Linton Kwesi Johnson is a well-regarded poet born during 1952 in Chapelton, a small town within Clarendon, Jamaica. After moving to London during 1963, he embarked on a compelling journey of educational achievements, political activism, and artistic endeavors. For example, he attended and graduated (during 1973) from the University of London. While in school, he joined the Black Panther party, which helped him construct a poetry workshop to give artistic life to the struggles and the priorities of blacks in Britain.
In fact, much of his poetry is centered on the political aspects of being an African-Caribbean in Britain. Johnson's first collection of poems, the Voices of the Living and the Dead, was published in 1974 within the journal Race Today. The next collection, Dread Beat An' Blood, was published by Bogle-L'Ouverture in 1975. A documentary as well as a number of his recordings based on his poems were later created and are quite popular in Jamaica. His poetic excellence earned him a silver Musgrave medal from the Institute of Jamaica.
