Marcus Garvey - "Garvey was a Jamaican-born black nationalist who created a 'Back to Africa' movement in the United States. He became an inspirational figure for later civil rights activists.
Marcus Garvey was born in St Ann's Bay, Jamaica on 17 August 1887, the youngest of 11 children. At the age of 14 he left school and became a printer's apprentice where he led a strike for higher wages. From 1910 to 1912, Garvey traveled in South and Central America and also visited London.
He returned to Jamaica in 1914 and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He urged African-Americans to be proud of their race and return to Africa, their ancestral homeland and attracted thousands of supporters. In 1935, he moved permanently to London where he died on 10 June 1940. In 1964, his body was returned to Jamaica where he was declared the country's first national hero."
Buju Banton- "Buju Banton (born Mark Myrie 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae singer. He was born in a slum near Kingston, Jamaica called Salt Lane. “Buju” is a nickname given to chubby children which means Breadfruit. The name is ironic in light of Mark Myrie’s slim frame, but it is, nevertheless, the nickname his mother gave him as a child. “Banton” is a Jamaican word referring to someone with a superior attitude and a gift with speech, but it was also the name of a local artist Burro Banton that Buju admired as a child. It was Burro’s rough gravelly vocals that Buju emulated and ultimately made his own. Buju’s mother was a higgler, or street vendor while his father worked as a laborer at a tile factory. He was one of fifteen children born into a family which was directly descended from the Maroons, a group of escaped slaves who proudly fought off the British colonialists."
Bob Marley-" The first major rock artist to come out of a Third World country, Bob Marley did more than anyone else to popularize reggae around the globe. He was a gifted songwriter who could mix protest music and pop as skillfully as Bob Dylan, and his songs of determination, rebellion, and faith became important parts of the rock and pop canon. Thirty years after Marley's death, hits like "No Woman No Cry" and "Is This Love" sound as vibrant as ever. Marley left his rural home for the slums of Kingston, Jamaica at age 14. When he was 17, Jimmy Cliff introduced him to Leslie Kong, who produced Marley's first single, "Judge Not," and several other obscure sides. In 1963, with the guidance of Jamaican pop veteran Joe Higgs, Marley formed the Wailers, a vocal quintet, with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone, Junior Braithwaite, and Beverly Kelso. Their first single for producer Coxsone Dodd, "Simmer Down," was one of the biggest Jamaican hits of 1964, and the Wailers remained on Dodd's Studio One and Coxsone labels for three years, hitting with "Love and Affection." When Braithwaite and Kelso left the group around 1965, the Wailers continued as a trio, Marley, Tosh, and Livingstone trading leads. In spite of the popularity of singles like "Rude Boy," the artists received few or no royalties, and in 1966 they disbanded. Marley spent most of the following year working in a factory in Newark, Delaware (where his mother had moved in 1963). Upon his return to Jamaica, the Wailers reunited and recorded, with little success, for Dodd and other producers. During this period, the Wailers devoted themselves to the religious sect of Rastafarianism."
Marcus Garvey was born in St Ann's Bay, Jamaica on 17 August 1887, the youngest of 11 children. At the age of 14 he left school and became a printer's apprentice where he led a strike for higher wages. From 1910 to 1912, Garvey traveled in South and Central America and also visited London.
He returned to Jamaica in 1914 and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He urged African-Americans to be proud of their race and return to Africa, their ancestral homeland and attracted thousands of supporters. In 1935, he moved permanently to London where he died on 10 June 1940. In 1964, his body was returned to Jamaica where he was declared the country's first national hero."
Buju Banton- "Buju Banton (born Mark Myrie 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae singer. He was born in a slum near Kingston, Jamaica called Salt Lane. “Buju” is a nickname given to chubby children which means Breadfruit. The name is ironic in light of Mark Myrie’s slim frame, but it is, nevertheless, the nickname his mother gave him as a child. “Banton” is a Jamaican word referring to someone with a superior attitude and a gift with speech, but it was also the name of a local artist Burro Banton that Buju admired as a child. It was Burro’s rough gravelly vocals that Buju emulated and ultimately made his own. Buju’s mother was a higgler, or street vendor while his father worked as a laborer at a tile factory. He was one of fifteen children born into a family which was directly descended from the Maroons, a group of escaped slaves who proudly fought off the British colonialists."
Bob Marley-" The first major rock artist to come out of a Third World country, Bob Marley did more than anyone else to popularize reggae around the globe. He was a gifted songwriter who could mix protest music and pop as skillfully as Bob Dylan, and his songs of determination, rebellion, and faith became important parts of the rock and pop canon. Thirty years after Marley's death, hits like "No Woman No Cry" and "Is This Love" sound as vibrant as ever. Marley left his rural home for the slums of Kingston, Jamaica at age 14. When he was 17, Jimmy Cliff introduced him to Leslie Kong, who produced Marley's first single, "Judge Not," and several other obscure sides. In 1963, with the guidance of Jamaican pop veteran Joe Higgs, Marley formed the Wailers, a vocal quintet, with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone, Junior Braithwaite, and Beverly Kelso. Their first single for producer Coxsone Dodd, "Simmer Down," was one of the biggest Jamaican hits of 1964, and the Wailers remained on Dodd's Studio One and Coxsone labels for three years, hitting with "Love and Affection." When Braithwaite and Kelso left the group around 1965, the Wailers continued as a trio, Marley, Tosh, and Livingstone trading leads. In spite of the popularity of singles like "Rude Boy," the artists received few or no royalties, and in 1966 they disbanded. Marley spent most of the following year working in a factory in Newark, Delaware (where his mother had moved in 1963). Upon his return to Jamaica, the Wailers reunited and recorded, with little success, for Dodd and other producers. During this period, the Wailers devoted themselves to the religious sect of Rastafarianism."