Posted by Briland Modem News Team on February 06, 2001 at 17:28:55:
Jamaica remembers Bob Marley on 56th birthday
By Earl Moxam
KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Jamaicans paid tribute Tuesday to the Caribbean island's most famous son, reggae superstar Bob Marley, who would have turned 56 on this day had he had not died of cancer 20 years ago.
Radio stations played songs from his vast catalogue. And at a government-organized floral tribute at his shrine in Kingston, Jamaicans from all walks of life turned out to pay respect to the memory of the man whose work has inspired the nation and the world.
``The contribution of Bob Marley to Jamaica's social life is beyond question,'' said Fitz Jackson, a senior official in the Ministry of Local Government, Youth and Community Development.
``Bob Marley through his music has inspired a lot of Jamaicans to have more pride and more confidence in themselves as Jamaicans and as black people.''
Marley grew up in the tough Kingston community of Trenchtown and achieved worldwide fame in the 1970s with songs such as ``I Shot the Sheriff'' and ``Get Up, Stand Up.''
The strong social message of his music made him an international hero, especially in the Third World. He died of cancer in a Miami hospital in 1981.
In Jamaica there are growing calls for Marley to be awarded the country's highest national honor, the Order of National Hero. The honor has been bestowed on only seven Jamaicans, mostly political figures and freedom fighters from the country's periods of slavery and colonialism, including Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey.
Many Jamaicans view Marley as a revolutionary in a similar vein. ``Bob is an icon. He's a global icon,'' said Allison Anderson, a political scientist at the University of the West Indies.
Anderson described Marley as ``one of the greatest political scientists that the world has ever seen ... who really understands his people and culture and tries to translate it into meaningful action. He had description, analysis and prescription.''
While Jamaicans at home celebrated Marley's life, his widow Rita and other family members were in Hollywood to witness him being honored with a star on the famous Hollywood Boulevard.
Later this year he will also receive a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy awards in the United States.