by Sonja N. Woods<\/a><\/span> The biblical figure Joseph was the seventh son of Jacob, and thus, a progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Because he was known to be the favorite of Jacob\/Israel who gifted his son with a fancy coat in validation, Joseph was set up and sold out by his jealous brothers who \u201cconspired against him to slay him.\u201d But God \u201csets up,\u201d too. He put Joseph in a position whereby he was empowered to help those same brothers (and the rest of their Israelite nation) by supplying them with corn during a famine. So says the 37th through the 45th chapters of Genesis. Some will say a historian shouldn\u2019t use mythological text, i.e. the Bible, as a reference point. I am not making an \u201cIs the Bible myth or history?\u201d argument \u2013 not in this rhetorical exercise, anyway. However, I will attempt to explore the connections between Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley as well as why some have likened them to the biblical patriarch Joseph.<\/span> \u201cSo too, Oh Lord, your servant Nelson Mandela, the biblical Joseph, rose up from jail to become President of a mighty nation; he too transcended his personal pain and years of suffering to forgive and to embrace his brothers and sisters who had inflicted so much pain on him and so many millions of others, in order that our diverse South African family w<\/span><\/p>\n ould not be torn apart by hatred and division.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n When we think of South Africa, we think of Mandela; I would say the same goes for Jamaica and Bob Marley. Although he was never imprisoned, Marley had also been compared to Joseph. Judy Mowatt \u2013 a member of Marley\u2019s back-up vocal group, The I- Threes, along with his wife Rita and Marcia Griffiths (of \u201cElectric Boogie\u201d fame) \u2013 made the analogy during an interview used for the 1988 BBC documentary, \u201cCaribbean Nights.\u201d Mowatt describes her epiphany in the context of the December 1976 attempt on Marley\u2019s life and his subsequent performance at the Smile Jamaica concert during national elections three days later:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe people now know that this man has risked his life for us, this is a man that has given his life, because he showed them the wound, the bandage . . . I had gotten to realize in reading my Bible that this man was really Joseph in his second advent, Joseph who his brothers had sold into Egypt and it was Joseph who redeemed his brothers who would have starved to death because of the famine in Egypt, and not only his brothers but for the world in that time. And I saw in the man that this time he came not only with the physical corn to feed his people but he came with the spiritual corn, which was the message that transcended to the four corners of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Are these comparisons made by Goldstein and Mowatt justifiable? Marley and Mandela were contemporaries who stood firm for African unity, self-determination, tradition, culture, and independence. So, are there any significant and tangible connections between these two giants? Can this examination begin any where else but in Ethiopia? I think not.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUntil the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned . . . until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary . . .\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This declarative ultimatum was delivered by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in his October 4, 1963 address to the United Nations. Spoken a few months after the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded in Ethiopia\u2019s capital city Addis Ababa, Selassie\u2019s call for world peace was a scathing yet proverbial admonition of racism, colonialism, and apartheid. It was also a direct finger-shaking at the U.N. for its repeated failure to defend the collective security of the world\u2019s oppressed people \u2013 and Bob Marley set it to music. \u201cWar\u201d became a single on his \u201cRastaman Vibration\u201d album released in April 1976.<\/span> References:\u00a0<\/span><\/b> by Sonja N. WoodsR3 Contributor The biblical figure Joseph was the seventh son of Jacob, and thus, a progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Because he was known to be the favorite of Jacob\/Israel who gifted his son with a fancy coat in validation, Joseph was set up and sold out by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
R3 Contributor<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>By now, most people are at least familiar with the major components of the political prisoner-to-president story of Nelson Mandela. As the world commemorated his life and legacy last month, timely tributes to Madiba via social networking posts and blogs probably numbered in the millions. At an official memorial service in Johannesburg on December 10, South Africa\u2019s Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein compared Mandela to Joseph:<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>A few months later in December, gunmen who were employed by a local political party and reportedly backed by United States government intelligence agencies shot up his house at 56 Hope Road. Bullets grazed both Bob and Rita, but seriously injured their manager Don Taylor. Like Joseph, Marley had been set up, sold out, and marked for death. However, the shooters were not his blood brothers but Jamaican youth from the Kingston ghettos who had turned to crime and collusion with government officials during a time when this type of political violence became a viable mechanism for financial survival. In the wake of this incident, Marley indicated that he knew his attackers but did not report them to the police. Shortly thereafter, he and his band The Wailers slipped out of the country to London where they lived for over a year, recorded the ground-breaking album \u201cExodus,\u201d and exploded onto the international music scene.<\/span>
