Special Edition for
Black History Month 2005
January 24, 2005
Bob
Marley Instinctively Knows that He is Ethiopian
Ghelawdewos Araia, Ph.D.
The plan to exhume Bob Marley’s remains
and rebury him in Ethiopia could have been a
hastily extemporized decision and may have spurred
anger and controversy among Jamaicans. To some
extent fellow Jamaicans are justified because they
could feel despondency or betrayal if their
icon’s remains is removed from the island of his
birth. This enigmatic event may have created
dialectical tension between Rastafarian Jamaican
tradition and the sense of detachment as a result
of taking away Marley’s remains to a far away
geographical location. They may have a concern
that once the remains are removed the mental
picture of their hero may dissolve and disappear
from their memory.
What the Jamaicans where unable to fathom,
however, is by a strange historical irony Bob
Marley will in fact bridge the Diaspora with the
home of their ancestors, Africa in general and
Ethiopia in particular. After all, the African
Diaspora is ought to repatriate physically or
psychologically, or form some kind of bond with
the Continent to reaffirm its Negritude or African
heritage and pride.
Reburying
Bob Marley in Ethiopia will not create havoc to
the Jamaican and/or Caribbean heritage. If at all,
it will regenerate the continental African
heritage in the West Indies and cement the
brotherhood of the African and Caribbean peoples,
and in the final analysis all Diaspora is
Ethiopian if we use the concept in its macro
sense.
The
word Ethiopia is a derivation of the Greek aethiops,
meaning ‘sun burnt face’ and refers to all
black people of African heritage. In its micro
sense, it refers only to the modern nation of
Ethiopia located in North East Africa. This paper,
therefore, will present a brief historical
synopsis of the significance of Ethiopia to the
Black world. There is plethora of historical
credible evidence why the Diaspora associates
itself with Ethiopia, some of which we will
examine presently.
In
the middle of the 19th century,
Frederick Douglass, the most outspoken black
abolitionist of his time demystified the European
misperception of Egyptians as white people, and he
declared that they were as dark in complexion as
his fellow Negroes in America. A decade later,
Edward Wilmot Blyden, a black writer from the
Island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean, expressed
his pride vis-à-vis the civilization of the
Egyptians epitomized in the pyramids: “feelings
came over me far different from those I have ever
felt when looking at the mighty works of European
genius. I have felt that I had a peculiar heritage
in the Great Pyramid built by the enterprising
sons of Ham, from which I descended.”
The
ancient historian Diodoros Sicilus testified:
“by reason of their piety, the Ethiopians
manifestly enjoy the favor of their gods…and
although many and powerful rulers have made war
upon them, not one of these have succeeded in his
undertaking.” Homer in the same vein, but much
earlier than Diodoros, said “Zeus and other
Olympian gods feasted for twelve days with the
‘blameless Ethiopians’” in Iliad, and
Herodotus made similar references. In fact,
Herodotus makes references to Ethiopians who live
by the shores of the Red Sea and says, “The
Ethiopians are said to be the tallest and
best-looking people in the world.”
Richard
Poe, our contemporary writer, reinforces the
ancient historians testimony on the Ethiopians in
his book Black Spark White Fire: “On the
death of a famous Ethiopian animal fighter named
Olympus, the Roman poet Luxorius, wrote in the
sixth century A.D. ‘O wonderful, O bold, O
swift, O spiraled, O always ready! Not all does
your swarthy body harm you because of its
blackness. So did nature create black precious
ebony…so do black Indian incense and pepper give
pleasure.”
It
is not without reason that the black Diaspora,
particularly the African American and the
Caribbean peoples of African descent, are
sentimentally attached to Ethiopia. Thus, the
rationale behind repatriation or ‘back to
Africa’ movement was an attempt by freed African
Americans to recapture their African heritage, and
it is because of this movement that Liberia and
Sierra Leone were founded as part of the American
Colonization Society (ACS).
One
of the early pioneers in the ‘back to Africa’
movement was Prince Hall, an African American in
Boston, Massachusetts, who advocated a colony for
African Americans in Africa in 1787. But the most
influential advocate of this movement at the turn
of the 19th century was Paul Cuffe of
Ashanti and American Indian descent, who managed
to rally other prominent African American leaders
like Daniel Cocker, Richard Allen, and Absalom
Jones. Allen and Jones had already established the
Free African Society in Philadelphia in 1787.
Other
important African American leaders involved in
repatriating freed African slaves from the United
States were Alexander Crummel, Martin R. Delaney,
and Henry Highland Garnet. Crummel was an
Episcopal priest in Washington D.C., founder of
the American Negro Academy, who visited Liberia
and lived there in the 1850s and 1860s. Delaney
founded what he called ‘A Confidential
Council’ headed by Board of Commissioners, whose
mission was “to go on an expedition to the
eastern coast of Africa, to make researches for a
suitable location on that section of the coast,
for the settlement of colored adventurers from the
United States, and elsewhere.” In 1852, Delaney
authored The Condition, Elevation, Emigration
and Destiny of the Colored People of the United
States.
