Stephen Marley not afraid to get political

By ERIC SCHELKOPF -

Stephen Marley has already forged his standing as a musician as the son of legendary reggae artist Bob Marley and as a member of The Melody Makers.

Now the 34-year-old Marley is adding to his musical resumé through the recent release of his solo debut album, “Mind Control.”

But it’s not like Marley planned to release the album at this time. “I make music every day. Music is not something that I sit down and think about,” Marley said.

In recording the album, Marley had several goals.

“I wanted to enlighten people, but at the same time, I want them to have a good time,” Marley said. “It was fun making music, making music that comes out of our pores.”

Guest musicians like Mos Def and Ben Harper appear on “Mind Control.” ‘All of them are my friends,” Marley said. “It was pretty cool.”

The title track deals with such heavy subject matter as freeing oneself from slavery.

“They feed our minds – telling us what to watch on television, what to hear on the radio, what to read in the media,” Marley said. “That’s what they want, to keep us under control. We don’t even know what the truth is.”

Marley is used to being on stage. As a youngster, he danced and sang onstage with his father and his band, The Wailers.

“Those were the days,” Marley said. “It was great to see him work and to be a part of that.”

He also has appreciated spending time with siblings Ziggy, Cedella and Sharon in the band The Melody Makers.

“We are brothers and sisters, so it’s great,” Marley said. “Other families are not as close.”

Just like his father, Marley views reggae as more than just ‘good time’ music.

“My father said reggae music is news, reporting to the world about what is going on in the world,” Marley said.

“It just so happens that it gets political. It is going to get political in terms of writing about what is going on. I want my music to serve a purpose, more than just making people feel good.”

Stephen Marley will perform Saturday at the Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield, Chicago. The show starts at 8:30 p.m., and tickets are $23, available through all Ticketmaster outlets.

Thank God for Rastafari
published: Sunday | April 1, 2007

Orville Taylor

"Dem all a dispute di truth! Pass di judgment and Jah shall execute. It's impossible for Immanuel to die!"

This is the preamble to Capleton's Heathen Rage, and has been characteristic of Rastafarian artistes over the years.

It is the first of April but having a 'follicularly' challenged social scientist advocating Rastafari is no (Uncle) Tom Fool Day joke. Don't be fooled by the photograph. It is perhaps the only way that I can show 'brilliance'. Despite my bald head I sure as hell am not a 'Ball Head.' In any event, like Rastafarians, I use no comb and the name 'Dibaba' is Ethiopian.

It was seven days ago, and it is clear why it could be called a 'weak end', because one of the most important days in the history of previously enslaved black people was commemorated. March 25, 1807, was the day when the English and American governments agreed that the transatlantic slave trade would end. The Americans saw it fit to do it a year later but the Brits gave it immediate effect.

After much scholarship and activism within the body of intellectuals and others, there was finally a committee appointed by the Jamaican Government at the 10th hour in 2005. It is actually a self-appointed committee headed by my colleague, Professor Verene Shepherd. Empowered, without funds, by then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, this group found a smattering of five million Jamaican dollars from the CHASE fund and had to obtain more than seven times that to research the details of Africans who lost their lives in the struggle against enslavement.

Committee appointed

At 6:00 p.m. last Sunday morning, a small but powerful group of broadcasters, Africans, intellectuals, activists, ordinary folk and 'whole heap a' Rasta gathered at the Kingston waterfront. The names of scores of victims of the trade were read, while the appropriately named Shepherd, led a tribute that read like an epic eulogy. No words from my lexicon can describe the 'vibe', but it was spiritual, beyond eerie and irie.

It was well known that the politicians would be attending the afternoon session when we would have had the burial ceremony starting at 3:00 p.m. After all, that was their camera moment. Needless to say, I was terribly disappointed. First of all, the United Nations (U.N.) did not see it fit to mark the real anniversary but opted for the more convenient Monday, March 26.

That is bad enough. But worse, it was such an insignificant day that cricket matches were scheduled. It is shameful that Antigua and Barbuda declared a national holiday to boost attendance at cricket while their celebrations were modest. Here, only one politician, Chief Pearnel Charles, with unblurred 'black and white vision', turned up for the more important morning session. The governing party, totally insensitive to the importance of the day, scheduled and had its National Executive Committee meeting. Bet you, Michael Manley, as white as he appeared, would not have disrespected our ancestors so. Even at the afternoon session, when we had visiting African dignitaries and the Governor-General, the parliamentarians were underrepresented.

The nonchalance of our elected political leaders is shameful and shows exactly how 'unconscious' they are of the need to confront our past.

Emotive speeches

Never mind the emotive speeches by Bruce and Portia. none impressed me because it was them making political mileage. If they were really committed to the continuation and preservation of Marcus Garvey's dream then it would not have taken a last-minute push by Mike Henry to place the issue of reparations on the agenda.

Thank Jah for Rastafari, for reparation and repatriation has been on their 'inyu' since their formation in the 1930s. Most people don't even recognise that it was this week in 1930 that Ras Tafari Makkonen ascended the throne of Ethiopi he waited until November for his ultimate 'crownation' as Haile Selassie I.

Throughout the decades, Rastafari have been relentless. African consciousness, truth and rights, black empowerment, have been their fight.

The Black Power Movement of the 1960s must have been inspired by Rastafari, since its leadership was West Indian in the body of Stokely Carmichael. Rastafari struggled for recognition and even suffered the massacre in Coral Gardens, Montego Bay, this week in 1963 as our Government under pseudo-white Prime Minister, Alexander Bustamante, authorised the "shoot first and ask afterwards" 'police-cy'.

In 1968, prodigy Walter Rodney was banned by the then blackest Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer, from returning to his legal position at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Rodney was not dreadlocked but wore copious amounts of hair like Leonard Howell, Rastafari's founding father. He introduced the concept of reparations in his book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. And Rastafari listened and spoke.

In the 1970s, under Manley, Rastas got a new lease on life and some degree of legitimacy. Rex Nettleford of the UWI had already added scholarship to their cause and later, other academics such as Dennis Forsythe, Rupert Lewis and Barry Chevannes among others, took them from the margins of obscurity.

On the other hand, the activities of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear, Culture, Mystic Revelation and many more, transformed them from 'Dutty-head Rasta bwoy' to national icons, who now give Jamaica prominence. Sorry Ras, "Di I dem look towards Ethiopia but Jamrock is the home of Rastafari because I an I gave it to the world."

Since the 1990s, Rastafari have resurged in reggae and in society at large. However, check this! Except for a few, 'rascals,' including an artiste who has lost his way, Rastafari has no association with violence.

Yasus Afari launched a great book entitled Ovastanding Rastafari: Jamaica's Gift to the World, on Thursday. Read and be enlightened!

Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the UWI, Mona.

Rastafarians embrace first beauty queen Contradict traditional anti-pageant stance

By Basil Walters Sunday Observer staff reporter waltersb@jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, April 01, 2007

Rastafarians have enthusiastically embraced the crowning of the first Rastafarian Miss Jamaica Universe 2007, Zahra Redwood, in apparent contradiction of their well-known anti-beauty pageant stance.

REDWOOD. first ever Rastafarian to win the Miss Jamaica Universe crown

Redwood, 25, strutted the Miss Jamaica Universe stage last Sunday, her dreadlocks rolled into a neat 'bun' to the back of her head, to beat out 15 other beautiful Jamaicans for the coveted title, grabbing sectional prizes for 'most aware' and 'most congenial' contestant at the same time.

