The latest issue of Pear Magazine was recently published (online), and I’m so excited about the awesome graphic that Jinjee arranged of the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley and me after she read the article below that I wrote for Pear about my reggae roots. Enjoy!
I grew up listening to the conscious lyrics and reggae beats of Robert Nesta Marley — thanks to my conscious, reggae-loving dad. Today, I use Bob Marley’s music (and that of his children’s) as one of my tools for renewing my mind and freeing my soul. And, I’m having one of those moments right now. I’ve had the house to myself this evening and have been loving this one-person conscious reggae party: just me and the sounds of Marley (via YouTube videos).
As Annette Larkins says in her book Journey To Health: “…Turning on a favorite tune of the moment, grabbing a groove and synchronizing with the music is such a natural activity for me. Whenever I hear music that strikes a chord within that part of my musical self, I must move to it; I cannot sit still. If it’s my kind of music, and its force touches me, I can lose myself in its depths…”
And, that’s precisely what I do — lose myself in the depths of Marley’s music. Period.
I often turn up Marley’s voice, sing and dance about, and get totally full, completely uplifted by this philosophical Rastaman. Right now, here in my house, it’s as if I’m at a “session” — a term we use in Bermuda for an all-reggae party!
A mega-fond childhood memory for me is that of the many Bob Marley albums my daddy collected and played regularly in our Bermuda home. Daily, as Daddy prepared tasty island dinners for our family (my dad loved to cook), the voice of Marley and other reggae artists, such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Dennis Brown, Third World, Jacob Miller and many more could be heard throughout the house. Indeed, this reggae seed my daddy planted in me has never died. And my mom teaching me about the I-Threes is a cool memory, too!
In fact, let me take this all a step further…some of these reggae artists mentioned above visited our home when they came to Bermuda to perform. My dad was friends with a Jamaican reggae producer, Tommy Cowan, and Mr. Cowan would make contact with my dad when he was on the island. Often, my hospitable father would invite Cowan and whatever band members he was with at the time for dinner. When Peter Tosh and his crew visited our home, I recall my cousins and I competing for who would serve Tosh his meal.
Another memory that stays with me is my daddy’s interesting account of when he visited Jamaica and drove as a passenger in Jacob Miller’s car, experiencing Miller’s aggressive driving on some winding Jamaican streets. When Miller visited our home, I was quite young (10 or younger, I think), and one question I remember asking him was, “What other reggae artists do you like outside of yourself?” I overheard him telling my parents that I impressed him with my questions. I also have a vague memory of him telephoning our home, and I was excited that I answered the phone at the time and got to hear his voice.
Fast forward to my adulthood…
In a recent yoga class, the first song that was played as we began our practice was one of Marley’s. I had e-mailed the instructor, Mary, earlier in the day with a request for some Bob Marley music in that class. Mary obliged, and Marley instantly restored me as I had felt a little out of sorts at the beginning of class because of arriving there just at the moment it was about to start. However, Marley got me right on track and the rest of the hour was powerful. “This is for Penny,” said Mary as Marley’s voice kicked off the line-up of songs for our yoga time.
In addition to feeling such a connection to Marley’s music for reasons mentioned, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a Natural Mystic blowing through the air from him to me because of our Ethiopian Orthodox connection. We are both baptized members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Abuna Yeshaq, the Ethiopian Archbishop who baptized Marley and performed his funeral ceremony, also flew to Bermuda in 1996 to perform my daddy’s burial. That same day that same archbishop baptized my son who was five months old at the time. Three years before that, Abuna Yeshaq had flown to Bermuda to marry my husband and me.
Abuna Yeshaq was a close friend of Bob and Rita Marley and also a close friend of Ainsworth and Caroline Burgess (my parents), so in some spiritual way, Bob and Rita feel like an aunt and uncle to me. Who wouldn’t love their uncle’s music — especially when the beats and lyrics are as rich as those of the one-and- only Robert Nesta Marley? His music strikes a chord in my soul; his sounds and lessons certainly make my life richer. Thank you, “Uncle” Bob! 🙂
In fact, early into my one-person party today, I decided that on my birthday in December, I want to invite some of my friends to an all-Marley-music yoga class taught by Mary. Everyone is sure to have an uplifted day!
So, off I go to contact Mary about setting this up. Maybe I’ll have our yoga party videotaped and The Raw Divas will show it on their new, darling pink TV.
In the meantime, join my party in this moment by listening to the sounds and lessons from a timeless voice. Indeed this legend lives on! Some of the songs I’m here jammin’ to are below (and so many of these lyrics are stuck in my mind from the days of my youth):
~ So Much Trouble In The World
~ One Love! (Peace Concert)
And, the list goes on…
Here’s a brief interview with Ziggy Marley about his dad, and a heartwarming letter, via song, from Ky-Mani Marley to his infamous dad. This “letter” brought tears to my eyes the first few times I watched it.
I just love this Marley family! Well, if Bob is my “uncle,” I guess that makes all of his children my “cousins,” right? I love ’em all; there is a booming ray of love light that just seems to shine from each of them right into my soul. And how can you not love love?
It’s all about love! So love with all you’ve got!
One Love!
*Photos in collage, flickr.com.
(1) sugaree_gd (Kerrie)
(2) edsonmoreira_sk8
(3) Levi Yeomans
*Photo of Penny Powell by Caleb Powell