A very good evening to you Wynn!
To divide and rule could only tear us apart;
In everyman chest, mm - there beats a heart.
So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;
And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries”
I’m indeed an expert in two significant aspects:1: Foolishness and 2: Human weakness. Since I have mastered these two areas by demonstrating compelling foolishness and profound weakness throughout my life I demand that every University in our world grant me 2 honorary doctorates: Doctorate: Foolishness and Doctorate: Weakness.
I’ve often stated that reggae music is timeless and universal in that it can be used as a source of comfort or inspiration by any person or group of people who find themselves oppressed or subjugated at any given point of time. Since, I’m very familiar with the life and music of Bob Marley, I can safely say that he would not have approved of what Mugabe done and what he is currently doing. The generally accepted wisdom(which is not wisdom at all but an acceptable public relations statement) is, “Was land reform in Zimbabwe necessary? Yes! Was it done in the correct manner? No! This argument is fatally flawed!! Marley, just like Karl Marx was never against any particular race as he was aware of how due to politics Black people were killing Black people in the name of a political party. He wrote many songs to this effect. Just like Karl Marx, Marley was against a class struggle. He was not against people on the mere basis of their race. He was for peace. He demonstrated this very clearly in his ‘Babylon by bus concert,’ He sings the song ‘war,’ then the song, ‘too much trouble, ‘ and ends with ‘Is this love.’ He had a message of love, peace and respect for human rightsSo regardless of what your race is, if you are oppressing, subjugating or instilling fear in other human beings then Marley would never have approved of you. He was for human beings and humanitarian causes. Bob Marley’s father was White and his mother Black! It was for this reason that he said the following in one of his interviews, “Them call me half cast, I don’t live on the White man’s side, I don’t live on the Black man’s side, I live on God’s side, cause he cause me to come from Black and White. I don’t care who the guy is, cause my life is my life!” It was a mere quirk of history that at that particular time, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola were under oppressive regimes
1. Zimbabwe the song: This is one of my favorite Marley songs and ignites pleasant memories of growing up in the 80’s. The song is from Marley’s album ‘Survival,’ which was released in 1979. I never really bought Marley’s albums in the order that they were released. In 1987, I bought the album ‘Survival,’ from Kohinoor music store in down town Johannesburg;
2. It’s noteworthy that the album cover of ‘Survival,’ has many different flags. The album itself had a few purposes, due to the political situation in Jamaica of that day, an attempt was made on Marley’s life, hence the title survival and a song entitled ‘ambush in the night,’
3. The song ‘Zimbabwe,’ will always remain a heart wrenching one for me, because it exposes a realization, an awakening if you will to something you once believed was not necessary and not even possible. I reason that after much protracted debate with himself Marley came to the following conclusion(my own words, slightly amended from actual words of his song, just to demonstrate how such a realization can weigh very heavily on a man’s heart and mind: ‘ I didn’t believe it, but I now realize that you are right! Unfortunately, my brother, you so right, we’ll have to fight, fight for our rights and our life!”Mugabe has demonstrated by virtue of his various conduct that he don’t care if you black or white, if you anti mugabe he’s going to deal with you!
“Every man got a right to decide his own destiny
An' in this judgement there is no partiality
So arms in arms, with arms we fight this little struggle
'Cause that's the only way we can, overcome a little trouble
But Brother you're right!, you're right
You're right, you're right, you're so right
We goin' fight (we goin fight), we'll have to fight (we goin fight)
We gonna fight! (we goin' fight)! fight for our rights
Natty Dread it in-a (Zimbabwe);
Set it up in (Zimbabwe);
Mash it up-a in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);
Africans a-liberate (Zimbabwe), yeah.
No more internal power struggle;
We come together to overcome a little trouble.
Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary,
'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary.
And, brother, you're right, you're right,
You're right, you're right, you're so right!
We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), we gonna fight (we gon' fight)
We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), fighting for our rights!
To divide and rule could only tear us apart;
In everyman chest, mm - there beats a heart.
So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;
And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries.
Brother, you're right, you're right,
You're right, you're right, you're so right!"
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