Island Hopping The Rastafarians

ISLAND HPPING

The Rastafarians

Everywhere you look in the Caribbean, and particularly on the island of Jamaica, you will see and meet Rastafarians. The man that sells you fruit and veggies, the boat boy that takes your line, or perhaps the man that is working on your boat in the yard, Rastafarians, Rastas for short, are as much a part of Jamaica as the trade winds and the Blue Mountains. A goodly number of cruisers on their first voyage to the Caribbean bring preconceived notions with them about these highly religious folks and I strongly urge visitors to these islands to come here with an open mind.

Mention the word Rasta and a vision of dreadlocks, ganja, and reggae music comes to mind, but there is a lot more to these people than that, remember, don’t judge a book by its cover. There are some folks who you’ll meet that sport the dreadlocked look of the Rastafarian, and who will claim to be a follower of Rastafari, but who are not what they seem. This book’s cover is a false one. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference, but if you observe them, the speech, their diet (those that tend to be more Orthodox in their style of living adhere to certain dietary practices that are the hallmark of this religion), you will soon learn the difference. This is not to say that there is a clear line between true Rastas and false Rastas, there are all kinds of Rastafarians the same as there are all manner of Catholics, Protestants, or Jews. Some live a life with a strict adherence to their beliefs, while others live a life a bit more relaxed. And when it comes to misconceptions about Rastafarians, some uninformed persons fear all Rastafarians feeling that they are involved with drug smuggling and other assorted crimes. Not all are involved with illegal activities, one cannot indict an entire religion for the indiscretions of a few, what would happen to the Catholic faith if one indicted all Priests in the same manner?

Where lie the roots of the Rastafari? It is generally accepted that the movement began in Jamaica in the 1930’s with Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican born (born n 1887 in St. Ann) black nationalist leader who, in 1914, founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the most powerful black group of the 1920s, whose goal was to bring the black race to a higher prominence. Garvey, who is said to be of Maroon descent, immigrated to the United States in 1916 after a stint as a time-keeper on a banana plantation in Costa Rica and furthering his education at a college in England. Although Garvey was a Catholic, he encouraged his followers to view Jesus as Black and organize their own church, neither Catholic nor Protestant, and adopt the name “Orthodox”. Thus was born the African Orthodox Church which, although rejected by the Russian Metropolia when they applied for formal recognition as an Orthodox jurisdiction, the followers of Garvey were accepted by a group of “American Catholics”, a loose group of worshipers who had rejected the Pope but in all other things remained Catholic. Garvey’s church grew to thousands of members on three continents when discontent raised its ugly head. The African Orthodox Church in Kenya and Uganda broke off relations with their New York brethren and aligned themselves with the Greek Patriarchate of Alexandria and became fully Orthodox. Today however, Garvey’s church is for the most part defunct although the parish of St. John Coltrane in San Francisco remains active. In 1922, Garvey was indicted for mail fraud, serving 2½ years in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta before his sentence was commuted and he was deported back to Jamaica in 1927. Garvey had been listed as a “subversive” by the U.S. and many believe the charges against him were trumped up and racially motivated. Garvey moved the UNIA headquarters to London where, in 1940, he died in relative obscurity.

A true picture of Garvey shows a man who is somewhere between a prophet and a con man. Garvey wanted his black race to be economically equal to the whites and suggested an exodus of blacks from the Americas back to Africa and the establishment of a black nationality. In a church in Kingston in 1927, Garvey preached that Africans would someday rise again to their true stature and that a mighty black king would be crowned who would lead all blacks to freedom saying, "Look to Africa, for there a king will be crowned." In this Garvey appears as a John The Baptist figure for the eventual mighty king, Haile Selassie. The crowning of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930, became Garvey’s prophecy fulfilled. Selassie, whose real name was Ras (Prince) Tafari Makonnen (upon his coronation he took the name Haile Selassie which means Might of the Trinity), is believed to be the 225^th direct descendent of King Solomon and Queen Sheba and is said to be the second Messiah, Jesus in all his Kingly glory, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God and King of the Kings of Ethiopia. Many Jamaican’s claimed Garvey’s prophecy fulfilled and the Ras Tafari movement was born. Garvey was alive to see Selassie crowned, although his religious movement had for the most part collapsed and he himself jailed on charges of business fraud. Garvey himself was not a fan of Selassie, admitting that slavery was still alive in Ethiopia and he attacked the new Rastafarians as being crazy fanatics even though several of Garvey’s most trusted followers, men of his inner circle, had agreed that Selassie did indeed fulfill Garvey’s prophecy.

From the 1930s until the mid-1960s, Rastafari was mainly a Jamaican religious movement with few if any outside influences, but the members could not develop a Jamaica-wide identity or agree on a basic doctrine or canon. The original Rastafarians did not consider themselves an organization or a philosophy, rather they only sought to discern the will of Jah (God) and keep true to it. Their meetings, Reasonings, were part theological debate and part prayer meeting, and at all times the Rastafarians sought only the Truth. Rastafarians sought an overstanding of the Truth, not an understanding since the term under has a negative connotation. Rastafarians often use their own language, removing many negative components in today’s English. For instance, sincere becomes I-cere when the sin is removed, and divine becomes I-vine since di is too much like the word die. A popular phrase that you will often here is I&I, which can mean I, we, or you, all with Jah present.

