Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley shared her deep admiration for reggae legend Bob Marley during her address at the Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) Grounation gathering at the Institute of Jamaica’s Lecture Hall last Sunday.
Speaking at JaMM’s 13th annual cultural symposium, themed ‘Bob Marley at Eighty: His Music, Legend and Legacy’, Mottley explained that Marley’s music had inspired her advocacy from a young age. In a pre-recorded message, she reflected on growing up listening to Marley, saying she had become a “disciple of his vision.” Mottley fondly recalled how, as a teenager, she felt something “special” when she first heard Marley’s iconic lyrics, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind”—not realizing at the time that they were originally the words of Marcus Garvey.
During her 15-minute presentation, Prime Minister Mia Mottley invoked several of Bob Marley’s iconic songs, expressing her concern over the state of the world. She lamented the “so much trouble” around, particularly the “deep inequalities” highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, where the most vulnerable suffer the most. Mottley emphasized that, “the most vulnerable among us suffer first and suffer worse.”
She also warned against the forces seeking to divide and undermine democracies, urging people not to be misled by propaganda, fake news, social media algorithms, or conspiracy theories. In her message, Mottley highlighted the lack of common spaces for shared values and facts, pointing out that such divisions were also evident in the Caribbean, where violence and the degradation of music are concerning issues. She cited Marley’s lyrics, “Don’t let them fool you, or even try to school you,” as a reminder of the need to resist these negative influences.
Mottley reminded her audience of Bob Marley’s revolutionary call to action with his famous words, “get up, stand up, stand up for your right.” She emphasized that truly embracing his philosophy meant advocating for the pressing issues facing the Caribbean and vulnerable nations like Barbados. Mottley also echoed Marley’s warning, quoting him: “Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war!”
She cautioned that if action is not taken, the region risks losing an entire generation to “a war of the mind, a war of the soul, a war of hopelessness.” As a two-term prime minister, Mottley stressed the importance of addressing these issues before they spiral into irreversible consequences.
After Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s presentation, the session continued with a two-man panel featuring Professor Clinton Hutton, a retired University of the West Indies lecturer, and Dr. Michael Barnett, a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at UWI. The discussion was moderated by attorney-at-law and journalist Dionne Jackson-Miller.
Grounation, held every Sunday in February at 2 p.m., brings together a vibrant community of culture and music enthusiasts to engage in thoughtful discussions, or “reasoning.” The event explores different aspects of Jamaica’s rich musical history while drawing connections to the issues facing contemporary society.
