Two things were particularly striking about the 60th anniversary celebration on Sunday of the birth of Bob Marley, which ought, at the same time, to be both heartening and embarrassing to Jamaicans.

First, it is testament to the power of Marley's music that a quarter of a century after his death, he could still draw tens of thousands of people from around the world to celebrate his life and music. Of this, Jamaicans can be justly proud, as we bask in the glory of the Bob Marley phenomenon.

But it should be a source of some embarrassment that the big anniversary event was not in Jamaica, Marley's birthplace, where he nurtured the talent that he eventually parlayed to superstardom.

Those tens of thousands of Rastafarians and Marley fans from around the world who attended the giant Marley fete that got the attention of the world's media, were in Ethiopia.

Secondly, at the show honouring Marley that was held in Kingston on Sunday night, there was not one named Marley who performed, although several of his children have followed him into the music business and his widow is an accomplished reggae performer.

We are not about to apportion blame. We suspect the members of the Marley family would have been in Ethiopia for the celebrations in that country, which Rastafarians consider to be their spiritual home and whose late emperor, Haile Selassie, they considered to be God incarnate.

Indeed, Jamaicans have every reason to be proud that Marley's music and his message of liberation were so deep and profound that the African Union saw merit in engaging with the Marley family and the Bob Marley Foundation to stage a series of events to celebrate his life.

At the same time, it is an issue of inescapable concern that the Jamaican cultural authorities were, apparently, not sufficiently attuned to this Bob Marley milestone, and so missed an opportunity.

Neither does it seem to have been the case that there was any significant co-ordination between the planners of the Ethiopian event and the Jamaican authorities so that there could have been a substantial input from, and in, Jamaica to create a global Marley celebration.

Jamaica, it seems, has been peripheral to the Ethiopian event - a perception deepened by the insistent reports of the wish of Marley's widow to rebury him in Ethiopia.

In a clear afterthought, on the eve of the anniversary of Bob Marley's birth, the Jamaican authorities announced a year of celebrations to honour this cultural icon. Better late than never. But the fact is that there is only one February 6.

Perhaps, though, we can salvage something this year and put in motion plans for something far more substantial for Jamaica and Jamaicans to benefit from providing Bob Marley to the world.

Maybe the Bob Marley Foundation could consider working with the Jamaican authorities to create a Marley Institute, encompassing the museum, which would promote the study of Marley and the issues for which he stood during his life.
Period Marley concerts, readings and lectures, for instance, would be part of the this process. Indeed, the call for a day of peace on February 6 suggests another possibility.

Marley fans and those who embraced his political, social and religious philosophies would be called to hajj in Nine Miles.

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Death to the Mullet!