Bob Marley ‘blacked up’ to blend inPosted in Articles, Arts, Caribbean/Latin America, Media Archive on 2010-12-07 05:19Z by Steven |
Bob Marley ‘blacked up’ to blend in
The Independent
2010-12-04
Rob Sharp, Arts Correspondent
Reggae superstar Bob Marley suffered due to his mixed-race background
Bob Marley preached inner peace and serenity to the masses, but was so racked by angst over his race that he used shoe polish to blacken his hair, according to a new book.
Such insecurities, during Marley’s teenage years in Kingston, Jamaica, contrast strongly with the reggae superstar’s image around the world.
…Marley’s widow, Rita, is quoted in the book—entitled I and I: The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer—as saying that her husband was so racially sensitised and aware of bullying for having a fairer complexion that he asked her to “rub shoe polish in his hair to make it more black; make it more African.”
The author, Colin Grant, has interviewed members of Marley’s inner circle for the book, released in January [2011]. These include Marley’s late mother Cedella Booker and Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.
Grant explained: “When Marley moved to Trench Town in Kingston aged 13 he was thought of as a white man and would have got a lot of grief for that.”…
Read the entire article here.