Garnet
traveled extensively in Europe and the Caribbean
in the early 1850s and lived in Jamaica from 1853
to 1856. Upon his return to the United States in
1856 he founded the African Civilization Society
in an effort to create an independent and strong
Africa via Black emigration from the U.S. and the
utilization of their talent. Garnet was appointed
as U.S. ambassador to Liberia in January 1882, but
sadly he died there on February of the same year.
The
efforts and struggles in the ‘back to Africa’
movement finally culminated in the Marcus Garvey
1920s program of repatriation of Africans from all
over the world, but this agenda of relocating the
Diaspora in Africa never materialized. Born in St.
Ann’s bay in 1887, Garvey rose to become as one
of the most staunch advocate of Africa for
Africans; he founded the Universal Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914 in Jamaica
and opened a chapter in New York City in 1916,
just one year after the death of Booker T.
Washington with whom he was corresponding from
Jamaica. Marcus Garvey’s vision of a new African
nation was expressed in his own words as in the
following:
“So
Negroes, I say, through the Universal Negro
Improvement Association, that there is much to
live for. I have a vision of the future, and I see
before me a picture of a redeemed Africa, with her
dotted cities, with her beautiful civilization,
with her millions of happy children going to and
fro. Why should I lose hope, why should I give up
and take a back place in the age of
progress…Africa shall reflect a splendid
demonstration of the worth of the Negro, of the
determination of the Negro, to set himself free
and to establish a government of his own.”
Garvey,
like his predecessors, was very much emphatic on
the glorious past of Africa and on its
resurrection. He was also particularly emboldened
by Ethiopia, the lone independent nation (with the
exception of Liberia) in Africa. For him and for
other black leaders of the Diaspora, Ethiopia
symbolized civilization, independence, and pride.
In point of fact, the UNIA’s national anthem was
‘Ethiopia, Land of Our Ancestors,’ that
reverberated throughout the Americas and Africa.
The UNIA’s slogan was ‘Wake Up Ethiopia, Wake
Up Africa’ and it effectively mobilized African
Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. One of the
titles conferred by Garvey to his subordinates was
‘The Distinguished Service Order of Ethiopia.’
Garvey
had tremendous influence on important African
Americans including Ida Wells Barnett and the
Reverend Earl Little, the father of Malcolm X, and
his prophecy of the reign of a king that would
salvage Africa coincided with the ascendance of
Ras Tafari or Emperor Haile Selassie (Power of
Trinity) to power in 1930. But, Haile Selassie’s
reign was interrupted by Mussolini’s invasion of
Ethiopia in 1935.
Our
colleagues in the academia, Darlene Clark Hine et
al, in their book The African American Odyssey,
have the following to say: “When Ethiopia was
invaded by Italy in 1935, it was, along with
Liberia and Haiti, one of three black-ruled
nations in the world, and black communities
throughout the United States organized to send it
aid. Mass meetings in support of the embattled
Ethiopians were held in New York and other large
cities while reporters from black newspapers, such
as J. A. Rogers of Pittsburgh Courier, brought
the horror of this war home to their readers.
Despite fierce resistance, the Italians won the
war, in part, by using poison gas. The conflict
alerted many African Americans to the dangers of
fascism and reawakened an interest in Africa.”
In
fact, as a result of Ethiopia’s invasion by
Italy, black Diaspora political consciousnesses
was realigned with a revitalized sense of pan-Africanism,
and in some cities like New York ad hoc committees
and organizations were set up to support Ethiopia.
One such organization was Ethiopian World
Federation, formerly United Aid to Ethiopia, led
by its charismatic executive secretary Willis N.
Higgins.
The
calling for Ethiopian aid and restoration of its
independence resonated throughout the United
States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in
due course the psychology of aethiops was
once again rekindled among black people while at
the same time incipient Rastafarian roots had
begun to take place among the Jamaican Africans.
Ten years after Ethiopia was invaded, Bob Marley
was born in Rhoden Hall, Jamaica to his mother
Cedella Booker and to his father Captain Norval
Marley.
When
he was a teenager, Bob Marley moved to Kingston
and began his musical career with his close
associate Nevile O’Riley Livingston. American
Rhythm and Blues had tremendous influence on the
psyche and music of both Jamaican youngsters who
were barely venturing into the musical world. Ray
Charles, Fats Domino, Curtis Mayfield, and Brook
Benton, by whom they were able to fashion and
craft the Jamaican version of black music, also
influenced them.
Marley’s
first record, put out by Leslie Kong and released
by Beverley label, in 1964 was called ‘Judge
Not.’ Meanwhile, Marley and Livingston
(“Bunny”) along with a new associate, Peter
McIntosh, formed the Wailing Wailers band. The
band included a Rastafarian drummer by the name of
Alvin Patterson and here begins the baptism and
induction of Bob Marley into the new religion of
Jamaica with its roots in Ethiopian nationalism
and the mythology of Ras Tafari (Emperor Haile
Selassie’s name at birth).
On
February 10, 1966, Bob Marley married Rita
Anderson and his marriage coincided with the state
visit to Jamaica by Emperor Haile Selassie, and
this was a defining moment in the life of Marley.
