One Love

Today marks the 30th year since we lost reggae legend and activist Bob Marley. People across the world today are remembering the legacy the 36 year-old artist through celebration of his life and craft. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of English descent whose family came from Essex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected:

“I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.”

The London footprint left by Bob Marley includes a Bayswater B&B, a Chelsea townhouse and the unlikely setting of a school gym in Peckham. Guide books tend to point visitors to an apartment block in Camden, where a heritage plaque unveiled in 2006 honours the Jamaican musician at his former north London home. Robert Nesta Marley lived at 34 Ridgmount Gardens in 1972 when he first came to England, just as his group the Wailers were making a name for themselves.





They also lived in the somewhat bizarre confines of a semi-detached house in Neasden. From here Marley & Co would have enjoyed panoramic views of the North Circular, parts of Wembley and the Welsh Harp by Brent Reservoir.

1977 brought another sojourn in London for Marley, this time for nearly two years as he and the Wailers decamped a Chelsea townhouse at 42, Oakley Street. The financial constraints of the past were gone; the reggae star could afford a cook and was able to bankroll a huge entourage. Marley had a cosy retreat at the top of the house where he was visited by his girlfriend Cindy Breakspeare, a former Miss World.

It was also a highly creative time and the Wailers went on to make a further two albums, Exodus and Kaya, the latter recorded in a converted laundry in Ravenscourt Park. This was the era of hits such as Jammin', One Love and Waiting in Vain. It was also here that a cancerous tumour was discovered in Marley's toe, which later would spread fatally to the rest of his body. Within three years reggae's global ambassador would be dead, leaving a wife, 13 children and no will - and a back catalogue of music that would be mined, reversioned and reissued for decades to come.



Marley is considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Most critics agree that no other musician has single-handedly held such sway over a music genre the way Marley did with reggae.

Bob Marley also helped popularise Rastafarianism, which venerates the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie, who was deposed in 1974 and died in 1975 (many people believe he was murdered), is hailed by Rastafarians as an incarnation of God.

Bob Marley, who was born Robert Nesta Marley, grew up dirt poor on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Much of his music aims to lift up the impoverished and powerless, and anthems like "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" carry a strong antiauthoritarian streak.

At a young age Marley fell in with the Rastafarians—known as the blackheart men among the Kingston residents who feared them. The Rastas then were a group of street preachers who taught the Bible and smoked marijuana.


Haile Selassie in 1934


Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, the only African country not to have been colonised.

Although its roots go back to the early 1900s, Rastafarianism takes its name from Ras (Prince or Duke) Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie's name until he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The faith predicted that a new king with the power of God would rise out of Africa.

Many of Bob Marley's songs had an African connection. "Exodus" and "Redemption Song," for example, decried racism and the European colonisation of Africa, and celebrated freedom from oppression.


Bob Marley and the Wailers, Dalymount Park, Dublin


I only saw him once the summer before he died when Bob and the wailers played their only Irish gig on 6th July 1980 at Dalymount Park in Phibsboro, the home ground of Dublin’s Bohemian Football club. It was a precious memory and despite the lousy sound quality a great concert. But it had its surreal moments also. Behind Bob, The Wailers And his backing singers The I-trees was a large cloth banner in Rasta colours of the Emperor Ras Tafari with the Lion of Judah in the background. By way of contrast in front of the stage being wildly distracting were a group of 30 Dublin skin heads moshing and jumping up and down. I remember Marley looking askance at them on a number of occasions – like the rest of us he wasn’t sure seeing these animated skinheads if Jah would be there. I’m not sure the skinheads “got it.”

Later that year Bob Marley and the Wailers played in New York City in September 1980 (Madison Square Garden), as support to The Commodores. Two days after this concert Bob Marley collapsed in Central Park, and was diagnosed with cancer. He died a few months later on 11th May 1981. What a great journey Marley had made from Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. To his fellow Rasta he is on that journey still.

"One love, one heart, one destiny."

Bob Marley

Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981)

http://www.bobmarley-foundation.com/foundation.html

One Love

Today marks the 30th year since we lost reggae legend and activist Bob Marley. People across the world today are remembering the legacy the 36 year-old artist through celebration of his life and craft. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of English descent whose family came from Essex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected:

“I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.”

The London footprint left by Bob Marley includes a Bayswater B&B, a Chelsea townhouse and the unlikely setting of a school gym in Peckham. Guide books tend to point visitors to an apartment block in Camden, where a heritage plaque unveiled in 2006 honours the Jamaican musician at his former north London home. Robert Nesta Marley lived at 34 Ridgmount Gardens in 1972 when he first came to England, just as his group the Wailers were making a name for themselves.





