Humble beginnings can shape powerful voices.
There is this scene in the film One Night in Miami where these 4 black Americans discuss their fight against the standards of white America. This discussion is all speculation but it is resounding. At one point Malcolm X calls out Sam Cooke for catering to white taste. That Sam Cooke had the attention of the nation and thus had the power to use his talent to make a change. Cooke admits to extreme jealousy over Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind. How could a white man write such a powerful song about the African American struggle? After that Sam Cooke came out with what might be one of the most powerful Black rights songs ever, A Change is Gonna Come.
This film, Bob Marley One Love, shows a man who has such a firey passion that can only be expressed through music. It might possibly be excessive amounts of weed smoked, but Bob Marley and the Wailers were so authentically themselves. Unapologetically. There is a scene in their early life in which they come to a recording studio with a very white appealing song. The manager was less than impressed and as he is walking out they quickly switch to a more rasta song. It touches.
Marley wanted only one thing, for Peace. For people to stop fighting and to come together. His music never wavered from that. And as his fame grew and audiences adored his music, while they may not have truly understood the message of his music, the music still resounds. It resounds because it is so deeply true to him that one can’t listen to it without feeling it in their soul. And perhaps as he did his tour people responded so strongly because you can’t feel conflict in your heart while listening to a Marley song. You can’t feel hate while listening to One Love.