[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.29.3″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”3.29.3″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/designerofreality.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bob_marley_madison_sq_garden.jpg” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ align=”center” hover_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.29.3″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”3.29.3″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ hover_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Marley was born February 6, 1945 in rural St. Ann’s Parish, Jamaica; the son of<\/p>\n
a middle-aged white, British father and a local teenaged black Jamaican mother. Bob had little exposure to his father but got loving care from his mother Cedella and his Grandfather Omariah who was known as a kind of shaman or medicine man and had considerable influence on the young Bob. Omariah had quite a bit of land in the Nine Mile high country and young Bob would do chores for his grandfather, fetching water and working with the livestock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His life would change dramatically when at the request of his father Bob would be forced to leave his beautiful Blue Mountain country home environment and the protection of his grandfather to go to Jamaica\u2019s largest city which was the capital of the island. \u00a0He was only five when his father, who he seldom saw, would take him to Kingston supposedly to go to school.\u00a0 Whether school had actually been the plan or not, it never happened and his father ended up apparently abandoning him on the streets of the city. \u00a0Luckily someone reported to his mother back in Nine Mile that Bob had been seen wandering the streets of Kingston\u2019s Trenchtown area.\u00a0 Luckily he had come through his time in the city without physical harm but it must have been a very scary time for the five year old.\u00a0 He would be returned to the life and protection provided by his grandfather, mother and friends until he was 12.\u00a0 This time it was his mother who decided to move to Kingston.\u00a0 She would move in with the father of Bunny Livingston, a good friend of Bob\u2019s and one of the future Wailers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bob did not have an easy time in Kingston and probably felt like an outcast as his light skin made him neither black nor white in the society he found himself.\u00a0 To learn more about how Bob\u2019s story developed, I highly recommend getting Roger Steffens\u2019 book, \u201cSo Much Things to Say\u201d where Roger gets first hand information from most everyone that was associated with Bob through his life.\u00a0 Most interesting from the perspective of this book is how, in what were often bad conditions, Bob consistently drew to himself the teachers and collaborators that were to make it possible for his dreams to fall into place.\u00a0 It is very clear that it was Bob\u2019s passion and single minded belief in his mission that drove him ever forward and would eventually carry him to heights of social influence that few have ever reached as cultural figures.<\/p>\n
I call Bob a \u201creluctant Messiah\u201d because I believe he came here with some big plans and the intent of positively affecting our social order.\u00a0 Some of us come into this time space reality with some very definite intentions and Bob Marley is certainly one of those individuals.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it would be a stretch to say he picked the circumstances of his birth and early life to provide the tools and story he needed to accomplish his mission.\u00a0 His mission was tied right into the paradigm shift we have been talking about.\u00a0 He was part of that 1960\u2019s \u2013 1970\u2019s incubator of social change.\u00a0 Half African roots and half Anglo-European genetic roots he was neither black nor white.\u00a0 Through his life he most strongly identified with his African roots because I believe he was here to be a part of putting racial discrimination behind us.\u00a0 Even though the island of his birth, Jamaica is a very culturally diverse society, the island only gained independence from British rule in 1962.\u00a0 For most of Bob\u2019s teenage years the island was under colonial rule.\u00a0 Bob would record his first record, \u201cJudge Not\u201d, in 1963.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJudge Not\u201d would not become a hit at the time but the message of the song is quite prophetic.\u00a0 Bob had already been through a great deal going from bountiful country living surrounded by great natural beauty to living in the \u201cConcrete Jungle\u201d of Kingston\u2019s Trenchtown.\u00a0 Even though he was a somewhat shy teenager according to those Steffens talked to in his book, Bob attracted the attention and help of people like Joe Higgs who would become a great mentor and the vocal coach for Bob and the future Wailers.\u00a0 When Bob wrote and recorded \u201cJudge Not\u201d he was only 18 years old but he was foreshadowing the spiritually based message that would take him to international recognition and to being a powerful force in positively transforming the world\u2019s social reality.\u00a0 Like the Maharishi, he would become a force pushing us to new and brighter days.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how Bob\u2019s first song went\u2026<\/p>\n
Don’t you look at me so smug<\/em> Judge not<\/em> The road of life is rocking<\/em> More than any other single artist, Marley demonstrates how powerful the impact of music can be.\u00a0 Bob was not churning out simply catchy tunes, he was delivering a philosophy of living.\u00a0 Most every song he wrote offered social commentary and encouraged people to never give up hope of better days coming.\u00a0 There is no question that Marley had little interest in fame and fortune other than as a means to advance his mission.\u00a0 He always believed his time was very limited. \u00a0So much things to say\u2026<\/p>\n Bob\u2019s messages injected into modern society through the captivating qualities of his music continue to transform the world today.\u00a0 His humble beginnings and the struggles of his youth gave him the canvas to paint his message for those who needed it most.\u00a0 While for many, those conditions would have been viewed as a reason why they could never accomplish much in life \u2013 there was only poverty, fear and no hope for the future in the minds of many of Bob\u2019s peers.\u00a0 Bob\u2019s message was all about keeping hope alive \u2013 acknowledging the struggles but holding up a bright beacon of a better life for those who had hope and determination \u2013 \u201cSo while they fight you down\u2026 Stand firm and give Jah thanks and praises\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This is a universal message and like the messages of all great Spiritual and cultural leaders, it was really all about the value and opportunity open to every individual.