May 11, is commemorated annually in Jamaica and other cities across the world as the anniversary of the death of the legendary Reggae music icon, Robert Nesta Marley, better known as Bob Marley, who died on this date in 1981.
As the world commemorates the 40th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death on May 11, 2021, the High Commissioner of Jamaica to Nigeria, H.E. Esmond Reid, spoke with Andrew Iro Okungbowa of newtelegraphing.com on the legacy of Bob Marley and why his memory and music continue to resonate with people all over the world.
Please kindly read excerpts from the interview below…
Q: Forty years after his demise, Bob Marley’s memory and message still resonate with people of all ages across the world, why is this so?
E.R: Bob Marley was not just any musician, he was a very consummate musician, but he was also a philanthropist and someone who cared deeply about how human beings related to each other. He was a champion of the whole Black Consciousness Movement, and of course, he was very much inspired by another great Jamaican, Marcus Garvey, who was our first national hero and definitely an Africanist. A lot of Marley’s music and writings were influenced by that.
The relevance of Marley is that he has transcended time and generations because all his music spoke about justice and fighting for your right and believing in the equality of man irrespective of your status based on whatever your family background was and that you have the right to be respected. So everybody at any point in time and even nowadays, newer generation, can relate to that message.
His message of love, social justice, Black consciousness, and respect for each other, all of those messages are still very, very relevant, especially now when we see the treatment given to Blacks across the world and the Black Lives Matter movement. That is also very relevant to the message that Marley carried in his time and in his music.
Q: How well has your country (Jamaica) celebrated and preserved his memory?
E.R: We have done many things to celebrate him and preserve his memory. Of course, members of the Bob Marley have also done a lot to preserve his memory. He has a large family, quite a number of children and his wife, who was also a member of the Bob Marley and the Wailers group.
His children have continued his legacy and they have been upstanding musicians and have won Grammy Awards and have continued to carry the same message that he had preached. At the institutional level in Jamaica, of course, there are various contributions to his memory, and in fact, the University of West Indies has Reggae Studies unit and Bob Marley feature prominently in the course curriculum.
READ: Africa: Jamaica’s Tourism Minister hails new reggae collaboration between the island and Ghana
Bob Marley was conferred with the Order of Merit by the government of Jamaica in 1981 and it is the third highest national honour in the country.
There is the Bob Marley Museum in Jamaica. The place where he was buried is regularly visited by tourists to Jamaica and people who are attracted to his message and music. There are so many things done and being done even till yesterday, May 11, which was the commemoration of his death. There have been 40 days publications on different aspects of his life and music.
So there have been many activities and features on Bob Marley. The whole music of Jamaica and culture are built round Marley. After his passage, other musicians and upcoming musicians have been inspired by his message and music. He has also influenced the music and culture of Jamaica and just like the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti here in Nigeria, he is part of the fabric, the cultural fabric of Jamaica. He is completely at the centre of what we regard as the best of what Jamaican music has to offer. Jamaican music is popular all over the world and this is because of his reputation and the fact that he is perceived so well on the international space.
Q: How much has he influenced your tourism and that of the Caribbean?
E.R: Oh! Very much and this can’t be easily quantified. But I can tell you that his music and message have touched the lives of people in different corners of the globe. So that has inspired so many people to come to Jamaica to experience life in the way that he lived it; his culture, his music, to perceive what his origin was, to visit his birth place, to visit where he recorded and played his music, eat the food that he ate, and interact with his environment. He is such an inspiration and phenomenon in international relations and global cultural development.
I am sure that you are aware that in 1999, one of his albums was named the Album of the Millennium just before we started the new millennium 2000. So that shows his global reach in a positive way.
Yes, so many, many tourists come to experience the Jamaican way of life just because of the music and messages of Marley and other Jamaican musicians.
Q: In Nigeria Marley is a big name but the embassy didn’t organise any form of activity to commemorate the date, why was it so?
E.R: This year, we were restricted by COVID-19 and because of that we couldn’t gather together to celebrate, otherwise we were ready to highlight Marley’s music, people performing Bob Marley music and other features. But sadly, we were constrained by COVID-19. But we are hoping for a better situation going forward.
Q: On a personal note, what is your fondest recollection of Marley?
E.R: I was still a young student when he passed away. I regretted that I didn’t have the opportunity to watch his concert or even meet him as a person in a social setting. But his message had great impact on me, in terms of me as a descendant of that heritage. His message resonated with me that I can be the best that I can be as well as other persons in the world irrespective of class and race. Even though I did not meet him in person, I have been positively impacted by him.
Q: What do you miss about him as an individual?
E.R: I also like music quite a lot, so I appreciate the creativity that he demonstrated.
