Visiting Bob Marley’s Jamaica and ‘the Government Yard in Trench Town’

Trench Town, the tough Kingston neighborhood made famous in Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry, got some love from the New York Times today. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected in the Caribbean during the next two months for the Cricket World Cup, and Marley’s old neighborhood is one place that could see an increase in visitors. “In Trench Town, where street gangs battle over turf and where people live in shacks about the size of the garages at the glorious homes in the hills, expectations for the cricket tournament are high,” the Times reports. “Community leaders will have tour guides at the ready to take visitors around a neighborhood they say has a proud past.”

In 2005, the Guardian published a story about a visit to Trench Town. Okin Ojumu not only spotted “Georgie,” a local immortalized in “No Woman, No Cry,” but also poked around the Bob Marley Museum, which turned out to be an underwhelming experience.

“Like Culture Yard,” Ojumu writes, “the museum was an authentic experience but unlikely to cause a stampede. It was a pleasant surprise that the Marley industry wasn’t being ruthlessly exploited, but I felt someone was missing a trick. After all, nearly 25 years after his death, Marley is an enduring icon, instantly recognisable, with a strong connection to his homeland. His legacy could have been handled differently.”
Posted by Jim Benning • 3.2.07