"I think the event speaks to the redefinition of the concept of beauty, which speaks to the idea of a redefinition of self and identity and so on," Rastafaran poet Yasus Afari told the Sunday Observer.

"It is a great thing that a big-lip, black, picky picky natty head woman should a win a beauty contest," said Mutabaruka, the outspoken dub poet and entertainer. "So, it jus' show a level of change weh a tek place inna di mind and consciousness of whosoever a dweet, yuh nuh."

Some Rastafarians, members of a religious movement which was spawned in Jamaica and worships the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as divine, read much significance into the crowning of Redwood.

They pointed to the coincidence that the pageant was held on the day commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; the 117th anniversary of the birth of Empress Menen, wife of Haile Selassie and the closing day of the Empress Zion's fourth annual conference at the University of the West Indies; in the 77th year since the emergence of Rastafari as the world's youngest socio-religious worldview; 44 years after the Coral Gardens' incident in which police rounded up Rastafarians and forcibly cut their locks, and 41 years since the visit of Emperor Selassie, "the King of Kings" to Jamaica.
Rastafarians have traditionally opposed beauty contests, describing them as akin to a cattle shows and that such pageants promoted a "Eurocentric perspective of the concept of beauty".

"...The emphasis was so much on the physical and too much on the glorification of the flesh and too much on parading the dawta dem as if dem a chattel fi di lust and the shenanigans of the power brokers of the society," explained Yasus Afari.

"The stereotypical concept that is attached to the competition and what else go with it, used to anti what Rastafari stands for," the poet said at the launch of his book, Overstanding Rastafari: Jamaica's Gift To The World and CD, Revolution Chapter 1 Yasus Afari.

But he added that despite the traditional Rastafari position on beauty contests, Redwood's history-making achievement - which would previously have stirred some disquiet or even now some measure of reservation among members - was still an important vantage point and an important occasion for the movement.

"This dawta kinda neutralised the radical response by her charm and her intelligence, her focus and her upbringing, yuh nuh," he said.
Rastafarian Abba Zero commented: "As a Rasta I know that beauty lies within. And the beauty within, I shall say to you here and now, she manifests the totality of such knowing. Externally manifest. We give thanks and praises to know that within Rastafari our beauty need not be validated by any forces, because we are so confident within knowing who we are. Give thanks that the external world can see us for who we are."

Ras Junior Manning, an elder of the Nyahbinghi Order, expected some "extreme Rastas" to oppose the event. "But the reality is, once the sister knows who she is...this is just a way how to break the barrier and go through the system. So I think this is the right direction," he said.

"The beauty bout it, it's something little different," added Manning. "That's the beauty bout it. And I like the parents' background. We see sey is a complete Rasta dawta...And so this is like a big new direction which will encourage other Rasta youths and will bring about a level of self-confidence among other youths out there who nuff a dem come from Rasta parents and dem end up inna Babylon..."

Dr Sonia Stanley-Niaah, lecturer in Cultural Studies at the UWI, Mona, hailed Redwood as the first Miss Jamaica Universe contestant "to self-identify as Rastafari".

"Rastafari is what put Jamaica on the map, Rastafari is what Jamaica is known for, coupled with reggae music," she said. "And for us as a nation to be celebrating something that has taken us so long to achieve, it means that we are backward. However, I wish her well and I hope that it is a sign that the nation is progressing towards greater acceptance and appreciation for what it is we have produced as indigenous products for this nation."

Chicago-based Rastafarian social scientist Sekou Tafari said: "I think it is about time, as our women have always been considered to be the most beautiful women; is just that the outside world never really look in and saw them."

Sister Mitzie was overwhelmed: "I'm very proud... Because these contests are usually stereotypical in terms of what they are looking for as far as beauty is concerned. And I think we would not have expected a Rasta sister to ever cop a title like that. So I'm very happy for her. She is very beautiful, intelligent and I think she can do the job just as anybody else. I hope she goes as far as she wants to reach."

Robin 'Bongo Jerry' Small saw the crowning of Zahra Redwood as significant. "I was first curious to know if she was Rastafarian or just have on locks. Now that I heard that she is a Rastafarian, it is kind of significant, especially in a year like this.... at the same time it shows a certain amount of withdrawal of the ignorance of the people who host such an event like this."
Dub poet, Nato Meeks of Royal African Soldier's fame noted that with a black Rasta woman winning, "it set a new concept or thought towards what is beauty, from what is the stereotypical concept. So jus pon dat alone, dem fi give it a greater hype".

Fellow poet/singer, Italee Watson added: "For me, a black Rasta woman winning the Miss Jamaica Universe is a phenomenal success. For one, we were trained to think that only European beauty is real beauty. So even when we look on our fellow black female and black male, if them don't have European attributes like straight hair, straight nose, thin lips, we wouldn't consider them beautiful. So it's good to see a black woman, not just a black woman, a black Rastafari woman winning this event."

From a religious point of view, Ras Fagan, head of the Blue Mountain-based Haile Selassie I School of Vision, thought it not fitting, "because of the nudity and the semi-nudity that would be observed in the way she has to portray herself by dictates".

"Based on what I've heard, and the fact that I've also seen other beauty contestants being crowned, I was thinking then, that she has to walk in her bikini and so forth. If that is not the case, there should be no opposition... because, the time is now for the locks to be shown in all its glory."

Rasta Beauty Queen

Through a woman's eyes

The eye of the beholder

By Cheryll Springer

Sunday, April 1st 2007

A discourse on beauty in the midst of the official season of beauty pageants is perhaps not the wisest choice of topic for a columnist, but whoever said columnists were wise? The much bandied-about phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is said to mean that each person has his/her own opinion about who or what is beautiful. However, if this were to be taken literally it would mean that could be no true universal representative of beauty, given that at the last count beholders' eyes would have numbered roughly 13 billion - one pair for each member of the world's population - give or take several millions to account for those with vision difficulties. It is widely believed, too, that beauty is defined by symmetry and perfection. This would certainly explain the popularity of cosmetic surgery today, among those who can afford it of course, and the continued production, sale and use of skin bleach creams despite the warnings about how harmful they can be. Yet there is another school of thought that anything that is perfectly symmetrical cannot be truly beautiful, as it is the quirks of shape and form that catch the beholder's eye. Therefore, perfectly proportioned faces and/or shapes would be so bland, so boring the 'eye' would easily slide over them without noticing them. Perhaps this would explain the lengths (no pun intended) to which the Padaung tribal women of Thailand also called the 'Giraffe women" and those of the Ndebele tribe of South Africa go. These women use brass rings to deliberately elongate their necks, starting it on some girls as young as five years old. The Padaung women reportedly never remove their brass neck coils because after years of wear the skin underneath is bruised and discoloured. This practice still continues today. Then there is the practice that went on for hundreds of years among Chinese women, of tightly binding their feet so that they would not grow because small feet were thought to be beautiful - to their men. Chinese foot binding has since been outlawed. The Chinese women who had their feet bound, also from childhood, suffered broken bones and painful and smelly feet which were grossly misshapen after the years of binding them and which forced them to walk in small mincing steps. (Of note, sisters, is the fact that beautiful men are usually born that way and the ones who do not fit into that mould somehow still manage to be admired. More importantly, in men and in women too it is the beauty within that ought to be sought after.) A study done last September on beauty in the US, though not widely disseminated, found that the things said to be most attractive or beautiful were those which required the least amount of effort. Sadly though, the researchers did not ask their subjects to study human faces, they tested them using patterns of dots, finding they picked the patterns, which closely resembled a prototype, which their minds had been conditioned to recognize. This has been borne out by recent events in this region. Using simple word association, if someone says Jamaica does your mind not come up with reggae, Bob Marley and Rastafarianism? If not immediately, it will eventually happen and not always in that order. Last week, Jamaican and other Caribbean media fairly buzzed with the news that for the first time, a Rastafarian, Zahra Redwood, had been chosen to represent that island state at the Miss Universe pageant. Ms Redwood may or may not have been the first of her ilk to have entered a Miss Jamaica pageant, the media did not say, but she will certainly be unique among her competitors in Mexico come May 28. Regardless of whatever else Miss Jamaica has going for her, without a doubt the focus will be on her hair. Long dreadlocks certainly do not fit the prototype of "universal" beauty, which for years had seemed to and still does sometimes, lean towards the blandness of symmetrical perfection. There have been a few noticeable exceptions over the years - when "quirks of shape and form" won out. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana and Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago immediately spring to mind. But even among these women Zahra Redwood would be the quirkiest. If she makes it beyond the introductory stage of the competition, it would certainly be by far the most interesting pageant the world would have seen in a long time. Ms Redwood said in an interview with the Jamaica Gleaner: "… I represent Jamaica in its entirety; beauty, intelligence, charm, culture and dreadlocks… being a fan of these pageants will allow me to put a spin on how it is that Jamaica has been perceived by persons internationally and locally. They know that they are seeing something different. They are seeing the face of a Rastafarian, whose culture is so much Jamaican." Perhaps Guyana, which is still creeping in this regard, will stand a chance on the universal stage when and if it ever chooses a representative who truly embodies beauty, intelligence, charm and culture.

