How had it come to this? It's February 6, 2003, Bob Marley's 58th birthday. My wife, Julia, our teenage daughter, Alicia, and I are standing on a stage at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, with reggae artists Luciano, Abijah, Ernie Smith, Denroy Morgan (of Morgan Heritage), Swade, Mackie Conscious and I'ngel Chanta, all singing Bob Marley's "One Love." Our entire two and a half-hour concert is being broadcast live to the whole island on the Richie B Show, Jamaica's most popular radio program. Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans are tuned in, sharing our vision of healing Jamaica through individual acts of One Love and forgiveness.
It makes sense that the Jamaican reggae artists are all on this stage - but us? A White, middle-class family living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina? Again I ask myself - what are we doing on this stage? - still unable to fully comprehend and appreciate the Jah winds that have blown us here. And yet in one way, it all makes perfect, logical sense.
It all began simply enough in October of 2000, 28 months earlier. Our family took your basic vacation to Jamaica - jet skiing, parasailing, visiting the waterfalls, lying by the pool, eating too much - you know, the usual. We were celebrating having just completed our latest book, Memoirs of an Ex-Hippie: Seven Years in the Counterculture. That's what Julia and I do, write books on One Love, that's an unconditional love for all. I do the actual writing, while Julia and I do the conceptualizing, editing, contemplation and exploration together. Two previous books, In the Spirit of Business and In the Spirit of Marriage, which explore expressing unconditional love in these areas of our lives, had been well accepted, not enough to live on but enough to encourage us to write more.
During our stay in Ocho Rios, JA we met several Rastas and were impressed with their kindness, wisdom and grace, despite their financially reduced circumstances. On the last day of our vacation, as Julia and I floated down the Rio Grande River with a very high rafting guide named Verley Valentine, ("I doan't 'ave de Rasta 'air but I 'ave de Rasta 'eart,"), I got an inspiration. "Let's write our next book on the wisdom of Bob Marley, the Rastas and Jamaica," I said to Julia as I passed her the spliff. "It will be on One Love, the Jamaican version of unconditional love. "Yeah, mon!" Julia and Verley said in unison and we all laughed.
Over the next year, we made five trips to the island. We traveled throughout the remote areas seeking the elder Rastas - not the predatory dreads, not the real dogmatic adherents to the faith nor the angry "Chant Down Babylon" Rastas - but the ones who really know and truly live One Love. Early in our journey, Jah-incident after Jah-incident occurred until it soon became apparent to us that we weren't taking the journey, the journey was taking us! When it was all over, we had chronicled over 500 years of Rastafari livity from the many Rastas we met, plus we had written and published our book, Rasta Heart: A Journey Into One Love. However, and more importantly, the trips had left us profoundly changed. So much had been revealed to us about Rastafari, ourselves, our world, our diet, our lifestyle and our role as messengers.
Several months after our book's publication, we decided to introduce Rasta Heart in Jamaica, during Bob Marley's birthday week in early February, 2002. However, we wanted to do more than offer a book that spread the message of One Love. We wanted to give an example of One Love in action. But what?
In December, just six weeks before our planned book launch, I returned to Jamaica, still wondering exactly what to do. As I drove across the Blue Mountains on New Year's Day, I had another Jah-inspiration. I would ask the Marley family if I could use Bob's home, the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, to launch the book and then invite Jamaican healers, teachers of love, to join me in asking people to not just sing Bob's words, but live them by exercising greater love and forgiveness in their lives. To find these healers, I would ask every Jamaican that I met one simple question, "Who teaches love on this island?" I had rather serious doubts whether I could really pull this together. After all, I was an unknown in Jamaica, with my only credibility a newly self-published book on Rastas. However, that's the amazing thing about Jamaica, it pushes you to your limits, at least if you go there on a spiritual journey. One moment it will "big you up" and the next moment make you "check yourself" about any fears or insecurities you are still holding on to. It's a truly mystical island where visions are commonplace, at least within the Rastafarian community. As Julia once said about our journeys to Jamaica, "It's like walking into a living Bible."
