Dean Atta's poem featured in the Guardian and the Huffington Post

Writer, performer, and UpRising Alumnus Dean Atta has received huge praise for a poem he wrote in the wake of the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

The poem, I Am Nobody’s N*****, attacks the use of the “N-word” in popular culture, particularly in the context of the Stephen Lawrence trial. It opens with the line “Rappers when you use the word "n*****" remember that's one of the last words Stephen Lawrence heard, so don't tell me it's a reclaimed word.”

Dean’s piece has clearly resonated with thousands of people receiving over 15,000 hits on his soundcloud page. Added to this it has also been picked up in The Guardian and The Huffington Post, the latter featuring a video of Dean performing his work and discussing his thoughts and motivations behind its creation. Dean has described the online reaction as “Overwhelming” and says he hopes to present the poem in other forms, with plans to create a video piece to accompany the audio version.