Damian Marley

Damian Marley is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Jamaica’s 1977 Miss World, Cindy Breakspeare. He is the offspring of a union between two distinctive and disparate worlds.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica on July 21, 1978, Damian Robert Nesta Marley (a.k.a. “Junior Gong”), Bob’s youngest son, began performing as a child as the vocalist for a group called The Shepherds. Comprised of other well-known reggae artists’ children, including Shiah Coore (son of Third World guitarist Cat Coore) and Yashema Beth McGregor, the daughter of Freddie McGregor and Judy Mowatt, The Shepherds performed at several shows in Jamaica including the Reggae Sunsplash music festival in 1992.

After The Shepherds’ demise, Damian turned his vocal talents to deejaying (the Jamaican equivalent of rapping). In 1993 Damian’s debut single Deejay Degree was released on Tuff Gong Records (the label founded by Bob Marley) and the following year he released Sexy Girls On My Mind for the Main Street label.

Damian’s next release, 1995’s School Controversy, was featured on the Epic/Sony Wonder compilation, Positively Reggae with all sales proceeds going to Jamaica’s Leaf of Life Foundation, an organization which assists children who are HIV positive. Although he was still a teenager, Damian was selected as the Positively Reggae spokesperson, a role that introduced him to the international press and record buying public. That same yea, Damian performed at select dates on the Shabba Ranks World Unity tour and with his brother Julian performed at Jamaica’s Reggae Sunfest and Sunsplash festivals.

Damian was a high school student when he began recording Mr. Marley at the Marley Music 48 track-recording studio. Produced by Stephen Marley (head of the Marley Boyz production team), Mr. Marley delivered a fusion of contemporary reggae grooves and infectious dancehall rhythms alongside tough edged hip-hop beats, an ideal complement for Damian’s versatile deejay-rap style. The album included several updates of Bob Marley classics as well as the single “Me Name Junior Gong” which went to the number one in Hawaii and held that position for several weeks. “When we went to Hawaii in 1997,” Damian recalls, “we had three songs on the charts there: ‘Me Name Junior Gong,’ ‘One Cup of Coffee’ and ‘Now You Know,’ a tune from Julian’s debut album.” Damian and Julian’s burgeoning popularity earned them featured appearances on the 1997 traveling alternative rock festival Lollapalooza which provided invaluable exposure among a new sector of music fans.

Five years after the release of Mr. Marley, Damian had matured as a performer, songwriter, recording artist and Rastafarian, his unwavering convictions reflected throughout his new album, Halfway Tree. Stephen Marley produced Halfway Tree for Marley Boyz productions. Stephen’s innovative approach to Halfway Tree incorporates spoken word introductions and dramatic vignettes as song interludes, creating a conceptual cohesiveness lacking from most Jamaican albums. Stephen also adapts traditional reggae elements (forceful drum and bass lines, committed social commentary) to 21st century hip hop’s synthesized beats and sometimes defiant stances while utilizing the talents of Jamaican singers, deejays and musicians alongside American rappers, each underscoring Damian’s impassioned delivery.

Damian called the album Halfway Tree because “my father is from the country and the ghetto and my mother is from uptown so I come like a half way tree, like a bridge because I can relate to both sides.

Bob Marley & The Wailers

20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers

Of late Universal Music has been trolling through its massive catalog, creating the 20th Century Masters series for greats Jimmy Cliff, Angelique Kidjo and Peter Tosh, as well as many others. The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers is an intriguing listen into the pre-Island Records reggae group. (Universal, 2007)

Culling treasures from early 1967-1972 Kingston recordings, it's evident from these studio sessions that Bob Marley & The Wailers were the real goods and bent for big time. The CD features Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh before they quit the band and includes material from the band's Wail'n Soul'm and Tuff Gong labels.

Opening with a simple studio version of "Stir It Up," it's clear that from the very start that Bob Marley was the soul source for reggae. Following close on "Stir It Up's" heels is "Soul Rebel" and "Small Axe."

Early 1970s recordings of "Trenchtown Rock," "Lively Up Yourself," and "Concrete Jungle" might not be what some would consider as Marley greats or reach the heights of eventual fame of the Island recordings, but here each possess a spare, club scene feel that goes to the heart of the group's music. I think the word I'm looking for here is unpretentious.

With the likes of Glen Adams, Felix "Deadly Headly" Bennett and Tommy McCook on guitar, Gladstone Anderson and Aston Barrett on keyboards, Carlton "Carlie" Barrett on bass, Bunny Wailer on drums, Alva Lewis on percussion, Peter Tosh on tenor saxophone and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson on keyboards and guitar the CD swings while Bob's vocals are as sweet as a Jamaican breeze.

I'm inclined to point out that The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers is really a collector's CD. With only ten tracks and none of the classic tracks that really put the band on the international map, I'm not all that sure it should be dubbed "the best of…" Calling it the best we had licenses to or the best we could dig up would hardly be the selling point Universal marketers would want to advertise. Having said that, I'd like to say that this is an excellent CD for Marley collectors and devotees who want to capture the early evolution of the group.

Universal also gets kudos for its renewable, recyclable and biodegradable packaging of the CD.

Marking the end of the slave trade
published: Thursday | March 29, 2007

Martin Henry

On Sunday there was an emotional commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade, slave ship re-enactment and all. One of the world's foremost scholars of slavery and freedom, our own Orlando Patterson, a Harvard professor, has aptly described slavery as social death. We, children of slaves, will have a depth of feeling over our deliverance - our resurrection - which none other can share.

The Jamaica Military Band performed two explosively meaningful songs at the Kingston Harbour commemoration ceremony: The Psalm, 'By the Rivers of Babylon' and Marley's 'Redemption Song'. Their deeper meaning would have been missed by most. The Hebrews understood their Babylonian captivity to be an act of divine judgement for their sins, as their prophets thundered. And redemption is fundamentally a Judaeo-Christian concept which does not primarily mean deliverance from physical bondage or oppression but from sin.

