by Howard Campbell
[KINGSTON, Jamaica] – As a child in Birmingham, England, Marian Pinnock remembers her Jamaican parents playing the music of Bob Marley in their home. She never forgot the message of hard-hitting songs like Buffalo Soldier and No Woman, No Cry.
Now a resident of Miramar, Pinnock ensures her children embrace their Jamaican roots which includes Marley’s immense catalog. Recently, she made her third visit to the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston which reopened in November after a seven-month break due to COVID-19.
“I wouldn’t say he was a prophet but he spoke realty through his songs, so I try and teach my children that even though you may go through tough times you may excel in a healthy way like Bob did,” said Pinnock.
She was among a litter of visitors at the museum which is open to groups of eight on Fridays to meet the Jamaican government’s COVID-19 protocols. Prior to the pandemic, as many as 150 persons, mainly from overseas, visited the location daily.
Lecia-Gaye Taylor is operations manager at the Tuff Gong Group of Companies which oversees the Bob Marley Museum. She said it was rescheduled to open in August but there was a change in plans following a COVID-19 spike that month from celebrations marking Jamaica’s independence.
“It’s very modest but once things improve we are certain things will be back to normal,” Taylor told South Florida Caribbean News.
Marley, who died in May, 1981 at age 36, once lived in the building which is located at Hope Road, an upper middle-class area in the Jamaican capital. It was where he, his wife Rita and manager Don Taylor were shot during an assassination attempt on his life in December, 1976.
The ‘Shot Room’, where that incident took place, is one of the popular spots with tourists. They are also given tours of Marley’s bedroom, his kitchen and hear stories behind personal items like his Land Rover and Gibson guitar.
Trev Dalton, born in Ireland but now a resident of Roanoke, Virginia, was on his first trip to the museum. After watching a documentary about Marley and listening to his songs, he believed it was time to learn more about the Legend.
“He lived and toured all over the world, so it’s good to finally see where he came to when he came back to Jamaica. This is fantastic,” he said.
Bob Marley would have turned 76 on February 6. There are several activities by his family to mark the occasion including a virtual concert celebrating his birthday.