For a month, I wandered the island, meeting with Bob's family, including his mother, Mama B, at her home in Nine Mile, his wife, Rita, plus several of his children, including Damian (Jr. Gong), Julian, Kymani, Stephanie and Sharon. I also sought out and met with the healers who were named by their own people. As I met with each person, you could see the big question in their faces, a question always in my mind as well, "What exactly is this middle-aged, middle-class, bald, stocky White man from the States doing and why is he doing it?" Sometimes I would just look at them and answer out loud their unasked question. "Jah sent White. I don't know why either."
In the end, the Marleys graciously allowed us to use Bob's home, which I am told, is something they almost never do. On February 4, 2002, my family and the six Jamaican healers chosen by their own people held a major press conference called The Gathering of the Healers: The Healing of the Nation at the museum. The healers present were reggae artists Luciano, Denroy Morgan and Abijah, also Bob Marley's mentor and Rasta elder, Mortimo Planno, Dr. Dennis Forsythe, who was the author of Rastafari: For the Healing of the Nations, plus United People's Party president and candidate for Prime Minister, Antonnette Haughton. Through the press, we invited every Jamaican to join us in exercising greater forgiveness in his or her personal relationships. Our vision is that a national wave of healing would be created and Jamaica would become the first country in history to begin to heal its society with One Love. It was an incredible event, well received by both the press and the public. And even better, in the 12 months following the Gathering, Jamaica's murder rate, which had risen during the 14 months preceding the press conference and was expected to climb drastically during the upcoming and often-violent national elections, instead fell 10%.
Following yet another Jah-vision, we returned to Jamaica four months later to host the Fires of Forgiveness: The Healing of the Nations, on June 14, 2002, in Port Antonio. On that day, Americas' Tall Ships - the masted schooners of old and very similar to the slave ships that brought most Jamaicans' foreparents to the island - were in Port Antonio and Montego Bay. With the ships in the nearby harbor and Abijah singing his hit "Revelation" on a stage in front of Folly Ruins, a group of us, including many Jamaicans as well as people from the U.S., Canada and Europe, lit a huge, blazing bonfire, our "Fire of Forgiveness," and asked the world that 400 years of African slavery be forgiven, but never forgotten. This forgiveness should begin in Jamaica, which was once the most brutal slave colony in history.
Needless to say, wandering Jamaica inviting slave descendants to forgive African slavery raised a lot of eyebrows. Often I heard, "What right do you have coming here to ask us to forgive? It is the English and you Americans that should come here and beg our forgiveness and pay reparations! And Bob wasn't just singing about One Love. He was singing about justice and standing up to downpression, too!"
"Your points are well taken," I answered. "But then what right did Bob Marley, a half-Black, half-White Jamaican have, going out to tell the world to forgive? If we're all trying to heal the planet with love, then we are not enemies, we are tribal members and it doesn't really matter where we are assigned to do our work. We're not really attached to where we go. There is something very powerful emerging through Jamaica and for whatever reasons, we are sent to assist. And if we are all going to wait to forgive until the other person asks us and makes amends first, then the planet will just stay stuck in its present cycle of bitterness and attack/counterattack. Forgiveness is unilateral and creates healing for the one offering it. Otherwise you stay a perpetual victim. One Love and standing up for your rights are not contradictory. You just stand up firmly, but not from bitterness and revenge, but from clarity and love, like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King did." Some were convinced. Others were not.
In the weeks before the event, we posted over 8,000 flyers around the island announcing our Fires of Forgiveness event and encouraging people to light their own fire, if only a candle. Also, people all over the world had picked up on the event through our emails and internet site (www.rastaheart.com) and emailed us to tell us they were joining us at that moment by lighting their own fire, having a Forgiveness party, sending out a forgiving vibe from a mountaintop and other such activities. At the exact moment that the main fire was lit, individuals, villages, neighborhoods and communities all over the island also lit their own Fire of Forgiveness and Jamaica was ablaze with forgiveness.