African Hebrew

The 'African Hebrew' Ben Ammi [who was born Ben Carson in Chicago] in God the Black Man and Truth, fiercely argues with some pretty impressive data that black Africans are the true descendants of the Old Testament Hebrews scattered from their part of Africa, which Palestine is according to him, by a series of captivities. A Hebrew presence across the African continent is indisputable as several other scholars have shown.

Ben Ammi claims: "We turned our backs on God and he turned his back on us. We were left vulnerable and exposed to a host of evil, among them a divinely authorised and sanctioned chastisement at the hand of a terrible enemy. Slavery, discrimination and worldwide hatred are severe punishments that came about as a result of our disobedience to God."

Psalm 137, beloved of Rastas, ends with the verses: "O Daughter of Babylon [you devastator, you!] who [ought to be and] shall be destroyed, happy and blessed shall be he who requites you as you have served us. Happy and blessed shall he be who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock!" [Amplified Bible]

Not a pretty Psalm for either captives or Babylon.

There has to be a rational explanation for the affinity of blacks of the diaspora with things Judaic and things Christian. Native Rastafarianism, for example, is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. And why this New World black affinity to Christianity, the religion of the oppressor and part of the oppression so much of the time?

The Methodist Philip Sherlock and his writing partner Hazel Bennett sometimes went overboard in their legitimate Afro-centreing of Jamaican history in The Story of the Jamaican People; but Sherlock and Bennett crafted a brilliant patch [chapter 16, pp 177-182] on the role of the evangelical movement in the death of slavery. The converted William Wilberforce was the dogged leader of 'The Saints' in Parliament for first the abolition of the slave trade and then of slavery itself. "Wilberforce committed his talents, time and strength to persuading Parliament to abolish the slave trade", wrote Sherlock and Bennett. "And for the first time in their history the African Jamaicans discovered that they had allies and friends in the world of white power."

Power of revival

These historians trace the conscience-transforming power of the evangelical, or Methodist, revival which sprang from the preaching of the converted Wesley brothers and others like George Whitefield, the impact of the Bible and missionary societies which were founded, and the social and political changes which were pursued as a consequence. Anti-slavery societies were formed linking humanists of the enlightenment and Christians of the revival sometimes in the same persons, free blacks and whites, and men and women. Wilberforce was influenced by the converted slave trader turned Anglican minister John Newton and linked up with Thomas Clarkson, the great anti-slavery campaigner. Newton wrote what became perhaps the best known and best loved hymn in Christian hymnody, 'Amazing Grace, that saved a wretch like me', a redemption hymn with the deepest resonance for former slave trader and former slaves.

Stephen Marley "Mind Control"

Release Date: March 20
When reggae star Bob Marley died, the genre more or less died with him as far as America was concerned. Though Marley had many children- most of whom continue making music- none have come close to holding a candle to their celebrated father.

Such is the case with son Stephen Marley's solo debut "Mind Control." While Stephen looks and sounds like a carbon copy of his father, most of the tunes on the uneven "Mind Control" sound like bad B-sides or blatant homages to the elder Marley's work.

Marley, who began his musical career as a member of the Marley Family, has produced and recorded with his siblings and a host of rappers and R&B singers. While Stephen combines much of the political veracity and musicality of his father, none of "Mind Control" matches the intensity or melody of Bob or even Ziggy Marley.

The album's title track mixes wah-wah guitar with trumpet accents and a political message to set the tone of much of the record. Marley drags out classic reggae grooves on "Lonely Avenue," "Chase Dem" and the flute-inflected "Fed Up," but it's on non-traditional hybrids of reggae, hip hop and pop that Marley is most effective.

The funky "Let Her Dance," the beat-heavy You're Gonna Leave" and the rapping, scat-vocals of "The Traffic Jam" are all musically arresting, lyrically intriguing exaples of the genre's evolution. Likewise, "Iron Bars" does a decent job of approximating Bob Marley's feel and attitude while "Hey Baby"- the album's best track- features guest vocals from Mos Def. Marley also collaborates with Ben Harper on "Inna Di Red," but the duet never reaches the intensity of Stephen's work with Mos Def.

Musical legacies often bear bitter fruit, but Stephen Marley is the rare exception in that his music, while not great, is relatively palatable. Marley's strengths still reside in his skill as a producer, but "Mind Control" further cements his ability as a singer and songwriter. With the right collaborators by his side, Marley might be able to expand on the traditional reggae sound his father pioneered decades ago.

Shasha Marley to touch base in Ghana

Ghanaian Reggae Star Shasha Marley also known as MONK ON THE LOOSE

Ghanaian Dance Hall and Reggae Music Star Shasha Marley is in the limelight again with his latest hit release “Lost & Found”. The album which was launched some weeks ago is enjoying lots of air play in the US and other European Countries.

Shasha Marley who has been in hibernation for quite some time now believes it was all good. His main reason staying underground for this long was to spend enough time in the studio to perfect his music.

The Ghanaian reggae star, blessed with such a silky voice that one can hardly believe exists in this era of many musicians, will surely be surprising the Ghanaian music industry and his fans with is latest album as he touches down next month.

The album which has 13 tracks on a CD features Reggae Legend Bob Marley’s Wailers band.

The album can simply be described as a complete album with integrated flavours to blow minds as one can barely pinpoint a particular track as favourite.

Shasha Marley has recorded alongside several top artists and has won several awards to his credit.

Shasha Marley started his music career at St Johns in Takoradi (Ghana) in 1978.

Shasha Marley also has led 15 top Ghanaian artists in an all star musical collaboration which was produced via the sponsorship of the Johns Hopkins University as a benefit against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Welcome to Jerusalem, Africa

By Erich Wiedemann


Spiegel

Ethiopia's Orthodox Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. Their hymns and prayers have been preserved and passed down over the ages. But with its numerous religious holidays, the Christian tradition also worsens the country's grinding poverty.

From the air, Lalibela looks like any other village. An ocean of corrugated iron huts, shrouded by thin columns of smoke that condense into a bluish haze below the rocky plateau. It's a familiar sight all across Ethiopia.

But Lalibela isn't just another village. It's the capital of Ethiopia's Christians, their "holy place," their "wonder of the world." And nowhere else is this clearer than at Bet Gyiorgis, the Church of St. George. The monumental structure - chiseled out of the rocks on the town's western fringes - is some 800 years old. Built in the form of a cross, it is ringed by a dry moat that helps set it apart from the 10 other rock churches, all of which are interconnected by subterranean tunnels.

The interior is dimly lit with beef-tallow lamps. A little daylight filters through the narrow windows. The smell of incense hangs in the air. Elderly, bearded men in white robes are seated along the walls, reading handwritten bibles.

An Ethiopian priest showing a valuable Bible illustration. The Ethiopian Christian community is demanding that Italy return some of the community's artifacts now housed in Rome.

Photo:
Spiegel Visit Spiegel for more pictures

A pious murmuring resounds throughout the church, softly punctuated by harp music teased by a boy from his bagana - a wooden string instrument embellished with gleaming brass plates.

Some 40 percent of the 68 million Ethiopians are Orthodox Christians. Their faith and traditions hark back some 1,600 years. According to the legend, their church was established as the unintended consequence of a kidnapping. Two Christians named Frumentios and Aidesios - both residents of Tyre - were accosted on the Red Sea and abducted to Aksum, Ethiopia's capital at the time. Being educated people, they were soon installed as private tutors to the royal family. They not only taught the king's children mathematics and Greek, but imparted the fundamentals of their Christian faith as well.

