US independent newspaper, La Prensasa, reports that Jamaicans view Bob Marley like a regular celebrity and no different from his peers in the entertainment industry. The newspaper which is based in San Antonio, Texas spoke to Ray Hitchins, an expert in ethnomusicology about how Bob Marley is viewed in Jamaica. Here is a quote from the article.
“Whereas many foreigners think Bob Marley is above everybody else, in Jamaica he is seen as equal to other artists,” Ray Hitchins, a lecturer in the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of West Indies, told Efe.
“Celebrities are not put on a pedestal here like in other places of the world,” he said, while adding that Jamaicans are aware of how much the island’s tourism and economy has benefited from their country’s most famous son, who would be 70 on Friday.
