Bob Marley is one of those musicians who transcends music. Reggae was a niche genre at the time, with popularity limited to certain locations in the Caribbean. Although Marley didn't invent reggae (which might be Toots Hibbettt, according to RNZ), he was instrumental in bringing it out of the Kingston ghetto and into mainstream popular music. In addition, his personality goes beyond his music. A devout member of the Rastafarian movement, according to BBC News, and as reggae musician Macka B puts it in his song "Bob," "a messenger of Jah, he does God's work, he spreads Rastafarianism across the country" (via Google).
That Bob Marley was a kind and loving man who was driven to do good deeds is evident from the way he acknowledged the writing of some of his songs. As reported by Ledger Note, Marley credits writing some of his songs to a social activist he knows and loves. This ensures that royalties from these songs go not to Marley, but to his friends who effectively make a living off of him and his charitable endeavors.
Perhaps the greatest Bob Marley song credited to Vincent "Tata" Ford, according to UrbanIslandz, is "No Woman No Cry."
"No Women, No Suffering"
According to Smooth Radio, "those outside Jamaica" have been misrepresenting "No Woman, No Cry" for decades. The song, it turns out, isn't a statement that there's nothing to cry about without a woman. In fact, the song is advice for every woman who hears it not to cry. “Of course the song is about the power of mothers, the power of women.
Of course, there are plenty of reasons for the women in Bob Marley's orbit to cry. The song mentions Trenchtown, which according to the Guyana Chronicle was the slum in Kingston where Bob Marley spent most of his life. Needless to say, poverty in Trenchtown was and is still devastating and walking the slum streets reveals malnourished children and adults.
Fortunately, those with the means have tried for decades to offer as much help as possible. One of them is Vincent "Tata" Ford.
According to UrbanIslandz, Vincent "Tata" Ford ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown for decades, and Marley even spent some time there with him (though it's unclear whether Marley ever relied on Ford's generosity to support himself). “Vincent Ford is a Trenchtown fan. Me and him sang for a long time. He and I lived in the kitchen together for a very long time," Marley said of his girlfriend.
Eager to see that Ford, himself a diabetic and amputee, had the money to keep the soup kitchen running, Marley credited him with writing "No Woman No Cry" and other songs. In 2021, Ledger Note explained that even though Ford died in 2008 (according to the New York Times), royalties continued to flow to his charity, which "continued to grow" into that year.
It's worth noting that Marley's concern for his friends is one reason he includes them as songwriters on his album, but it's probably not the only reason. The singer was at the time involved in a complicated contract dispute, and the attribution to another person may have been an attempt to evade his contractual obligations.