Contemporary of Genghis Khan

And they were evidently persuasive. In the middle of the 4th century, King Ezana decided to become baptized. Just a few years later Christianity was proclaimed the state religion. Despite this, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was headed for centuries by a metropolitan who was appointed by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. It wasn't until the middle of the past century that the Ethiopian church became autonomous and appointed its own patriarch in Addis Ababa. Alongside the 17 eparchies in Ethiopia, bishoprics in Nubia and in Jerusalem now fall under his aegis.

The churches in Lalibela were built by a king of the same name - a contemporary of Genghis Khan and Barbarossa. He wanted to create a new Jerusalem, which Saladin reclaimed from the crusaders in 1187; denied access to the Holy Land, pilgrims from Ethiopia and the small Christian states along the Nile would be able to worship there. The stream bubbling past the city was christened the Jordan, and the hill overlooking it Mount Tabor.

For centuries, Islamic conquests in neighboring regions isolated Ethiopia from the Christian world. Nevertheless, its Christian heritage - the prayers, the hymns and the liturgical language Ge'ez - was successfully preserved for centuries.

The full glory of the Orthodox Eucharist is tangible in the churches of Lalibela, above all during the Timkat Festival which commemorates Christ's baptism in the Jordan. On the eve of the event, underground processions wend their way to and through the churches, accompanied by the sound of bells and horns. Priests and deacons cloaked in beaded, darkhued velvet lead the way. On their heads they bear tabots, wooden tablets symbolizing the Ark of the Covenant.

These are then placed in a large tent, outside which the faithful congregate, waiting the entire night to embrace the holy powers they believe invested in the tabots.

The ritual is no less solemn or impressive than the anointing of a cardinal in the Vatican. The priest raps out a cadence on the ground with his mighty staff and sings out: "Kyrie eleison." The faithful cast themselves to the ground 30, 40 or even 50 times.

However, these time-honored traditions and their enforced observance by the church are partly to blame for Ethiopia's plunge into bitter poverty over the past 50 years. How can a country possibly be self-sustaining if its people are prevented from tilling their fields every other day?

Adopted numerous Jewish customs

The Orthodox calendar lists more than 150 holidays and 180 days of fasting, on which Christians are banned from working and limited to one meal. Holidays for Muslims - some 45 percent of Ethiopians - eat even further into the working week. And the Sabbath is still celebrated in rural areas - a relic of the Salomonic dynasty which ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century and adopted numerous Jewish customs.

The clergy in Addis Ababa, the country's capital since the end of the 19th century, may be slowly losing its authority, but the priests in the highlands enforce the holidays with an iron fist. Punishment inexorably follows any failure to comply. Not to mention the prospect of ending up in hell.

Moreover, the church still defines the calendar. The Ethiopian year has 12 months lasting 30 days, each plus five or six additional days. The patriarchy refuses to countenance change. The government has sought to adopt the modern Western calendar on several occasions, only to be stymied by the clergy. In practice, the separation of church and state has yet to be implemented.

Christianity is also responsible for another phenomenon in Ethiopia: racial arrogance. Viewing their faith as superior to Africa's natural religions, Orthodox Christians regard themselves as a chosen people. In their minds, the portrayal - in the illustrations of the sacred books - of lighter-skinned people as the rulers of the Promised Land and the blacks as their servants is evidence of God's will.

Mediterranean-style civilization

Although the Organization for African Unity maintained its headquarters in Addis Ababa for decades and the African Union is now based there, Ethiopians do not see themselves as Africans. According to the Munich-based ethnologist Walter Raunig, Ethiopia is one of the "last remaining southern outposts of Mediterranean-style civilization."

The Rastafarians from Shashemene, a small city 150 miles south of the capital, have escaped this discrimination; despite their color, they enjoy the full respect of the Christians. The Rastafarians established their colony in the 1960s, and some members later joined Ethiopia's Orthodox Christian community. Their name is derived from the birth name of the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie: Ras Tafari Makonnen. They revered him as the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of 2005, Rita Marley, the widow of legendary Reggae star Bob Marley, announced she was having her deceased husband's body transferred from Jamaica to Shashemene on the 60th anniversary of his birth. But she was forced to abandon her plans: Jamaica refused to release the mortal remains of its national hero.

Nevertheless, the singer's spirit had dwelt among them on his 60th birthday, according to Ethiopia's Rastafarians. On February 6, 2005, Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" could be heard in the streets of Shashemene: "Stolen from Africa, brought to America, fighting on arrival, fighting for survival - Woy yoy yoy!"

Stephen Marley: The Legacy Lives

Reggae legend storms the States with Mind Control.
Johnny Firecloud, CraveOnline
March 27, 2007

Stephen Marley has been making and producing music with his siblings for years, most notably on brother Damien Marley's Grammy-winning 2005 album Welcome to Jamrock. This month marks the hotly anticipated release of Stephen's first solo album, Mind Control, and he's set to begin an extensive North American tour this week.

In a phone interview with CraveOnline, Marley discusses Mind Control, carrying on the Marley name, and why Anna Nicole might still be alive if she smoked a little ganja.

Advance reviews of Mind Control have been very positive, so this has to be an exciting time for you.

Yeah, it’s a good feeling, man.

You’ve helped produce so many albums for other people – why did you decide now was the time to make your own album?

Well, there’s noone else left in my family, everyone is looking at me now. ‘Okay, your time to bat,” you know? Some of these songs I’ve had for a while, some are new.

Why the title Mind Control?

There’s a song on the record called ‘Mind Control’, and that was the most important message I had on this body of work. I wanted to put that up front.

How would you describe the album?

It’s a balanced record, I think, of old vibes and new vibes on it. It’s a fruit basket. I gave you a fruit basket. If you want a passion fruit, it’s in there, man.

You worked with Mos Def on 'Hey Baby'. That was released a couple years ago… will the same version appear on the album?

No, no, the version that was released a couple years ago.. this one is totally different. I went back and re-did the drum beat. The first one was kind of more synthetic. This one has a wah-wah guitar and more of a more alive, earthly tone.

How did you get involved with him?

Damien did the Alicia Keys show, and he was a part of that show. And then he came to Miami to do our show which was the Bob Marley fest concert that we keep here in Miami every year. We kind of became friends. We was always fans of his music, you know? From his old school stuff from back when him and Talib play. So we’re always fans, and becoming friends just made it easier.

'Iron Bars' seems to be about a man imprisoned for smoking weed –

(laughs)Yeah, me. It’s about me, and let me tell you, me and my brother Julian, we were together when that incident happened. We were speaking about ourselves, yes.

What happened?

Damien’s second album was just out. That’s the one that he won the first Grammy for. We usually go out and support each other’s first shows, we go and kick it off together. So we went out to New Orleans, and coming back from New Orleans we were driving through Tallahassee to get to Miami and some police pulled us over, find a little bit of marijuana, you know. Not too much (laughs)… and the whole incident.. they carried we off to jail and they lock we up and all of that stuff. So that’s what influenced the song, you know what I mean?

How do you feel about this country’s marijuana laws?

I think it sucks, really. You know, as far as, while me say that, I’m not an advocate of just smoking, I’m promoting the many things you can do with it on personal use. But at the same time, once they are promoting alcohol and stuff like that, then I’d have to promote this plant. It’s more natural I feel, and have many different uses than just smoking. That is one of the many reasons why I do marijuana songs every now and again. We have to educate the people.

