Ethiopia gets up, stands up for Marley

[XXPANTHAXX]

RAYMOND THIBODEAUX

ADDIS ABABA, FEBRUARY 6--Chihiro Nakamori, a Japanese
Rastafarian, feels right at home among the thousands of
pilgrims in the Ethiopian capital this weekend to honor
reggae superstar Bob Marley on what would have been his 60th
birthday Sunday.

Marley’s Redemption Song has special meaning for the 25-year-
old Nakamori, whose long, somewhat dreadlocked hair is
bundled into a knit hat of black, yellow and green stripes.

‘‘In Japan, there is the big influence of American and
European culture and the pressures of capitalism,’’ he
said. ‘‘This is a kind of slavery that Marley sings about
when he sings, emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None
but ourselves can free our minds.’’

Nearly a quarter century after Marley’s death from cancer at
the age of 36, his words still resonate deeply for millions.

His enduring popularity has spawned an annual tribute that
for the first time this year is being held outside Marley’s
Jamaican birthplace.

Holding the festival in Addis Ababa commemorates not only the
musician but Marley’s affinity for Africa — and for Ethiopia
in particular. The country’s last emperor, Haile Selassie,
became a kind of god for the Rastafarian movement. The term
Rastafarian comes from Selassie’s name before being crowned,
Ras Tafari Makonnen.

The peak of Marley’s 60th birthday tribute, a free concert on
Sunday in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square, featured top African
performers, including Marley’s wife, Rita, and their son,
Ziggy, also a renowned reggae artist.

Event organizers said later, that with more than 200,000
people attending, it was the largest-ever concert in
Ethiopia.

An aspect of Rastafarians that makes many uneasy is their
fondness for marijuana, which is illegal in Ethiopia. To head
off potentially awkward diplomatic barbs, the US embassy
issued warnings to Americans traveling in Ethiopia that drug
laws in this nation are strictly enforced.

Rita Marley sparked controversy when she vowed to exhume
Marley’s body from his Jamaican homeland and rebury it in
Ethiopia, which she said was one of his last wishes.

Jamaicans expressed outrage and Rita backed down, for now.

At the ‘‘Africa Unite’’ symposium earlier this week, pan-
African activist Dudley Thompson spoke to hundreds of people
in an auditorium of the UN compound in Addis Ababa. ‘‘Fifty
years ago our grandparents would not have thought that we
would be returning to Africa with a message in our hearts
that Africa is our home,’’ he said.

‘‘Bob Marley inspired us to light the flame of freedom,’’ he
said. ‘‘The soul of the music of Bob Marley is the soul and
the heart of every true African, every true Rastafarian, and
every true lover of freedom and justice in the world today.’’

—NYT


URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?
content_id=64231

Ethiopia concert honours Marley

Tens of thousands of people have converged on the capital of
Ethiopia for a concert to mark what would have been Bob
Marley's 60th birthday.

The concert is being held in Meskal Square, Addis Ababa, in
honour of the reggae legend who died in 1981.

Marley's five sons, widow and former backup singers were due
to perform along with top African acts Angelique Kidjo, Baaba
Maal and Youssou N'Dour.

It is the first time his birthday has been celebrated outside
Jamaica.

Ethiopia, the birthplace of Rastafarianism, was chosen by
Marley's family to host the official event, and is organized
by the Bob Marley Foundation, the UN children's agency, the
African Union and others.

Free event

Many of those who gathered for the concert wore T-shirts
emblazoned with portraits of Marley or hand-bands and
jewellery decorated with the Ethiopian national flag and
Rastafarian colours of green, yellow and red.

Organisers said they expected as many as 300,000 people to
attend the free event, which is dubbed Africa Unite.

Festivities began on Tuesday in what will be a month-long
celebration.

Other highlights of the commemoration - which has been dubbed
Africa Unite - include art and photography exhibitions to
raise funds for Somali victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, a
youth centre and a museum.

Marley, who was behind songs such as Exodus and One Love, won
global stardom with his music and helped popularise the
Rastafarian religion, which venerates the late Ethiopian
Emperor Haile Selassie.

Marley regarded Ethiopia as his spiritual home because of his
religious beliefs.

His widow, Rita, said: "It has always been the wish of Bob
Marley to return to Ethiopia and become a Rastafarian... and
with the African Union, Addis Ababa is the capital of Africa
and therefore a very symbolic place."

She added that she wishes to rebury her husband, now interred
in Jamaica, in the Ethiopian village community of Shashamene.

"It was a dream of Bob Marley and it is a dream of the family
to bury him in Ethiopia," she said.

"As we believe in what is to be, must be, it will happen in
due course."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr//2/hi...nt/4239747.stm

Published: 2005/02/06 15:03:22 GMT


Rastafarians show One Love for Marley

By Ishbel Matheson
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Befitting the occasion, there has been the air of a huge
birthday party in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

Tens of thousands crammed into Meskal Square on Sunday to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of the birth of the late
Jamaican reggae star, Bob Marley.

