Music as a Weapon of Revolution

Music, well we might already know well what it is. Jogging, studying, driving a car or any other activities is way more boring if we don’t play music. But, have you ever thought why when we hear gloomy songs, we escalated about to felt its sadness, also when we are about to increase our mood, we choose to play an upbeat song to blow the mood up. It’s like, a piece of music can enter our soul and turns it the way they want to.

Furthermore, Have you ever thought that pieces of music can make people move and do the revolution?. Well, the story began, Robert Nesta Marley or most people know him as “Bob Marley”, While other singers may worry about hitting the top charts, Marley introduced the world to the concept of Reggae and Rastafarianism from his own culture. He born in Jamaica in 1945, As a child growing up in Trench Town he experienced the crippling poverty, brutality that was the legacy of British imperial rule.

Singing about love, peace, and Jamaican social justice, Marley became the “preacher of positivity” with tough lyrics like, “Get up stand up, Stand up for your rights”. When his popularity grew and he knew people were listening, he additionally made it his priority to fight for the rights of other colonized countries in Africa and the freedom of slavery.

By extracting his lyrics from the speeches of political freedom fighters in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Ethiopia, he brought civilian African issues to the centre of world attention. Marley’s message is revolutionary and motivational but executed with an amiableness that many people compared him to Mahatma Gandhi.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain,” Marley said, Unlike the pain of the bullet, music was a strong and peaceful influence over Marley that he believed he had to gave to influence others. In 1977 he had been diagnosed with melanoma, which is a form of skin cancer. He discovered melanoma while playing football. He loved giving his music to people so much that he refused medical help for his wounds and his condition worsened on his world tour visiting the US.

Moreover, When he was advised to have his toe amputated to stop the spread of the disease, he refused, because in his religion (Rastafari) it is considered a sin to remove part of one’s body. Marley believed the Rastafarian religion was the way for God to heal him and didn’t fear the risk of dying due to his unwavering faith. Then in May 1981, he dies. he died by creating music for others and refused to care for his well-being, His inspiring acts of selflessness and resilience through every milestone of his life made him as many people inspiration. he sure made it worth it. Growing up being the underdog of his small society, his humbling words have stretched across the globe.

Although Marley may have lived in a world that is different to the one, we find ourselves in today. The reality is that the human problems he encountered were no different from the ones we experience in the presents. the guns kept firing, the slavery still exist moreover it becomes bigger and wilder. The world needs another Marley who bravely becomes the voice for those who are voiceless, so that the birds can be heard chirping once again, marking the end to the killing and the return of life to those blood-stained fields.

 

Reference :

1. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002490/bio

2. https://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/2021/03/22/bob-marley-a-spiritual-and-revolutionary-hero- through-music/

3. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/fact-check-how-many-people-are-enslaved-in-the- world-today/

4. http://socialistreview.org.uk/292/bob-marley-roots-revolutionary

 

Author 

My name is Fauzan Khairullah Umaternate, I lived In NorthJakarta, and I’m 20 years old. For now, I’m a gap year and just take the test for joining University, I was a student at Indonesia Institute of the Arts of Yogyakarta before, but because of my parents’ permission, I have to r esign. I’m used to thinking creatively and I’m glad that Indonesia Youth Foundation creates some kind of this submission. Actually this triggered me to create my own article.