Although no doctrine was formally compiled, one thing the early Rastafarians did agree on was that Haile Selassie was divine and that he intended to restore New World Blacks to Africa. Early Rastas wanted nothing more that to repatriate to Ethiopia and Jamaican authorities could not deal with the situation. It was one thing to live by a slogan like power to the people, it was quite another when the Rasta motto became let my people go. The government of Jamaica ignored the demands of the Rastas and the situation between the Rastas and the government became increasingly unstable until in 1954 the government overran a Rastafarian mini-state called The Pinnacle, ruled by a Rasta Elder named Leonard Howell who governed in the style of a traditional West African chief. Howell was arrested for preaching a revolutionary doctrine and his followers migrated to the slums of Kingston. With this, Rastafari went from a rural separatist movement to a ghetto separatist movement, and without a leader, the way the Rastas wanted it after all the harassment Howell had to endure. Some Rastas in the 1950s and 1960s, rejected the non-violent teachings of their elders and mounted a series of violent uprisings which led to shootouts between Rastas and British troops, forever branding Rastafarians with a negative violent label.

In 1966, Jamaica was in the throes of a national crisis in which the Rastas were perceived as a revolutionary threat that needed to be defused. It was suggested that closer ties to Ethiopia might cool things down a bit and with that came the Lion of Judah. Emperor Haile Selassie flew into Kingston on April 21, 1966, Groundation Day to Rastas ever since, to meet with Rasta leadership, many of whom thought Selassie was no less than Jah Himself. Selassie stepped off the plane and thousands of white-robed Rastafarians chanting “Hosanna to the Son of David” and “Jah Rastafari” surged forward past police barricades, causing Selassie to retreat back to the safety of his plane. Later Selassie granted an audience to a delegation of Rasta elders, but the details of that meeting are sketchy. Some say that Selassie urged the Rastas to become Orthodox, while others say that Selassie suggested that Jamaica settlers might receive land grants in southern Ethiopia. But most agree that Selassie gave the elders a “secret” message, BUILD JAMAICA FIRST, in other words, don’t even think about moving to Ethiopia until you have taken care of your home island.

From a historical point of view, it must be noted that Selassie is looked upon as a tyrant, a man who allowed 100,000 of his people to die from drought as charged by the military leaders who deposed Selassie in 1975. Selassie passed away in a small apartment in his palace in Addis Ababa on August 27, 1975, but many Rastafarians do not believe this. Some say his death was a fabrication, faked only to harm their movement, others say Selassie is still here in another plane of existence and that is death was inconsequential since he was a personification of God. Whatever he is or was, today Selassie lives on in each and every Rasta individual.

Rastafari is a religion full of ideals of purity, strength, and freedom from corruption and oppression that plagued black people for centuries. Rastas maintain that God is black, Ethiopia is the promised land, and that Rastas are one of the lost tribes of Israel. True Rastas are basically vegetarians, their diet is by ital rules, a dietary code based on the Bible and they cook only natural foods, fish less than a foot long, and they use no salt or oil. Rastas celebrate their Sabbath on Saturdays and view our modern society as “Babylon”, an evil institution that is responsible for that same corruption and oppression. Most Rastas tend to distance themselves from Babylon as much as possible, seeking independence from the evils associated with it. That is why so many Rastas that you meet are self-sufficient, many of them farming, or earning a living from their own talents, such as wood-carving and crafts, preferring to live peaceful, simple, healthy lives.

These people are very proud of who they are and are eager to educate others about their beliefs and way of life. During his reign, Haile Selassie stressed education as the way forward for his people, and as a result, Rastas seek knowledge from the Bible as well as academically. Many are well educated and hold excellent positions. However, because of a lack of understanding, many Rastas are prevented from achieving levels of success they deserve. Without a doubt, a better understanding of the Rastafarian culture will assist in removing the barriers that prejudice has placed in their paths. On of those prejudices stem from the Rasta’s use of ganga, marijuana, wisdomweed, for religious, meditational, medicinal, and culinary purposes and justified by several quotations from the Bible. Some Rastas do not smoke ganga recreationally, and others, those of the Ethiopian Orthodox sect (there are several different “types” of Rastas such as the Bobo Dread, a sect based on the teachings of Prince Emanuel Edwards, they are recognizable by their tuban-like headgear and flowing white robes), don’t use ganga at all. But the most obvious icon of the Rasta is the dreadlocks, the long locks that are seen as a symbol of strength that also has a basis in the Bible, in the story of Samson. And what discussion of Rastafari would be complete without the mention of Reggae music and especially the music of Bob Marley, who helped bring the message of Rastafari, of Jah, of Haile Selassie, to the world.

Rasta James helping me fix a flat tire near Ocho Rios.

back to Appendix S: Local Cultures