George The Poet named patron of charity making ‘poetic voice heard’ in politics
The Brixton-based charity has run programmes including, Mandem, Lets Talk, helping young boys to express themselves through poetry.
Spoken-word artist George The Poet has become the patron of a black-led charity he said is “making the poetic voice heard in political conversations”.
In his new role, the 34-year-old will perform at key events and support the fundraising efforts of Poetic Unity, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
The London-born performer of Ugandan heritage told the PA news agency: “Poetic Unity is unique in the work that it does in the community.
“It makes poetry alive for a lot of young people, and they’ve been consistent when a lot of grassroots organisations struggled, they just persevered and I have a lot of respect for them. They convene a lot of top level talent.”
“Poetry is magical when you discover it for yourself, but not everyone will,” he added.
“It’s really important that Poetic Unity pro-actively brings poetry to people lives.
“It shows how personal but also practical it can be in helping us through times where we increasingly have less time for ourselves, and it can be challenging to hold on to a sense of community amongst all the changes that our society is going through.”
He continued: “I think they’ve got a very good model in that they run campaigns about contemporary issues, which is what politics and political awareness should really be, beyond the ebb and flows of Westminster or the intrigue of different political parties.
“That is almost irrelevant compared to the kinds of things that Poetic Unity has campaigned on, air pollution, stop and search, Gaza.
“Poetic Unity is very forward thinking in making the poetic voice heard in political conversations.”
The Brixton-based charity has run programmes including, Mandem, Lets Talk – helping young boys to express themselves through poetry and gain a better understanding of mental health.
There is also the campaign Clean Air For The Ends which has raised awareness of air pollution alongside south London-based collective Live And Breathe.
The performer said: “I’ve learned from Poetic Unity events that people really do travel to come and be part of it, and they maintain that connection after that interaction.
“And then the kind of community that we’re from, you attract a lot of people that just either wouldn’t have seen themselves in the poetry world, or really needed it (poetry) and didn’t know that this was missing.”
George The Poet, real name George Mpanga, received widespread acclaim with the release of his debut EP, The Chicken And The Egg.
In 2019, he won five prizes at the British Podcast Awards for his series discussing topics such as Grenfell, poverty and music – and in 2023 he was a guest curator for the London Literature Festival.
Ryan Matthews-Robinson, founder and chief executive of Poetic Unity, said: “We are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the past 10 years and deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us.
“With George The Poet as our patron, we are excited to build on our success, expand our reach, and continue providing opportunities that change lives from Brixton to the world.”