They also lived in the somewhat bizarre confines of a semi-detached house in Neasden. From here Marley & Co would have enjoyed panoramic views of the North Circular, parts of Wembley and the Welsh Harp by Brent Reservoir.

1977 brought another sojourn in London for Marley, this time for nearly two years as he and the Wailers decamped a Chelsea townhouse at 42, Oakley Street. The financial constraints of the past were gone; the reggae star could afford a cook and was able to bankroll a huge entourage. Marley had a cosy retreat at the top of the house where he was visited by his girlfriend Cindy Breakspeare, a former Miss World.

It was also a highly creative time and the Wailers went on to make a further two albums, Exodus and Kaya, the latter recorded in a converted laundry in Ravenscourt Park. This was the era of hits such as Jammin', One Love and Waiting in Vain. It was also here that a cancerous tumour was discovered in Marley's toe, which later would spread fatally to the rest of his body. Within three years reggae's global ambassador would be dead, leaving a wife, 13 children and no will - and a back catalogue of music that would be mined, reversioned and reissued for decades to come.



Marley is considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Most critics agree that no other musician has single-handedly held such sway over a music genre the way Marley did with reggae.

Bob Marley also helped popularise Rastafarianism, which venerates the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie, who was deposed in 1974 and died in 1975 (many people believe he was murdered), is hailed by Rastafarians as an incarnation of God.

Bob Marley, who was born Robert Nesta Marley, grew up dirt poor on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Much of his music aims to lift up the impoverished and powerless, and anthems like "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" carry a strong antiauthoritarian streak.

At a young age Marley fell in with the Rastafarians—known as the blackheart men among the Kingston residents who feared them. The Rastas then were a group of street preachers who taught the Bible and smoked marijuana.


Haile Selassie in 1934


Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, the only African country not to have been colonised.

Although its roots go back to the early 1900s, Rastafarianism takes its name from Ras (Prince or Duke) Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie's name until he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The faith predicted that a new king with the power of God would rise out of Africa.

Many of Bob Marley's songs had an African connection. "Exodus" and "Redemption Song," for example, decried racism and the European colonisation of Africa, and celebrated freedom from oppression.


Bob Marley and the Wailers, Dalymount Park, Dublin


I only saw him once the summer before he died when Bob and the wailers played their only Irish gig on 6th July 1980 at Dalymount Park in Phibsboro, the home ground of Dublin’s Bohemian Football club. It was a precious memory and despite the lousy sound quality a great concert. But it had its surreal moments also. Behind Bob, The Wailers And his backing singers The I-trees was a large cloth banner in Rasta colours of the Emperor Ras Tafari with the Lion of Judah in the background. By way of contrast in front of the stage being wildly distracting were a group of 30 Dublin skin heads moshing and jumping up and down. I remember Marley looking askance at them on a number of occasions – like the rest of us he wasn’t sure seeing these animated skinheads if Jah would be there. I’m not sure the skinheads “got it.”

Later that year Bob Marley and the Wailers played in New York City in September 1980 (Madison Square Garden), as support to The Commodores. Two days after this concert Bob Marley collapsed in Central Park, and was diagnosed with cancer. He died a few months later on 11th May 1981. What a great journey Marley had made from Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. To his fellow Rasta he is on that journey still.

"One love, one heart, one destiny."

Bob Marley

Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981)

http://www.bobmarley-foundation.com/foundation.html

March for Justice for Smiley Culture - next Saturday

The concerns about the strange death of Reggae Star Smiley Culture (David Emmanuel), who died on March 15, aged 48, allegedly from self-inflicted stab wounds during a police drugs raid have not gone away. We are told that this was a serious drugs raid and that Smiley was facing serious drug charges but this was a person with NO criminal conviction for drugs and the only witnesses were the four policemen in his home with him. The questions are not going away and his family and community want answers - This is not an isolated incident; no fewer than 104 black and ethnic minority people have died in police custody in the past 16 years. There has NEVER, I repeat NEVER been a conviction of a Police Officer for murder in relation to a death in Police Custody in England.


Scotland Yard

The campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture is keeping up the pressure for real answers with a demonstration next Saturday.

Saturday 16 April, Assemble 12 noon

Southbank Club, 124-130 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2DL.


The Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture has called a demonstration to New Scotland Yard on Saturday, 16 April. It has received massive support from communities around the country, and has the potential to be very big.



