! I r) I { National Library of Jamaica

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF JM'\Al

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r:: .. l REGGAE DR THE ROLE OF satirical at times; often cruel; TO TRANSCEND COMMENT ROOTS- 'UP ROOTED' but its troubadors are not AND ASSF.RT RIGHT? TO Within the Third World, afraid to speak of love, of FIND THE ANSWER TO there is a unique social pheno­ loyalty, of hope, of ideals, THIS YOU MUST E-NQUIRE: menon. It was created by one of justice, of new things and DID BOB MARLEY RE�-;"EEM of the terrible diaspora of new forms. It is thi� assertion HIS IDENTITY BY RE­ history. The slave trade, of revolutionary possibility CROSSING THE MIDDLE stretching in the main from tliat sets reggae apart. It has PASSAGE AND RE-ENTER­ the 17th to the 18th Cen­ evolved from the original folk ING THE KINGDOM OF HIS twies, uprooted millions of form of the MENTO. From PAST? HE WHO KNOWS Black Africans depositing this there sprang SKA which HIS PAST CAN BELIEVE them throughout the ·Carib­ began a sort of marriage· be­ THAT THE FUTURE IS THE bean� the United States and tween American Rhythm and TERRITORY OF HOPE. HE .the ore northerly regions of Blues, Gospel and the indi­ WHO KNOWS NOT HIS PAST Latin America. There our genous mento form. The FINDS THAT IN SPITE OF ancestors were- subjected to mento itself often was driven HIMSELF, HIS FUTURE IS, the most systematic and sus­ on the strong beat of the dig­ IN HIS MIND, A BURIAL tained act of deculturisation ging song which helped the GROUND. FAITH BEGINS in modem history. Here was workers t.P survive the mono­ WITH AN ACCEPTANCE OF no oppression of a people on tony of long hours with the THE POSSIBILITY OF CON­ their native soil. The slave had pick-axe. It was unlikely, TINUITY. IF YOU CANNOT no familiar ancestral earth therefore, that the beat of SURVEY A CONTINUITY into which to plant his feet Jamaican music would be INTO YOUR OWN PAST, and dig his toes while waiting more than infl1,1enced by Rhy­ YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IN for the tide of oppression to thm and Blues and would A CONTINUITY INTO recede or the opportunity for certainly never entirely YOUR OWN FUTURE. rebellion to present itself. The succumb to it. In due course, MARLEY HAD THAT FAITH slaves were uprooted, detribal­ S K Ayielded to ROCK ised, de-named, de-humanised. STEADY, the entire· period of RASTA­ The only thing the oppressor transition providing its heroes THE FAITH could not take away was their like the late great trombonist humanity. How did Bob Marley DON DRUMMOND. But we · successfully undertake this Through it all, music was were still in transition. Then it one of the means through journey into his past which all came together with released him to a belief in which the slave held on to the REGGAE. past and endured the present. his people's future? The Any discussion of the BLUES, answer is: Rastafarianism. I the CALYPSO, the REGGAE enter into no controversy begins at this point. Like all about people and their faith. folk music, it is all essentially When one listens to every­ To each his own. But it is commentary; but what is uni­ thing from mento to reggae, inextricably a part of the que about this commentary is one sees in instant reflection psychodrama in which the the dilemma of identity. The that it reflects in every l':trong A:fri,..an root i .. th.o:t!<>, black of the diaspora are en­ L-._...__.,._-tJ:.__��- � mu;;�h.au mesnea tnat tHeir traditional, · ' particularly in the rhythm and pulse, something to do with Christian faith is visualised in the use of drums. But so great survival and accommodation. white terms. Inevitably and was the act of cultural destruc­ The children of the diaspora obVfously, a religion that was tion that all of the infinite struggle for a place in society spawned at the very centre subtlety· and sophistication to this day. Worse, they of white civilisation expresses which sets African drumming struggle for· their identities, its faith through familiar sym­ apart, is 'missing. I can remem­ mislad as the slave ships made bols. If the servants and child­ ber the first time I heard an their way to the New World ren of God are white, they will authentic African drummer, I through the MIDDLE PAS­ think of both God and Christ was astonished and for a while SAGE. Therefore, their com­ in terms of self-image. There­ had difficulty in understand­ mentaries must deal with these fore, the God that emerges ing what was going on, so realities. · will be imagined to be white. intricate were the variations, Every church has its sculp­ so complex the rhythmic CALYPSO ture and its painting expressed embroidery around the central in white terms. So the children driving beat. In Jamaica, only THE CALYPSO, exclusively of the slaves begin -with a the central beat has survived. Trinidadian, is cynical, satiri­ visual contradiction. To com­ EVEN THIS SURVIVAL IS cal, amoral and often savage.· pound the problem, the parti­ A MIRACLE IN THE CIR­ The Trinidadian masses surviv­ cular expression of Christian­ ed at least until the 1960's CUMSTANCES. ity was first the creature of most fundamental by a collective disregard of The the oppressor. Yet, the child­ question that arises about both the laws and the values ren of the slaves need faith reggae is: ho.w did it become of the oppressor. The indi­ and have f�th. They are sure so explicitly and positively vidual spirit endured its degra­ there is a God and they are political. The greatest of the dation and transcended its sure that somewhere that God calypsonians, the MIGHTY hopelessness by laughing at is their God rooted in the land SPARROW has journeyed into everything including itself. But of the past and visualised in political commentary; but this was not the laughter of terms of their self-image. ­ even he, quintessentially a part gentle good nature, illuminat Rastafarianism is a true of the Trinidadian environ­ ing a comfortable companion­ faith in the sense that its ment, although born in Gren­ ship. This was laughter like believers have taken that step ada, has stopped short of the a weapon, like a rapier or a beyond mere rationali� into assertion of rights, has not razor honed in centuries of the acceptance of a view of surviving. essayed a positively revolu­ the unknown, unknowable tionary call. BY CONTRAST, md unprovable which is faith. BLUES THE GREATER PART OF To them Haile Selassie is the BOB MARLEY IS THE LAN­ THE BLUES have some of symbol of God on earth and GUAGE OF REVOLUTION. this but are more reflective of God himself is as revealed in the consciousness of oppres- the Holy Scriptures. The true sion. Perhaps, CLAIMING the American Rastafarian, therefore, has black has always known A FUTURE his traced his identity beyond situation to be closer to the Middle class intellectuals mere history and geography hopeless. had claimed a future for the to the ultimate source of all REVOLUTIONARY Caribbean.. But this was not things, for the believer, the POSSI Bl U TV refl�cted m the spontaneous Creator himself. BUT HE '\ music of the ghetto. HAS ARRIVED AT HIS Of them all, the REGGAE WHAT GAVE MARLEY CREATOR THROUGH THE is the most explicitly revolu- THE COURAGE TO GO BE­ IMAGES AND THE SOIL OF tionary. It is commentary; YOND MOCKERY TO HOPE: AFRICA. BY THAT ACT HE HAS RE-DISCOVERED THE SELF THAT WAS MISLAID IN THE MIDDLE PASSAGE LUTI RY FAITH.... BOB MARLEY by Michael Manley

