Rastafari
Table of Contents
|Add A Black Web Site|
To know more about Rasta? Buy this Book!
|
Rastafari is a movement of Black people who know Africa as the birthplace of Mankind and the throne of Emperor Haile
Selassie I -- a 20th Century Manifestation of God who has lighted our pathway towards righteousness, and is therefore worthy
of reverence.
The Rastafari movement grew out of the darkest depression that the descendants of African slaves in Jamaica have ever lived
in -- the stink and crumbling shacks of zinc and cardboard that the tattered remnants of humanity built on the rotting garbage of
the dreadful Dungle on Kingston's waterfront. Out of this filth and slime arose a sentiment so pure, so without anger, so full of
love, the Philosophy of the Rastafari faith.
Freedom of Spirit, Freedom from Slavery, and Freedom of Africa, was its cry.
Religions always reflect the social and geographical environment out
of which they emerge, and Jamaican Rastafarianism is no exception: for
example, the use of marijuana as a sacrament and aid to meditation is logical
in a country where a particularly strain of 'herb' grows freely. Emerging
out of the island of Jamaica in the later half of this century, the religious/political
movement known as Rastafarianism has gained widespread exposure in the
Western world.
Rasta, as it is more commonly called, has its roots in the
teachings of Jamaican black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who in the 1930s
preached a message of black self empowerment, and initiated the "Back to
Africa" movement. Which called for all blacks to return to their ancestral
home, and more specifically Ethiopia. He taught self reliance "at home
and abroad" and advocated a "back to Africa" consciousness, awakening black
pride and denouncing the white man’s eurocentric woldview, colonial indoctrination
that caused blacks to feel shame for their African heritage. "Look to Africa",
said Marcus Garvey in 1920, "when a black king shall be crowned, for the
day of deliverance is at hand". Many thought the prophecy was fulfilled
when in 1930, Ras Tafari, was crowned emperor Haile Selassie 1 of Ethiopia
and proclaimed "King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the conquering lion of
the Tribe of Judah". Haile Selassie claimed to be a direct descendant of
King David, the 225th ruler in an unbroken line of Ethiopian Kings from
the time of Solomon and Sheba. He and his followers took great pride in
being black and wanted to regain the black heritage that was lost by loosing
faith and straying from the holy ways.
Rastafarians live a peaceful life, needing little material possessions
and devote much time to contemplating the scriptures. They reject the white
man's world, as the new age Babylon of greed and dishonesty. Proud and confident Rastas even though they are humble will stand up for their rights.
Rastas let their hair grow natually into dreadlocks, in the image of the lion of Judah. Six
out of ten Jamaicans are believed to be Rastafarians or Rastafarian sympathizers.
The total following is believed to be over 1000 000 worldwide. 1975
to the present has been the period of the most phenomenal growth for the
Rastafarian Movement. This growth is largely attributed to Bob Marley,
reggae artist, and the worldwide acceptance of reggae as an avenue of Rastafarian
self-expression. Marley became a prophet of Rastafarianism in 1975. The
movement spread quickly in the Caribbean and was hugely attractive to the
local black youths, many of whom saw it as an extension of their adolescent
rebellion from school and parental authority. With it came some undesirable
elements, but all true Rastas signify peace and pride and righteousness.
Home
Book Store