Today let’s celebrate the idea of “let’s get together and feel alright.” In our world, I’ve seen this happen as rarely as a leap year. Today, let’s do it. Let’s get together and feel alright. Let’s get together with our mentors, and find someone to mentor so that we can achieve “One Love, One Heart.” These Bob Marley song lyrics exemplify part of what we at Over My Shoulder Foundation strive for by spreading the mentoring message. Read on to discover another great Sarah Gross Story about Cedella Marley, the daughter of Bob Marley.

-Dawn Carroll, Over My Shoulder Foundation Co-Founder

In my last post, I spoke about musician Lenny Kravitz and the social/cultural effect of his music in spreading inspirational messages to a broad audience. Musicians possess a unique mode of communication where the song is a common ground that unifies otherwise disparate individuals. Musicians, however, are not the sole individuals who can speak effectively through song.

Persons who may not be musicians themselves can revive the spirit of a song in order to spread their own inspirational message to the world. Cedella Marley, daughter of English/Afro-Jamaican artist Bob Marley, is one such person. Through her artistic endeavors, she keeps the spirit of her father alive, and therein, she keeps the spirit of his music eternal.

Cedella has worked to protect her father’s legacy for many years. As C.E.O. of Tuff Gong International (Bob Marley’s audio production studio), she memorializes her father’s passion for inspiring unity and peace through music. Cedella also carries the power of Bob Marley through her design company, One Love, and her own brand, Catch a Fire, both named after music that encourages the world to embrace peace, love, and to “feel all right.”

The songs “One Love” and “Three Little Birds” inspired Cedella to pursue another avenue of creative expression in keeping her father’s message alive: writing. Cedella has written several children’s books, two of which are titled One Love (released in 2011) and Three Little Birds. The books are an adaption of Marley’s cherished songs. The wholesome stories complemented with beautiful artwork and vivid colors capture Cedella’s passion for “brightness” in the world, and also renew the feel-good aura of Bob Marley’s songs. The repetition of “One Love, One Heart” encourages feelings of peace, love, and wellbeing that cancel out the cause of our worry as we begin to realize that “every little thing gonna be all right.”

The calming effect of these songs, enhanced and perpetuated through Cedella’s books and designs, sends out a message of hope to the many people who value the promise of something good in a world that is often filled with strife. In a time of racism and cultural tension, Bob Marley produced songs of peace and power to hearten the disheartened, to motivate the unmotivated. The essence of his work, and subsequently the work of Cedella, is to transform negatives to positives.

Fighting fire with water, Bob Marley strived against injustice with the peace tactics of his music. As social tensions arise today, Cedella reminds us of the effectiveness of positive energy to counteract negativity. Channeling vibrant, creative expression into works that have a broad effect on society, Cedella shows us how art can serve as a vehicle for communication and change.

Through her many accomplishments, both in preserving her father’s legacy and in making her own mark, Cedella establishes herself as a mentor for inspiring positive change. If we change the way we think about the world and express our thoughts in positive terms, we come to live the philosophy that “One Love” and “Three Little Birds” advocate. We place faith in love and the strength of relationships in creating a better world.

The Marleys, through the spirit of music and creativity, encourage us to pursue the best by letting go of the negative and embracing the positive. We can look to mentors for hope, but ultimately we ourselves have the ability to become mentors for a new generation of those who need a little more peace and love in their lives.