Rastafarians, praising Marley as a prophet, draped their
shoulders with red, gold and green flags and many wore T-
shirts with their hero's image.

They have jetted in from around the world to Ethiopia, which
they regard as their spiritual home, coming from as far
afield as Israel, Spain, South America and the UK.

They mingled with locals to enjoy a free concert to
commemorate the life and ideals of Marley, who died from
cancer aged 36.

Stars such as Youssou N'Dour, Angelique Kidjo and Baaba Maal
were performing.

'Not all about drugs'

Marley's life was short but his legacy long. His message of
peace, love and unity still has a resonance here in Ethiopia.

One Rastafarian from New York said: "I was born in Brooklyn
but I'm a Rastafarian and I'm here to celebrate Bob Marley
and what he stood for.

"He believed in peace and love - it's not all about the ganja
and the marijuana."

The theme of this concert, fronted by the Marley family, is
Africa Unite.

It has struck a chord with many of the Ethiopian concert-
goers - many hope this event will project a different view of
their homeland, a country which is too often associated with
poverty and famine.

Marley's son, Ziggy, told me Ethiopia was of huge importance
to his father as the cradle of civilisation.

"This is where all of us came from. That's science, not
religious rhetoric.

"The message today is that Africa should unite. This is what
we're focusing on."

So what does he think of the depressing picture of Africa
that is so often portrayed?

"Those who speak of that are the ones who don't want the
vision for Africa to become a reality. But we know its
history is great and its future is even greater.

"We don't listen to the sceptics or hypocrites who speak
against the dream of Africans."

And the thousands of people who have turned out here are
showing that Marley's message is still potent 24 years after
his death.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...ca/4240879.stm
Published: 2005/02/06 17:09:59 GMT


Marley Concert Draws Hundreds of Thousands in Ethiopia

Dagnachew Teklu
Canadian Press

Sunday, February 06, 2005

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)-Thousands of Ethiopians and
Rastafarians gathered in the capital's main square on Sunday
as Ethiopia threw a birthday bash for the late reggae star
Bob Marley in what was billed as the country's largest
concert.

The bash, part of month-long celebrations of the 60th
anniversary of Marley's birth, marks the first time the event
has been held outside the singer's native Jamaica. It was
organized by the Bob Marley Foundation, the UN children's
agency, the African Union and others.

Marley, who died in 1981, looked to Ethiopia throughout his
life as the spiritual home of his Rastafarian faith.

A priest from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church blessed the event
and then first on stage was Burundi's Royal Drummers.

Many of those in Meskel Square for Sunday's concert wore T-
shirts emblazoned with portraits of Bob Marley, including
Ethiopia's minister of state for information, Netsanet Asfaw.

Others wore hand-bands, jewelry and T-shirts decorated with
the Ethiopian national flag and Rastafarian colours of green,
yellow and red.

Organizers said they expected as many as 300,000 people to
attend the free event, which is dubbed Africa Unite after one
of Marley's many famous songs. There were, however, 2,000
seats for guests willing to pay $125 Cdn each.

"I think it is incredible that so many years after brother
Bob's death, he still inspires such an amazing show," said
Yohannes, a Rastafarian, who uses only a single name.

Originally from Crystal Palace, London, he now lives in Addis
Ababa and is married to an Ethiopian.

The audience had swelled to about 20,000 people early Sunday
when the first set was played. About 2,000 policemen
patrolled the venue, a policeman said.

Benin music star Angelique Kidjo sang later Sunday as did
well-known Ethiopians artists. Marley's five sons, widow and
former backup singers are expected to perform, along with
Senegal's Youssou N'dour and Baaba Maal.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi arrived Sunday with his wife and
children to attend the concert.

Information Minister Bereket Simon told journalists that the
concert will raise Africa's profile in the world and improve
its image.

Ethiopia's evangelical churches on Saturday objected to the
celebrations, saying that Rastafarians are wrong to consider
Ethiopia's last emperor as a living god and warning they
would expose Ethiopian youth to marijuana.

However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the country's main
church, has supported the celebrations.

Some Rastafarians smoke marijuana as a sacrament, but others
object to its use. Most Rastafarians preach a oneness with
nature and wear their hair in dreadlocks.

Meskel Square, which has been undergoing a facelift over the
last month with new paving and streetlights, was fluttering
with Ethiopian, Jamaican and other countries' flags.

"This is a big day for Bob," said Bisrat Teddesse, an
Ethiopian businessman out for a morning walk with his
wife. "I like the Jamaicans," he said, using a common
Ethiopian term for the country's small Rastafarian
community. "And I love Bob. He is Ethiopia's elder son."

The concert was broadcast live on Ethiopian television.
Organizers say that the celebrations have cost about $1
million Cdn and are aimed at raising funds to help poor
families in Ethiopia as well as tsunami victims in
neighbouring Somalia.


