#GetUpStandUp for Esther Anderson - Bob Marley’s ex-partner begs for help on GoFundMe to secure her home
Published:Sunday | March 15, 2020 | 12:00 AMYasmine Peru - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Bob Marley and the Wailers’ militant Get Up Stand Up, the opening anthem from their 1973 iconic Burnin’ album, remains as relevant today as it was over four decades ago. It has been embraced as the definitive rallying cry for oppressed people to fight back and do something about their own situation. And, today, Esther Anderson, pioneer, activist, film-maker, Oscar-nominated and NAACP award-winning actress and artist, who is known for her powerful photographs of Bob Marley and the Wailers, is using this as her theme.
Anderson, who is now 76 years old, is currently being threatened with the forfeiture of her lease and possession of the flat in England, in which she has lived for over 50 years, all based on what a GoFundMe petition calls “trumped up service charges”.
The account has been set up to raise money to save Anderson’s house, and the targeted amount is £10,000. The information on the site refers to the flat as the place “where Bob Marley and Esther wrote the iconic hit, I Shot the Sheriff. Interestingly, the petition also names Anderson as a co-writer for the song Get Up Stand Up. This begs the question of copyright, ownership, and associated monies that would be due to Anderson as the co-writer of these mega hit songs. Shouldn’t she have enough, therefore, to cover all expenses?
However, Anderson, as the petition later states, willingly gave up all claims to any of the songs. “Esther is part of a more idealistic generation that gave their time, energy, resources, and creativity out of the goodness of their hearts. It was a form of protest and an act of liberation. She did not ask for copyright or royalties for her contributions to these works, viewing the process as one of necessity in pursuit of a greater cause,” the online message stated.
She is quoted as saying, “Every night for the past month I have gone to bed in tears, anxious, in a state of disbelief. It has been so upsetting and nerve-racking ... . I can barely sleep and know I have to overcome this nightmare somehow.”
Anderson is an integral part of the Marley story, and her very intimate friendship with the reggae legend is well documented. She was one of the directors of the 2011 movie Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend, described as an intimate portrait of Bob Marley and The Wailers made from footage shot in the early 1970s and lost for 30 years.
The film director left Jamaica for England in 1962, “as a young girl with nothing except my easel, paint brushes, pageant dresses, a hunger to succeed and desire to put my native country on the map”. She did various jobs, including deejaying, working as a model, dancing in Don Cellar cigars commercials to setting up Island Records. She notes, “I went to acting school, got my big break in Hollywood and gave it all up to help Bob and the Wailers fulfil their destiny.”
She purchased the flat in 1968 in Chelsea and it has been her home ever since.
The back story
The back story is that a company called TPS Estates took over as management agents responsible for the maintenance of the building in April 2018 and introduced charges, which Anderson reportedly disputed.
She is now facing the loss of her home if she does not pay the amount of £8,500 they are demanding.
Anderson was served with a Notice of Forfeiture of her lease on January 7, 2020, to take place at Wandsworth County Court on February 24, 2020. Cheyne Row Management (CRM) Ltd is the company she set up in 1986 when the freehold was purchased from Lord Armstrong to safeguard, manage, and protect the building from deterioration.
In her capacity as chairman and a director of CRM, Anderson completed and submitted a discontinuance form to have the motion dismissed, which the court accepted, the GoFundMe message explains.
The acting secretary of Cheyne Row management and owner of TPS Estates has failed to acknowledge her position as chairman and demanded another Possession Hearing. He is asking the court to give him possession of Esther’s home if the disputed sum is not paid in full before the hearing.
Reports are that on January 21, 2020, the ground rent Anderson had paid weeks earlier was returned in the form of a cheque made out in the wrong name.
“She has been unable to cash the cheque and does not have the resources to pay the money TPS is demanding as she is on pension credit. The court hearing is listed for March 18 and she needs to find £10,000, which will include court and initial legal fees before then. It is ridiculous that her lease will be forfeited and she will lose her share of the equity of her own flat for such a relatively small sum. Anyone who can help will have earned her eternal gratitude,” the petition states.
Up to press time, £4,365 of the £10,000 goal had been raised.