"Beneath The Whirlwind": An Examination of The Role of Marcus Garvey in Reggae Music

“Marcus, a Black Man
Prophesied to the Nation
When he asked ‘where is the Black Man government?’ “
Taken from ‘Seven Miles’ featuring Luciano by Naptali

I always do hope and always have hoped that the music that we are so grateful to not only listen to, but have ears for, either reveals or develops into some larger purpose. What I mean is that, in any case, you can only discuss or SING for so long about action before being drawn into actually DOING something and Reggae music, in so many respects, is a grand call to action - The most beautiful in the world, of course. Then I start to think about the history and I’m drawn in so many directions, the most glaring being the direction of growth. The claim can certainly be made (and I am going to make it) that RIGHT NOW, Reggae music is more popular worldwide than it has ever been. It is more popular today than it was yesterday and it will be more popular after you finish reading this than it was when you started. GROWTH is most certainly an action and it is a seemingly never ending one - It is without limit.

So what are our tools of growth? What helps Reggae music grow? Of course there’re things like marketing and things that people like I do and people like you and I read about on a daily basis. Interviews, tours, press conferences, things like these happen almost like clockwork and as much you may tire of reading them (I don’t, you might), you very well know that they have their place and purpose. Then there is the actual music itself which plays, in some way or another, twenty four hours a day, each and every day. This is how the music grows. Another very powerful way is the creation and exaltation of FIGURES. What we have as the most celebrated peace of imagery in Reggae music is, of course, the face of Robert Nesta Marley - Even in death, his remains arguably one of the most recognizable faces in the world. However, I think that in terms of actual ACTION and in terms of DOING something (certainly Marley did far more than his fair share of both and, indirectly, his work continues) (technically, I’m even doing his work), the most prominent figure in Reggae music is The Most Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

Of course, this has to be taken in the intellectual sense and it is in that sense where Garvey’s MASSIVE indirect contributions to Reggae music become most glowing and it’s almost aided by the fact that (at least to my knowledge) he never recorded a single note of a single song. Marcus Garvey is a historical figure. If you enter any class so broadly dubbed as ‘History’, you wouldn’t at all be surprised to see his name amongst the curricula and the same is not so for ‘Bob Marley’ or even ‘Reggae’, or even ‘Caribbean’ or ‘Jamaica’ for that matter. He is taught to University students and children alike and he is taught worldwide and his contributions are so plentiful, to ‘history’ alone, that for as long as there is teaching done, Garvey will be taught in some respects. During my own University career, I was shocked at how many different classes that I attended (both in and outside of the Caribbean) where Garvey became either a designated or an impromptu subject of discourse - Although he certainly falls most specifically under ‘Afrikan History’ (as did most of University courses), Marcus Garvey is one of a very few short of people whose ACTIONS have become matters of general HUMAN HISTORY.

The leap to be made to music, ostensibly, is quite simple and even simpler in this case, given just how much Reggae music Garvey has DIRECTLY inspired. Besides the visual examples I used in last year’s “Texting Garvey” article, I also mentioned the oft-reoccurring theme of repatriation in Reggae music and of course that is a theme almost directly derived from the lifework of Garvey. But, the step I’ll take beyond that this year is the concept of ‘intellectual pride’. It is one thing to be able to sit in a group of Reggae fans, people who love and respect the music and be able to have discussions about certain aspects of the vibes - Obviously that’s something that I very much enjoy, as you can probably tell - But it is another (almost COMPLETELY) to be able to have these conversations in less familiar, but generally very well educated and well read company and Garvey is someone who transcends the music even more so than Bob Marley (because, again, he never made a song, he wasn’t a musician) (even though, in saying that, Marley also is a figure inspiring MUCH intellectual pride potentially, but of a different and much more familiar type). Garvey’s figure is so domineering and commands so much respect in so many different circles, that even the most convoluted of connections to be made to Reggae music are fitting, however, one need only crack open the TINIEST bit of the catalog of Burning Spear to make links which are very direct and obvious upon the very first listen.

Continuing with the notion of Intellectual Pride, Garvey’s figure is also one which inspires a certain type of pride and ‘destination seeking’ theme in the music itself.