He was baptized again but this time with
fire, rediscovered himself in his
African/Ethiopian heritage and clearly reconnected
himself with his roots. Indeed Marley, along with
Bunny and Peter, and also joined by Rita as a
singer, restructured his band and renamed it The
Wailers. The Group also founded their own record
label, Wail N’ Soul, as a gesture of
self-determination from other recording studios
that were not in favor of Rastafarianism.
While
Rastafarianism was gathering momentum in Jamaica,
The Wailers were revolutionizing reggae through
new tracks such as ‘Soul Rebel,’ ‘400
Years,’ ‘Duppy Conqueror,’ and ‘Small
Axe.’ And concurrently and increasingly Marley
was becoming a revolutionary in his thinking and
reconnecting himself much more with Ethiopia. This
level of consciousness was reinforced by The
Wailers’ 1973 production of ‘No Woman No
Cry’ and the 1974 new tracks of ‘Revolution’
& ‘Rebel
Music,’ followed in 1976 by ‘Rastafarian
Vibration,’ and ‘War,’ whose lyrics were
directly taken from the speech of Emperor Haile
Selassie.
As
the old adage has it, where there is oppression
there is resistance and resistance often involves
sacrifice. Just one day before the December 5,
1976 Wailers free concert at Kingston’s National
Hero Park, gunmen broke into Marley’s house and
shot him, but he survived the gun wound and true
to his indomitable spirit he honored the December
5 schedule and performed on stage.
Following
the assassins’ attempt, Marley was more vibrant
and revolutionary in his performance and in 1977,
during his stay in the United Kingdom, he produced
the internationally acclaimed best seller
‘Exodus’ followed by ‘Kaya,’ ‘Satisfy My
Soul,’ and ‘Is This Love’ in 1978. On April
of the same year, Marley returned back to Jamaica
and sponsored ‘One Love Peace Concert’ for the
sole purpose of peaceful resolution of the
conflict that existed between the Prime Minister
Michael Manley and his nemesis, leader of the
opposition, Edward Seaga. Marley, the peacemaker
was then recognized by the United Nations and was
invited to New York to receive the UN Medal of
Peace.
By
1978, Marley was not only a revolutionary hero and
a peacemaker, but he was also increasingly
balancing his ideas with his actions and aligning
his consciousness with his destiny. Deep down, Bob
Marley realized that his destiny was Africa and
instinctively he knew that he was Ethiopian.
Beyond the threshold of consciousness and
recalling the ‘back to Africa’ movement
pioneered by his predecessors a century before he
was born, Marley was set out to visit Ethiopia and
Kenya at the end of 1978.
In
the summer of 1979, Island Records put out Bob
Marley’s greatest hit ‘Survival,’ an album
that included ‘Zimbabwe’ in anticipation of
the independence of Southern Rhodesia in 1980.
‘Survival’ also included other popular tracks,
with poignant messages, such as ‘So Much Trouble
in the World,’ ‘Ambush in the Night,’ and
‘Africa Unite.’
‘Africa
Unite’ literally became the unofficial national
anthem of Africa and echoed the pan-African
solidarity of George Padmore, CLR James and Marcus
Garvey in the Caribbean, W. E. B. Dubois in the
United States, and Kwame Nkrumah in Africa.
Following the production of ‘Survival,’ quite
obviously, independent Zimbabwe’s guests of
honor were Bob Marley and The Wailers and indeed
they performed at the independence ceremony in
April 1980. Incensed by this honor and the
international recognition they had earned, The
Wailers came up with ‘Uprising’ in May 1980
and this album included ‘Could You Be Loved,’
and ‘Redemption Song.’
In
1980, Bob Marley was still a vivacious and dynamic
revolutionary in his mid-30s. One would think he
had a long way to go and a mammoth historical
mission to accomplish, but unfortunately it was
not the case. Tragically, during his stay in Great
Britain, the young Rastafarian was diagnosed with
cancerous cells in his foot that soon
metastasized, and despite the medical attention
given to him in Germany, en route to Jamaica, he
died in a Miami hospital on May 11, 1981. Ten days
after his departure to join his African ancestors
and invited to “feast with the gods in
Ethiopia,” Robert Nesta Marley was given a state
funeral in Jamaica.
Bob
Marley died too early at the age of 36, three
years younger than Martin Luther King, Malcolm X,
Patrice Lumumba, and Frantz Fanon. Fanon shared
the same fate with Marley; he died of Leukemia.
Lumumba, Malcolm and Martin were
assassinated.
Either way, all of them exemplified
altruism and became sacrificial lambs for the
liberation of black people and they deserve our
respect, one of which will be to rebury them in
Africa and let them enjoy the company of our
ancestors in Ethiopia. Bob Marley’s reburial in
Ethiopia will not erase the Jamaican heritage nor
extinguish the trial and tribulations of the
Diaspora. It will only reinforce the psychology of
aethiops and the adoption of Ethiopia as
the spiritual home of all black people.
Copyright
© IDEA, Inc. 2005
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