Back in the U.S. one month later in July 2002, Julia and I decided to visit the Hopi Indians on our way to speak at the Bob Marley Festival in Sedona, Arizona. Then, after the festival, we were heading to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to meet with the Havasupai Indians. The Hopi and the Havasupai are not only the oldest of all Native American tribes, but are also the two tribes known for their peaceful natures. They never warred and only used physical force to defend themselves. Due to their tradition of love and peace, many tribal members have now become big Marley/reggae/Rasta fans, responding to the message of One Love.
At Orabai, a Hopi village and the oldest inhabited place in the U.S., we met (by yet another Jah-accident!) with the oldest Hopi chief. He said he would not appoint a successor, but will let the 900 year-old secrets of the Hopi die with him, as the tribe has adopted the White man's way. (We later learned that a Hopi medicine man has released these warnings, instruction and prophesies in a recent book, The Hopi Survival Kit.) The chief's nephew then gave us some sacred cornmeal and asked that we say a prayer for the chief and the tribe when we got to the Havasupai Reservation, their cousin tribe. However, the light of the Hopi tribe is also being carried by the younger generation who love Marley and reggae. This musical message, of remaining loving while you "Get up! Stand up! Stand up for your rights!" is the same vibration taught in the tribe for centuries. Within hours of arriving on the Hopi reservation, Julia and I had linked up with Karen Abieta (Sister Parrot) and Bert Poley, the reggae DJs on the tribal public radio station, KUYI. Karen and Bert, through their roots reggae program and their personal vibes, keep blowing on the tribal embers of One Love - embers that were once a great flame before two centuries of Babylon downpression. In a very real way, they are now the tribal elders, teaching love to their people. There have been 58 reggae concerts on the reservation. It was great to listen to Karen introduce songs from Jamaican reggae singers in the Hopi language. We are now talking with Karen and Bert about doing a Fire of Forgiveness: The Healing of the Hopi Nation concert with her, perhaps this fall, on the Hopi reservation. Who better to lead the U.S. into forgiveness than the oldest, most peaceful, Native American tribes?
After the Hopi visit, we drove to Sedona, Arizona, to speak at the Bob Marley Festival. There we met the White Buffalo Woman. She showed us pictures and spoke of the white buffalo, the first true white buffalo ever known in modern times. Southwest native history says that when the sacred white buffalo returns to earth, the earth will begin a great purification. She also gave us some of the white buffalo's hair to give to the Havasupai elders.
After the festival, we hiked down to the Havasupai Reservation, a trek taking six hours in 115 degree temperatures, to stay for a week. The village is magical - an oasis of waterfalls, creeks and trees in a vast moon-like desert. Most of the 700 members of the tribe are Marley and reggae fans. Some were wearing dreads. Two children were named Denroy, after Denroy Morgan, patriarch of the Morgan musical dynasty. Many tribal members were wearing Marley t-shirts and his music was playing in the background at the small village store. There was truly a "Natural Mystic" in the air here.
When we asked who had brought Marley's music to the tribe, everyone told us it was Supai Waters. Twenty-five years ago, when Supai Waters was 13, he heard Bob Marley and brought his music down to the tribe to keep the ember of One Love alive. His grandfather was also the last Havasupai medicine man and passed all the tribal secrets on to him. Supai Waters finally sought us out at the campground and we spent two days with him. He used the Hopi chief's cornmeal and the white buffalo hair to pray for the Hopis and his tribe. Supai Waters also gave us a prayer, the "Prayer for the Laden Prophet" from the Book of Moses, for Mortimer Planno, Bob Marley's mentor and the elder Rasta who escorted Emperor Haile Selassie off his plane in Jamaica.
