Rastafari: A Movement that Transformed Jamaica

Written by Priest Douglas Smith and I Jabulani Tafari from the mansions of Bobo Ashanti and the Twelve Tribes of Israel respectively, uses the “non-traditional First Person idiom”, I&I, to offer testimony from third-generation Rastafari who sat at the feet of

Rastafari elders, many of whom are “transitioning to become ancestors” (9). Acutely aware that these “colourful and important life stories are already starting to fade from the cultural memory of the people of Jamaica and the world,”

is also a literary tribute to the elders who bore the brunt of governmental persecution and harassment (9).

Divided into five chapters, covers the patriarchs and matriarchs of Rastafari, the importance of the Marcus Garvey in Rastafari theology, the coronation of Haile Selassie, “a king whom I&I regard as Christ in these times,” (185), and a brief discussion about the use of cannabis and the wearing of dreadlocks.

In acknowledging Rastafari’s roots in Jamaica’s history of resistance, the first chapter of begins with Alexander Bedward, “one of the most charismatic trailblazers to arise in the latter half of the 19th century colonial Jamaica” (16). Although some may interpret this as ahistorical, it should not be surprising that Rastafari embrace Bedward, whose “many devoted followers in Jamaica eventually became staunch Garveyites and/or First Generation Rastafari” (25). The book also provides several parallels between Bedward and Marcus Garvey, whom some mansions regard as a reincarnated John the Baptist, the forerunner of Emperor Haile Selassie I (37). In addition,

highlights Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert, whose doctrine of “Black Christology” would later be “expanded upon by the Twelve Tribes of Israel” (30). The book also details the clashes between Leonard Howell, “First Rasta,” with “the worst adversary of the Rastafari Movement in Jamaica--alexander Bustamante, aka Busta” (41). Respect is also given to King Emmanuel Charles Edwards, founder of the Bobo Ashanti mansion, “who taught the philosophy of Marcus Garvey along with the theology of Salvation through the Black Christ” (48). High praise is also lauded on Rastafari patriarchs, Ras Derminite, Bongo Watto, Ras Sam Brown, Mortimo Planno, and Pa Ashanti, who “led the way in creating a distinctive new style of drumming in mid-20th century Jamaica” (66).

In keeping with the authors’ description of Rastafari as a “faith based Resistance Movement” (229), the second chapter traces the history of Rastafari matriarchs to Queen Nanny of the Maroons. According to the authors, Queen Nanny fits the Rastafari definition of a matriarch: “a woman who has openly and by great sacrifice made a covenant with the indwelling Divinity” (117). In this respect,

is perhaps the first book written by Rastafari to acknowledge the role of women in the movement. This is an important development in the evolution of Rastafari thought. For as Barry Chevannes in points out, some of Rastafari‘s attitudes towards women are rooted in Revivalist discourse which regards women as “necessary evils” (165). The stories of Sister Campbell, Empress Elgeta, Dawta Bubbles, and Ma Ashanti document the faith of these women in the face of persecution. Another important matriarch, Barbara Blake-hannah, film-maker and director, is singled out for her accomplishments as the “first Rastafari to serve in the Office of three Jamaican Prime Ministers: Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, and Bruce Golding” (140).

While it is essential to note the inclusion of so many female matriarchs in the Rastafari timeline,

does not present this history chronologically but according to gender. Also, despite a stunning front cover by Ras David, thought-provoking images by Elgo the Artist and Ras Daniel Heartman, newspaper clippings, and rare photographs of Rastafari matriarchs and patriarchs, the book’s lack of an index, notes, and a bibliography to verify references for further research, is unfortunate.

is a riveting account of the history of Rastafari, which assesses and suggests possible futures for the movement. The book also emphasises Rastafari’s role as “both a Resistance Movement with an African (Black) Liberation ideology, as well as a Spiritual (Religious) Movement with a Black Liberation Theology”

(232).

is a vital addition to the growing study of the Rastafari, a movement that has become the conscience of Jamaica.

astafari in the 21st Century: What Life has Taught I&I takes the second half of its title from a speech by Emperor Haile Selassie, “What Life has Taught Me,” which he delivered in an appeal to the United Nations on April 28, 1964. The inclusion is significant because it signals the authors’ commitment to the core tenet of Rastafari: the divinity of Emperor Haile Selassie. Reminiscent of Horace Campbell’s observation in Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney, “The Rastafari movement is poised between becoming a part of world history, contributing to a universal culture, and being a passing phenomenon of the 20th century” (234), Rastafari in the 21st Century endeavours to create a Sankofa moment to assess the history of Rastafari and to suggest a way forward. And while there have been many other studies about Rastafari, most notably Dread: The Rastafarians of Jamaica by Joseph Owens and Rastafari: Roots and Ideology by Barry Chevannes, which relied on the accounts of informants, Rastafari in the 21st Century is, perhaps, the first book written by adherents about the origins of a movement that has transformed Jamaican culture.