The stirring, evocative melodies of Bob Marley are not just restricted to Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean, and Ohio University will find out why Friday night when Bob Marley Day returns for a second year.
Transforming Baker Center Ballroom into a cultural mosaic of Caribbean food, music and art, the program with the theme of Return of the King
will last from 8 until 10 p.m. Gathering a crowd of almost 500 people in its inauguration last February, the free event, which is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Programs and Lindley Cultural Center, is expected to draw an eclectic and energized throng of people - similar to Marley's followers.
The number of people that were in Baker last year was overwhelming so I really don't know what to expect this year said Winsome Chunnu, event coordinator. But I do know that it will be a great event for OU
something outside of what we normally do.
Chunnu started the program and has stuck with it ever since. With the dual significance of honoring the legacy of Marley as a singer, songwriter and social activist and celebrating Black History Month, Bob Marley Day will combine information about the cultural icon with soulful Caribbean music.
Last year when I was a graduate assistant in MCP
I wanted to do something in honor of Black History Month
but I didn't want to talk about the same people or do the same type of programs
Chunnu said. I wanted to do something different
and this was it.
Akil Houston, an instructor in the Department of African American Studies, is just one of several faculty and student performers for Bob Marley Day. Houston, who also performed last year, will present a spoken-word piece with a theme of liberation, current politics and the thought of the common man.
His music really resonates with people
and the issues of social justice and liberation that he touches on still mean something
he said. It's not a coincidence that his music is so popular.
Other entertainment will feature Nuhu, a reggae band whose lead singer can boast the feat of actually opening for Marley before the singer's death. Vendors selling African-inspired jewelry and crafts, samples of jerk chicken and presentations on Marley's life and legacy also will be showcased in the evening.
I'm expecting to learn more about different organizations geared toward a Caribbean influence
said Randi Congleton, assistant director of MCP. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the crowd.
Marley's spirit of fun and fellowship will not be the only side of the man reflected in the event; his legacy of social justice will be evident as well. Although Bob Marley Day is free, donations will be accepted, with proceeds benefiting St. Patrick's Foundation, a Jamaican-based organization dedicated to assisting inner-city youths.
