Bob Marley: A Champion for Peace and Progress

In the wake of the release of an American biographical drama musical film based on the life of reggae legend Bob Marley, his enduring influence has witnessed a significant resurgence.

Marley's influence reaches into politics and societal shifts in addition to the music industry. In 1978, Bob Marley led a campaign for peace after years of political unrest in his native country. Marley's dedication to peace and unity is set against the violent political backdrop of Jamaica in the 1970s.

Political violence erupted in Jamaica between 1974 and 1980 when gangs connected to the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) fought one another to death. Amid this rebellion in 1978, Marley launched a peace campaign inspired by the unifying message of Rastafarianism.

The One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, where Marley and other prominent reggae artists brought together warring gang members and political leaders from the PNP and JLP, served as the campaign's high point. During a period of hopelessness, the iconic picture of Marley holding hands with both Prime Minister Michael Manley of the PNP and his rival, Edward Seaga of the JLP, represented hope. But Marley wanted to do more than just cover over political divisions; he wanted to fan the flames of social change that had stoked the PNP's hopes for a new Jamaica. 

Brian Meeks explained in an interview with Jacobin in 2021,

"That interpretation is far too simple. With his gesture, Bob Marley was not trying to elide the political differences between the left-wing PNP and the right-wing JLP. Rather, he was attempting to rescue the hopes of the social movement that had carried the PNP to power six years earlier — a vision for a new Jamaica that the street violence, which many suspect was the result of a covert CIA destabilization program, threatened to destroy."