(Extract of a conversation with Ras Leon Saul and I-Mykal, Georgetown, Guyana, 2013)
Ras Saul is a cultural activist, playwright and television presenter; I-Mykal is a musician.)PP: Bob Marley is alive….

I-Mykal & Ras Leon Saul (in chorus) Jah Rastafari …

PP: It is said that he died on May 11, 1981…

I-Mykal & Ras Leon Saul (in chorus) Bob lives…

PP: He was born on February 8, 1945, and it is said that he died on May 11, 1981, but many of us know that he lives in the minds and hearts of the people in Guyana and in the Caribbean and in the minds and hearts of people all over the world.
The influence of his music is extensive and the impact is immeasurable because of how he tackled issues of redemption and repatriation. Marley is known as the ambassador of Reggae and Rastafari, taking the music and message to a worldwide audience. How was he able to transcend boundaries?

I-Mykal: Through the powers of music transforming people. When he speaks of people, he never meant one type of people he meant all people who are oppressed in one way or the other. His love for music was great and it was this love that connected to the people – you may not like what he says but it is the reality, you may not accept his message because it may be offensive to you but fact is fact.

PP: It is said that you cannot keep a good man down, you can’t keep a good artist down.

Ras Saul: As an extension to answering that question [how was he able to reach a worldwide audience], I would want to say apart from destiny and a divine plan for Bob. It had also to do with preparation on Bob’s part. Because if he had not prepared himself to be excellent; if he had not prepared himself for excellence in his art form-he would not have gotten the opportunity when it presented itself. For example, when he went to England, and met Chris Blackwell of Island Records that connection clicked – the fact that he was ready and a system was in place to produce and distribute the music. One level was divine, the other was strictly commercial and those things helped Bob greatly to succeed.

PP: I’d like us to focus for a while on something you [Ras Saul] said when we fail to prepare, we also fail to grab the opportunity when it comes; we the artists, the artistes, the songwriters, the poets, …we complain all the time over the absence of opportunities but we fail to prepare ourselves to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes.

I-Mykal: I’d want to put it a different way – preparation does not always meet opportunity; what I mean is that there were big singers in Jamaica at the time like Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff and others but their approach to the issues was different so they never really exploded like Bob. We need to look at it this way-that Bob’s purpose was to break through and the time was ripe – the oppressive nature of the times gave Bob the breakthrough. There was self-conviction so he was singing for a cause despite the cost and consequence. That is what made Bob stand out.

PP: What influenced Bob’s message?

Ras Saul: That influence came from within himself, a deep spirituality; not siding with white, not siding with black [referring to his black/white heritage] but siding with the spiritual.
Timing is important. Bob developed through the years but for me he took off about the time when His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, mystic, departed this life and a spirit went into Bob …soon after, he sang ‘Jah Lives’ and that to me was when: boom, he took off. He was doing music with a purpose, it was music to move a people forward….

I-Mykal: Positive…we must not forget there were people in Jamaica like Marcus Garvey and Leonard Howell, who were instrumental in motivating Bob mentally, there were people on the forefront trying to make a difference… and Bob was moved…

PP: Literally moved by what was happening in Trench Town celebrating the situation in the song ‘Trenchtown.’ You [I-Mykal] mentioned Marcus Garvey and I know that Garvey did not only talk the talk, he walked the talk by creating businesses to raise consciousness and the standard of living of his people.

Ras Saul: Marcus is seen as John the Baptist to Bob Marley. But back to his roots and his preparation – coming out of Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, growing up in the hills, within nature helped to balance him when he went into the ghetto, Trench Town, Kingston, watching the degradation, deprivation and discrimination and the other injustices, all those things gave him a different outlook to life telling him that he had to be working and singing on behalf of the people, to raise their consciousness.

I-Mykal: Bob took up their cause putting it in an art form….

Ras Saul: He used the vehicle to touch the masses – music, a universal language. Bob was a poet – he was sparse and yet voluminous, one line said so much..
PP: ‘Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!’ (to be continued)

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com
What’s happening!
Coming soon the first reprint of ‘An Introduction to Guyanese Literature’; will be available from the author at the above contacts, Austin’s Book Service (telephone # 226-7350) and at the National Library (telephone #226-2690).
Written By Petamber Persaud