Conclusion

"Ziggy, when you go up bring me up and when you go down bring me down. Stephen, money cant buy you life."

-Bob Marley

Bob Marley's legacy will live on forever through his music. His brother Ziggy helps keep his legacy alive. Through all of Bob's struggles in life he managed to overcome it all and live happy. His influence will live on in music lovers forever. His way of life proves that you don't to be born rich to be happy. No matter what, you can always overcome the obsacles life throws at you.

Reflection: Tragedy

Even with his confusion about his ethnicity, the assassination attempts, and his drug use, Bob Marley is still a great role model for everyone. Overcoming the tragedies in his life only made him stronger and wiser. He realized that it didn’t matter if he was black or white, he didn’t care either way. As long as he was on God’s side it wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t let gunmen keep him down, he proved that the good in the world would always overcome the bad. By continuing smoking marijuana after going to jail, he showed the strength in his beliefs. Bob Marley will always bring a positive influence to the world as long as his legacy stays around.

Drug Use

Bob Marley was a firm believer in smoking “herb” or marijuana. He used the drug as a religious sacrament for Rastafari. Bob thought that smoking marijuana was a right that all Rastas had as a right of their religion. In his song “I Shot the Sheriff”, he describes the fate of a herb grower hunted by the sheriff. Some of the lyrics in the song show his point; “Sheriff John Brown always hated me, For what, I don't know: Every time I plant a seed, He said kill it before it grow, He said kill them before they grow. When in England with the Wailers, Bob Marley and his band member, Aston Barret, were arrested for the possession of marijuana. Even after getting out of jail, Bob was still a firm believer in smoking herb. He continued to smoke marijuana for the rest of his life until his death in 1980.

Reflection: Music

Bob Marley and the Wailers started off as a group of people with a passion for music just doing what they love. They ended up getting to share their love with the world. Even when some of the members gave up on the band, whether it be from disputes amongst them or lack of interest, Bob Marley stuck with his passion. His persistence ended up making him one of the most famous people that ever lived. His music will live on forever in the hearts of music lovers everywhere.

Assassination Attempt

On December 3, 1976, Bob, his wife Rita, and his manager were wounded by gunmen during a rehearsal. The gunman attacked them because they were upset over Bob’s political affiliations. Bob was hit in the arm and the chest, but his injuries were minor. His wife was critically wounded in her head and later fully recovered. His manager was shot five times in the chest and had to undergo life-saving surgery.  Two days after the shooting, Bob performed a concert still injured. When as why he was quoted saying, “The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking the day off. How can I?” Later Marley fled the country in fear of another assassination attempt.

Ethnicity

With his mother being Afro-Jamaican, and his father being white, Bob Marley never understood his racial ethnicity. He came to realize that he was neither black nor white and it really didn’t matter to him. He said he wasn’t prejudice. He has been quoted saying, “I don’t have prejudice against myself. My father was white and my mother was black. They call me half castle or whatever. I don’t take nobody’s side. I don’t take the black man’s side or the white man’s side. I take God’s side. The one who created me and caused me to come from black and white.” Marley later identified himself as Black African. He tried sending messages through his music. He talked about the struggles of African people. Bob saw Africa as a Utopia. In his song “Africa Unite” he says, “How good and how pleasant it would be, before God and man, yeahh, to see the unifications of all Africans, yeahh!” He expressed his support for the African community through his music and actions in politics as well.

Reggae Music

Reggae music was first developed in Jamaica in the early 1960’s. Reggae is easily recognized by the rhythmic accents on the offbeat guitars, called “skank”. This type of music is strongly influenced by the African American jazz and old time rhythm and blues. Rastafari played an important role in the development of the reggae music styling. The most recognized reggae band was Bob Marley and the Wailers. Bob and his band made all three transmissions of popular Jamaican music: ska, rock steady, and reggae. Bob Marley claimed that the term “Reggae” came from the Spanish term meaning, “King of Music”.