“My Brother, we’ve got to take some action now
Let us stop talk about breaking down the barriers
And don’t forget what Garvey said -
‘Afrika for Afrikans, at home and abroad‘”

This very small stretch of lyrics, taken from ‘Africa For Africans’ by Nereus Joseph [“Real Rebels Don’t Die”], is so poignant here (and I’ll speak on this further in just a minute) because it takes on a much different shape and ‘colour’ than had he done the lyrics sans “and don’t forget what Garvey said”. The next step, a quote, which is probably so well known that it didn’t need the designation of who said it to go along with it in order, is made so much more critical by that one line of words and it should also definitely be said that given the slight dialectical differences between Patois and ‘standard’ English, ‘Garvey’ as a word also becomes somewhat or a lyrical checkpoint to those who aren’t necessarily comprehending so much of what is otherwise being said. Now, most of this concept is inappreciable, to a large degree, by most who don’t listen very intently and, as I say in my reviews, it’s material largely for the ‘mature listener’ and the ‘intellectual listener’ as well. Reggae music, while not thought of as being so, unfortunately, is probably one of the SMARTEST musical genres in the world because a great deal of the concepts are so far outside of the mainstream and have so brilliantly, but quietly, developed outside of that light. Also, so many of them are IMMEDIATELY recognizable as social issues and cultural issues and, again, it is my point that the greatest and most recognizable of these is Marcus Mosiah Garvey. And it should also be noted that his presence casts an even larger shadow than that of His Imperial Majesty because the very large link to be made between the music and H.I.M. is Rastafari and Rastafari culture, which is obviously not followed by everyone on the planet but, everyone (if in no other case than by the very definition of the word) follows HISTORY and lineage which is what links Garvey and Reggae music.

The final point that I’d like to make is linked back to the very first point that I made in this piece and that is the issue of ACTION. No one even remotely associated with Reggae has DONE more than Marcus Garvey and not only that, but no one has done more, which can in turn be conveyed through the music, than Garvey as well. Is there a known portion of the man’s life which has not been covered in our music? For better or for worse, Reggae music is extremely well informed on the life and times of Marcus Garvey and it is reflected in the music. The larger and final point, however, is to be made in the aura of Garvey and how he is regarded. The word is PRIDE and more directly, in this case, I’m going to say ‘SOUL’, or better yet ‘BACKBONE’. When you think of Marcus Garvey very few things come to mind sooner than his pride and how demonstrative he was in showing it. This can definitely be linked to the exact same trait present in Reggae music. Just as his movement started in rather obscure circumstances and blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon and one which we still speak of more than sixty years after his physical death, Reggae music has slowly done the same throughout its still very brief lifetime. I feel the connection is a direct one and drawing comparisons to what Garvey DID, to what he ACCOMPLISHED and the growth of our music can only be a good thing. Music obviously will support music, but music, when it is based on action, particularly action of LEGENDARY proportions begins to take on a whole new meaning. Just ask Fred Locks:

This is a music about DOING what is to be DONE and no one in the bloodlines of Reggae music has done more than The Most Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

We give big thanks and honour to Marcus Mosiah Garvey on this, the 123rd Anniversary of his birth.

Thank You Marcus Garvey

Words of The Week: 'Mosiah Chant' by Yahadanai

'MOSIAH CHANT'

Teach the likkle children about him
Show the likkle children about him
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set the captive free
Yeah yeah

Teach the likkle children about him
I can hear them shouting
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set the captives free
Hey yeah

MARCUS MARCUS MOSIAH
Blackness to the highest power
Trod through the valley and he walks through the burning fire
Give him the praise and honour
Red, Black and Green banner
Prophet with thunder shout
Casting downpressors under
Mentally Black Starliner
Must know thyself, don’t slumber
Up ye mighty people and bruk out from the grips of Caeser
In order to triump, we need togetherness mental agriculture
Repatriation!
Dat a Marcus code yeah
Black liberation, justice unfolds
United Nubians, dat a di Itation
Keep in striving until we forward home
Oooh

Teach di likkle children
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set the captive free
Oh yeah
Teach di likkle children about him
Teach dem about Marcus
Teach di likkle children about him
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set the captive free
Oooh

Nah bodda wait until yuh back against the wall
Look towards Ithiopia, ancestors ah call
Marcus shall rain, thundah ball
Him stand up on di battlefield uprightly and worldly nah stall
Even though many tried to diss him, inna dem schism and dem propaganda spreading
Jah Marcus always reigneth in the hearts of Black People with assurance forever
A nation without culture is like a tree without roots
A mind without knowledge is like a house with a roof
Teach di children about his works and philosophy
Forever sailing on that incient sea
I know that Jah Jah will give us all the victory
Prophet Marcus!
He will ever will be
He he he
And his Black family
Oooh

Teach di likkle children about him
Show di likkle children about him
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set di captive free
Oooh

Teach di likkle children about him
Show di likkle children about him
Marcus Garvey!
Fighting to set the captive free
Hey -

Taken from Yahadanai's album "One Atonement"