Supai Waters told us how Bob Marley had always planned to visit the tribe but he died before he could. In 1982, a year after Bob's death, Bob's mother, Mama B, honored his wish and went to the reservation. They helicoptered in a piano and set it in front of the 150-foot high sacred waterfall and, with 2,000 tribal members lining the canyon, Mama B played Bob's songs late into the night. We are also planning a Fire of Forgiveness: The Healing of the Havasupai Nation concert with him, in this beautiful and spiritual place. Before we left, the last thing that Supai said to us, "When you see the spotted and bald eagles, tell them to send a prayer to my people."
As we drove back across the country (all the while watching the sky for the two eagles that Supai Waters had mentioned), we stopped in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for the night. At dinner, our waiter told us of a local Cherokee chief, Chief White Eagle, who runs Ishna, a Native American craft shop in downtown Hot Springs with another Cherokee chief - have you guessed? - named Red Eagle. Julia and I just looked at each other and smiled.
Early the next morning we were at their shop. He said our coming had been announced - which shocked us, as we had only the day before learned of his existence and decided to stop there. It seems that Ras Miguel Medina, a Rastafarian drum and flute maker, had stopped at his craft shop the week before, to sell him drums. The last thing Ras Miguel said to Chief White Eagle was, "Our messengers will be coming to see you soon." Chief White Eagle said he was awaiting us and that he knew Supai Waters, Karen Abieta and the elder Hopi chief and said prayers for them.
Chief White Eagle told us that Hot Springs, Arkansas, is one of the most sacred places on earth. Indigenous people referred to it as the "Valley of the Vapors." There are 47 hot springs with 47 different temperatures, with 47 different algae creating 47 colors of the water, which correspond to the 47 systems in the body. Each spring heals a different system. Before the White man, Native people came from as far away as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and all the way from Alaska to bathe in the springs. There was agreement among all the tribes: no weapons, no tribal animosity and no bad vibes allowed in the Valley of the Vapors, hence it is a sacred place. He is working to revitalize this area by selling crafts from all tribes.
By January 2003, we had finished our second book, The Gathering of the Healers: The Healing of the Nation. This book chronicled the amazing events that led up to the press conference at Bob's home in Kingston. To introduce this book, we again returned to the island several weeks before Bob's birthday. This time we decided to take our message directly to the youths of the island, the most fertile ground for a message of love and change.
Before leaving for Jamaica, we had organized 12, free Fires of Forgiveness: The Healing of the Nation concerts at almost every major college or university plus at several large high schools, including two inner-city schools in Kingston, Haile Selassie and Denham Town High Schools. Abijah, one of Jamaica's most popular, young reggae artists and a true One Love tribal drummer, appeared with us at all the concerts, with other reggae artists appearing whenever their schedules allowed. At every concert we encouraged the youths to lead their country into healing by exercising greater love and forgiveness in their relationships. We reminded them that their Creator had given every individual a path of love and healing - the "beauty path," Chief White Eagle had called it - and that they could step on to this path at anytime, no matter what their outer conditions might be around them. We even asked the school bullies to come forward and converted them into "leaders of love" - just as Mortimer Planno and other elder Rastas had converted Bob Marley from Tuff Gong, a rude boy, to a messenger of love and freedom. These concerts/reasonings were a huge success with a powerful electric energy, bringing many students and faculty to tears. As the word spread around Jamaica, more and more reggae artists joined us and the press started to carry the story forward.
And all that brings us back to the beginning of my tale: with Julia, Alicia and I, plus seven reggae artists on stage at the University of the West Indies, on Bob's birthday this year. This UWI concert was our 12th and last concert of the tour. It was a combination of musical performances and reasonings with the audience, on the healing qualities of forgiveness and sharing the vision of Jamaica healing itself, together as a society. In essence, to live Bob Marley's words - not just listen to them. We asked every student attending, and everyone in the radio audience listening, to forgive "as many as they can, as soon as they can, as much as they can" in the days and weeks following the concerts. Our hope is that with tens of thousands of youths, and hundreds of thousands in the radio audience all hearing this message, it will begin a wave of One Love and forgiveness spreading over the island.
