A former Poet Laureate from Walsall is to perform for Black Country Stand Up to Racism on Friday 6th March in celebration of the Black Country community.  Ian Henery, who was Walsall Poet Laureate 2011 - 2015, has been invited to perform at the Heritage Centre in Wolverhampton.  

The cultural event will be an evening celebrating diversity and inclusivity where poets, bands, singers and comedians come together to celebrate oneness to empower, inspire, motivate and entertain. 

"Nelson Mandela in the Long walk to Freedom", said Ian Henery, said:   "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or  his religion.  People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love for love comes more naturally to the human heart than it`s opposite".   Ian performs his poetry with a poetry collective called Poets Against Racism who, amongst other things, performed at the first ever Rock the Beacon Festival last year for Walsall Council, the Nottingham Poetry Festival, the Wolverhampton Literature Festival and on the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell`s infamous Rivers of Blood speech, delivered in Birmingham at the Midland Hotel. 

Ian`s poem, a sonnet called One Blood, is presented here, to remember but also to move on fromn the legacy of Powell`s speech, reflecting on the Black Country`s response over the last 5 decades.   

"It is a celebration", says Ian, "of the Black Country that we love and are proud of - a region of migrants".                                                                                                                                        

               One Blood    

One blood - although we have different skin,

The pulse of life beats in all of our hearts

regardless of the wars which tear apart,

People all bleed the same colour within.

The human race is one which we can win,

The world`s rivers flow into one ocean

And we have the same needs and emotions,

To give up on ourselves would be a sin.    

The world is not separate warring states,

One people, one kingdom and one planet,

Hearts filled with love and not full of granite

And we must stop the misery and hate.

One blood - come together and celebrate,

Tears of pain, replaced by laughter and mirth;

It is time to prove humanity`s worth:

One blood - shared lives, together, in one fate.    

Further information: Black Country Stand Up to Racism Facebook page