Mostly the message I get from reggae is one of hope and peoples' struggle, and its always presented in a positive way. It doesn t seem to preach to you. It is its own message, in that it doesn't say that anyone has to be a certain way, but to just understand what the struggle is. It seems to span barriers between people. Reggae addresses the 'isms'.
Different songs address different problems.
That is what it does, to me, and hopefully it unifies and uplifts so that we can all work together and truly be together as a species. I think Bob Marley's music reached such a large amount of people because it was broad enough to offer multiple messages to a very diverse worldwide audience. He had so much to offer to so many people. My personal feeling is that Bob Marley was put on this planet because he had a message. I think he got that message out, it's all right there, if anyone cares to listen to it.