Post by kaya on Feb 7, 2005 15:54:36 GMT -5
Bob Marley, Rastafarianism,African Unity
By Taitu Teferi
The Bob Marley 60th birthday celebrations kicked off last Tuesday with the opening of the Africa Unite Art Exhibit at Addis Ababa City Hall.
The paintings on display featured Bob Marley with his spiritual father, Emperor Haile Selassie under the theme Father and Son. Present were Bob Marley’s wife, Rita Marley, His Holiness Abuna Paulos of the Ethiopian Taewhedo Orthodox Church, the Islamic leader of Ethiopia? Mayor Arkebe Oqubay, and Prince Bede Mariam Mekonnen.
The ceremony included a presentation by Mayor Arkebe Oqubay and a speech and song by Bob’s mother, Cedella Marley Booker and sister Pearl Livingston. There were performances by Ethiopian Traditional Dancers, the African Youth Parade for Peace, the National Drummers of Burundi, the Drums of Rastafari, and the Florida A&M University Choir.
During the ceremony Mayor Arkebe Oqubay granted Rita Marley with an Honorary citizenship of Addis Ababa. She also holds Ghanaian citizenship and the royal title of Nana Afua Adobea.
The month-long celebrations will include fund-raising banquets, art exhibits, films, a book release by Rita Marley and a concert on Sunday, 6th February, Bob Marley’s birthday. Three symposiums will deal with the themes of three of Bob Marley’s songs: African Unite, No Woman No Cry and Redemption Song.
The first of these symposiums, Africa Unite, began on Wednesday. The opening session was held in Africa Hall of the Economic Commission for Africa. Haile Selassie coincidentally inaugurated this hall on 6th February 1961, Marley’s birthday, in dedication to all African people.
After the symposium moved on to the UN conference centre, a projection of music videos of Bob Marley singing the theme songs of Africa Unite, Exodus, and War initiated the vibrancy of each subject presented by the speakers. The Iyrics for War were taken from a speech by Emperor Haile Selassie.
The basic theme of the symposium, coined the African Renaissance, is a renewed concern among African nations and Africans in the diaspora that evolved out of the need to deal with the current challenges of the continent. Challenges such as HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, internecine conflict, restriction of movement, youth disenfranchisement, technological development, debt relief, unfair trade agreements and support for leaders who cater to the desires of foreign governments and cultures at the expense of their own people. These challenges can only be addressed if all Africans, on the continent and in the diaspora, unite to achieve self-determination and economic empowerment.
Chaired by Danny Glover, renowned African American actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, the session included keynote addresses by many dignitaries.
Among them was Ambassador Dudley Thompson, Jamaican lawyer and staunch Pan-Africanist. He regarded Bob Marley as the “Flaming torch to enlighten the world.” Haile Selassie awarded Ambassador Thompson with the OAU medal, "Legend Of Africa". As a lawyer he defended Jomo Kenyatta during the Mau Mau trials in Kenya.
He explained how Europeans induce hegemony upon themselves to the detriment of Africa and other developing nations. They do so by changing
history. He stated however that, “Our children need not look to western civilisation as our history... We had our kings and queens,” including the Queen of Sheba. “We are our own historians.”
Taken from the Addis Tribune.
Read the entire article at:
Addis Tribune
By Taitu Teferi
The Bob Marley 60th birthday celebrations kicked off last Tuesday with the opening of the Africa Unite Art Exhibit at Addis Ababa City Hall.
The paintings on display featured Bob Marley with his spiritual father, Emperor Haile Selassie under the theme Father and Son. Present were Bob Marley’s wife, Rita Marley, His Holiness Abuna Paulos of the Ethiopian Taewhedo Orthodox Church, the Islamic leader of Ethiopia? Mayor Arkebe Oqubay, and Prince Bede Mariam Mekonnen.
The ceremony included a presentation by Mayor Arkebe Oqubay and a speech and song by Bob’s mother, Cedella Marley Booker and sister Pearl Livingston. There were performances by Ethiopian Traditional Dancers, the African Youth Parade for Peace, the National Drummers of Burundi, the Drums of Rastafari, and the Florida A&M University Choir.
During the ceremony Mayor Arkebe Oqubay granted Rita Marley with an Honorary citizenship of Addis Ababa. She also holds Ghanaian citizenship and the royal title of Nana Afua Adobea.
The month-long celebrations will include fund-raising banquets, art exhibits, films, a book release by Rita Marley and a concert on Sunday, 6th February, Bob Marley’s birthday. Three symposiums will deal with the themes of three of Bob Marley’s songs: African Unite, No Woman No Cry and Redemption Song.
The first of these symposiums, Africa Unite, began on Wednesday. The opening session was held in Africa Hall of the Economic Commission for Africa. Haile Selassie coincidentally inaugurated this hall on 6th February 1961, Marley’s birthday, in dedication to all African people.
After the symposium moved on to the UN conference centre, a projection of music videos of Bob Marley singing the theme songs of Africa Unite, Exodus, and War initiated the vibrancy of each subject presented by the speakers. The Iyrics for War were taken from a speech by Emperor Haile Selassie.
The basic theme of the symposium, coined the African Renaissance, is a renewed concern among African nations and Africans in the diaspora that evolved out of the need to deal with the current challenges of the continent. Challenges such as HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, internecine conflict, restriction of movement, youth disenfranchisement, technological development, debt relief, unfair trade agreements and support for leaders who cater to the desires of foreign governments and cultures at the expense of their own people. These challenges can only be addressed if all Africans, on the continent and in the diaspora, unite to achieve self-determination and economic empowerment.
Chaired by Danny Glover, renowned African American actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, the session included keynote addresses by many dignitaries.
Among them was Ambassador Dudley Thompson, Jamaican lawyer and staunch Pan-Africanist. He regarded Bob Marley as the “Flaming torch to enlighten the world.” Haile Selassie awarded Ambassador Thompson with the OAU medal, "Legend Of Africa". As a lawyer he defended Jomo Kenyatta during the Mau Mau trials in Kenya.
He explained how Europeans induce hegemony upon themselves to the detriment of Africa and other developing nations. They do so by changing
history. He stated however that, “Our children need not look to western civilisation as our history... We had our kings and queens,” including the Queen of Sheba. “We are our own historians.”
Taken from the Addis Tribune.
Read the entire article at:
Addis Tribune