AND HE them? Everybody listened to COULD DO IT ALL WITH Marley· and his school of ROBERT NESTA MARLEY AN UNSELF-CONSCIOUS reggae protestm;s. Certainly, I O.M. CONVICTION THAT MADE listened and was reinforced in HIM A KIND-OF SPONTAN­ the -con�iction that we had to NESTA youth and had developed into Europe, Africa and the Amer­ explicit Socialist doctrine as. a icas. student in University. On the The real issue to be exam- Cl>l•dUJUI>J:ll::u an years _ as an organiser negotiator with the Jamaican for itself among the myriad Trade Union Movement. To of competing _ musical forms this was now added a vital which jostle fo.r space in the and new ingredient. I could communication apparatus? • never pretend that the lyrics Pride of place is held by syn­ of the protest music which thetic, escape music. With its were the driving motivation of bromides and anodynes it is there to pour balm on the r�ggae taught me things that I dtd not know. From an intel­ souls that are either dam­ aged by the failure to beat lectual point of view they were confirmatory of .ill that the economic system or bored' I believed as a Socialist, and because they have. have struggled against as a At the other end of the spectrum is the biting but �'l'fade Unionist. But I had ot myself been born in the parochial satire of the calypso ghetto 'and was not personally which makes no impression on a part of that experience. the international system what­ soever. Blues hold a signifi­ Reggae music influenced me cant place because sadness profoundly by deepening the element of emotional compre­ is a recognisable part of tl}e hension. human condition. In any case, America has produced most STRUGGLE of the greatest technical vir­ FOR tuosos who have come out of . CHANGE the non-classical tradition. Clearly, reggae cannot, and is I suppose a rough equival­ not going to compete with ent might be sought by a con­ the escape music; but unlike sideration of the influence of the calypso, it -has already a writer like Dickens upon the carved a significant niche for sensibilities of English readers itself. I can only hazard a in the Nineteenth Century. In guess that this owes much highly literate societies, the to two factors. Firstly, there pen is a mighty instrument. · is Marley himself: an authen­ It cannot change the tic innovator, a genuine origin­ structure of classes, nor the aL_in the sense that is true, relations between classes, be­ say. of a STEVIE WONbER. cause it cann,ot, of itself, Reggae has "gone in�ernation­ change the nature and organi­ al", therefore; partly on the sation of production. But it back of Marley's gifts. But can pry loose from traditional it must also be true that the class attitudes those extra­ protest of reggae, the -positive ordinary individuals who be­ assertion of moral categories / come a part of the process of goes beyond parochial boun­ political change in a society. daries. AMONG OTHER Jamaica had produced a hand­ THINGS REGGAE IS THE ful of great writers like SPONTANEOUS SOUND GEORGE C A M P B E L L, OF A LOCAL REVOLU­ R 0 G E R M A I S and TIONARY IMPULSE. BUT VIC REID who had spoken REVOLUTION ITSELF IS A to the issues of suffering UNIVERSAL CATEGORY. and oppression. Their works IT IS THIS, POSSIBLY, helped create an awareness of WHICH SETS IT APART the imperatives of change. EVEN TO THE INTERNA­ But how many people read TIONAL EAR. ***** ********* H *****************'***1fc* **** wtT� �Ew J�i������ D * BY RISING SUN

