RBSC

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Cindy on trial - Marley relationship goes public

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Cindy on trial - Marley relationship goes public

    Cindy on trial - Marley relationship goes public
    Published: Thursday | February 20, 2014



    Cindy Breakspeare and Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley, watch a presentation during the 17th annual Bob Marley Lecture Beauty And The Beast A Bridge To The Natural Mystic last Thursday. - FILE

    Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

    WESTERN BUREAU:

    Cindy Breakspeare said she knew the King of Reggae, the man who would later become the father of her love child, because they would say hello to each other in passing.

    "Yes I knew him, but to be a devotee of the music, part of an elite group of spiritual rebels was one thing. But to be intimate, involved personally with this man, be the woman who would stand by his side and reflect all that he was about was entirely something else."

    Breakspeare wasn't a Rastafarian, didn't fit the bill, and wasn't sure she wanted to be one.

    "Once again was that word religion, full of rules and regulations -just what I wanted to be free of," Breakspeare told the gathering who sat transfixed by her revelations at the Undercroft of the University of the West Indies, Mona, last Thursday during the Annual Bob Marley Lecture.

    In her mind, it was uptown meets downtown. "How on earth was that going to work," she questioned.

    However, that questioned was answered by the charming Bob Marley, who made her feel special with small gifts like a freshly picked mango and an invitation to walk in the cool night air. This became the norm, she reminisced.

    "And I could not deny that we were fiercely attracted to each other. Fascinated and separated simultaneously by our differences, so we began to build a bridge. The same bridge that has brought me here today. Bob was strong, fit and virile. Tough as nails and boyishly charming, all at the same time."

    She describes him as a man's man who wore denim and khaki, frequently used chew sticks to clean his teeth and smelled of phetamine soap, superconfident and more driven than any human being she had ever met.

    INTIMIDATING FELLOW

    "He was not only attractive, but intimidating for a young girl like me. I knew instinctively if I were to enter into this relationship with him, it would change the trajectory of my life forever."

    Cindy and Bob would stroll out to the fence at the front of the yard and stand there talking for hours about life, Rasta, consciousness and whether or not one knew what one's purpose on earth was.

    "It was unsettling for sure, the company of this man, who was different from anyone I had been involved with thus far."

    She said he was so serious about his own purpose in life that she didn't know "how and where [she] could possibly fit in".

    During their tentative dance around each other, Marley went off on tour for 10 to 12 weeks.

    Allan 'Skill' Cole and the gang continued to visit her from time to time at the nightclub in Northside Plaza where she worked, to check if she was behaving herself and to bring greetings from her suitor.

    "Greetings to let me know that he was always thinking of me while away and would return soon - a return filled with expectation and anticipation. Finally, he was back, I knew the day was imminent. I heard the VW bus come through the gate and I just knew he was in it. His footsteps up the stairs to my front door confirmed this not long after. He was back. The waiting was over. There were no more questions which seemed to matter. It was what it was, and it would become what it would become."

    Another piece of the bridge fell into place.

    "Naturally, I had continued to pursue my own career goals and that pursuit led me to a job at Spartan Health Club as an instructress in June of 1976. She took to the job like a duck to water. To be totally immersed in physical culture was a wonderful way to spend every day, which fit in perfectly with her now-vegetarian lifestyle, as a result of Marley's influence.

    Her involvement at Spartan and the encouragement of Mickie Haughton-James led her to compete in the Miss Jamaica Body Beautiful. The prize for winning that was to compete in the Miss Universe Bikini in London.

    "Again, I won, and I remember being in New York with Bob at the Essex House where he often stayed waiting for the call from Jamaica to say whether or not I had been accepted to compete in the Miss World, also held in London."

    The phone rang and the answer was yes, she had to compete in the ultimate beauty pageant, Miss World 1976 in London.

    "The Miss World competition for me was an opportunity more than anything else. With no family backative and no university education, I made a conscious effort to exploit my God-given talent."

    It turned out to be the best job she ever had.

    "I told them to work me as hard as possible. I would go anywhere in the world they wanted to have me, and, consequently, had an amazing year getting to know the world as an unofficial ambassador for Jamaica."

    Unparalleled & unforgettable

    Being Jamaican was the thing she was most proud of when it came to facing the microphones. That exotic blend of cultures, colours and ethnic backgrounds, a melting pot that was truly diverse, was now sprinkled with a heavy dose of Rastafari, she said.

    The night she won stands out in my memory as an overwhelming moment, unparalleled and unforgettable.

    "Until this day, watching the videos of it, still fills my eyes with tears and floods my heart with emotion."

    Wherever she went, Jamaica was the subject and, of course, Marley.

    "The tabloids went crazy," she quipped, adding that her chaperone, Nancy Burke, was convinced she would be terminated for the scandalous press her relationship with Marley was receiving.

