From left: Professor Rosalea Hamilton of Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance leads the panel dialogue with Dr Gregory Roberts, UK Caribbean Advisory on Cooperatives; Professor Emeritus Dr Ishenkumba Kahwa; UWI Mona Professor Ian Boxill; and music producer Dennis Wright at Jamaica Music Museum’s (JaMM) Grounation held on the Institute of Jamaica.
It appeared solely applicable that the organisers of this 12 months’s Grounation ought to dedicate the ultimate week of its annual Reggae Month symposia to the African continent, because the man on the centre of the discussions had performed a whole album on it.
‘Africa Unite! Marley’s Imaginative and prescient For A United Africa’ — the week’s central theme — noticed a close to full room on the Institute of Jamaica Lecture Theatre, a lot to the delight of organiser, Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) Director/Curator Herbie Miller.
Setting the tone for the discussions on ‘Bob Marley at 80: His Life, Music and Legacy’, moderator Professor Rosalea Hamilton famous that too typically occasions of this sort ended with a lot speak however little follow-up or motion. She challenged attendees to replicate on an space through which they might additional the message, unite Africa, and take Marley’s imaginative and prescient to the subsequent technology.
Conceptualiser of the Centre For International Africa in Ethiopia, Professor Ezrah Aharone, in a video, shared his nation’s progress with Marcus Garvey’s pan-Africanism and their proud historical past as “one of many African nations that was by no means colonised”. He went on to precise optimism for African Diaspora engagement within the face of the reparation motion and different initiatives underway.
Music producer Dennis Wright, who labored with Marley as a younger man, stated his music amplified Garvey’s teachings, as his message resonated with the individuals.
In response to Wright, within the late 70s, Marley had made it clear he wished to do the Survival album, however his crew had deliberate to pitch the reggae singer as a pop artiste.
“Survival [came at] a time when apartheid was essentially the most brutal state of affairs all through Africa. Bob was affected by this example and he wished to make his voice heard… He and Chris Blackwell had loads of struggle about Survival, however Survival was the message he wished to get on the market,” Wright stated.
In the meantime, Professor Ian Boxill stated the message in Marley’s Survival album not solely fuelled admiration for Marley but in addition the island, which continues to at the present time in Ghana the place “many features of Jamaica” are seen.
Equal reverence is held for Marley in Sierra Leone, the nation “actually shutting down” in observance of his birthday, Professor Hamilton famous
The founder and chair of Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, Hamilton reported that the Sierra Leone Authorities is presently taking steps to make Bob Marley Day official in that nation.
Acknowledging the long-standing friendship between the international locations, Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa, honorary consul for Tanzania, additionally highlighted Marley’s highly effective message as a unifying pressure in Africa’s transfer to turn into one within the 60s.
Echoing these sentiments, chair of the UK Caribbean Advisory on Cooperatives Dr Gregory Roberts credited Marley with being a galvanising pressure within the UK, even amongst younger kids.
Hamilton listed the African Union (AU); African Continental Free Commerce Space; Africa Caribbean Summit which celebrates African Caribbean Day on September 7; and Everlasting Discussion board On Folks of African Descent as just some of the institutional developments geared towards integration and which the Caribbean ought to regulate. These, she stated, would propel the journey and provides which means to ‘Africa Unite’.
She additionally highlighted the 2063 AU agenda, with the diaspora because the sixth area, which units out to forge a single African foreign money and passport, permit without cost motion among the many nations, and, successfully, carry practically three billion individuals collectively.
