Rastafarianism: Reggae Spiritual Informers Flashcards
Jamaica
British colony until 1962
A history of Rebellion
Possessed a Maroon community who retained many African practices.
Ethiopia
Only African country not to be thoroughly colonised by Europeans.
Possessed a Royal line that pre-dated Christ.
Jamaican Ethiopian Christians had always taken the notion of Ethiopia to be more actual than spiritual.
Ethiopian Churches
However, it was culturally that the Ethiopian churches really made a difference, as once a slave was able to subscribe to the ideas of biblical Ethiopia he or she immediately became capable of plugging-in to black history as an important chapter in the birth of mankind.
As the twentieth century dawned, a world-wide black political platform began to institute itself. Ehtiopianism was morphing into something called Pan-Africanism…
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
Established Pan African sensibility.
“Africa is for Africans, Black Africans”
He’d given the black nation its own national anthem- Ethiopia, Thou Land of Our Fathers, and devised its red, black and green flag (‘red for the blood that will be spilled in the struggle, black for the colour of our skin and green for the land that shall be ours’)
Garvey foretold of a king emerging from Africa.
Haile Selassie
In 2 November 1930, Ras Tafari was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Named Lij Makonnen- Ras and Tafari were titles translated from Amharic to mean, respectively, ‘prince’ or ‘nobleman’ and ‘creator’. … that declared itself a line of direct descent form the union of King Solomon and Queen Makeba of Sheba.
The Birth
the crowning of this new emperor was accepted as divine realization of writings contained within the Book of Revelation and Jeremiah, As told by three radical and highly influential preachers.
Leonard P. Howell, Archibald Dunkley and Joseph Hibbert.
Black pride, separatism, self-help and repatriation, Haile S. as the Messiah.
Selassie Visit to Jamaica
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, visited Jamaica on April 21, 1966, and was greeted by huge, ecstatic crowds, especially Rastafarians who saw him as divine; his visit strengthened the Rastafari movement and made April 21 (“Grounation Day”) a major spiritual holiday in Jamaica.
Some Philosophies
No absolute doctrine constantly shifting and adapting religion.
Rastafari was so called in identification with the person whom Haile Selassie was before he took the throne.
Everyone has the potential for divinity.
‘Jah’ means God believe to be a corruption of Hebrew Yahweh.
More Philosophies
Foundation of Rastafari is oneself as the focus of life on earth.
Haile Selassie I 1st person pronoun.
No expression of we or you its ‘I and I’
Most doctrine is extracted from Old testament as Rastas see themselves as true Israelites.
Shun traditional politics.
Embrace African drumming techniques. Burru and Kumina.
Visual signifiers
and practices
Rooted in working-class.
Grow dreadlocks. (Started in 1950’s Inspired by the anti-colonialist Mau Mau in Kenya).
Done to evoke fear in Babylon thus ‘Dread’ + ‘Lock’.
Eat ‘Ital’ or vegetarian derived from Vital.
Thoroughly anti-gay.
Smoke marijuana as means of connecting body and soul. (Aid to meditation and contemplation)
Have reasoning sessions. (Music and weed)
Some Structures
Mansions of Rastafari or branches of the movement.
The Mansions of Rastafari are the main branches or groups within the Rastafari movement, each with its own beliefs and practices
The 3 Main Mansions of Rastafari
the three main ones are the
Nyabinghi Order (focused on African repatriation and spiritual gatherings)
Bobo Ashanti (strict, priestly order with distinct dress codes)
Twelve Tribes of Israel (more organized, Bible-focused group encouraging self-reliance and education).
Bobo Ashanti
Bobo Ashanti -. Bobos are most notable for their wearing of turbans and robes and the brooms they carry with them, which signify cleanliness.
Bobos believe in black supremacy, they also consider women and children subordinate to men. Women must cover their legs and arms; and a woman may serve food to a guest, but never to a Bobo male.
Sizzla, Capleton, Turbulence, Anthony B.
Summary of Rastafarianism
An important religious movement within Reggae music.
For the first time in the nation’s history one of the few surviving African-based artforms-a true articulation of black Jamaicaness- had become involved with a commercially viable mainstream expression. It was a bond between Rastafari and the Jamaican music business that is still in place to this day, with each side doing as much for the other-while reggae gives Rasta access to the world stage, Rasta’s depth of spirituality means reggae will always have something to say. Bass Culture, Bradley, L.
