Tosh recognised — at last

Chris Blackwell (who was Bob Marley’s white manager) to Chris Whitewell (and sometimes Chris Whiteworst)  and BMW to “Black Man Wagon”. He was full of bad words and smoked marijuana non-stop. He was anti-establishment and an outspoken revolutionary.
When he came to Zimbabwe in 1985 on his way from Swaziland, he asked me and a colleague, Mike Mhundwa, “Fred and Mike, tell me, is how much de population of Zimbabwe?”.
“Approximately, eight million”, I said. “Now go and tell (Prime Minister) Mugabe, that the King of Reggae who rules over 8 billion reggae fans throughout the world is here. Tell him to come soon.”
I could not imagine a scenario where I would ask then Prime Minister Mugabe to go over to the two- star Bronte Hotel in Baines Avenue to meet Peter Tosh. So I ignored this instruction.
Later on that evening we went to Archipelago Night Club, where Tosh walked in past the bouncers without paying. The two white bouncers at the door went and dragged him out. I tried to explain to them that this was superstar Peter Tosh, but before I could finish, Tosh was onto them: “You idiots took me out of Africa into slavery in Jamaica. You made me work without pay. Now you are asking me to pay to go into this rated nightclub.
“Is where you tink I get the money from? Until you come to this realisation, you shall remain in dem bombaclot chain.”
The next day he was seen in Harare’s First Street riding on a unicycle and smoking ganja, oblivious to the possibility of being arrested. A true rebel indeed.
At a concert in Finsbury Park, London, which was manned by over 200 police, he went on stage and lit up his spliff before singing “Legalise It”. He then told the audience: “You see ganja must be legalised. It is the only cure for asthma. I smoke it because I believe I should stand up for my rights. Babylon can’t touch me because if they take me away, there is no one to sing for you, and  then you riot, seen!” Indeed, the police just looked on while he smoked this six inches long joint.
The  late Grenadian Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop, once invited Tosh to a ceremony in Grenada and greeted him as “Comrade Peter Tosh”. Tosh quickly quipped: “I man don’t come red, I come black”, making it clear that he was not one of them. And the  word “comrade” was meant for those who supported the communist philosophy.
Last month the progressive Jamaican Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, and the Jamaican government decided to recognise Peter Tosh’s lifetime achievements by posthumously awarding him with Jamaica’s highest commendation, the Order of Merit (OM), the same order which was given to President Mugabe when he visited Jamaica in 1996.
It must have taken quite some debate on whether to give him this recognition or not, given Tosh’s “rude bwuoy” background. I am not even sure whether Peter would have accepted this award if he were still alive. Whichever way, Herbie Miller, Tosh’s ex-manager, remarked: “Recognition for Peter Tosh, at the highest level, by the land of his birth, is long overdue and well deserved. Similar to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, it is for artistic excellence, his social and political activity through music and his inspiration to others in diverse arenas across the world, not whether “him cuss bad wud or smoke weed”.
Although so many have been dismayed at the fact that Peter Tosh has until now never been honoured by Jamaica, there are others who are livid that the outspoken revolutionary singer has been recently named to receive the highest civilian commendation this country offers, the Order of Merit.
When approached in 1977 to perform in apartheid South Africa’s Graceland for more money than he had earned in his life at the time, Tosh said he would perform in South Africa, but he was not interested in Graceland, he would accept the offer only if it were arranged for him to appear for blacks in Soweto and the townships, and to give his earnings to the African National Congress and the sports club associated with Steve Biko.
Needless to say, after half a dozen attempts, each time offering a higher fee, the prominent beer company that made the offer got the message: Tosh would not budge unless the performance was for those subjugated by and fighting against apartheid.
As for Tosh’s naysayers who are of the opinion that he should not be awarded with an OM, they should be reminded that Mr Tosh is not being rewarded for anything else but his artistry and how effectively through his art he has influenced the world to become a better place and how he has elevated Jamaica internationally in the same way his weed smoking and promoting, militant friend Bob Marley has.
Marley was also a recipient of the OM, even as some of his detractors say; he fathered many children in and out of wedlock and with multiple mothers.
Nobody is perfect. According to the Jamaica Information Service’s website: “The Order of Merit is the third highest honour and may be conferred upon any citizen of Jamaica who has achieved eminent international distinction in his or her field of endeavour.”
Zimbabwe should follow suit and award Oliver Mtukudzi with the highest merit there is including a PhD in Arts. He has raised Zimbabwe’s flag high. He has influenced the acceptance of Zimbabwean culture throughout the world and has become Zimbabwe’s committed ambassador through his music.
Consideration should also be given for artistes like the late Andy Brown, James Chimombe and Leonard Dembo.
At no point has the Jamaican Information website said one’s moral status is being rewarded or considered. Within strict colonial standards neither Peter Tosh nor Bob Marley claimed morality, yet neither was as immoral as many public and private individuals who have been and are being honoured around us.
But as the Wailers song “Who the Cap Fit”, suggests: “If night should turn to day, a lot of people would run away.”
While some among us decry gestures to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of Mr Tosh because his “behaviour” is questionable, and others believe that to award him the OM is “a big mistake”, the bastion of colonialism whose social attitudes we emulate, Britain, has seen it fit to reward its creative achievers such as  Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones,  Elton John, Rod Stewart and the Beatles in spite of social transgressions such as the use of drugs.
And with all this evidence, the Queen of England, the same Queen that is Jamaica’s Queen, considered it necessary to confer England’s highest honours on members of both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles for what they had done to elevate Britain through their music.
Regarding their MBE at Buckingham Palace, John Lennon said: “The Beatles smoked marijuana in the bathroom before receiving the Member of the British Empire award from the Queen Elizabeth in 1965”. Like Peter Tosh, the Beatles shared the same thinking.

Fred Zindi is a professor at the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a musician and an author of several books on music. He can be contacted via e-mail on   [email protected]