Seems so evil in this country..

And pharmaceuticals! This lady that passed away, Anna whatever…Anna Nicole, she overdose on some pharmaceutical thing. You have to educate the people. If she were smoking some herb, I know she’d be here today.

You’ve been a very successful producer and collaborator, winning five Grammys, but to the mainstream you really seemed to step out of your father’s shadow with ‘Welcome to Jamrock’. The song was everywhere and stood on it’s own.

True, true.

You’ve been credited for bringing the legacy of the Marley name to the present. What does that feel like?

It makes you feel accomplished, like you are doing your part as they say, you know what I mean? For making sure that his legacy lives on. It’s by right. I’m not doing anything hard, really. It takes no great effort being us, you know what I mean? And when we say us, it is because I am only part of something. Even though I am the head, I couldn’t do it without the body. So you know, us being us still.

Heavy responsibility?

Good responsibility. If I was a carpenter and I was trying to maintain my father’s musical legacy, then I guess it would be a burden because it wouldn’t be natural to me to be dealing in music when my natural ability is in woodwork or whatever. But because my natural talent is also music, it kind of makes it much easier. The atmosphere is not like I get up today and say ok I have to carry on the legacy, let me go into the studio. I’m just being the son of Bob, and just being myself, you know? And that is the result.

You’re starting a North American tour this weekend.

The first show is tomorrow in Atlanta. Some shows got added.
I want to reach the people. This music is the people’s music. It’s music for your brain, for your heart, for your soul. That is what we always go to achieve. Soul united. Music does so many things bro, you know what I mean? In 1980 I was in Zimbabwe with my father for the liberation of the people of Zimbabwe. For independence from the British. When I went there, the freedom fighters, them called guerillas, they came to see my father with their big guns. And my father said to me ‘You know what a guerilla is?’ and I thought, yeah, a monkey, an animal. And him say ‘No, these are the guerillas that you hear about. These are the animals.’ So music is very powerful because they came and told him that when they were fighting, “Redemption Song” was the song that carried them through. It was just powerful. The music is powerful, is what I’m trying to say.

Bob Marley name still carries a lot of weight. Confused message.

They know his name, but a lot of youth don’t really know his works. They know Game and they know the people that influence them today. You can’t ever have a next Bob. So you know, we still have to give them a chance to remember Bob.

Will you play any of your father’s songs on the tour?

Definitely. Bob Marley songs are my songs. These are the songs that have been passed on to me. Let me say, I wear my family crest, and I represent my family to the fullest.

How would you describe the relationship between hip hop and reggae right now?

We are cousins. We are parallel music. It’s just our pronunciations and stuff are different. Hip-hop music tell about the life of the culture of these people that live a certain life. Where in Jamaica, reggae music, we have the same time of life. What you call projects, we call tenement yards. Back when my father said ‘In a government yard in Trenchtown’, it’s the government housing there.

What do you do when you’re not making music?

When we’re not making music we’re playing soccer a lot. I live at the studio, you know? My room is here. I’m always dealing in music, really.

You’ll be out of the studio on tour, do you plan on…

On the contrary, on the contrary (laughs), we have a studio on the bus. With vocal booth and everything. I do a lot of work on the road. Creative-wise, you might get a lot of influences, but you might not get a lot of head space. But there’s a lot of juices flowing, because of the concert, you come back into the bus, and the vibe, you capture that, you know what I mean? You capture a lot of spontaneous things that become great things later on.

Music that would surprise?

Nina Simone… I listen to country and western, I don’t know if that’s a surprise. Kenny Rogers. We listen to them people. In Jamaica, all we had was the radio. We only had one tv station, and it would sign off early back in the seventies. That’s why in Jamaica we have so many influences. If you notice even with the Wailers, the early Wailers, it was a lot of the Temptations and that type of singing style as a group. We’re always influenced by American music.

What message would you most like to get across?

Well, I mean, we try to raise awareness, you know. There is no one particular message. In this album, we’re focused on your mind. And you know how them say the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Your mind is the channel of it all. It feeds your soul, your heart, everything. It comes from your thoughts. The kind of person you are comes from the way you think. And it bleeds into the way you feel. And such forth.
If the mind is not free, then we won’t be free. But there’s no one message here bro. We are one human family. We are the family of the human race, which you are my brother. Not by blood maybe, but we are one as a human race. And we are here to live together and live the best that we can live. Together.

That’s my time, but thanks so much for the interview. Best of luck on tour.

Yeah man, thank you. So will we be seeing you when we come to California?

When you come around, I’ll definitely be there.

Yeah man, let’s burn one. Take care.

George Harrison who?

Stephen Marley comes from reggae royalty just don t ask him about The Beatles

By Matt Pais

Most kids don't get to be special guests at a nation's liberation. Of course, Stephen Marley didn't exactly lead a normal childhood.

The third child of reggae legend Bob Marley, Stephen was there when Zimbabwe celebrated its independence from Great Britain in 1980. He took the stage with his dad and the Wailers shortly after he learned to walk. Later, he played with brother Ziggy and other siblings as part of the Melody Makers. More recently, he produced multiple Grammy-winning albums for his brother Damian.

Yet Stephen, who's been around music all his life, didn't put out an album of his own until last week, when he released the good-vibes-a-plenty "Mind Control." From New York, the Jamaica-raised singer talked about life as a Marley, one of his father's favorite foods and controlling people's minds.

You've been called the George Harrison of the Marley clan.

The George Harrison? Who? George Harrison?

Have you heard that before?

What does that mean?

Do you know who George Harrison is?

No, tell me.

He was a member of The Beatles.

OK. No, I don't know a George.

OK. Well, you seem like a pretty calm guy. Do you ever get worked up?

Yeah, man! Sometimes we get rowdy.

What happens?

The earth shakes! When we get rowdy, we roar, like them lions. "Raaaarrr!"

Does being a Marley put pressure on you?

Good pressure! If we should succumb to saying, "Yes, there is pressure," then I would have to say it is good pressure. It's a good standard to try to keep up to. Our father is our teacher. He is our mentor.

What's something people would be surprised to learn about your father?

I don't know really. My dad loved ice cream. I don't know if that matters.

What's your earliest memory of music with your family?

We started out in 1979 when I was 7, so I guess a year before that, when I was 6, we used to play out on the veranda at our home. And we would go around the neighborhood and invite the people to pay, like, 50 cent or 25 cent to come and hear us play on our veranda. That is the earliest memories I have. My father was not there, but my mother was there some of the time. And that was how my father heard about us singing. My mother said, "Yo, they're singing. They're giving little concerts at the house." Him say, "Yeah?" And that's how it started.

So ticket prices have gone up a bit.

Inflation, bro!

Why did it take so long to release your first solo album, "Mind Control"?

Well, I really didn't wait. I wasn't waiting. I was working, really. And the work sat before me. I just got a chance to deal with myself in that sense.

If you could control people's minds, would you?

Um, yes! Because I would put positive things in their thoughts and in their minds.

Such as?

Just love, first of all. Love for mankind, you know. That would be the biggest thing. If we cannot find love, we can't find nothing.

Matt Pais is the metromix music and movies producer.

New York Forum to Discuss Marley's Music Legacy

NEW YORK (JIS) Monday, March 26, 2007

The lyrical genius of the late Robert Nesta 'Bob' Marley will be discussed at a forum being staged by the Centre for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York and the National Black Writers Conference.

