Robert Nesta Marley, aka Bob Marley, was born on February 6, 1945. A talented singer-songwriter, he has succeeded in making reggae known throughout the world. He remains to this day the most famous musician in the history of reggae and thus the undisputed icon of this musical genre. It is for this reason that he is called «the Pope of reggae».
Robert Nesta Marley said Bob Marley always carried Africa in his heart and he advocated the return of rasta in Africa, mother earth. His attachment to the black continent was material through his meeting with Haile Selassie in Jamaica. He was also influenced by the ideology advocated by Marcus Garvey and adheres to the Rastafari movement, a messianic movement named after Tafari Mekonnen, Haile Selassie. Bob Marley drew his energy and determination from his African roots. Africa is everything to me. I have to prove to the world that the African part that is in me, remains the most important. Even though I’m half white or half black to you, I know I’m African. My legacy comes from Africa,” he said. For the Pope of reggae, the place of the rastas is in Africa and nowhere else.
The rastaman must return home to Africa. It may seem strange to some, it may sound crazy but we want to go back to Africa,” he said. The man did not limit himself to speeches but he did acts in this direction . It was in this wake that he composed a song entitled Zimbabwe in the 1979 Survival Album. Song written to support the black people who are fighting against the oppression of the white minority in Southern Rhodesia. In this song, Il appelle tous les africains à investir le «Zimbabwe» pour le libération. His song Zimbabwe quickly became the anthem of the rebels of Southern Rhodesia so that Bob Marley was invited to perform at the Zimbabwe Independence Ceremony on 17 and 18 April 1980. On April 17, 1980, on the occasion of the festivities marking independence, Bob Marley sings his song Zimbabwe at Rufaro Stadium in front of a crowd of African leaders.
Bob Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981. He left an immense musical and ideological legacy. In Jamaica, he is a national icon. The reggae he popularized is now played all over the world. Marley remains and remains above all a symbol of emancipation and freedom.
