Bob Marley frames emancipation as an inward revolution: the most stubborn forms of bondage are not always external laws or physical restraints, but the beliefs we absorb and carry. By naming “mental slavery,” he points to the way fear, learned helplessness, and inherited narratives can govern choices long after overt oppression changes form.
From the start, the line insists that liberation is not merely granted by institutions; it must also be practiced within consciousness. That emphasis sets the stage for a demanding message: the mind can be both the prison and the key, depending on how we relate to our thoughts. [...]
