February 26th - 14:44

Title: February 26th - 14:44 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: Right up the street from Bob's home on Hope road. Lee introduced me to Bob's cousin, Sledger. They were family. Lee spent his time on the island with the cousins making photos and music when Bob was becoming a reggae sensation. Sledger would drive them around from home to the recording studio. When I met Sledger, he would bring you in real close and hold you for a while. You can feel the Rastaman vibration coursing through his fingers and body as he hugged you. It was a whole lotta "One Love." We pulled into Bob's old home, which is now a museum. But did not go inside. We went over to Sledgers nephew Craigs shop and green house next door. Sledger was telling us stories about Bob, and Lee would reminisce of stories about Sledger when they were younger. I felt like I was living a in a dream. Parts of the life my musical idol, Bob Marley, had lived. His music touched my soul growing up. It helped me heal when my mom had cancer. It felt like Bobs soul, words, and energy was there for me. Like I could get through the difficult times with his music. It was soulful sounds and melodies. His music would always cheer me up. Especially, when we were smoking fat spliffs singing along to Three Little Birds and Natural Mystic. Lee told me one of Bob's songs was about him, it was "Talkin Blues." While I was in College, I took a course called Songs of Change. It redefined how I would "listen" and interpret music. It wasn't just fun and games passively filling the auditory space, it was meaningful stories and symbols of connection to what was being said and how I was hearing it. It changed the way how I understand music, specifically "protest songs." Like Woodie Guthrie folk music and 2Pac's Changes. There were layers of depth into what they were singing for, not about. A movement in the times to change working conditions or racial prejudice. When we had to write about a song, I chose "War." Bob Marley adapted a speech by Haile Selassie. Everytime I heard this song I would feel something deeply. It was not until I read the lyrics did I understand what this was about. Equality. Seeing each other as human. This verse struck a chord in my heart. "That until there are no longer First-class and second-class citizens of any nation Until the colour of a man's skin Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes Me say war" It really makes you think what the world is fighting over. We see racism and how people are treated with which religion they practice and the color of people's skin even in America. This "otherness" or "belief systems" is what the crusades were fought over in ancient times, and the civil rights movement in the 60's were trying to abolish in modern times. And as Bob and Haile said, "Until the colour of a man's skin Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes." I have faith in humanity. We will see the day where we recognize that we are all just humans and when we can work together, we can traverse the stars than continue fighting on this Earth. That is the only way to evolve. We fought each other for so long, it's time to come together and cooperate and do more. Society and future generations deserve better. We can go further, when we come together. True singularity is not Artificial intelligence, it is humans uniting as one, Just as ants and bees in harmony with nature and their communities. We too will overcome!