Texting Garvey: The Influence of Marcus Garvey In Modern Reggae

“Teach the likkle children about him”

-Mosiah Chant by Yahadanai from the album One Atonement

In my not so far in the rearview mirror college years, I can recall having the privilege of writing a paper on Reggae music (duh) for a class on Pan-Africanism and the single greatest bit of information I remember in regards to that paper was the LOVELY opening line which I’m sure I must have subconsciously plagiarized from someone: “Reggae music is the unofficial soundtrack of the Pan-African movement”. I would go on to subsequently make my case largely on the fact that many of the names which we were studying in the class (and now in retrospect I can probably rather safely say ALL of the names we were studying) were names that I know had been mentioned and mentioned in-depth in Reggae songs, even at the time. We would go on to learn of names like the late and great poet and Négritude activist Aimé Césaire from Martinique and former President of Senegal, Léopold Senghor and, even in their cases, especially now, I’m quite sure I could find Reggae music mentioning them also. That entire, all encompassing branch of the story and hopefully the future of the children of Afrika, meaning Pan-Africanism, in all of its various forms has been covered in Reggae music. That’s first. Not to mention, also, that the music has been relatively close to what could be defined as ‘mainstream’ culture, worldwide and its BEAUTIFUL would ultimately lead me to declare, in the paper, that the story, specifically of Pan-Africanism could be DIRECTLY EXPLAINED through Reggae music and specifically Roots Reggae.

Pan-African Flag

Now, in retrospect, what was one of the most interesting bits that resulted from that paper was the fact that my professor (who I believe was Nigerian and a HUGE), a fan of Reggae music (he specifically mentioned to me at one point that King Yellowman was a pretty big star in his land of birth), would, after giving me my deserved ‘A’, make the case that although I had presented a relatively fresh point in the paper, that he failed to see that it was still the case with modern Reggae music. He would, of course, point to people like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear and deem them the ‘keepers’ of the Pan-African movement within Reggae music. Of course, I had a problem with that because out of the three, in particular, two are and were deceased at the time. He would build his point largely surrounding the case of the Honourable Marcus Garvey who he would point out as being so prominently supported in Reggae of yesteryear, whether directly being mentioned by name or indirectly, through adoption or promotion of his ideology and it was his case that the influence of Garvey had been slowly drained from Reggae music and, by extension Reggae culture as a whole, worldwide. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Think of it this way. Go on any retail site, Amazon, iTunes, Emusic, Rhapsody, Napster, whatever and search Marcus Garvey’s name within the scope of music and in specifically Reggae if you can. Then go and do the same thing for ‘Black Star’, then ‘Black Star Liner’ and notice the mammoth amount of returns. Two things about that will COMPLETELY, modernize that in my opinion: The first is that the artists and songs themselves may actually be newer artists who have emerged since the days of Marley, Tosh, Dennis Brown and Winston Rodney (even though the days still belong to him) and I‘ll deal with that in a moment; And the second is that, even if they’re not newer artists and you run into people like Fred Locks (who would be somewhere between the generations), what you’re mainly going to be dealing with on those sites are either actual CD’s or, even more fitting, digital downloads. Maybe they did but I don’t know if Marley or Tosh and the likes would have forecasted a day where people, all over the world, would have been able to access their ENTIRE catalogues with just the push of a button. Somewhere, right now, someone is downloading a copy of Burning Spear’s IMMORTAL catalogue of specifically Marcus Garvey headed material. That’s a very modern occurrence and even though it comes within a scope of being decades and decades old, you wouldn’t dare place such an album on a digital site in specific thinking, “Okay, great, all the old Reggae fans will buy these”. NO! It is your intention to catch the eyes of new fans, the type of fans who’ll read this and maybe haven’t heard that no one, supposedly, remembers old Marcus Garvey. Reggae, like most musical genres, has slowly (and definitely a bit too slowly) managed to catch up to the times and with it, it has brought a whole heap of ideas and faces and names, some of which may have been otherwise completely lost (and definitely Garvey’s is not one which fits in here, however) to the masses and, quite honestly, have made a blog like mine easier to run because I know that not only is the reference material available but the actual material is also. I could talk almost endlessly on any topic and know that, for the most part, save the most obscure of my moments (and even those will likely become available someday), it is available and in no small part. We therefore can claim a rather small but burgeoning and POWERFUL chunk of the past, as the present. Marcus Garvey is alive and well in that chunk also.

