Bob Marley Research Paper

590 Words3 Pages

Through the use of Reggae Music, Bob Marley combated racism and colonialism to the highest extent, believing that everyone has the right to Life, Freedom and Safety. Growing up, Bob Marley‘s home country, Jamaica, was being colonized by Great Britain. At this time, there was a lot of killing, gang’s and rebellion. The son of a Black teenage mother and much older, later absent white father, he spent his early years in St. Ann Parish, in the rural village known as Nine Miles. (“Bob Marley - Quotes, Songs & Children”) His family had to move because of the dangers around him. Arriving in Kingston in the late 1950s, Marley lived in Trench Town, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. (“Bob Marley - Quotes, Songs & Children”) At the time, it was …show more content…

When being colonized, Christianity was brought to Jamaica then later on Jamacians in rebellion created their own movement known as Rastafarians. This movement was brutally repressed in Jamaica (its founding base) under colonial rule, with beatings, torture and even executions. This continued after independence, with the state-sponsored murder of several Rastafarians during what became known as the Coral Gardens Massacre (Bad Friday) in 1963. (“The life and legacy of Bob Marley – Socialism Today”) Marley quickly came under the influence of the developing Rastafarian movement through his musical connections with its philosophy of ‘Pan-Africanism’ and reverence for Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor. (“The life and legacy of Bob Marley – Socialism Today”) Both religious and political, the Rastafarian movement began in Jamaica in the 1930s and drew its beliefs from many sources, including Jamaican nationalist Marcus Garvey, the Old Testament and their African heritage and culture. (“Bob Marley - Quotes, Songs & Children”) Pan-Africanism was the idea that people of African roots should come together and unite. This was one of the main ideas that Bob Marley believed in, especially in his country