Linton, you're first and foremost known as a poet, a man of the word. What inspired you to put your pen to paper?
Linton Kwesi Johnson:
"It's something that developed gradually after I had become a member of the Black Panther Party Youth Movement and discovered black literature. It were these books that really inspired me to start writing myself."

Why did you then decide not just to stick to writing, but also performing your poems on stage?
Linton Kwesi Johnson:
"I guess that was just a natural progression. I had always been interested in the music of language and the relationship between language and music. At that time I was not only drawing inspiration from books, but also from poetry coming from the oral tradition of the Caribbean as well as the United States."

You just mentioned your membership of the Black Panther Party. Perhaps lesser-known than its American counterpart, what was that movement like in the United Kingdom?
Linton Kwesi Johnson: "Their activities were ideologically very similar, but we were not as militant as the Black Panther Movement in the United States. That was largely due to the fact we weren't faced with the police brutality they had to deal with; the murderous attacks on their members, the infiltrations and so on (Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover called the party "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and he supervised an extensive program - COINTELPRO - of surveillance, infiltration, perjury, police harassment, assassination, and many other tactics designed to undermine Panther leadership, incriminate party members and drain the organization of resources and manpower, red.). Even though the Black Panther Movement in the states was known for their armed patrols, they also did a lot of social work; they provided care in their communities, they started schooling and breakfast projects and so on. In the United Kingdom we focused on defending the interests of marginalized black people. Our slogan was: "Black power, people power!" and our fight was mainly against racial oppression and for social justice."

The person that inspired you to join the organization was Althea Jones, someone you once referred to as being "one of the most remarkable women you met during your life". What can you tell us about her?
Linton Kwesi Johnson: "There's not all that much to tell, really. She's a black woman from Trinidad, extremely bright - I believe she did a PhD in biochemistry and then went on to become a medical doctor - articulate and passionate about the things she was involved in; in short, someone who could inspire anyone she met. Unfortunately we've lost touch over the years."

It was with the release of your second publication, "Dread, Beat And Blood", that you first started contemplating performing your poems over a reggae riddim. Was it also around that time that you met up with Dennis Bovell?
Linton Kwesi Johnson:
"It was around that time, yes. The first time I met Dennis, I was still working as a freelance journalist for the BBC Caribbean Service. He was still part of Matumbi at that time and I went to interview him. He also used to run a sound system called Sufferers Hi-Fi in those days and played frequently at a club in west London called The Metro, which I frequented from time to time."

You seem to have refrained from commenting too much on the recent riots in London.
Linton Kwesi Johnson:
"Well, first and foremost the riots of August 2010 were not race riots like the ones in 1981. After the riots in August, I was contacted by media from all over the world all asking for an interview, but I turned them all down, because I knew the fact they wanted to speak to me about these riots meant they were trying to define them as race riots and this is simply incorrect. Now it is possible that the incident which proved to be the spark for these riots, the police assassination of a black man called Mark Duggan, was racially motivated, but what happened afterwards in my opinion was only due to the fact the Metropolitan Police stood back and purposely allowed it to happen. It was their way of protesting the planned cuts in police funding. The British government was planning a twenty percent cut of the police budget. The riots themselves were multicultural this time, because people of all races and ages were involved. The night the riots kicked off I was playing a festival right here in Belgium (Reggae Geel, red.) and when I turned on the television in my hotel that night, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I haven't seen such dereliction of duty in all the years of my life! Unfortunately none of the media thought it worth of mentioning."

It's your third time here at the Festival des Libertés. Would you say you've developed a special bond/relationship with the festival?
Linton Kwesi Johnson:
"Yes, I'm happy to be here again and very honored that the organizers saw it fit to invite me for a third time. Obviously this festival holds a special meaning to me, because it's the festival of freedom and I think it's important to continue to promote a culture of resistance against oppression in all its forms. At this particular moment it is important for young people to be aware of the issues which are affecting our lives in these times of crisis caused by rapacious capitalism; a world in which the bankers are laughing in our faces and where elected politicians no longer seem to have any power because they are controlled by big corporations."