efforts that have been made and the fact that you can get active…This is as far as the story will take you. You can get active. Now what happens as a result of that activity is also incumbent on you to educate yourself.” Our conversation lasts an hour and spans topics such as the general election, Tupac Shakur, suppressive social media algorithms, challenging institutions, and our parents’ generations shared love for 60s Congolese music. It seems expansive and heavy, but with George, the conversation is easy and engaging, like no thought is too small or question too frivolous. Everything is educational.
It’s hard not to reflect on one’s position in wider society – especially as a Black person. Black people in the UK may only make up 4% of the population (ONS, 2021), but have a varied and tumultuous relationship with our place in a historically, systemically racist and exclusionary nation. One where the sugar we buy in supermarkets still has the “Demerara” label on it, a former colony and British-owned plantation in Guyana. Its history and the role it plays in modern life is a touchpoint in Track Record. Black people in the UK also have to deal with watching our elders lose their livelihoods through the Windrush scandal; our leaders – Diane Abbott – being disrespected and racially targeted. All the while, contemporary British culture is built on racial gaslighting. A fact that George was mindful of when self-reflecting on why he wrote this book, “I'm in a political landscape where it's not wise to talk about imperialism”.
George Mpanga, known more commonly as George The Poet, began as an MC before making a name for himself as a spoken word poet and most recently, a Peabody award-winning podcaster. But it's perhaps his loud rejection of an MBE in 2019 that George is best known for. Using his podcast as a platform to discuss the topic, George critiqued the “pure evil” of the British empire and its continuing legacy. Pulling at the thread of Demerara, Guyana and the Booker Prize, I ask George about if his stance on receiving the Booker would be the same as receiving an MBE, given both institutions’ ties to the British Empire. “Again, it’s about being active about what we learn about history. I would take the opportunity to invite the organisation to enact some structural change, I would put a challenge to them, you know? It's the same thing that I said about the MBE at the time. I said, ‘yo, if it was a different name, maybe we’d be having a different conversation’,” he responds.
But for George, a conversation is more than enough. It’s a starting point, a way to question what we’ve been taught and address the gaps in our knowledge. Track Record is George’s offering to that conversation. One where knowledge gaps are rooms to be human. Not all non-fiction is to be taken as absolute truth devoid of bias or influence, he wants his readers to be aware of this. “I just wanted it to be transparent, you know, especially to those who may have watched my moves over the years and seen some discrepancies where I didn't know where I had blind spots.”
George also posits that these transparent moments are also invitations for critique and debate, “Given that a lot of this is about giving my readers and the generation after me my notes… if I don't get a chance to complete my work, you can at least be clear on what I thought the trajectory was. You can debate amongst yourselves if I was deluded or if I was still not quite there. But you will find a continuity in thought when you look across everything that I've put out.”
Track Record also skews heavily toward George’s own affinity for Tupac’s words and life, but this does not mean it’s all in exaltation. Rather, a way for us to connect deeper with George and the context in which he created this book. More room to be human. It turns out Tupac’s music and interviews featured heavily in the soundtrack to George’s writing process, along with Dave, Afro Swing, and independence era Congolese music. “It's as beautiful and diverse as we are. And it has the depth of our ancestry,” he adds.
It’s easy to turn to escapism or autopilot, living lives that are mainly about small wins and rarely about uplifting a community. But according to George, “there’s no substitute for us coming together, and forming coalitions across our interest groups.” Especially in the wake of algorithms subduing certain political views in favour of others. “I don't necessarily feel fiery and revolutionary everyday, and I'm not seasoned in community organising or theory. But even though I'm not the most confident in this thing, I know that I believe it so much that we're gonna have to just go for it. So we're going for it.”
His art, pushing for political education and working alongside grassroots organisations in the UK and Uganda are some of the ways George uses to “get active”. He adds, “You have to develop a value system and a praxis, a way of enacting your beliefs that continues to expand your opportunity to engage with people, and to affect society.”
Where the online message is drowned, community serves as buoyancy – and that’s the future for George The Poet.
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