The Marley Series: Redemption Song
This article is a part of the “Marley Series” written by Dave Lewis (Papa D), an elder in the bros community. The intention for the series is “Letters to My Younger Brothers” where he’s able to share his elder wisdom with younger men. For more, check out other articles in our blog titled “The Marley Series”
Emancipate Yourself
“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”
Bob Marley didn’t write those words. He borrowed them from Marcus Garvey. But it was Marley who burned them into our hearts through Redemption Song.
The transatlantic slave trade was a horror beyond words. Millions of Africans stolen, chained, and shipped into lives of brutality in the Americas and the Caribbean. Colonialism extended the pain, bleeding lands and people under the guise of 'civilisation.' Those systems may look like history, but their echoes live in our blood, our buildings, our laws, and our minds.
And now? We wear suits instead of chains. But the systems of control have simply evolved. Globalisation, consumerism, algorithmic distraction — all working to keep us dependent, compliant, and disconnected.
So what can we do? We listen. We learn. We acknowledge the pain that built this world. We resist the urge to 'move on' without healing. We sit with the legacy of racism — not as something distant, but something alive in us.
And then, we choose. We choose where to put our energy. We lift up the voices that were silenced. We teach our kids the truth. We support justice. We act from love, not guilt.
Where You Place Your Attention
Where you put your attention affects your wellbeing. Putting attention into things that serve self, your children, your family, your community is uplifting. Do not be concerned with global negativity (as Bob said it “have no fear for atomic energy; cause none of them can stop the time”, withdraw energy from media that keeps you conscious of exploitive and manipulating systems of oppression. The world feeds on your outrage, your fear, and your distraction. Every moment of attention you give to manufactured crisis or algorithm-driven outrage is energy taken from what really matters.
Your attention is currency. Spend it wisely. Focus on what builds. Love, service, presence. Tend to your inner life. Show up for your children. Plant things. Build things. Speak truth with gentleness. Withdraw from the systems that survive on your fear, and invest in what makes your spirit strong.
What you give your attention to, you become. So become something worthy, not by force, but by choice.
Redemption doesn’t come from outside. It starts with seeing clearly. With freeing the mind. With remembering who we are, and what we’re capable of — together.