This forum takes place on Saturday, March 31, beginning at 2:00 p.m. It is titled, 'Redemption Song', and will examine the impact of Mr. Marley's lyrics on world culture.

Distinguished scholar, Kwame Dawes, who authored the volume, 'Bob Marley - Lyrical Genius', will deliver the keynote address. He will then join a panel of Marley scholars to explore Mr. Marley's influence on other musicians and poets as well as breaking down the cultural, political and spiritual elements of the revered singer's lyrics.

Mr. Dawes, a poet in residence at the University of South Carolina, will be joined on the panel by Christopher John Farley, author of the new book, 'Bob Marley, Before the Legend'; Vivien Goldman, author of 'The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and The Wailers'; and Dera Tompkins, producer and collector of the Bob Marley and other reggae memorabilia.

Roots reggae at root level

The Melodians unearth Rocksteady's organic origins at Monk's

By: Dan Fletcher

Posted: 3/26/07

No matter how hard the schmaltz of Sean Paul's club-bangers or the myriad black-lit Bob Marley posters adorning our nation's dorm-room walls try to pull, Reggae's roots burrow much deeper than America's flash-pan pop culture.

Burrowing deep into the rich soils of rhythm and melody-finely tuned amid loved ones, not the rap-game's beloved producers and pro-tools rigs-these traditions promise to dirty the dance floors of Monk's subterranean terra firma as Jamaican fore-bearers, The Melodians take stage this evening.

Reggae's roots grip so fiercely to the musicians who feed off them that it is rare to witness an artist throw in the towel to hock used cars or play the fool on reality television. Through the best of times-and more importantly, the worst of times-the irie-influences of the tradition grow on and genre-definers The Melodians seem to re-bloom with each season.

Established in 1965, as the cadences of the initial Ska craze descended into the buoyant grooves of Rocksteady, The Melodians-Tony Brevet, Brent Dow and Trevor McNaughton-began the process of plating four decades of homegrown reggae jams.

The trio's seeds were cared for meticulously beneath the watchful eye of the genre's most-acclaimed producers-Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Sonia Pottinger, Arthur "Duke" Reid and Leslie Kong, et al.-but the band never strayed from crafting its own laid-back island jams on its own laid-back, island terms.

January of 2006 saw the death of founding member Brent Dow of a heart attack at age 59, followed by the rebirth of The Melodians in honor of their fallen friend.

Physically descend to root level at Monk's around 9 p.m. to experience the real roots of Jamaican music-spiritually.

Hasidic Jew converts many to reggae music

Everything will be 'irie' at CTICC March 26, 2007

By Jane Mayne

Considering we've become accustomed to seeing the likes of dreadlocked heroes such as Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer at the forefront of reggae music, Hasidic Jew Matisyahu's appearance on the "skanking" scene has come as something of a surprise.

Many stalwart reggae fans have been, understandably, slightly resistant to this relative newcomer who doesn't quite fit the Jamaican mould.

But, after listening to this iconoclast's "irie" songs, there have been many converts in the house.

Named by Jewish newspaper, The Forward, as one of the five most influential Jews in America, Matisyahu is currently the US's most popular reggae singer. His lilting rhythms and quasi-Jamaican vocals are both appealing and accessible, hence the good reception among lovers of this genre.

Since 2004, Matisyahu has released three studio albums, as well as one live album . Then there are two remix CDs and a DVD which also features a live concert and some interviews.

Last year's breakthrough on-stage album, Live at Stubb's, sold half a million copies and his second studio outing, Youth, went in at No 4 on the Billboard charts. In short, Matisyahu is something of a phenomenon in modern music, and his showing of hip-hop, rock, and Jewish themes could prove interesting. Despite his obvious identification as a religious Jew, Matisyahu's message is not only about Judaism, or any religion in particular.

His mission is to promote a message of peace.

NO MORE!
Published on: 3/26/07.

by TREVOR YEARWOOD

AGAINST THE BACKDROP of pulsating drumming and Bob Marley's classic Redemption Song, hundreds of Barbadians yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

"Never again must slavery in any form pollute the free air of this island," Acting Prime Minister Dame Billie Miller declared as Barbadians joined celebrations across the globe.

Dame Billie was addressing a two-hour "national gathering" that brought religious and political leaders and several hundred other Barbadians to the Bay Street Esplanade.

"Today we join with Britain and the rest of the world in commemorating this bicentenary, cognisant of the fact that Barbados led the Atlantic world in resisting slavery," she told the seaside gathering across the road from Government Headquarters.

"We deeply regret Barbados' role in the slave trade, but we are proud that of all the British Caribbean colonies in 1807, this island's government did not register official opposition to the Act of Abolition.

"Barbados can therefore be said to have expiated its complicity with Britain in the development of the ignoble commercial enterprise known as slavery."

Bruising contact

Dame Billie added that of 12 million enslaved Africans, about 390 000 had reached Barbados.

She spoke of the "bruising contact between white masters and black enslaved persons", but described Barbadian slaves as being "among the most industrious", who left "abundant evidence" of their labour in the form of large edifices – the great-houses and "the impressive parish churches".

Barbadians thanked them for making Bridgetown one of the busiest ports in the New World and for maintaining a rich African heritage "of which we are so proud", she said.

Other highlights of the ceremony witnessed by a number of Cabinet ministers, included laying of a wreath at sea and the unveiling of a plaque that read in part "as a tribute to the strength and resilience of those African enslaved persons who were transported across the Atlantic Ocean and . . . were sold as slaves to Barbadian slave masters".

The plaque, to be shifted to the Bridgetown wharf area where there used to be a slave market, was also "a tribute in honour and recognition of the efforts of those who fought in the cause of the abolition of the slave trade".

Medgar Evers & authors celebrate Marley, the poet

By JARED McCALLISTER
DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST

Posted Monday, March 26th 2007, 11:25 AM

He has long been admired for the power of his songs. Now, a Medgar Evers College symposium will examine the massive impact of Bob Marley, the poet.

The literary session, "Redemption Song - A Tribute to Bob Marley: Lyrical Poet," will be held Saturday at the college, 1650 Bedford Ave., from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Several authors who have written about Marley will discuss the cultural, political and spiritual elements of the late, great reggae star's music and his influence on other musicians. A panel discussion will be followed by a concert, featuring the Imani Dancers and reggae artists Taj Weekes and Adowa.

Kwame Dawes, author of "Bob Marley, Lyrical Genius" and the former lead singer of the reggae band Ujamaa, will deliver the keynote speech.

The panel, which will be moderated by author Colin Channer, will be made up of authors Christopher John Farley and Vivien Goldman, and Bob Marley confidante and memorabilia collector Dera Tompkins.

The event is being sponsored by the college's Center for Black Literature, the National Black Writers Conference, the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and the college's English Department, with support from the New York Council for the Humanities.

Admission is $10 per person and seating is limited. For information, call (718) 270-6976 or visit www.mec.cuny.edu/blacklitcenter.

UNESCO marks abolition anniversary

The UNESCO traveling exhibition "Lest We Forget - The Triumph Over Slavery," commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, will run through Friday in the visitor's lobby of the United Nations, 46th St. and First Ave. in Manhattan, during regular business hours.

The exhibition is being presented by Caricom, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, United Nations Department of Public Information, UNESCO and the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Also visit the Schomburg Center's online presentation of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) traveling exhibition. Go to www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html and click on the "Lest We Forget - The Triumph Over Slavery" link.

Reggae legends in monthly series

The monthly Reggae Cabaret Music Series, a new and upscale standard in music presentation, debuts at Manhattan Center Studios in midtown March 29 at 8 p.m. with performances by music legends Toots and the Maytals.