In the three months following this set of concerts, the murder rate in Jamaica dropped a dramatic 15%. We will never know what part might be attributed to our message, but if we only prevented one crime, our efforts have been fruitful. We are returning to Jamaica in May, 2003, to do 16 more free school concerts and several public benefit concerts with Abijah, LMS, Ernie Smith and other reggae artists. During this time, we will launch the "One Love by Bob's 60th" initiative. The campaign would invite all Jamaicans to increase One Love in their lives by Bob Marley's 60th birthday year, 2005, and see the impact on the country. We also plan to meet with business, social, government and religious groups during our visit, to invite them to join the campaign in whatever way they feel drawn to. We are also interested in bringing our concerts/reasonings to other countries and are encouraging people to contact us if interested in hosting us.
There could be no greater tribute to a man who has done so much for Jamaica and the world, than for his fans to make a personal commitment to live his words. Around the world, Jamaicans are known for their love. Bob Marley, Rastafari and reggae music, all global expressions of One Love, were birthed in Jamaica. Also, many of the conscious reggae artists still come from the island, including Luciano, Morgan Heritage, Ernie Smith, Burning Spear, Bushman, Beres Hammond, Ziggy, Damian, Kymani and Julian Marley, Rita Marley, Don Carlos, Dennis Brown, Mikey Dread, Prezident Brown, Garnett Silk, Mikey General, Abijah, Swade, Marcia Griffiths, Warrior King, I'ngel Chanta, Mackie Conscious, Justin Hinds, Judy Mowatt, Pablo Moses and many others. Also, love often finds its most fertile ground, not among the rich and powerful, but among those economically and politically disenfranchised, as exhibited by the work of such great teachers of love as Christ, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu and Mother Teresa. Also, it is the young, the most hopeful and idealistic, who usually give birth to most renaissances in thinking and paradigm shifts.
That Jamaica might set an example for the world in healing their society, by individuals committing to healing their own personal relationships, is possible and definitely worth the effort. After all, already billboards across the island have a huge picture of a smiling Bob Marley next to three-foot-high words reading "One Love - Jamaica's Message to the World." It's really a "no lose" proposition. For everyone and anyone joining us, your own inner life will become more healed, no matter what the visible outcome.
I understand how strange it seems - a White middle-aged, middle-class American couple encouraging love in Jamaica, but perhaps it is no stranger than many of the world's greatest teachers of love being Black Jamaican reggae artists born into poverty and pain. And whenever our own doubts creep in, Jah gives us some Jah-incident, some miracle, to keep us going, like Richie B broadcasting our show, or meeting Denroy Morgan accidentally, or letters from incarcerated, Black Rastafarian prisoners saying our book has brought healing to their hearts and given them hope, or a fifteen-year-old rude boy, who says he will never be violent again after reading Rasta Heart, or the precious smiles on children's faces at the inner-city Kingston high schools during our recent concerts there.
We just breathe and step ever forward on this journey. For whatever reasons, Jah has assigned us to work in Jamaica and we are following a vision, rather than what some might call rational logic. Just as many Jamaican reggae artists bring a message of One Love around the world through song, so it is with us, through works.
Through our odyssey, we have come to believe that Bob Marley was one of the first, truly global, One Love tribal drummers. Other conscious artists continue to get the message out and call together an international tribe to heal this planet. We must claim our positions as elders, no matter what our age and teach this love to the people. The chiefs, the political leaders, the Bushes, the Blairs, the Sharons, the Arafats, cannot. The time for relying on leaders is over. As the elder Hopi say, "We are the ones we have been waiting for." One Love