One Love: Discovering Rastafari!

The curator of a groundbreaking exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History discusses Rastafarian culture

  • By Jess Blumberg
  • Smithsonian.com, January 01, 2008

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    “Discovering Rastafari!”

    More from Smithsonian.com

    Listen to Rastafarian songs "Nybingi Medley" and "King So High"

    Visit the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Web site for purchase and more information

    Jake Homiak is the curator for Discovering Rastafari! at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on exhibit until November 2008. Along with a panel of 17 Rastafarian advisers, Homiak created the exhibit to dispel the stereotype that Rastafarian culture is merely about marijuana and reggae music. On display are artifacts that represent the cultural, political and social origins of the cultural movement.

    Homiak works in the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology and has been immersed in the Rastafarian culture for 30 years.

    Can you talk about the origins of Rastafari culture?
    It started with Ethiopianism, which is a philosophy that gained ground in the American colonies in the late 1700s. It emerged as the first literate blacks began to discover a way of relating and reading themselves into the Bible. The reason why these references were important to blacks is because the Bible was their only literate source at a time when they were seen as less than human. The single reference in the Bible that was most important to the flourishing of this ideology is found in Psalm 68, verse 32. It's a redemptive verse that goes "Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God."

    Then, just to jump forward, when Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned in November 1930, it received enormous media coverage around the world. This event was interpreted as the second coming by some blacks in Jamaica and it was all within the framework of this Ethiopianist doctrine.

    And what's the importance of black nationalist Marcus Garvey in Rastafarian culture?
    Marcus Garvey was the summation of 20th-centuy pan-Africans. Garvey himself preached in the idioms of Ethiopia. He routinely used the phrase "Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God." Garvey also made a reference that black people need to see God in their own image. And perhaps the most significant thing that connected Ethiopianism to the crowning of Emperor Selassie was that Garvey is reputed to have said, "Look to Africa where a black king will be crowned and when you see that the day of deliverance will be near." So Garvey's teachings formed a foundation for what would become Rastafari. All of this—Ethiopianism, Garveyism and Biblical literacy—kind of came together to form the basis of Selassie's divinity that began to be preached in the early 1930s. It's about reclaiming an African identity, about seeing one's self through the spectacles of Ethiopia.

    How did reggae music develop?
    Reggae got its start in the late '60s and early '70s. Everyone knows that Bob Marley was the king of reggae, and he took it all over the world. But reggae also had its predecessors. There was an indigenous Jamaican music that developed in the '40s and '50s. First it was minto, which was a more European kind of music played with a banjo, tambourine and drums. There was a music called ska, and this was truly a people's music. Ska began to make inroads in England in the '50s, when a lot of Jamaicans migrated to England. Reggae was also influenced by an African drumming tradition known as buru, music that came from the period of slavery and was generally practiced among the lowest classes of ghetto dwellers in Kingston. The Rastas at the time made common cause with the Buru people, which later became Nyahbinghi drumming.

    Listen to Rastafarian songs "Nybingi Medley" and "King So High"

    Visit the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Web site for purchase and more information

    Jake Homiak is the curator for Discovering Rastafari! at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on exhibit until November 2008. Along with a panel of 17 Rastafarian advisers, Homiak created the exhibit to dispel the stereotype that Rastafarian culture is merely about marijuana and reggae music. On display are artifacts that represent the cultural, political and social origins of the cultural movement.

    Homiak works in the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology and has been immersed in the Rastafarian culture for 30 years.

    Can you talk about the origins of Rastafari culture?
    It started with Ethiopianism, which is a philosophy that gained ground in the American colonies in the late 1700s. It emerged as the first literate blacks began to discover a way of relating and reading themselves into the Bible. The reason why these references were important to blacks is because the Bible was their only literate source at a time when they were seen as less than human. The single reference in the Bible that was most important to the flourishing of this ideology is found in Psalm 68, verse 32. It's a redemptive verse that goes "Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God."

    Then, just to jump forward, when Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned in November 1930, it received enormous media coverage around the world. This event was interpreted as the second coming by some blacks in Jamaica and it was all within the framework of this Ethiopianist doctrine.

