One thing about Jimmy Cliff , he understood the assignment.

“My role was and is inspiring people,” he told me in 1999, backstage in Oracabessa, Jamaica during the filming of a television special honoring his longtime bredren Bob Marley . “To inspire people to want to live.”

Surrounded by TV cameras, several generations of the Marley family , and international stars like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Tracy Chapman, and Busta Rhymes, Jimmy Cliff did not waver, maintaining laser-like focus on his message and his mission.

“After a concert or after you listen to some of my music,” he explained, “I want to know that you feel empowered to get up and do something about your life and make your life better. And I think that’s what Bob was doing in his own way too. That’s the role that I’ve been

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