The families and supporters of many of those who have died in police custody will be marching. We should also bring along others who have suffered brutality at the hands of police, whether through racist stop and search or being beaten up on a student demonstration. United we can bring change.

Over the next week we can spread the word through our campaign and community groups. Let's make this a march that the police can't ignore.



Join the Facebook group for the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture.

www.facebook.com/Campaign4Justice4SmileyCulture

For the background to the unexplained death of Smiley Culture in Police Custody see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/03/strange-case-of-smiley-culture.html

March for Justice for Smiley Culture - next Saturday

The concerns about the strange death of Reggae Star Smiley Culture (David Emmanuel), who died on March 15, aged 48, allegedly from self-inflicted stab wounds during a police drugs raid have not gone away. We are told that this was a serious drugs raid and that Smiley was facing serious drug charges but this was a person with NO criminal conviction for drugs and the only witnesses were the four policemen in his home with him. The questions are not going away and his family and community want answers - This is not an isolated incident; no fewer than 104 black and ethnic minority people have died in police custody in the past 16 years. There has NEVER, I repeat NEVER been a conviction of a Police Officer for murder in relation to a death in Police Custody in England.


Scotland Yard

The campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture is keeping up the pressure for real answers with a demonstration next Saturday.

Saturday 16 April, Assemble 12 noon

Southbank Club, 124-130 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2DL.


The Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture has called a demonstration to New Scotland Yard on Saturday, 16 April. It has received massive support from communities around the country, and has the potential to be very big.



The families and supporters of many of those who have died in police custody will be marching. We should also bring along others who have suffered brutality at the hands of police, whether through racist stop and search or being beaten up on a student demonstration. United we can bring change.

Over the next week we can spread the word through our campaign and community groups. Let's make this a march that the police can't ignore.



Join the Facebook group for the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture.

www.facebook.com/Campaign4Justice4SmileyCulture

For the background to the unexplained death of Smiley Culture in Police Custody see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/03/strange-case-of-smiley-culture.html

The strange case of Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture, who died on March 15 aged 48, allegedly from self-inflicted stab wounds during a police drugs raid, produced two of the most influential reggae singles of the 1980s, notably Police Officer, a song about police harassment.

There is a strange feeling about this case. We are asked to believe a man was allowed to make a cup of tea on his own while he was being raided and a house was been combed for evidence in an alleged serious drugs case? Wouldn't it be dangerous to let a man boil hot water if he is being arrested alone in the kitchen? Wouldn't it be dangerous to allow a man to walk into a kitchen filled with knives and all sorts if he was being raided? Would experienced officers allow themselves and potential evidence be put at risk in this way? Would a suspect not be cuffed and taken out of the way as a matter of course? Also isn't it very hard almost impossible to stab yourself through your heart at close range to the point where the knife comes out the other side?



The supposedly autobiographical song ("Everytime me drive me car police a stop me superstar"), reached number 12 in the charts in 1984 and told of his being caught in possession of cannabis but being let off with a request for an autograph when the officer concerned recognised him as a reggae star. It earned Smiley Culture an invitation to meet the Queen who, he claimed, said she listened to his records at Buckingham Palace. He also appeared twice on Top of the Pops, the BBC apparently failing to understand the meaning of the term "ganja". The refrain, "Police officer no give me producer", a reference to a notice to produce driving documents at a police station, became a catchphrase on south London streets.

He was born David Emmanuel in 1962 to a Jamaican father and a Grenadian mother and grew up in Stockwell, south London. He attended Tulse Hill School where he acquired the nickname "Smiley" due to his method of chatting up girls – he would ask them for a smile. As reggae became popular he and his friends would practise "chatting" – rapping staccato lyrics over rhythm tracks.

In September last year, however, he appeared at Croydon magistrates' court, charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. At the time of his death he was out on bail but due to face trial next Monday. The police raid on his home at Warlingham, Surrey, came after two kilos of cocaine were recovered from a drugs mule who had been apprehended trying to enter Britain – allegedly as part of a separate plot in which Smiley Culture was implicated.



There are a number of things about this tragic death which raise more questions than answers;

• For instance, why would experienced police officers let a person caught in a serious drug-related raid get up and stroll into the kitchen in order to “make a cup of tea”?

• Did David really stab himself in the heart so hard that it penetrated right through his body and came through the other side? Does this seem likely?

• Would the calculated risk of a drug-related potential prison sentence drive a person, described by those that knew him best as calculating, very calm and pleasant really drive him to such a brutal suicide?

