“I want people to get sensitive to the music… if you’re not listening to the message, it’s like a fool dancing to calamity,” Peter Tosh once said. He had a clear vision: music was more than entertainment, it was a call to action—a way to educate and challenge.
Reggae music, particularly through the work of The Wailers (Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Bob Marley), transformed pop culture into an instrument of liberation. They used their platform to highlight the struggles of the oppressed and the fight for equal rights and justice.
Peter Tosh, a trailblazing musician and committed Pan-Africanist, is a fascinating figure. Like many revolutionaries, he was complex, multi-dimensional, and outspoken. Tosh, more than any other reggae artist, made the world sit up and notice apartheid’s evils. His 1977 album Equal Rights wasn’t just music; it was a powerful denunciation of apartheid and the inhumanity it represented. Tosh didn’t wait for the world to catch up with him—he was already calling for action long before it became a mainstream issue.
I had the privilege of hosting several retrospectives on Peter Tosh’s life for WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, with guests including Steve Golding, Oku Onuora, Sly and Robbie, and Herbie Miller. Through these discussions, a deeper understanding of Tosh emerged—one that underscores his rightful place as not just a musical pioneer but also a political visionary. Peter Tosh deserves to be celebrated for his immense contribution to both music and human rights.
Political Revolutionary
Tosh’s talent went beyond his music; he was an outspoken political revolutionary whose ideology centred on Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism. Described by Rolling Stone as reggae’s Malcolm X, Tosh’s lyrics cut through the noise, full of biting critique and wordplay. Comparisons to John Lennon’s lyricism often fall short—where Lennon dabbled in playful cynicism, Tosh’s music was full of righteous anger. His central message was always about human rights.
Peter Tosh’s impact on music history is undeniable, but his influence also extended far beyond that. He shaped the world’s understanding of issues like politics, religion, and culture. Coming from the depths of Jamaica’s ghettos, Tosh knew all too well the struggles of the poor and oppressed. As Carol Cooper wrote in the Village Voice, Jamaica’s ghettoes were places where “inborn talents” were overlooked because of skin colour and poverty. Tosh’s mission was to awaken the black and oppressed people to their history and lead them toward a brighter future.
Tragically, this legendary artist was silenced in his prime, with so much still left to say. His voice, fierce and unrelenting, was that of a freedom fighter unafraid to die for his convictions. His legacy, however, remains misunderstood and underappreciated. While Peter Tosh is often overshadowed by Bob Marley, his contributions to reggae are equally vital. Tosh once said, “Reggae is spiritually revolutionary, and the message is divine.” Through his music, he aimed to dismantle oppressive systems and ignite change.
What the critics missed
Critics often missed the depth of Tosh’s ideas, choosing instead to focus on the exotic spectacle of his Rastafarian culture. Many failed to see Tosh as the intellectual he was. His peers, including drummer Santa Davis and engineer Dennis Thompson, recall how Tosh was constantly reading, educating himself on world issues and applying this knowledge to his music. Long before apartheid became a global issue, Tosh was raising awareness, as Sly Dunbar noted in a 1996 interview, reflecting on Tosh’s insight into apartheid in the early 1970s.
One telling example of how misunderstood Tosh was can be found in an exchange between critic Stephen Davis and Tosh. When Davis asked Tosh whether the police who beat him knew of his international fame, Tosh pointedly replied, “You don’t have to know a man to treat him the way he should be treated. But because I am humble and don’t wear a jacket and tie and drive a big Lincoln Continental or Mercedes-Benz, I don’t look exclusively different from the rest. I look like the people, seen? To them police, here’s just another Rasta to kill.”
For Tosh, his status as a celebrity meant nothing; his fight was for the ordinary people, those whose human rights were disregarded every day.
Music as a vehicle for change
Tosh believed that art was only valid if it made a social statement. His music, deeply embedded in the socio-political context of his life, was a vehicle for change. Like Langston Hughes wrote in The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, black artists faced immense pressure to conform to a white-dominated society, but Tosh refused. He embraced his African roots and created music that reflected his experiences as a black man fighting for justice.
As we celebrate what would have been Peter Tosh’s 80th birthday on 19th October 2024, we remember the man who stood firm in his beliefs and used his music as a weapon against injustice. Thirty-seven years have passed since his life was taken, but Tosh’s influence endures.
