Page 36 - Powerlist 2020

Arts, Fashion & Design Matthew Morgan

Founder, Afropunk Festival
Matthew started out working in the management business
alongside black artists who didn’t want to enter the R&B
and hip hop genres. They were in punk and rock bands and
needed a place where they felt comfortable.
He co-founded the Afropunk festival with James Spooner
– it began as a documentary film, before becoming an
event from 2003 – and now runs it with Jocelyn Cooper.
They remain strongly committed to connecting people and
supporting deprived communities in New York and around
the world.
Afropunk now hosts festivals in Brooklyn, Atlanta,
London, Paris and Johannesburg, with a Brazil event due
to launch in 2020. The Brooklyn festival attracts 25,000
fans a day.
Matthew’s success with Afropunk stems from its reputation
as one of the world’s most diverse festivals and the fact
that it unapologetically celebrates black culture. The
event’s ideals stand up against sexism, racism, ableism,
Lemn Sissay homophobia, fatphobia, transphobia and hatefulness.
Initially, Afropunk represented black youth who were
Poet, author, broadcaster considered outsiders in music, sport and film. That idea

has evolved, and the festival now represents a distinct force
Poet, playwright and occasional broadcaster, Lemn is within the wider youth culture.
one of Britain’s most prolific writers. He has read poetry Afropunk’s community comprises youthful, talented
everywhere from the Library of Congress in The United individuals from all backgrounds who started on the
States to a bar stage in Greenland... and Wigan library! outside looking in – but who have broken through anyway.
Last year he was named poet laureate of Canterbury and They are creative, expressive young men and women who
was honoured with a Doctor of Letters degree from the speak through music, art, film, action sports, fashion,
University of Kent. photography and more. Not so long ago, they were
Lemn was awarded an MBE for services to literature in considered part of outsider culture. Now, they lead and
2010. He is Chancellor of the University of Manchester and influence the mainstream.
has an honorary doctorate from the same university, and Morgan is looking to move into other branches of
from Huddersfield. entertainment. He plans to expand the organisation’s
The Sissay PhD Scholarship for Care Leavers, the first of podcasting in partnership with the HowStuffWorks
its kind, has been running for seven years through the network and is developing new film projects. His vision of
University of Huddersfield. Lemn started a developed digital media company is within reach.
The Christmas Dinners for care leavers in Manchester in
2012. They now take place throughout England.
His Landmark poems can be found on walls in public
spaces around the world from the Royal
Festival Hall in London to the British Council Offices in
Addis Ababa.
His poem Gilt of Cain was unveiled by Bishop Desmond
Tutu in the City of London where it stands to this day. His
installation poem What if? was exhibited at the Royal
Academy and toured the world from Tokyo to New York.
He has written many plays for the stage. Something
Dark is on the National Curriculum as a choice text, and
he adapted Benjamin Zephaniah’s hit novel Refugee Boy,
which toured to rave reviews. In 2017, he acted for the first
time, playing Scully in Jim Cartwright’s ROAD at Royal Court
Theatre.
In the same year, his radio two-parter, Lemn Sissay’s
Homecoming, was nominated for a Palme D’Or.
In 2019 he was the winner of the Pen Pinter Prize, awarded
to writers who take an “unflinching, unswerving” view of
the world.
This year also saw Lemn release his memoir,
My Name is Why, which chronicles his early life and his
observations of the British care system.

36 Powerlist 2020