Feb 07 04:36

MORE THAN 300,000 CELEBRATE BOB MARLEY IN ETHIOPIA REGGAE FEST

by Matthew Lee

Addis Ababa (ANTARA News/AFP) - More than 300,000 music fans,
Rastafarians and the merely curious swarmed central Addis
Ababa on Sunday, turning the capital`s huge Meskel Square
into a sea of red, green and yellow to celebrate what would
have been reggae legend Bob Marley`s 60th birthday.

As Ethiopia`s blazing sun set, crowds thronged the square for
a free concert where the country`s former Marxist leadership
once paraded its military might as hundreds of heavily armed
soldiers, some on horseback, and police stood by.

"I never thought I would live to see this day," Marley`s
frail, 80-year-old, wheelchair-bound mother, Cedella, told
the crowd. "I can see Bob Marley remains the star of the
show."

Newspaper torches illuminated the square as Marley`s widow,
Rita, and other family members took to the stage with the I-
Threes, his former back-up singers, to whip some of the
singer`s greatest hits.

Earlier, bands had fired up reggae classics from Jimmy
Cliff`s reggae classic "The Harder They Come," to a souped-up
version of Johnny Nash`s "I Can See Clearly Now," as
dreadlocks swayed and sunburnt VIPs danced.

In the stands at the far end of the square, the hoi polloi
overwhelmed a metal barricade intended to keep them off the
tarmac but met no resistance. Meanwhile on stage, performers
extolled the virtues of peace and love.

Police estimated the crowd at between 200,000 and 250,000 in
the late afternoon.

"I am really amazed," said Lililita Johnson, 21, the student
director of Florida A&M University`s Concert Choir which
performed a long set of Bob Marley`s songs.

"Bob Marley was right to pick Ethiopia as the land of his
dreams," she said. "I wish that he was with us today to see
that his dream of Africa Unite taking roots in Africa itself."

In the VIP section, a beaming Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, greeted Rita Marley and Chris Blackwell, the
legendary music producer who discovered Bob Marley in the
slums of Trenchtown, Jamaica and made him a star.

Rastafarians, who venerate Ethiopia`s ex-emperor Haile
Selassie as a god, rejoiced in the wisdom of holding this
year`s annual celebration in Ethiopia -- their promised land -
- for the first time outside Marley`s native Jamaica.

"The fact that we are in Addis Ababa, in Meskel Square today,
celebrating `Africa Unite` shows that the anniversary of Bob
Marley is proof that mental slavery is fading away," said
Mother Jah Evejah, a Rastafarian priestess from the west
African nation of Benin.

Bob Marley, who made a pilgrimage to Ethiopia two years
before his death from cancer at age 36 in 1981, is arguably
the most famous Rastafarian in history.

Among the Rasta community he is regarded as a prophet and his
songs "Buffalo Soldier," "Exodus" and "War," among others,
are now anthems for the faithful.

Evejah, whose business card describes her as the charge
d`affaires for repatriation at the Cultural Embassy of the
Diaspora and Jah People, said the concert proved the wisdom
of Haile Selassie and Bob Marley and the truth of Rastafarian
principles.

"Before Rastafari, we went through tribulation, desecration,
people didn`t want Rasta people at first because at that time
everybody believed in the model of the Western man," she said.

Yet many Ethiopians are befuddled by Rastafarians who have
defied their one-time emperor, by many accounts a short,
imperious man, and embraced their nation as Zion.

"I don`t have much affection for them, but I am not against
them," said Zenbe Biru, a 22-year-old student at Addis Ababa
University. "I have problem understanding their philosophy."

Like many other Ethiopians he and 18-year-old high school
pupil Alem Desta said they had been prepared to put aside
that problem to see the free outdoor concert, a rare and
exciting event with good music.

"I have my own reservations about the Rastafarians," Desta
said. "I hate the way they dress and mostly I hate what they
smoke."

"I have never dreamed of considering them as one of us, they
have their own home, we have our own," he said. "But I like
their music."

Meles`s government has adopted a studiously neutral view of
the Rastafarians, many of whom were waving portraits of the
late emperor.

"The government is not interested in contesting relgious
claims," said Information Minister Simon Bedekat, when asked
about complaints from conservative Christians that the Bob
Marley celebrations were blasphemous.

"We`re looking forward, as far as this (Rastafarianism)
doesn`t interfere with moving forward, we have no problem
with it," he said.

Regardless of their opinion of Haile Selassie, average
Ethiopians in the square clearly enjoyed the show. They
listened happily to the music, although some admitted to
being self-conscious about the Rastafarians` devotion.

"Sometimes I feel that if we Ethiopians loved our country the
way they do, with a passion and historical pride, we would be
better citizens," said 57-year-old Abdel Mohammoued, who
brought his wife and three children to the show.