    The age-old adage proved to be true - The only bad publicity is no publicity.

    The Jamaican community, including those of the Rastafari faith, she said, supported her wholeheartedly through the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.

    A few days after winning, her exploration of London took her down to Porto Bello Road, where in search of a restroom, she made her way into a Jamaican restaurant called Back-a-Yard.

    "As I pushed the door dressed in full regalia, having just come from a personal appearance, the two Jamaican women who were tidying the place looked up in total disbelief, elbowing each other. 'See her yah, see her yah,' they whispered loud enough for me to hear. Says me now brightly. 'Wah a gwaan in yah, me ears a ring unno een yah a chat me'. 'Yes,' one of them stated unapologetically, we want to know why when you have so much black girls in Jamaica, Bob would a tek up with you?'."

    "Well see it yah now, a say to miself, baptism of fire. I took a deep breath, swallowed my spit and prayed for courage. Within five minutes, I kid you not, every Jamaican in a five-mile radius was in that restaurant to witness the impromptu trial of the newly crowned Miss World."


    ContributedCeeLo Green

    http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...H96cc.facebook
    "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

  • #2
    Brave lady...or bare-face lady?
    Interesting piece and 'it' [the presentation ] must have been interesting
    "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

    Comment


    • #3
      Bare faced,she wasnt the only one and Bob wasnt the only one either in such relationships of class and colour,back then as it is now,brown, lighter hues babies a di ting and a di ooman dem a push it....part of the colonial doctrine of mental slavery.
      THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

      "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


      "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.

      Comment


      • #4
        Looks like Bob was a victim of it as much as anyone else. Him did treat Cindy like a queen and kick up Rita when him ready. So Don Taylor say.
        "‎It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men" - Frederick Douglass

        Comment


        • #5
          Who look more like the Virgin Mary, Rita or Cindy?

          Kick har up yes!

          Woodoop!



          BLACK LIVES MATTER

          Comment


          • #6
            Big judgement that, as Rita was still the wife. A so nuff man treat them wife and claim them nagging while treat the piece on the side with more respect.

            Nuff man fraid to say it but the rasta was a mess when it come to this womanizing thing.
            • Don't let negative things break you, instead let it be your strength, your reason for growth. Life is for living and I won't spend my life feeling cheated and downtrodden.

            Comment


            • #7
              Rasta is the biggest womanizer in Jamaica. Nuff of dem don't believe in using a condom, so dem have youth all over the place. Groupies love rasta in foreign, and dem cycle nuff women & coke like harry houdini in their hotel rooms.
              Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else - Vince Lombardi

              Comment


              • #8
                Cindy knew her place,nice that Bob influenced her decision to become a vegetarian,to be his wife she would have to be Rasta.
                Still feel if Bob wasn't a celebrity,she would have told him to go home to his wife and children
                Bob was just out there,and Rita allowed it.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Every Jakan man is a womanizer,most would prefer unprotected sex if there is no chance of catching a disease.
                  No wonder Rasta....
                  Last edited by Rockman; February 21, 2014, 10:15 AM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    How Rita allowed it?
                    • Don't let negative things break you, instead let it be your strength, your reason for growth. Life is for living and I won't spend my life feeling cheated and downtrodden.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Not every Jamaican man kick up dem wife and hold dem dung and tek it when dem want it.

                      I agree Cindy would not have given Bob the attention if he wasn't a celebrity, but I also doubt Bob would have treated her like "Miss World" if she wasn't an uptowner and something of a celebrity herself. In 76-77 Cindy was as well known in the UK as Bob was.
                      "‎It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men" - Frederick Douglass

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Allow it? She had no choice and lived with it. One story I heard after Rita complained about his womanizing, Bob told her to go read her bible, according to Skill.
                        Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else - Vince Lombardi

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Rita had NUMEROUS occasions of Bob being unfaithful way before the Cindy scandal.
                          Demand change and if it isn't realized,end the relationship.
                          Unbelievable stuffs occured even at the infancy of her group

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Islandman View Post
                            Not every Jamaican man kick up dem wife and hold dem dung and tek it when dem want it.

                            I agree Cindy would not have given Bob the attention if he wasn't a celebrity, but I also doubt Bob would have treated her like "Miss World" if she wasn't an uptowner and something of a celebrity herself. In 76-77 Cindy was as well known in the UK as Bob was.
                            hehehe.....I like how you chose the "right'" point to comment on....forget about this part..."Every Jakan man is a womanizer".....it's irrelevant.
                            Hey .. look at the bright side .... at least you're not a Liverpool fan! - Lazie 2/24/10 Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Well yes, I will concede that one .

                              It may not be 100% true but close enough for a generalization.
                              "‎It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men" - Frederick Douglass

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X