In terms of political philosophy, reggae has leaned largely towards Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. Here are a couple of exceptions, salutes to the man who we celebrate today in the U.S.

First, “Martin Luther King” by Max Romeo from Reconstruction, his 1979 follow up to his landmark album War Ina Babylon.
 

 
Here’s “Martin Luther King”, one of the tracks on studio wizard Scientist’s 1983 album International Heroes Dub with the Forces of Music band. Other track titles include “George Jackson”, “Ho Chi Minh”, “Malcolm X” and “Desmond Tutu”...
 

 
In celebration of their 50th anniversary, Dr. Martens has been commissioning musicians to cover songs by other artists. I’ve seen a bunch of the videos for the project and this one released today by N.A.S.A (deejays Squeeky Clean and Zegon) is at the top of the class. They do justice to the Max Romeo reggae classic Chase The Devil. Legendary musician and videographer Don Letts directed the video.