Smile Jamaica Concert of the concert series. Stir It Up: The CIA Targets Jamaica, Bob Marley and the Progressive Manley Government, an alternative historical novel by David Dusty Couples, weaves fact and fiction to dramatize the concert. The novel "A Brief History of Seven Killings" by Marlon James dramatizes the attempt on Marley's life, including other events leading up to the Smile Jamaica concert. Smile Jamaica Concert The Smile Jamaica Concert was a concert held on December 5, 1976, at the National Heroes Park, Kingston, Jamaica, performed by Bob Marley & The Wailers. Marley originally agreed to perform one song for the 80,000
Bob Marley assassination attempt of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The JLP used the threat of socialism to build support among property owners and churchgoers, attracting more middle-class support. By 1976 the two politicians hired local gangsters to help them increase their hold on power. The 1976 elections marked the beginning of a period of political violence in Jamaica. A State of Emergency was declared by Manley's party the PNP in June and 500 people, including some prominent members of the JLP, were accused of trying to overthrow the government and were detained, without charges, in the South Camp Prison at the Up-Park Camp