On April 3, 2022 I wrote an article, ‘Bob Marley for national hero in the Republic of Jamaica’, justifying what I believe are the facts for this honour. Subsequently, I moved a motion in Parliament on April 5, 2022:

“Whereas Bob Marley, born in the deep rural area of 9 Miles in the parish of Saint Ann, is a global icon of peace, freedom, and love through his actions towards humanity and his summons of world leaders to focus on their policy decisions to free people from racial oppression, poverty, and war;

“And whereas his messages have stirred movements for revolutionary social change, which have helped and continue to shape black consciousness and courage to fight against systems of injustice towards the marginalised and dispossessed in Jamaica and globally;

“And whereas Bob Marley’s lyrical activism for the poor and disenfranchised created a momentum that forced forward progressive social legislation for ordinary working-class Jamaicans and Africans in the 1970s;

“And whereas Bob Marley has led the peoples of the world to recognise and accept our Jamaican indigenous reggae music, our indigenous spiritual practices, and culture of Rastafarianism;

“And whereas Bob Marley’s work and life have made principal contributions to the recognition of Jamaica internationally and thereby inspired the Jamaican people to greater appreciation of their own culture and more confidence in their capacities to thrive and overcome;

“And whereas Bob Marley’s
One Love, which has been translated into almost every language worldwide, was named the Song of the Millennium and his 1977
Exodus the Best Album of the Twentieth Century;

“And whereas Bob Marley’s kindness, selfless example, and courageous work to empower disenfranchised black people and other people of colour around the world earned the United Nations’ Peace Medal of the Third World on behalf of 500 million Africans in 1978;

“And whereas Bob Marley’s contribution as a poet, humanist, nationalist, and Africanist to Jamaican and global development and international progress has manifested in spheres of human endeavour as diverse as education, religion, tourism, business, sociology, history, identity, and the arts;

“And whereas Bob Marley is already a global hero for many persons worldwide, who have erected statues of his likeness to inspire their people;

“And whereas the National Honours and Awards (Order of National Hero) Regulations, 1970 provides that the national hero motto is ‘He built a city which hath foundations’, which is clearly evidenced in the life and works of Bob Marley;

“Be it resolved that this honourable House, in Jamaica’s 60th year of Independence, call upon the governor general to take the necessary steps for the national honour of the Order of National Hero to be conferred on the international crusader for peace, love, equality, and global superstar Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley.”

While the motion received local and global attention, the Parliament never prioritised the debate despite my attempts to find out why.

Fast-forward to January 23, 2024, nearly two years later, with the Paramount world première of the epic bio movie
Bob Marley: One Love at Carib cinema.

I viewed the film with hundreds of other Jamaicans, diplomats, Paramount executives, and Marley family members.

I encourage everyone to watch it. It is a spectacular film that moved me with deeply emotive moments about our society, politics, class relations, and the development of reggae music.

Apart from feeling overwhelmed by seeing our culture on the big screen through the life journey of Bob, I also felt justified in calling for hero status to be bestowed on him, especially against the background of watching his mental and emotional struggles, accepting that his white colonial father did not want to acknowledge him as his son.

The call I made, and the motion, is on my social media pages. While there was overwhelming support for this to happen, there were still Jamaicans who believed he should not hold this title. They conveyed their position by comments primarily asking, “What did he do for our country?”

@sunshimeoneandonly: “I respectfully disagree as well what did he do to get such a position??? Please explain”

@shortygetsfit: “interesting how er miss the children he had outside his marriage. The shame and disrespect he brought to Rita. All while singing the beautiful songs about love and respect. Yes let’s celebrate his music and honor him for that but NOT as a hero”

@veeveegraham: “What was the personal sacrifice that he made for Jamaica?”

@fittesdad: “We would need to review the qualification for National heroes”

@omartheJamaican: “One thing wid wi as Jamaicans, wi nuh tech care a wi own until it took late. Bob Marley has gotten a fight from us from day 1. But globally he’s a hero.”

@africaavenger: “What has Bob Marley done in that can be considered heroic?”

@dwaynefunlife: “he is a legend but to push as a national hero is a bit much. Once we open up that door there will be several other entertainers and prominent people that will have to be considered as well.”

There was a time when I sat on the National Awards and Honours Committee. Each time I asked people about Bob, the same responses similar to the ones on my social media pages would come.

But why shouldn’t Bob Marley become Jamaica’s eighth national hero?

Undoubtedly, Marley’s music shined a glaring light on Jamaica’s worsening human development deficit post-Independence from Great Britain and the wide gaps of social indignity and economic inequity between the elite and the masses who had been relegated to the margins of society, uneducated and unskilled.

He was a force of resistance towards the status quo, which denied any man or woman equal rights and justice.

Therefore, could it be that some of us are still shackled by elite and upper-class monarchical Victorian socio-cultural ideologies superimposed on us post-slavery? Isn’t it time we rid ourselves of these ideals and accept our king in his country?

In this moment, when the world grapples with geopolitical conflicts, genocide, racism, and religious discrimination, Bob’s guidance, reassurance, love, and revolutionary empowerment are more relevant than ever to reset our humanity to one another.

A hero inspires, and no one in the last 100 years has inspired more in Jamaica through their music than Bob Marley. His selection by the
British Broadcasting Corporation (
BBC) of One Love as the best song of the century highlights the international impact of our national icon.

Come on, Jamaica. Let’s give the world the hero they need. Let’s give them Bob Marley. It’s time!