The Beauty Queen and Marley part 2
The beauty queen became pregnant with Bob Marley’s child, Damian, in 1977 – she had won the Miss World title the year before.
She recently revealed that when she returned to Jamaica she was approached by Marley’s mother, who informed her that Bob was married to Rita Marley. This reality Marley had denied to her. Already with child, she was resigned to her fate.
Six months later and still pregnant, she was in the audience with Marley’s mother Cedella to witness the famous joining of hands between political rivals, Michael Manley of the People’s National Party and Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party at the One Love Peace Concert of 1978.
With political warfare tearing Jamaica apart, the One Love Peace Concert brought together 16 of Reggae’s biggest acts and attracted more than 32,000 spectators. Within weeks of his appearance, Micheal Manley called an election and won with a significant margin, further escalating violence between the two parties. Not until Bob Marley’s funeral in 1981 did the two political figures meet again in person and once again shook hands.
When her son was born, Marley was away on tour and did not see his son until a month later. Breakspeare reports, Rita and Sister Minnie visited the newest addition to the Marley clan, probably to see if he resembled his father, “However, it was fine Damian’s resemblance to his father was obvious from the day he was born.”
Cindy and Rita would spend Christmas together at Marley’s mother’s home in Pine Crest, Florida. Both women never had a confrontation then.
Damian was only two years old when his father died of cancer but Breakspeare believes Marley’s inspiration has been manifested through her son.
Damian “Jr. Gong” “Gong Zilla” Marley born in 1978 is the youngest son of Bob and a Grammy Award winning song writer, music producer, and performer.
In April of 1980 Marley was invited to Zimbabwe to perform for the Independence celebrations, ”They couldn’t afford to pay him. The band and the cost of the equipment and stage light and sound for an event of that magnitude. So he spent his own money and shipped everything from London to make it happen,” she said. The stadium was packed to capacity with more people outside than in. And those outside, stormed the venue in their desperation to see Marley. Teargassing of the arena only contributed to the chaos.
”Such was the love and admiration for Bob in Africa. To understand the true significance of this occasion, one must watch the footage of the performance. See the looks on the faces of the people and feel the energy generated by the crowds. I think there was very nice footage on it in the documentary, Marley. Their hero was in the house.”
Marley in Zimbabwe 1980
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