RS: Was the fact that Bob was a RS: In a country like Jamaica where Nettleford: Yes. If African means world. Marley certainly did this Rastaman a principal reason for his over 95% of our people are of having Africa and the cultural because contrary to common belief, success? African descent, would you say that heritage and patrimony of Africa the form or the acquisition of form­ Bob was able to make a contribu­ at its centre - yes. Undoubtedly, al symbols of authority, of parti­ Nettleford: I think this was most tion in the area of African culture Marley made a tremendous contri-. cipation in political and economic important - in fact, the appropria­ decision-making, bearing in mind that the African . bution here, because, I think, one of blur the reality of tion by the Reggae complex of the fundamental problems of a soc­ the persistent denigration of things culture (in Jamaica) is still very Rastafarianism gave to the whole iety like this, is how do you give of African origin in the Western much subordinate to ihe white Reggae music a total philosophy; legitimacy to the products of the world. European culture. Was Bob able, the underpinning of a total world creative intellect and the creative Marley and all that gave him the view, which took .reggae out of the even for a while, to lift the African imagination of the people of Afri­ source of energy, the Rastafarian immediate concern of just giving culture into the ascendancy? can ancestry in this part of the Movement, questioned all the funda­ pleasure to one of serious reflec­ mental assumptions made by West­ tion on life and on the human em society about people of Afri­ condition. can descent. So, in this sense he I think that Bob Marley, intui­ certainly (through action), that is tively, understood this and he through the composition of music would probably, in a funny kind and the performance of what he of way, he remembered more for his created, he was able to show to the lyrics than for his music. Because world the capabilities of the person he took what were simple (in some of African descent to define him­ instances we may say platitudes) self, to create proper nouns for and said them in a very special way himself. This, of course, is a great which spoke to the yearning of a achievement and in essence, a whole generation of Jamaicans and revolutionary act. Caribbean people of African des­ RS: Whil;h of the lyrics mean the cent, who felt that for all the great most to you? leaps that we had made forward, in terms of Emancipation of slavery Nettleford: "Emancipate yourself and self determination through poli­ from mental slavery . . . " - that tical independence - that, in fact, one line speaks a thousand things the denigration of the African pre­ for us all. It goes to the roots of sence in the Caribbean and in the epistimology, the theory of know­ Western World had been a kind of ledge; to anthology; the human commitment of Western civiliza­ condition. In that line we find a tion. And I think his onslaught thousand and one meanings about against this massive force, which the history and experience of people was against black people, gave him of African descent in the Western tremendous credibility and tremend­ World. ous energy. I think that is part of the significance of Bob Marley.