    And what's the importance of black nationalist Marcus Garvey in Rastafarian culture?
    Marcus Garvey was the summation of 20th-centuy pan-Africans. Garvey himself preached in the idioms of Ethiopia. He routinely used the phrase "Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God." Garvey also made a reference that black people need to see God in their own image. And perhaps the most significant thing that connected Ethiopianism to the crowning of Emperor Selassie was that Garvey is reputed to have said, "Look to Africa where a black king will be crowned and when you see that the day of deliverance will be near." So Garvey's teachings formed a foundation for what would become Rastafari. All of this—Ethiopianism, Garveyism and Biblical literacy—kind of came together to form the basis of Selassie's divinity that began to be preached in the early 1930s. It's about reclaiming an African identity, about seeing one's self through the spectacles of Ethiopia.

    How did reggae music develop?
    Reggae got its start in the late '60s and early '70s. Everyone knows that Bob Marley was the king of reggae, and he took it all over the world. But reggae also had its predecessors. There was an indigenous Jamaican music that developed in the '40s and '50s. First it was minto, which was a more European kind of music played with a banjo, tambourine and drums. There was a music called ska, and this was truly a people's music. Ska began to make inroads in England in the '50s, when a lot of Jamaicans migrated to England. Reggae was also influenced by an African drumming tradition known as buru, music that came from the period of slavery and was generally practiced among the lowest classes of ghetto dwellers in Kingston. The Rastas at the time made common cause with the Buru people, which later became Nyahbinghi drumming.

    What famous Bob Marley song really exemplifies the culture and his beliefs?
    One of the most important songs he ever sang is called "Jah Lives" and it was important because he sang that song when Selassie was declared dead in 1975. Marley wrote and recorded that song within two weeks of Selassie's passing. It was a statement to the world and fellow Rastafari that God could not parish off the face of the Earth and certainly not the Rasta man's conception of God. Also, when Bob Marley sang the racial song “War,” all he was doing was putting Selassie's words to music. He was singing a speech that Selassie made to the UN in October 1963.

    How did you first become interested in the Rastafari movement?
    I always knew that I was going to do work with a black diasporic community. I had been at graduate school too long, and I really wanted to get into the field and some money became available to work in the eastern Caribbean and I said, "I'm going to do this Rasta thing." If there was a single moment that was transformative in my mind, it was the second day I was in Jamaica. I was driving out into the hills in Llandewey, and I came around this corner. There was a Rasta whose locks were all white and they hung down to the middle of his back and he had a staff and he was wearing a crocus bag. The sight of him was like seeing Moses come down off the mount. I remember I stopped the car and he came up to the window and he said, "Jah son where ya go?" But I just kind of stammered something and said, "I hope we see each other another time." And sure enough we did. That was transfixing for me.

    What aspects of the culture does the exhibit highlight?
    There are some very nice things that come through in a video that shows the dignity of this culture. That's a major thing I wanted [visitors] to know. Rastafari people have suffered enormously and have come through. The first Rastafari who began to wear dreadlocks in the '40s and '50s were beaten and scorned, and their dreadlocks were trimmed as an act of public humiliation. There was enormous pressure and brutalization of the members of the movement and they've come through this with their faith and resolve intact.

    How has the subject of Rastafari been represented in other museums?
    To my knowledge, this is the first exhibition in any major museum where someone has tried to take on a story about the origins and development of Rastafari at its core. There have been exhibits about reggae for sure. There have been exhibits that have shown pieces of Rastafari art—stuff that can be easily framed in a European aesthetic. But this is really about Rastafari at its revival core.


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    Comments

    Is this the Jake Homiak who went to Brandeis U. for his Ph.D.? I think I know you. I'm the ex-wife of your classmate Glenn Thalheimer. I have tapes of another reggae artist Biggie Irie from Barbados, who I met in Bermuda. Last I heard, you and Diane had twin daughters.

    Posted by Karen Williams Thalheimer on December 24,2007 | 11:41 AM

    How does the Ethiopian Coptic Christian Church relate to the Rasta movement? That would give black Ethiopians a biblical orientation? How does the black Ethiopian Jewery relate to the Rastas? Karen Williams Thalheimer

    Posted by Karen Williams Thalheimer on December 24,2007 | 12:09 PM

    I've been waiting a very long time for this moment to experience Rastafari in a international cultural institution.

