Embrace the message of Marcus Garvey – Bobo Wiseman - Rastafarian artiste believes words of national hero will empower youth

Garvey Maceo High School past student Oneil ‘Bobo Wiseman’ Foreman is not just a regular artiste looking to claim his niche in the industry. Inasmuch as he has a passion for music, he sees his mission as a higher calling.

The conscious Rastafarian is about empowering the youth and teaching them to think more about themselves.

Describing himself as a Rastaman who does a lot of meditation, he said he realised that Jamaica’s history did not start at slavery.

“We were kings and queens before slavery. The richest man to date is Mansa Musa, who was a black king. If I could get all black people around the world to understand this one fact, then my life would be worthwhile living,” he shared with The Gleaner, even as he expressed the desire for his fellow men to be educated and stop living a “created reality and created consciousness”.

His hope is that Jamaicans will rise to a new consciousness, hence removing the limitations from their thinking.

“For many years, we have been fed the consciousness that we can only do some limited things. We must now be born again. We must now have a new mind, a new belief that we can do all things,” are his impassioned words.

Stressing the importance of Black History Month, Foreman said it is a time for them to look within themselves and realise that they were the builders of the pyramids.

“The pyramids and its construction cannot be figured out by modern technology. This tells me that within black people, there is a hidden power that is not only good for black people, but for the entire world,” he noted.

FASCINATION TURNS INTO CRAFT

Foreman shared that his fascination with the building of pyramids in Egypt drew him into the field of construction. A proud Foreman said he is now able to construct any building from start to finish.

Currently employed to a construction company, he told The Gleaner that he uses the opportunity to employ several youth from the community of Sandy Bay, where he lives.

He also never misses a chance to encourage the unattached in the community to learn the trade.

Foreman, who said he has always been a leader from a tender age, said his friends are aware of his message and mission which is to be educated.

If there is one wish he has for his fellow men, it is that they will embrace the message of Marcus Garvey.

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life, but with confidence, you have won even before you have started. Use your creative imagination to create in your mind anything you wish your future to be and work hard to achieve it,” he shared.

Foreman said the one thing that gets him annoyed is the fact that even knowledge is now at their fingertips, people are still lacking.

“My people are still lost to the fact that when we celebrate our heroes, we in a sense celebrate ourselves,” he said.

Going back to his music, Foreman said it is about “moods” as, for him, when a mood can be collectively created, the people are in a state of mind of creativity and oneness, unity, upliftment and happiness.