Legend of Marley

[Written originally for my law class - hey he was a philosopher! Darn, my whole class thinks I'm whack, the last assignment I chose Legalization of Marijuana, LOL I say if you grew up in Male' its all general knowledge and heck sure makes work plus research, a lot more interesting! :P So yeah.. ENJOY!]
A Historical Influence –Bob Marley: The Legend

Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts; put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live! (Bob Marley)

It could have been said by any man. It could have been said to any person. It was however the words of one small town man who stood up and changed the world. Over 25 years after his death, we are all still singing his songs. The youth of the world wasn’t alive during his glory years but his message is still heard, and his words are still spoken.

February 6th, 1945 Bob Marley was born Robert Nesta Marley in rural Rhoden Hall in the Parish of St. Ann, Jamaica. His mother was a Jamaican teenager and his father a middle-aged captain in the West Indian regiment of the British Army. Marley's parents separated when he was six and soon thereafter Robert moved with his mother to Kingston, joining the wave of rural immigrants that flooded the capital during the 1950s and 1960s. They settled in Trench Town, a west Kingston slum named for the sewer that ran through it.

I don't stand for the black man's side; I don’t stand for the white man's side. I stand for God's side. (Bob Marley)

Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose name more than anyone represents reggae music, the tenets of Rastafarianism, and the struggle of the economically and politically oppressed. Often he is glorified for (arguably) the wrong reasons. He was a great philosopher and clearly an advocate of natural law; he was a peace activist and a man who contributed in great amounts to society especially the black community at a large.

Marley was joined by Junior Braithwaite and two backup singers to form the Wailing Wailers and recorded on the Coxsone label. The group soon became Kingston celebrities in the summer of 1963 with Simmer Down, a song that both indicted and romanticized the lives of Trench Town toughs, known as "rude boys."

Around 1963 - 66 Marley moved to Delaware working jobs for Chrysler and Dupont. Yet his heart lay back home, where his new wife, Jamaican Rita Anderson, and his old passion the music of the island remained. Thus it was when he returned in 1967 and converted to Rastafarianism that he began the mature stage of his musical career.

Marley reunited with Bunny and Peter Tosh, and together they called themselves The Wailers and began their own record label, Wail 'N' Soul. They abandoned the rude-boy philosophy for the spirituality of Rastafarian beliefs slowing their music under the new “rock steady” influence. A few new bandsmen and song releases later, The Wailers started to gain international recognition and began to record with legends like Bruce Springsteen and Sly & the Family Stone, Eric Clapton – all of whom have played lively roles in the world of political activism.

Although Marley had blended politics and music since the early days of "Simmer Down," as his success grew he became more political. His 1976 song War transcribed a speech of Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian king upon whom the Rastafarian sect was based. Along with Rastafarian spirituality and mysticism, his lyrics probed the mayhem and civil unrest in Jamaica. Prior to the 1976 elections, partisanship inspired gang war in Trench Town and divided the people against themselves.

By siding with Prime Minister Michael Manley and by singing songs of a political tone Marley angered some Jamaicans. In 1978 fanatic gunmen broke in to Marley's Kingston home during the Jamaican general election campaign. Marley was shot in his upper body and arm, Rita received a head wound, friend Lewis Griffith was seriously wounded as was Don Taylor, but all survived the malicious attack. Marley sought asylum in Jamaica's Blue Mountains after release from hospital however just four days later he performed at the 'Smile Jamaica' festival even though his wounds disabled him from playing the guitar. Afterwards the couple took a well-deserved break of eighteen months away from Jamaica.

When Marley returned to Jamaica in 1978, he performed in the One Love Peace Concert, seeking to improve existing political conflicts. During this show Marley orchestrated a handshake between political opponents Manley and Edward Seaga which was a highly symbolic moment. Marley's activism extended beyond Jamaica, and people from developing nations around the world found hope in his music.

The group's concerts in the late 1970s attracted enormous crowds in West Africa, Latin America, in Europe and the United States. In 1980 Bob Marley & the Wailers had the honor of performing at the independence ceremony when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. His music became closely associated with the movement toward Black political independence that was then prominent in several African and South American countries. Bob Marley was the first global pop star to emerge from a developing nation – he put Jamaica on the map.

Bob Marley died May 11th 1981 in Miami, Fl. at the age of 36 from cancer that began in his toe and spread throughout his body. The Jamaican government held a national funeral honoring his memory. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1996, February 6th was declared a national holiday in Jamaica, all in the honor of the man that touched their hearts and opened their minds – in a time where violence was ruining lives.

Many have varying theories about why Marley believed in what he believed in, some say that he was pro racial-integration because of his mixed roots – “Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all”.
"The reservoir of music he has left behind is like an encyclopedia," says Judy Mowatt of the I-Threes. "When you need to refer to a certain situation or crisis, there will always be a Bob Marley song that will relate to it. Bob was a musical prophet."

The man was and continues to be an inspiration, media was the vice and music the method, but the message was clear and well received. There are many activists who quote Bob Marley and The Bob Marley Foundation Ltd. USA is a non-profit 501 organization founded by Rita Marley and the Marley Family in honor of Bob Marley to fulfill his comprehensive vision of social development through advocacy for social change.

"He's taken his place alongside James Brown and Sly Stone as a pervasive influence on r&b", says the American critic, Timothy White, author of the acclaimed Bob Marley biography 'Catch A Fire'. "His music was pure rock, in the sense that it was a public expression of a private truth."

Either way, Bob Marley was the first global pop star to emerge from a third world nation – he put Jamaica on the map. He was more than his music; he was a legend – immortalized by his music and his fans. From the streets of Jamaica, to the whole world – his words are universal, and the truth undeniable.


References :
ACSAP Biographical Dictionary
R. R. Bowker Co., Copyright 1980
ISBN 0-8351-1283-1