\u00a0 All one needed to do was allow themselves to dream and believe in the possibility of a better future.\u00a0 Bob arrived at just the right time.\u00a0 It was a time where because of the fight against oppression and racism that was building around much of the world, his voice was able to drive that process – so many were yearning for a message of hope and possibility that celebrated each of us as important individuals.\u00a0 The fact that he was becoming the first \u201cthird world\u201d international super star made his message all that more powerful.\u00a0 The song \u201cOne Love\u201d delivered the message possibly best of all.\u00a0 It was a message of Love and Faith surrounded with joyous uplifting music. A message routed in a Spiritual perspective:\u00a0 \u201cGive thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right; Let’s get together and feel all right.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Another song that I feel stands out as greatly significant in his catalog of songs might be thought of as just a nice little upbeat tune but it offers some powerful programming for that bio-computer brain we have.\u00a0 The song is titled \u201cThree Little Birds\u201d and like a parable from the bible or other Spiritual text, it uses the three little birds as an example of correct living.\u00a0 The birds just are.\u00a0 They are living their lives and all is well.\u00a0 We have discussed how fear and worry are destructive emotions.\u00a0 The Law of Attraction is only going to give you more to fear and worry about if that is your focus.\u00a0 One of the most repeated messages in Jesus\u2019 teachings is \u201cfear not\u201d.\u00a0 The repeated message of this song is \u201cDon\u2019t worry, everything is going to be alright.\u201d\u00a0 It is the very essence of hope in a simple happy song.\u00a0 Because of the time and place and the available technology of the day, Bob Marley has been able to get this short and direct mental programming code into the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people reaching just about every corner of the planet.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just hope a lot of people receive the message and take it to heart \u2013 it will make the world a better place.<\/p>\n The two songs, \u201cOne Love\u201d and \u201cThree Little Birds\u201d really give you all the advice and vision one needs for a happy life.\u00a0 That is why I call him a reluctant Messiah.\u00a0 Bob Marley did not set out to be an international superstar.\u00a0 He just had a message to get out to the world and a passion to do as much as he could in what he seemed to know would be a short period of time.\u00a0 He survived an assassination attempt and extensive travels around the globe only to be brought down by an old injury to his big toe.\u00a0 It is kind of ironic that \u201cstubbing your toe\u201d a few times would bring the show to an end but that is basically what happened.\u00a0 The injuries eventually lead to cancer and by the time anyone really became aware of it, it was already too late to do anything about it.\u00a0 Probably more because of the encouragement of all those around him he tried to fight it.\u00a0 Both traditional and exotic treatments were tried to no avail and on May 11, 1981 at age 36 Bob Marley would die in route back to Jamaica.\u00a0 He would get a funeral and tributes suitable for a King but most important; his message like his Spirit would live on and continue to advance the positive evolution of consciousness and the perceptions about our lives in this world community.<\/p>\n Here are some final words of wisdom from Nesta Robert Marley:<\/p>\n “Unity is the world’s key, and racial harmony.<\/em> All the people on earth are just one family.<\/em> Man can’t do without God.<\/em> Bob Marley The final song on Bob Marley\u2019s UPRISING album which was the last studio album released in his lifetime could not have been more fitting.\u00a0 It is called \u201cRedemption Song\u201d.\u00a0 Redemption can be defined as the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.\u00a0 Synonyms are saving and\u00a0absolution.\u00a0 All of the lyrics from the song provide a powerful and very important final message from this reluctant messiah.\u00a0 If you are not familiar with the song, it is one that you should add to your playlist.\u00a0 At the very beginning of this book we quoted a couple of lines from the song.\u00a0 These words really encapsulate a central idea of this book:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.29.3″ column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”3.29.3″ type=”1_3″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/designerofreality.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/MarleyTourPoster.jpg” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ align=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”3.29.3″ type=”1_3″ hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ hover_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n A Ras John Concert Compilation of Bob Marley and The Wailers recorded in New York City, Paris, Berlin and Kingston, JA.
And say I’m going bad.<\/em>
Who are you to judge me<\/em>
And the life that I live?<\/em>
I know that I’m not perfect<\/em>
And that I don’t claim to be.<\/em>
So before you point your fingers,<\/em>
Be sure your hands are clean.<\/em><\/p>\n
Before you judge yourself.<\/em>
Judge not<\/em>
If you’re not ready for judgement. Woah oh oh!<\/em><\/p>\n
And you may stumble too.<\/em>
So while you talk about me,<\/em>
someone else is judging you.<\/em><\/p>\n
Until the white man stops calling himself white and the black man stops calling himself black, we will not see it.<\/em><\/p>\n
Life…it’s life we deal with. No death.<\/em>
He that sees the light and knows the light shall live. When the time comes, people will seek the truth in all things. They get it when they are ready to hear it.<\/em><\/p>\n
Just like you thirsty, you have to drink water.<\/em>
You just can’t do without God.<\/em>
I pledged to work for righteousness.<\/em>
God’s given me inspiration.<\/em>
So me personally as a man is nothin’<\/em>
without the inspiration of Jah.”<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/strong>From ‘In His Own Words’ compiled by Ian McCann (Omnibus Press 47052)<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cEmancipate yourselves from mental slavery<\/strong>
None but ourselves can free our minds\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
MarleyConcertMix.zip<\/a><\/span>
(Right click and select “Save Target As” to download file to a location on your computer)<\/span>
345.21 MGB<\/span><\/p>\n