• Why are anonymous police sources engaging in a spinning exercise by telling the press he committed suicide when the family of a man (who died in police custody) has not even had their questions answered and the matter is more properly answered by a Coroner’s Court?


The house at Warlingham, Surrey, where David Emmanuel died

Whilst the unexpected can always happen, both those who have been subjected to police raids and actual police officers agree that it sounds at best strange and certainly contrary to procedure for officers to let a person pop out of the room – unsupervised - to make a cup of tea, during a drug bust.

There are very serious questions that require clear and loud answers. This is not to prejudice the result of an IPCC and Coroner's enquiry for people under the influence of drugs (if that is the case) can do strange things. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating events at Emmanuel's house and for the sake of public confidence it needs to fully answer these worrying questions. This is not an isolated incident; no fewer than 104 black and ethnic minority people have died in police custody in the past 16 years.

FOR MORE ON POLICING ISSUES SEE "PLOD BLOGS" IN THE BLOG SIDEBAR >>>>>>>>

The strange case of Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture

Smiley Culture, who died on March 15 aged 48, allegedly from self-inflicted stab wounds during a police drugs raid, produced two of the most influential reggae singles of the 1980s, notably Police Officer, a song about police harassment.

There is a strange feeling about this case. We are asked to believe a man was allowed to make a cup of tea on his own while he was being raided and a house was been combed for evidence in an alleged serious drugs case? Wouldn't it be dangerous to let a man boil hot water if he is being arrested alone in the kitchen? Wouldn't it be dangerous to allow a man to walk into a kitchen filled with knives and all sorts if he was being raided? Would experienced officers allow themselves and potential evidence be put at risk in this way? Would a suspect not be cuffed and taken out of the way as a matter of course? Also isn't it very hard almost impossible to stab yourself through your heart at close range to the point where the knife comes out the other side?



The supposedly autobiographical song ("Everytime me drive me car police a stop me superstar"), reached number 12 in the charts in 1984 and told of his being caught in possession of cannabis but being let off with a request for an autograph when the officer concerned recognised him as a reggae star. It earned Smiley Culture an invitation to meet the Queen who, he claimed, said she listened to his records at Buckingham Palace. He also appeared twice on Top of the Pops, the BBC apparently failing to understand the meaning of the term "ganja". The refrain, "Police officer no give me producer", a reference to a notice to produce driving documents at a police station, became a catchphrase on south London streets.

He was born David Emmanuel in 1962 to a Jamaican father and a Grenadian mother and grew up in Stockwell, south London. He attended Tulse Hill School where he acquired the nickname "Smiley" due to his method of chatting up girls – he would ask them for a smile. As reggae became popular he and his friends would practise "chatting" – rapping staccato lyrics over rhythm tracks.

In September last year, however, he appeared at Croydon magistrates' court, charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. At the time of his death he was out on bail but due to face trial next Monday. The police raid on his home at Warlingham, Surrey, came after two kilos of cocaine were recovered from a drugs mule who had been apprehended trying to enter Britain – allegedly as part of a separate plot in which Smiley Culture was implicated.



There are a number of things about this tragic death which raise more questions than answers;

• For instance, why would experienced police officers let a person caught in a serious drug-related raid get up and stroll into the kitchen in order to “make a cup of tea”?

• Did David really stab himself in the heart so hard that it penetrated right through his body and came through the other side? Does this seem likely?

• Would the calculated risk of a drug-related potential prison sentence drive a person, described by those that knew him best as calculating, very calm and pleasant really drive him to such a brutal suicide?

• Why are anonymous police sources engaging in a spinning exercise by telling the press he committed suicide when the family of a man (who died in police custody) has not even had their questions answered and the matter is more properly answered by a Coroner’s Court?


The house at Warlingham, Surrey, where David Emmanuel died

Whilst the unexpected can always happen, both those who have been subjected to police raids and actual police officers agree that it sounds at best strange and certainly contrary to procedure for officers to let a person pop out of the room – unsupervised - to make a cup of tea, during a drug bust.

There are very serious questions that require clear and loud answers. This is not to prejudice the result of an IPCC and Coroner's enquiry for people under the influence of drugs (if that is the case) can do strange things. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating events at Emmanuel's house and for the sake of public confidence it needs to fully answer these worrying questions. This is not an isolated incident; no fewer than 104 black and ethnic minority people have died in police custody in the past 16 years.

FOR MORE ON POLICING ISSUES SEE "PLOD BLOGS" IN THE BLOG SIDEBAR >>>>>>>>