    Posted by Irasfree Nyabinghi on December 24,2007 | 12:17 AM

    Everyone is not speaking the fact that to us HE IS GOD and KING, CHRIST IN HIS KINGLY CHARACTER,REV.5-5. The Conquering Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah. One Love means ALL of CREATION LOVE ALL Praise HIM Haile Selassie I

    Posted by stephfari Glines on January 15,2008 | 10:19 AM

    come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now

    Posted by marcia mintz on January 17,2008 | 08:02 PM

    Having been a part of the music scene that created ska and reggae, I would like to say firstly that the preska Jamaican music was Mento not Minto. Secondly too many people credit Marley with the creation of reggae. He only adapted the style to his music. The first Ska and reggae songs were lyrically in the Calypso format IE: telling a humorous story. EG: Hard man fe Dead, Bongo Nyah, Ramgoat, Your Honour and many more. Marley took the genre and made it a political or protest format. Theres nothing wrong with that, but the people who should be credited with the creation of the Genre are people like Dizzy Moore, Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, Lloyd Brevat, Lester Sterling, Lyn Tait ( a Trinidadian who was one of the most creative and inventive of all the studio musicians at the time ), Clement Dodd, Prince Buster, Duke Reid et al. I myself feel that I contributed to the creation and emanation of Ska, though I was not very involved with reggae. Ska, Rock Steady, and Reggae are great musical forms, and we thank Jamaica and Jamaicans for giving them to the world, but we must not attribute their creation to one or two musicians who became famous as exponents of the style. There are literally dozens of Jamaican musicians and singers who jointly deserve the credit. One Luv

    Posted by Dennis Sindrey on January 18,2008 | 08:23 PM

    To whom this concerns: Good day, I would simply like to know what are the dates that the "Discovering Rastafari" tour will be held? Thank you Dewrann

    Posted by Dewrann on February 9,2008 | 06:23 PM

    I would like to know if I can buy the video footage that was being shown at the exhibit?

    Posted by Heather Traweek on February 20,2008 | 02:51 PM

    rastafarian-ism aint no religion-its a way of life-a way of thinking,precieving and carrying ones self. This is one of the soul reasons why it is not categorized under the same text as christianity, islam and any other mass produced religion. One thing that can be said about this form of enlightenment is the fact that you never seen a Rasta man pick up a gun to kill in the name of JAH!,....Sellassie I, Jah RastaFar-I,...I and I.

    Posted by jah on March 2,2008 | 04:24 PM

    Rastafari as a livity is a manifestation in this time to help humankind to live as a oneness with all nature, eachother and life. peace and hope for all

    Posted by innerpeace on March 4,2008 | 09:05 PM

    "Until the Lions become their own historians, tales of the hunted will always glorify the Hunters". For more information about the grass roots livity of Rastafari go deh to www.jahbreeze.com and check out the project page. Further more my people check for the video documentary, "Rastafari Ideology in Reggae Music and Culture". However, we give thanks for this Breddrin getting us in places that we couldn't penetrate for ourselves because of the very stereotypes and instituational racisms he quoted. However, his information is vital ital and we give thanks for his works. May the words of I&I mouth and meditation of I&I be acceptable in my brothers and sisters sight.....Haile I....Jah..Rastafari!!!!!!

    Posted by Jah Breeze on May 30,2008 | 11:35 AM

    Found out about this exhibit sometime ago, told my friends. Was unsure how it would be presented -- would the curator/museum do it justice? I was very pleased and have been spreading the word more now that I've seen it myself and can talk about it. My only disappointment was that there were no catalogs, pamphlets, or other commemorative material, except a T-Shirt which did not have the museum logo or exhibition dates. But since I was able to take photos, I have made my own commemoration. I thank Mr. Homiak, his panel and the museum for providing this opportunity. One Love!

    Posted by Marcia Mayne on June 13,2008 | 02:00 PM

    i love reggae music. big up bob marley,damian luciano,buju,beres and beenie man. REGGAE TO DI WORLD

    Posted by shauna on September 15,2008 | 12:57 PM

    i was at the exhibit and saw a friend of mine in the video footage. can i purchase a copy. it was an incredible exhibit

    Posted by sandy hanes on February 11,2009 | 10:31 PM

    Hi,

    I am a filmmaker from South Africa.

    I am currently making a documentary about 'repatriation' (Back to Africa) in Rastafari.

    I would like to reason with Jake Homiak or anyone interested in helping in any way.

    Look forward to hearing from you.

    Vaughan Giose
    www.rainbowcirclefilms.co.za

    Posted by Vaughan Giose on August 24,2009 | 05:57 AM

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