Today marks the 35th anniversary of the death of legendary Jamaican reggae singer Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley who passed away on 11 May 1981 (aged 36) in Miami, Florida, United States.
A fervent and unapologetic Pan-Africanist, Marley strongly believed in African unity and his beliefs on Pan-Africanism were rooted in his Rastafari religious beliefs. We celebrate his legacy and look at some of his well-known, inspirational quotes, and excerpts from his music.
Photo: bob-marley.es
Marley received numerous accolades during his lifetime and posthumously including the United Nations Peace Medal of the Third World (1978), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2001), and the Jamaican Order of Merit (1981) amongst others.
Reggae legend survived an attempted assassination in Kingston, Jamaica, 1976. Photo: Lifedaily
In remembrance of Marley, we celebrate his legacy and look at some of his well-known inspirational quotes, and excerpts from his music.
1. “Possession make you rich? I don’t have that type of richness. My richness is Life, forever”. Interview for the Australian TV show 60 Minutes.
2. “Today, people struggle to find what’s real. Everything has become so synthetic that a lot of people, all they want is to grasp onto hope”. Quoted in Rolling Stone’s The Immortals (2004).
3. “Black people are suffering all over the earth and when you check it you know that black people must unite”. Quoted in BBC article, Marley’s legend undiminished, (2001).
Excerpts from lyrics
4. “Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight”. Get Up, Stand Up, from the album Burnin’ (1973).
5. “One love, one heart, Let’s get together and feel alright”. One Love (co-written with Curtis Mayfield), from the album Exodus, originally recorded on The Wailing Wailers (1965)
6. “Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny”. Zimbabwe, from the album Survival (1979).
7. “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”. Redemption Song, from the album Uprising (1979).
8. “They made their world so hard, every day we got to keep on fighting”. One Drop, from the album Survival (1979).
9. “How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man, yeah. To see the unification of all Africans”. Africa Unite, from the album Survival (1979).
10. “They say: only the fittest of the fittest shall survive, stay alive”. Could you be loved, from the album Uprising (1979).
Credit: Wikiquote and Bob Marley lyrics
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