************ r --*********** The Hon. Robert Marley, O.M. being honoured in New York for his contribution to the Liberation Struggle in Africa.

THE MESSAGE OF Such is fame, such is success. The Marley single-handedly waged a ..._., BOBMARLEY world knows Bob Marley. struggle against oppressive institu­ I am not one of those who claim But this never changed him. He tions, not only against oppressive to have recognised Bob Marley in still sang of the ghettos, and the institutions but insensitive leader­ the early days. sufferings and injustice of the poor. ship and unequal relatio�s. His I vaguely remembered that he He never turned his back on his message transcends all class, race and used to sing at Michael's meetings message of peace and love and the colour boundaries. He reflected much of the creative energies bottled k*********** in 1972 and hearing that he had a cry to help those who needed help up in the ghetto and he demonstrat­ tremendous gift of communication most. Great, Bob Marley, Great. ed a consistently high standard of with a crowd even in the remote *********** ... rural areas and then for some time I excellence in his work. Above all, - Edna Manley he called · attention to the reality , . .-·... must have been thinking of other and the illusions of a divided society. things until one day I saw a marvel­ BOBMARLEY Bob Marley showed in his songs He did that very eloquently. lous photo of him, and thought Bob Marley was an outstanding that there is only one history that is So comprehensive has been his what a wonderful face - I now have Jamaican. Marley was an entertain­ human history. This revolutionary contribution to society that various many photos of him - there was er and a singer, a musician - but, prophet reahzed that the liberation something strangely spiritual about there is much more to the man interpretations have been given to of man in history is a concrete pro­ his face. As an artist, it appealed to Marley. his music and his songs. For some he cess, but this process is global and me tremendously. In our process of decolonisation, is a revolutionary, for others his must happen where all oppressed It was the face of a man with a many groups and individuals played songs combine a timely caU for peoples strive to regain dignity, deep and abiding faith - and then significant roles. There were poli­ principled action and just social personhood, ma.Iihood, through free­ when I heard him sing "No woman, ticians and trade unionists who made organisations and for many others, dom and economic sovereignty. no cry", I knew here was something, the struggle at the political, econo­ his music represents a scholarly analysis of the general poverty of here was someone, who carried a mic and social levels; they were the - Rev. Ernle Gordon God-given message. scholars who raised the relevant the human condition and how to But there was another side to Bob ideas and clarified their implica­ make it better. As he said "cold Marley too, I think he was mischiev­ tions. There was the masses who ground was my bed last night". ous. He used to stay sometimes next energised the struggle and ensured Let us reflect on. that. In reality, MARLEY door with a friend of mine and he its ultimate success. Bob was a Bob's music embodies all these had a little way of leaping over their musician par excellence. He ener­ concerns. What is more is that he Jamaica's cultural explosion as joint fence and landing on my vated the indigenous Jamaican represents a potential force for defined by the message and music friend's porch! (He must have been musical form to full recognition good. of Bob Marley seems to have been practising his famous jump). Then locally and internationally. He pro­ - Tony Spaulding temporarily stalled in its tracks with he would sing or say a few words duced a number of gold record his passing. It awaits a new lyrical of a song· and disappear over the albums - indeed, probably half a strength and sense of direction. fence again. My friend and his dozen or more. This in itself is a Make no mistake, he was the PROPHET MARLEY friends simply loved it and longed feat of outstanding merit. This is master of reggae, sacrificing his life for him to stay with them, but no, worth international acclaim! to . transcend the music from its · I have always he was gone. parochial confinement to today's Bob's message focussed primarily regarded Bob Marley as an inspired Those days are a far cry from last international sound. on the conditions and suffering of revolutionary poet. His album "Up­ week when someone speaking on A day does not pass without my poor people all over the world and rising" which includes the words JBC from the German Embassy a:n eitl)er humming or whistling one was instrument, therefore, in of Redemption Song, is not only said that Jamaica and Germany of his lyrics or summoning . up the broadening their consciousness. reflecting material in terms· of the shared many things and not least Equally, he addressed themes of prolific theology of the oppressed, many memories I have of him. He he said is "Your Bob Marley. We was the heaviest spirit. social justice that challenged the but it enables to discern the times love and admire him - especially conscience of the world commun­ (political, cultural, historical, econo­ D the young people do". ity. mic). - ermott Hussey

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