And even if he weren’t, it isn’t like he would be invisible, he still exists today. Indirectly, the cases could be endless and even though (YOU KNOW) I’d love to sit here and try and identify each and every reference to The Prophet, that is the kind of time that even I don’t have. Instead, you’ll do it for me: How many times have you heard a Reggae song speaking of repatriation? Its gotten to the point that of the several things I include in my mental ‘chart’ when reviewing an album (and almost always they’ll make it to the finish product also), is “obligatory repatriation anthem”. I would say that approximately three out of every five modern Roots Reggae album will have at least one. You’ll see complete albums also built around the subject, you’ll hear it mentioned on intros, liner notes and even on album promos. The case for Repatriation for people of Afrikan descent is one which I wouldn’t even attempt to make to any large degree sans the name Marcus Garvey and although you will hear tunes which don’t mention him BY NAME, almost ALWAYS, they’ll find a way to call upon Him still. For example? How many times have you heard either Black Star or Black Star Liner mentioned in a song? Recently, I was going through the archives and re-ran across such a tune, very inconspicuously, Black Star Liner from Jah Mason’s No Matter The Time. Its certainly not the only such tune the very modern Mason would have to his credit and it’s just kind of there being overlooked, which isn’t the problem (at least not in the case of this piece) but, lest you think Garvey’s gone (or exactly what book Natty King was reading on his album cover). . . That’s just a single example sitting out of undoubtedly dozens at my current disposal right now. What about one of Bushman’s early hits, the HEAVY Black Starliner? Forget that one too?

Prince Malachi's album Prophet Priest & King (1999)

Completely more forgivable would be if you’ve forgotten Marcus Garvey’s spiritual standing. I purposefully made the decision not to stress, too heavily, Garvey’s representation in Rastafari and in Rastafarian culture because it is a very easily researched topic and another topic within its own (one with a far more historical anchor than I’ve intended for this piece) and while many, if not all, of the artists you’ll read about in this piece will be Rastas, this article’s author is a Rasta and the music itself is ripe with Rastafarian imagery, I hope I can successfully get the point across, specifically His presence within the music with respect to time. HOWEVER, I would be doing you and also myself a disservice if I didn’t directly touch on the matter at least a SOMEWHAT because, again with the different modules of media today, you can approach such a subject with lean towards time. Whenever you’ll hear an artist speak of something to the effect of, “Prophet, Priest & King, you will surely know that the “Prophet” in that equation is Garvey. Even further on that is, from a historical point of view (I had to do it), it was Garvey who prophesied the coming of a Black King, who was to be Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of The Tribe of Judah, the literal pillar upon which Rastafari is built. Thus, a rather GLARING indirect way in which Garvey is forever linked to Reggae music, Reggae culture and the entire Reggae listening world. Every time you hear a reference to Rasta, in any way shape or form, there is a subtle reference to Garvey as well. When will they Reggae and Rasta NOT go hand in hand, at least in the minds of most people? Never. Black Unity is also in the same situation as one of the core values of Pan-Africanism and one which was stressed by Garvey. I wouldn’t go as far with this concept as I did with Rastafari but definitely it isn’t rare at all to hear references to The Prophet when an artist is dealing with the concept of Black unity and unity of all people, in fact.

Another brief phenomenon that I’ve noticed is the (BIG) inclusion of segments of Marcus Garvey’s speeches in music and on albums. Most recently, Lutan Fyah’s album, African Be Proud had a cut of one used as its intro but it wasn’t the first time the ‘duo’ had linked together as on one of Fyah’s earlier projects, the WICKED Time & Place, the tune Ithio First had also a piece from a speech from Garvey. Also, as the header mentions, a very fiery Garvey appears on One Atonement, Yahadanai’s only album, from 2004, on a tune appropriate titled ‘Mosiah Chant’ (which literally takes the credit, “featuring Marcus Mosiah Garvey” on the album) which was an excellent touch an, subsequently a BRILLIANT song.

At the very end of this piece you’ll see album cover after album cover referencing, in some way, shape or form, Marcus Garvey. Be it by his own picture (photo or drawn) or through mentions of his ideology. All of these albums are definitely what I would call modern Reggae and what would be the very first thing you notice about an album? The cover, of course. While Marcus Garvey certainly needs no ‘promotion’ at this point, I might even go as far to say that, outside of Selassie I and ONLY Selassie I, not Bob Marley and not after any other prominent figure, his is the face which resonates most with the music and also.

So, in closing, I would mention that the legendary Burning Spear once said in his unforgettably TIMELESS classic, Old Marcus Garvey, “No one remembers, old Marcus Garvey”. I’d have to most respectfully disagree with Winston Rodney. We remember him well Father. Have a look:

Livicated to The Most Honourable Prophet Marcus Mosiah Garvey

Jah Continue to Bless

Happy Earthstrong