do Yahoo News
KINGSTON (AFP) – In Jamaica's slums, the police are feared, the gangs are fractious and the politicians are resented, but one man remains a great uniter -- Bob Marley, who grew up here in what he called the "concrete jungle."
After a week of violence on the cramped streets of western Kingston, many residents are nostalgic for the late reggae superstar, who attempted to broker an end to the island's bloody turf wars three decades ago.
"Jamaica needs another Bob Marley, a leader for the people," said Prince Alla, 60, a contemporary of Marley and himself an influential reggae artist.
Prince Alla faulted Jamaica's politicians, who "buy some liquor at election time and then forget about everyone," and a younger crop of artists on the music-mad island who have embraced violent themes.
"Music is creation," said Prince Alla, like Marley a devout follower of the Afrocentric Rastafarian faith. "Many musicians now talk of the problem, not the solution, and become part of the problem."
"What we were doing was about love, unity," he said. "There was oppression going on and Bob Marley conveyed a message of peace."
Marley nearly paid with his life. He was shot in Kingston in 1976, apparent retribution for reaching out to both sides as the island verged on civil war between its two parties, which for years have counted on support from gangs.
Undaunted, Marley in 1978 pulled off one of the defining moments of Jamaican political history when he coaxed the country's rival leaders to join him on stage at a concert and hold hands.
The two leaders, Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, were said not to have shaken hands again until 1981 at the funeral of Marley, who died of cancer at age 36.
Marley's music was not always pacifist. One of his best-known songs was "I Shot the Sheriff," although the narrator said he killed in self-defense.
But more resonant for many poor Jamaicans are "Get Up, Stand Up," in which Marley and Peter Tosh exhort Jamaicans to fight for their rights, and "Concrete Jungle," in which Marley sang of how he cannot feel free living in the slums.
In Trench Town, Marley's home neighborhood which he immortalized in "No Woman, No Cry," stray dogs and goats eat from piles of trash strewn between an open sewer and a dirt park where children played soccer.
Armed soldiers set up checkpoints at entries to Trench Town, which has been comparatively peaceful but lies next to incongruously named Tivoli Gardens where security forces launched a major offensive on May 23.
The deadly operation is meant to capture a gang leader who effectively ruled the fiefdom and is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Nestled in Trench Town under the mango and ackee trees is a dormitory-like house where Marley once kept a tiny bedroom with his wife Rita.
"In the days that Bob was here, there weren't these problems. We were poor, but humble and rich in spirit," said Sophia Dowe, 41, who gives tours of the residence.
"It was the politics that brought all the problems," she said.
Such housing was first set up in the 1940s before the island's independence to accommodate rural Jamaicans migrating to the capital to find work.
These days unemployment in Trench Town runs at 60 percent and homes are made of ramshackle corrugated metal.
"If Bob Marley were here, he could make a big contribution," said resident Richard Freeman, 38.
"People are more aggressive than during his time. No one wants to say nothing and find yourself on the wrong side."
Some residents spend the weekend in the hot sun smoking marijuana spliffs or drinking rum served up from parked trailers which blare dancehall, music popular with younger Jamaicans that is noticeably faster than Marley's reggae.
But whatever young people's tastes, all respect Marley.
"Bob Marley sang about reality and he made we here famous," said Odane, a bare-chested 16-year-old.
"But a lot is different 'cause Bob isn't here."
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário