Le Message De Bob Marley ( Anglais )

Essay about bob Marley message: analyse the theme of Africa in bob Marley’s songs.

The gifted musician Bob Marley was representative of the Rastafarian movement and one of the emblematic figures and defendants of Africa. In this essay we will see why Bob Marley was committed to this cause then, in a second step we will see how it was reflected in his music.

First of all, the violent history of his country, Jamaica pushed him to defend the oppressed and particularly the Caribbean and African Americans. Slaves were imported from Africa and abused by the slave traders in Jamaica. Robert Nesta Marley was influenced by Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which advocates for the return of blacks to Africa. Bob Marley assimilates Africa as Zion, the Promised Land in opposition to Babylon the Western world oppressor.

Churches in Jamaica revere the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as their God; his first record with Rastafarian influence was in 1968 entitled “Selassie in the Chapel”. In the 1970’s his commitment to the African continent is visible in his music, especially with military coups increasing giving way to a decline in individual liberties. In 1974, he refused to sing in Kinshasa, DRC (former Zaire) for the boxing match Ali-Foreman.

In 1975, Marley composed the song “Jah Live” in honor of the late Negus Emperor Haile Selassie (Negus is an Ethiopian title of nobility). One can listen to the recurring theme of returning to Africa in Rastaman Chant and the bestselling album of Bob Marley Exodus, 1978 was the climax of that commitment. This was the year he sang "Africa Unite", expressing his desire to see Africa united. The lyrics say: "Africa, you're my cornerstone Forefather, unite for the Africans Abroad; unite for the Africans a yard". He received for the song "War", the Medal of Peace at UN headquarters in New York. In November 1978, he made his first trip to Africa and wrote a song dedicated to the Zimbabwean guerrillas fighting against the racist British colonial regime of Ian Smith in Southern Rhodesia. Then, he gave $ 250,000 to the organization Amandla for financing combatants of freedom in Africa. To celebrate the independence of Zimbabwe 18 -19 April 1980, he gave two public concerts at his own expense!

A couple of months before his death, Bob Marley was baptized at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of New York under the name Berthane Selassie. It was his last tribute to Africa.

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