<\/span>The South African Freedom Struggle has its own significant links to Ethiopia with one coming directly through Mandela. In 1961, he led the African National Congress in its transition from passive resistance to armed struggle by establishing a military wing to their movement called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. Mandela studied the guerrilla tactics used to successfully defeat European imperialism, such as the Cuban Revolution, and wanted to learn more about Ethiopia\u2019s 1896 victory over the Italians and Mussolini. At an early stage of his personal military instruction, Mandela trained in Ethiopia for several weeks beginning in July 1962 \u2013 at the personal invitation of Emperor Selassie. The very next month upon his return to South Africa, he was arrested and detained for the next 27.5 years. And, yes, American intelligence officials were reportedly involved in his capture. Mandela never could determine if someone from within the movement was a Central Intelligence Agency informer, but he didn\u2019t waste time looking for any evidence of this either. He later stated that \u201csuch speculation about unknowns is futile\u201d and admitted that he \u201chad been imprudent about maintaining the secrecy of my movements.\u201d<\/span>
<\/span>Furthermore, these allegations of CIA involvement in the attempted takedowns of both \u201cJosephs\u201d \u2013 Mandela and Marley \u2013 should not be \u201cthe\u201d a-ha moment. Given the historical Cold War context, one should expect intelligence agencies to take any means to counter communist-affiliated or -influenced movements. But we should think about who were the snitches and why they agreed to be informants. A recent publication by a high-ranking official in a U.S. intelligence agency has stated that the reasons certain individuals end up on their payrolls as agents can be outlined in the acronym M.I.C.E. \u2013 that\u2019s MONEY, IDEOLOGY, COMPROMISE, and EGO. Money is a corrupter that needs no explanation; BMWs are nice cars. Some informants simply espouse ideologies that fall in line with American interests. Others have compromised themselves in some way or another, so they are left with little choice; capture, turn, and torture falls under this category. And then, there are those who fall victim to jealousy or envy or self-importance \u2013 their egos lead them to sell out their own brothers, as in the case of Joseph. We should be more concerned with the \u201cbrothers\u201d that time-and-time again accept the thirty pieces of silver. Ernest Withers, the man who took all those striking photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, turned out to be a paid informant, remember? Sell-outs come in all colors, even black and brown.<\/span>
<\/span>The ultimate lesson in it all, however, should be the answer to this question: How did Marley, Mandela, and Joseph rise out of the nefarious situations they found themselves in? Their own words reveal how they dealt with betrayal. Joseph, as the governor of Egypt, told this to his brothers who had come to buy corn for their starving nation: \u201cAnd God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So know it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.\u201d He attributed the entire situation to the plan of God. Marley\u2019s lyrics in \u201cWho the Cap Fit\u201d say this: \u201cMan to man is so unjust \u2013 you don\u2019t know who to trust. Your worst enemy could be your best friend, and your best friend your worst enemy. Only your friend know your secret, so only he could reveal it. Who the cap fit, let them wear it. Who JAH bless, no one curse. Thank God we\u2019re past the worst.\u201d Even when your so-called friends engage in treachery to plan your downfall, they will ultimately fail if it\u2019s against God\u2019s will.<\/span>
<\/span>When recounting the events of his 1962 Treason Trial, Mandela stated, \u201cI wanted to explain to the court how and why I had become the man I was, why I had done what I had done, and why, if given the chance, I would do it again.\u201d Part of his testimony included this: \u201cI have done my duty to my people and to South Africa. I have no doubt that posterity will pronounce that I was innocent and that the criminals that should have been brought before this court are the members of the government.\u201d Mandela rarely spoke explicitly about his faith in terms of the Christian God or a singular focus of religious worship. He did, however, repeatedly speak about his conviction and absolute moral duty to his nation. For him, it was the people of South Africa he served \u2013 he knew he was right and that he would be redeemed. <\/span>
<\/span>History has recognized both Marley and Mandela as great men of humility who selflessly sacrificed themselves in their firm stands against oppression. They forgave the backstabbers because they recognized the institutionalized systems of oppression as the true culprit. They rose to positions of power, were respected as wise counsel, and continued to communicate the voice of their people. I can see why it has been easy for some to compare them to Joseph. Moral conviction or certainty is the key \u2013 they didn\u2019t change their course and remained true to their objectives. So forgive, but don\u2019t forget. Accept that some of the people closest to you don\u2019t have your best interests at heart. Just keep it moving so that you can continue to work towards the greater good in life, and let God be your guide.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span>1. Genesis 37, 39-45<\/span>
2. \u201cSouth African Chief Rabbi Compares Mandela to Joseph,\u201d www.jpost.com\/JewishFeatures\/S-African-chief-rabbi-compares-Mandela-to-biblical-Joseph-334560<\/a><\/span>
3. Judy Mowatt in \u201cCaribbean Nights: A BBC Documentary on the Life of Bob Marley,\u201d at YouTube and also www.joewein.de\/bbc.html<\/a><\/span>
4. Address by HIM Emperor Haile Selassie I to the United Nations, http:\/\/www.ethiopiancrown.org\/address.html<\/a><\/span>
5. \u201cThe Man who Taught Mandela to Be a Soldier,\u201d www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/worldafrica-23515879<\/a><\/span>
6. \u201cA Loophole in U.S. Sanctions Against Pretoria,\u201d www.nytimes.com\/1986\/10\/13\/opinion\/a-loophole-in-us-sanctions-against-pretoria.html<\/a><\/span>
7. Henry A. Crumpton, The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA\u2019s Clandestine Service. New York: Penguin Books, 2012.\u00a0 <\/span>
8. \u201cMartin Luther King Friend and Photographer was FBI Informant,\u201d www.theguardian.com\/world2010\/sep\/14\/photographer-ernest-withers-fbi-informer<\/a><\/span>
9. Bob Marley, \u201cWho the Cap Fit\u201d<\/span>
10. Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 130-135. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"