Bob Marley

2 Pages 447 Words

They say the sun, shines for all but in some people world, it never shine at all. They say love is a stream, that will find its course some think life is a dream so they making matter worse. -from Crisis, by Bob Marley Martin Luther King was not speaking about Bob Marley when he said"We must use time creatively and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things,"but those words do describe how Robert Nesta Marley spent his life time. Bob Marley's life and involvement with the Rastafarian movement spanned the course of thirty-six years and left an impact on the world that is still felt. Marley's music was a result of what he saw in his life, what he felt, and what he saw as the treatment of his people.

On February 6, 1945, Bob Marley was born in the northern half of Jamaica just outside of a small town named St. Ann, in an area named Nine Miles. His father, Norval Marley, was a white Naval Officer. Marley's mother's name was Cedella Malcolm Marley. Although she did have her son in wedlock, she rarely saw her husband because his parents disapproved of the marriage. The towns people of St. Ann reportedly thought Bob Marley had psychic powers, which allowed him to read hands and tell the person's future. The last time Marley saw his father was when he brought young Bob to Kingston, supposedly to enroll him in school. Eighteen months later Cedella learned that her son was not in school and rather he was living with an elderly couple. She immediately returned her son to St. Ann. (The History of Bob Marley).

Bob Marley's move to Kingston was a milestone in his life. Norval Marley told his wife Cedella that he was bringing their son to Kingston to educate him. Instead he brought Bob to an elderly couple's home and it was the last time that Bob would ever see his father. During Bob's eighteen months in Kingston he was introduced to music. This was an introduction that would have a profound effect on the rest of his life, t...