Showing posts with label Bob Marley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Marley. Show all posts

February 6 - Waitangi Day in Niue

Posted on February 6, 2019

Today's world holiday is actually a New Zealand holiday - see "Waitangi Day in New Zealand" in "Also on this date" below - with a nod to musician Bob Marley's birthday - see that post in "Also on this date," below, as well!

The flag of Niue
The reason that the tiny South Pacific nation of Niue celebrates a New Zealand holiday is because it in "free association" with N.Z. This means that Niue's foreign affairs and diplomatic relations and defense are all mostly handled by the much larger nation of New Zealand, and when the people of Niue join the armed forces or fight in wars, they do so as part of the New Zealand military.

Speaking of the people of Niue, it turns out that almost all Niueans in the world live in New Zealand!

Like I said, Niue is tiny - only about 100 square miles (around 260 square kilometers) - and there are fewer than 2,000 people living there. With such a teeny population, there isn't much economic opportunity - and so about 90 to 95% of all Niueans have moved to N.Z. for jobs and other opportunities. 

The people who have stayed get to enjoy all this:





Can you see why tourism is a biggie on Niue?

Now, about today's holiday: Waitangi Day is celebrated with speeches, concerts, children's sports, fashion shows, and beach outings. Relaxation and reggae music - the latter in honor of Bob Marley - may be the biggest two features of the Niue version of this holiday. 




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

February 6, 2013 - Happy Birthday, Bob Marley

February is “Black History Month.” It is still important to deliberately focus on the role played by women and “minority groups” in history, since much of the traditionally-told American and European history focuses on white men.


History classes also pay more attention to generals and presidents and kings instead of artists and scientists and musicians. We often learn the history of rulers and warriors rather than the history of those who made huge contributions to our everyday lives and culture.

Two days ago, it was Rosa Parks's birthday.  Today it's Bob Marley's birthday. Marley was born on this date in 1945, in a village called Nine Mile in Jamaica, and he grew up to become internationally known and loved for his ska, rocksteady, and especially reggae music.







In this video, Bob Marley's oldest son, Ziggy Marley, talks about “B is for Bob,” Marley's children's album. 

This blog post lists reggae albums for kids. 


By the way...

It's interesting to listen to the language used Jamaica. Long ago, the slaves who were brought to this Caribbean island spoke a wide variety of African languages. In order to communicate with each other, they all had to learn English. But English didn't have words for some of the plants, animals, foods, and other things in their environment, so the slaves used words borrowed from their African languages for those things. The resulting language is called a creole language. Note: Jamaican is not “more primitive” or “less grammatical” than other forms of English—but the vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar are different than those found in other English dialects.

Get a feel for Jamaican here.


Also on this date:












Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)