Lover's rock reggae artist Ed Robinson also is on the bill. There also will be authentic Jamaican cuisine, catered by Gabrielle's restaurant.

Next month's edition of the novel music program, presented by TSO Productions in conjunction with Manhattan Center Studios, will feature reggae music's Marcia Griffiths and singer Richie Stephens on April 19. The series is designed to "expand the options for after-work networking and leisure by offering a monthly production of reggae entertainment in an elegant setting."

Manhattan Center Studios is at 311 W. 34th St. (near the corner of Eighth Ave.). General admission, VIP and celebrity VIP tickets, which include a meet-and-greet session with performers, are available through Ticketmaster.com and local outlets.

For information, call (212) 279-7740, visit www.mcstudios.com, or call TSO Productions at (718) 421-6927 and send e-mail to cabaret@tsoproductions.com.

Roots rocking reggae
published: Sunday | March 25, 2007

Kavelle Anglin-Christie and Krista Henry, Staff Reporters

Welton Irie (left) poses with a friend after ashow.-File and Burning Spear performs at Tru-Juice Rebel Salute 2006, held at Port Kaiser Sports Club, St. Elizabeth, on January 14. Photo by Herbert McKenis/Freelance Photographer

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;

None but ourselves can free our mind.

- Marcus Garvey.

For most people, Jamaica is synonymous with reggae music. Reggae music captured the essence of a country in strife and the need for unity. Lyrically, it deals with issues of poverty, politics, oppression and Rastafarianism. This spiritual emphasis placed upon reggae through Ratafarianism made it different from its predecessors of ska and rocksteady.

The traditional form of reggae music was 'roots reggae', which is predominantly associated with Bob Marley, who carried reggae music to the international arena. Roots reggae is the most popular form of reggae music that has caused the most impact globally.

Creative peak

Reaching its creative peak in the 1970s, roots reggae's main proponents were Burning Spear, Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, Jimmy Cliff and others. In 1969, Desmond Dekker and the Aces took their hit, Israelites, to the top of the charts in several countries including Britain, Canada, Holland, South Africa, Sweden, and West Germany. Israelites also went top-10 in the U.S.A. For many people around the world, this was their first exposure to Jamaican music.

Then suddenly, in Jamaica, roots reggae took a back seat to its child, dancehall. While roots thrived overseas, she was no longer a fore-runner in her homeland.

Though new generations of artistes such as I-Wayne, Richie Spice and others are aiming for their share of the roots pie, which has hit the consciousness of many worldwide, veteran reggae artistes find themselves relinquished to 'oldies shows' or travelling abroad where they are still in the know for shows.

Singer, Bob Andy, said roots music may be less popular in Jamaica simply because it is not the music of this generation.

"The fact that roots music was more popular about three of four generations ago and the present generation is more inclined to deal with

the music of the their generation," he said.

He also stated that those abroad wanting to cling to their roots, are more likely to love roots music. "The Jamaicans who have first generation children in their Diaspora will embrace the music and will identify with their parents' culture and that is one of the things that enhances popularity in far away places," he said.

Ra-Umi Alkebu-Lan, producer and music journalist gave another reason why Roots music is quickly gobbled up by foreigners.

"With Roots music, or what we call one drop, the rhythm is slower and the people can understand what the artistes are saying. For the people, it carries the message and for them it has always represented 'protest music'. It's the music for the downtrodden and they prefer that, when fighting for liberation struggles," he said.

Alkebu-Lan continued: "From ever since, if the Americans sneeze, we catch a cold. In the '70s, there was a radical movement both abroad and in Jamaica with people like Malcolm X, so they embraced the message of Bob. But then the music changed to talking about bling bling and that sort of thing and the people are also less educated and the artistes prefer to focus on the passa and the sensationalism because the Roots music is too heavy. Now the people don't listen they just want to dance."

Alkebu-Lan speaks passionately because roots music comes from an age of struggle; the struggle for identity and it now seems that struggle was in vain.

Andy briefly spoke of the inception, growth and struggle of reggae music: "With the genesis of roots or reggae music, it was looked down on and was called 'garden music' or 'garden bwoy music'; that is until Bob went international. Before that, radio stations played about 60 perc ent American music and 40 per cent Jamaican and Caribbean music. It just seems to me that we are an export nation, we export our people and everything we have and then prefer totake junk from everywhere else."

Like others, prominent Roots reggae singer Max Romeo too, claims Roots Reggae is the essence of Jamaican music that has been forgotten in recent years.

"Roots Reggae is the real reggae, up until the '70's it taught the people unity. When the 80s hit, it was pure perversion wid the dancehall music. Dancehall has only caused danger to the music industry. Roots reggae was Rastafari music, where you sing about people like Marcus Garvey and soon bout Bob Marley and Peter Tosh," he said.

According to Romeo, by international standards roots reggae is the most acknowledged music from Jamaica, its the only one that has stood the test of time on the International level. Despite this, he claims there has been a decline in the music that is now beyond the control of the people. He elaborates "singers like me, Roots Reggae singers caan mek money in Jamaica no more. Is abroad mi haffi go fi mek my bread, roots reggae people don't mek money in Jamaica."

Andy says he is not sure if there is anything much people can do to make Jamaicans embrace their history.

"If our artistes weren't so hung up on conspicuous consumption and items like houses, cars and things like that then the music would go much further. To them artistry is not necessarily longevity. My personal opinion is that instead of us always rushing off overseas to do shows, we should have them come here. I'm not saying that we shouldn't travel at all, but just to have more foreigners come here to see the artistes it would improve our economy. This is a personal dream of mine, and we wouldn't just showcase reggae, it would be Ska, Rocksteady and dancehall, but I don't see any artiste coming together to do it."

Alkebu-Lan, however gave another point of view. "What comes out on the radio seems to be the problem. The disc jockeys have a lot to do with it. Not a lot of roots music is being played and as a result of that people here don't think the reggae artistes are really wanted. What we also need is a lot moreRoots artistes coming to the fore here and not just traveling abroad."

Retro selector Wellington Irie, who plays on Mega Jams 98 FM in the 'Platinum Box' on Sundays, reiterates the importance of Roots Reggae internationally.

He affirms that on the European and Japanese front persons like Toots and the Maytals, Burning Spear, Ziggy Marley, Anthony B among other Roots Reggae acts are the most popular.

He says "the thing with roots reggae music, the riddim is played slower, so the DJ can chat slower. For people in Europe and around the world, its easier for them to understand, than dancehall which goes faster. They need to understand what is being said, Roots Reggae is the driving force that breaks the ice when you play for International crowds. "

He always claims that Bob Marley set the trend of roots reggae, the one love vibe that people love, so they are expecting to hear that out of love for Bob.

When Irie plays on Sundays he caters for an older crowd in their '40s to '60s and '70s, as the young crowd are more interested in dancehall. He claims that he plays early '60s and 70s Bob Marley, songs such as 'Soul Rebel'. Otherwise he plays a lot of Ken Boothe Ellis, Delroy Wilson and countless others. "What I strive for on my show is the big oldies hits that aren't played at retro parties. A lot of people don't make it to Mas Camp to hear that music. There are few selectors on radio that play that kind of thing, everyone wants a party vibes from dancehall or retro '80s and '90s. From the calls I receive and requests older people appreciate the Roots Reggae, cause they don't hear it that often."

History extracts from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_reggae and http://caribplanet.homestead.com/101_Reggae.html