ORIGIN MAGAZINE: ROHAN MARLEY INTERVIEW
Interview with Rohan Marley, Founder of Marley Coffee and son of legendary Bob Marley with Faith Hunter written for Origin Magazine.
Faith Hunter: I grew up in Louisiana and in order for me to move forward in my life and in the world, I feel it’s important to be conscious and stay connected to my roots. How do you maintain your connection to your roots?
Rohan Marley: First of all, thank you and it is a pleasure to meet you. How do I maintain a connection to my roots? I can say, I give credit to my family and what I have learned from my father. Through Rastafari and Haile Selassie I. I learned about the roots of all things in Ethiopia. We learned to do things like the practice of life, how to pray, how to fast, and the origins of all things. Through this I am able to connect the Ethiopian way of life. That’s my real connection to the roots.
FH: You mentioned, it’s like the way of life. I became a vegetarian when I was 14 years old living in Louisiana. It was difficult for others to understand, but it came from a deeper place, a deeper spirit. What is your driving spirit? What does your spirit tell you to do on a daily basis?
RM: On a daily basis, it tells me that I should continue to find the way that can give more and to continue to find a way that I can create more love. I have to continue to find a way to illuminate life, to find ways that I can make others lives better, and at the same time, being a bridge to each other. That’s my driving ability and how to make what I’m doing, how to grow my own desires, and how to build on my dreams and make them a reality. How to make what I have better. I’m constantly thinking of the creative components, the colors, the ways, and what’s going on in life. “Can I achieve what I am trying to achieve”, those are my thoughts every day and how to do it the way that I really want to do it, not the way that anyone tells me how to do it. They’re like my biggest reflections of me, my life, and my everyday life. So, I have to give and function as I am no matter how I am or where I am.
FH: What is love?
RM: I would say love is a manifestation of one true passion from within one’s self. Loving is time and space. It’s like gift giving, you know. Love is a gift and doing love, the act of love is love, like kindness and appreciating people, giving and being compassionate, having an open mind, and being able to have a balance. I would say that’s love, the act of love. Love is an action. There are two kinds of love. Love is within oneself, that one has to heal oneself with love and meditation, and the good vibration that you give yourself. The positive ways. There’s the actual love, the manifestation of what you have created from within yourself. What is inside of you, and what’s going to come out of you. It’s what you create inside, it’s not your fake love life. Love is a manifestation of your thoughts, the good paths that you fight for. Discernment is deciphering the information and taking on the good because we are in love, we are creatures of love, and we are created with love. All of us, created with love but it influences the trust and the path of love, and respecting that higher creation. That’s what I think is love.
FH: What makes your heart sing?
RM: Good thoughts make my heart happy. Seeing good things, that makes my heart sing. Good thoughts and seeing good things make my heart happy.
FH: Do you practice yoga, meditation or any type of mindfulness work?
RM: I am…I live in my own mind. I am constantly living in my mind, and I am constantly meditating within myself. My thoughts are of meditation, but I cannot say I practice yoga or practice any form of meditation. I do fast, at times; and I discipline myself in other ways. The discipline is a form of meditation. So, I get these thoughts, and I meditate on those. In the end, I am been able to act out my thoughts. I meditate on my thoughts and make my thoughts a reality.
FH: What’s been you major life lessons?
RM: I have learned that I am no better than anyone else. I’ve also learned that one must not be selfish. There are so many people that can benefit from your works.
FH: What type of legacy are you leaving on this earth?
RM: What am I leaving on this earth? I came with nothing, I’m leaving with nothing. I simply do so that my children have a foundation. I am not leaving anything for it was never mine to leave. I’m using this life as a vehicle, and I prepare the vehicle so it can be sustainable and last generation upon generation. So if I have it, I should I should make it better. That’s my goal not to really leave anything. I just have access to the land. You can buy land to have access to that land, you can buy land, but you can’t outlive that land. You can never start something for yourself.
FH: Any new things in the works? What else are you putting into the universe to spread love?
RM: I just want to continue to do what I have as far as business, my purpose as far as Marley Coffee. Being the first ever eco-coffee on the market. I just left Ethiopia where we have Waterwise Project. It brings clean water to Ethiopia, in the Sidama region. We build sustainable water solutions and purify the water that’s emptied into the river. The work is done with farmers that aren’t used to cleaning waste water that is toxic to the river. This impacts over 180,000 families, and so far we have helped about 25,000. My family continues to do big things, and my brothers have new albums coming out. Ziggy just released his latest album, Fly Rasta. Everything we do is a team effort. We are on a mission, and it’s not blurry. On a mission to do good and do more.
FH: What makes you cry?
RM: Let’s see. What makes me cry? Lots of things. I’m always crying actually. I’m always crying inside, being sad and happy at the same time.
FH: I always say crying brings me closer to God.
RM: Crying is a form of revelation. When you cry, you repent. So crying is about repenting. Like water it washes away your sins when you cry. When you cry, you feel like a different person. You are more vulnerable at that stage. That is true crying. What makes me cry, is crying in general. I’m always cry.
FH: Finally, share what’s on your heart.
RM: I think that people should be taught about Haile Selassie I, about love and humanity, about consciousness, about education, about being aware, and how to live amongst each other because color of a man’s skin has no significance. You don’t judge a man by his eye color, so how can you judge a man by his skin. We have to get into the mind frame that loving life exists and that one can unite. We are all on the same boat. When the rain falls, it falls on everyone’s house. Whether the house is bigger or smaller, we all get the same amount of rain, so we all get the same amount of lessons. Some is just different, some looks bigger, some looks smaller but it’s all about perception. One can really see the teachings about love and life. To love endlessly, and it will be a better world. Learn these teachings, then I’ll all be good.
Rohan Marley, www.rohanmarley.com