As the world bows yet again to reflect on the September 11, 2001 bloodletting in America, one cannot help but stray to remember Jamaican musician Peter Tosh for a number of reasons.
By Chansa MulalamiForemost, it is because the controversial "Jahman" was murdered on that same date 14 years earlier (1987) by gunmen in his Kingston home for motives that are still unclear to this day.
While some assert that Tosh's death was orchestrated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the persistent rebukes he spat against them, others maintain he was a sheer victim of Jamaica's day-to-day bloodshed.
One lucid fact behind the guesswork is that Peter Mackintosh was one hard-to-get fellow who spoke what he meant - without apology.
For instance, he was a champion in the campaign for the legalisation of marijuana, claiming it was the only cure for asthma and other ailments afflicting mankind, much to the chagrin of moralists.
And whether the weather was hot or not, he was the self-confessed but practical "stepping razor" who believed he could not die and sent shivers down many a spine as they crossed his path.
Imagine the likes of his contemporary, reggae's trail blazer Bob Marley, quaking whenever Tosh lifted his voice in song or finger on a Karate platform!
"If you are a bully, treat me good. I'm like a stepping razor don't you watch my size, I'm dangerous, dangerous..." he would boast.
But come September 11, you suddenly flip to the tender side of this "violent" character called Peter Tosh and songs like No Nuclear War begin to trickle down your soul.
Pictures of America's World Trade Centre being reduced to rubble at the wrath of uncompromising terrorists click vividly as you listen to Tosh's fervent plea for peace.
Though he himself met death the violent way, Tosh had it in his soul that humans should live in peace.
Were he alive today at the age of 60, Peter Tosh would definitely be playing the role of Kofi Annan or Nelson Mandela, preaching the gospel of peace to a world that never seems to listen.
Whether he would have given up the weed he smoked from sun up to sun dust is God's secret.
The comfort that remains as we lament the prevalence of terrorism in the world is that the voice of Peter Tosh, and others, will forever echo loud in our quest for peace.
