As we mourn Benjamin Zephaniah’s death, learn this lesson from his brilliant life | Hugh Muir

He was a man of strong progressive views, readily expressed, and yet retained a public affection that ensured his voice was heard

Here are some things we know about the late, gone-too-soon Benjamin Zephaniah. He was a prominent Rastafarian in the days before Rastamouse and Levi Roots made people of that faith palatable to the mainstream public; a time when they were more often fodder for the Metropolitan police's racist mania for stop and search. He was outspoken on social justice issues such as policing and failings in the education system. He carved out a place in the public affection that led even those who hand out honours to offer him one, and then he turned it down. Then - unlike some who spurn the offer and then keep it quiet for fear of brickbats and reprisals - he spoke freely about it, becoming a kind of poster boy for the truth that community recognition is just as good as acclaim from the snooty establishment. I once saw him accept a community achievement award from a campaigning group in south London. He was so chuffed on the podium and speaking about it afterwards that he seemed unsure whether to beam that toothy beam or shed a grateful tear.

How did he do this? How did he maintain strong, radical and uncompromising positions and retain wide public respect and affection? Not many public figures can pull that off. Swim against the mainstream tide and the rightwing press reacts: it misinterprets what has been said, and depicts you as dangerous, subversive, strident and all the other terms applied to people who expose militant middle-class groupthink.

Hugh Muir is the Guardian's executive editor, Opinion