Rasta Revealed
A reclamation of African identity evolved into a worldwide cultural, religious and political movement
- By Jess Blumberg
- Smithsonian magazine, January 2008, Subscribe
Curator Jake Homiak (right) and adviser Ras Maurice Clarke make the sign of the trinity, a Rastafarian symbol of reverence. Stephen Voss/WPN
The most recognizable face of the Rastafari movement is the late musician Bob Marley, immortalized on T-shirts and posters wearing a crocheted red, gold and green cap over natty dreadlocks in a cloud of marijuana smoke. Yet the movement, which has more than one million adherents, is "not about singing reggae," says Jake Homiak, a cultural anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. "It taps into an enormously deep root—a sense of longing for a place in the world by peoples of African descent."
Homiak, who has immersed himself in the culture for 30 years, is the curator of the recently opened exhibit "Discovering Rastafari!" Nearly 20 Rastafarians consulted on all details of the exhibition, the first of its kind in any major museum.
The exhibit recounts an intricate history and imparts nuance to a movement that celebrates African liberation, global peace and "one love." Its origins can be traced to a biblical passage: "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God," reads Psalm 68:31. Enslaved Africans in the American colonies believed this foretold their emancipation. In the 20th century, Jamaican black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey frequently cited the passage, predicting that a savior would be crowned in Africa.
On November 2, 1930, that prophecy appeared to be fulfilled when Ras (an Ethiopian title of nobility) Tafari Makonnen—believed to be a descendant of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon—was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Black preachers in Jamaica saw the event as the second coming of Christ. Selassie was a charismatic figure who captivated audiences worldwide, as when he declared before the United Nations in 1963, "Until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes...the dream of lasting peace...will remain but a fleeting illusion." He ruled Ethiopia until 1974, when he was deposed by Marxist revolutionaries. Selassie died a year later, although many Rastafarians remain firm in the belief that he is still alive.
"This is a faith of extraordinary commitment," says Homiak, who describes how early Rastafarians in Jamaica were beaten and publicly humiliated. "People have sacrificed and struggled to keep this faith alive." A glass case at the Smithsonian exhibit displays such manuscripts as the Holy Piby, a proto-Rastafarian text that was widely circulated across the African diaspora before being banned in Jamaica during the 1920s.
One of the exhibit's advisers, Ras Maurice Clarke—a Rastafarian originally from Kingston, Jamaica, who now lives in Washington, D.C.—says that he wanted to "dispel the ignorance and fictitious talk about all we do is smoke ganja." Because the advisers were wary of stereotypes, they debated whether to feature Marley in the exhibit. Ultimately, they included a small tribute to the king of reggae. "It made no sense to do an exhibit on Rastafari and exclude the person who was the most famous purveyor of the Rastafari philosophy," Homiak says.
Selassie's messages of liberation and unity are paramount in Marley's music, as well as in the lives of Rastafarians today. Empress (a title bestowed on a mother) Melanie Wright, who came from Hartford, Connecticut, with her family to be at the opening, says that she found her calling on the streets of New York after seeing countless posters of Selassie: "He fought for the freedom of Africa, so part of saying you're Rastafari means you're living to reclaim that history."
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Comments (12)
All this bickering about COLOR....let's get down to it, now, shall we? Human life originated in Africa; as people spread out, their DNA adjusted to suit the climate. You don't NEED a boatload of melanin if you're camped in Finland, now, do you? Bottom line--we're ALL from the same pot of soup, some of us are just flavored a bit differently. Bob Marley had "white" ancestry, as do all of us in some way or another--and all of us have "black" ancestry too, because we all came out of the same primordial kettle. That said, I honestly think there are way too many bozos calling themselves Rastas who are just stoners who don't want to comb their hair, but whatever. There certainly are worse religions!
Posted by Oh Fachrissake on July 29,2010 | 10:15 PM
Do you know if its a RASTAFARIANS living in Spain
Posted by benita martin on March 2,2010 | 02:26 PM
Having just visited a Rasta village (Jamaica) two days ago, and now in the process of writing an article for publication, I was wondering at what point in history ganja was introduced, and what were the circumstances surrounding its entrance.
I'm sure anyone who smokes, realizes THC's effect on liberating the subconscious, opening the filter to the conscious, and permitting a "liberation", which one rarely encounters in the Western world, unless using other mind altering substances. Interesting research done in the 70's (U.S.) and later by Europeans, found cannaboid receptor sites located through out the body, which means we make our own cannaboids. Perhaps some of us lack in production, and seek external sources...
Having lived in other cultures, and traveled extensively in Latin and Central America, I found that the eyes are very important in assessing another person. My limited exposure to the Rastas involved a lot of direct eye contact, which I sensed to be open and friendly. I look forward to my next trip to Jamaica and hopefully my article can further their progress in their homeland.
Posted by Bill on February 12,2010 | 07:53 PM
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW ABOUT RASTAFARIANS...
"Until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes...the dream of lasting peace...will remain but a fleeting illusion"(Haile Selassie)1963 declared at the United Nations' Assembly. Thank You (Jess Blumberg) Merci-Lucien Alexandre Marion- Smithsonian.com
Posted by Lucien Alexandre Marion on December 21,2009 | 11:56 AM
Rastafari teaches the oneness of all peoples because in the eyes of the father there is no such thing as a black man nor a white man pure ignorance , i say take a good detailed look at the next so called white man that you behold and count the number of black spots on his body i am certain there is more than a thousand, could it be that he just didnt get enough of what makes people black, so how can you call him white? ignorance, its about good and evil which dwells in all men, white,yellow, blue, black or pink. In my short life ive been around many Rastafarians in Jamaica and i never herd them rebuke the white nor the black man, but i shure hear them burn evil... be it white or black
Posted by imo i on April 27,2009 | 12:15 PM
THE same thing that take king selasse I SHALL TAKE ALL HIS BLESS ONES WHO ARE IN THE EARTH:
Posted by HIGH PRIEST LEVI on August 23,2008 | 12:08 PM
RASTA IS NOT ABOUT BLACK VS WHITE! Bob Marley spoke to this often. Although just one man, Bob Marley was half white and half black. His father was white and his mother was black. Bob Marley said that there was only one thing he wanted to see. He wanted to see [and I quote him] "I like see man kind live together BLACK, WHITE, SHINY, ANYONE, you know what I mean, that’s all!" Please don't destroy Rasta with false acquisitions of racial hatred!
Posted by Paulo on July 2,2008 | 03:23 PM
I agree.
Posted by Ras Rich on June 22,2008 | 12:38 AM
SLOW DOWN a minute. OVERSTAND your history 1.After Western Europe came out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance, they noticed that the rest of the world's races had become "civilized" long before them; Blacks(From Egypt[Kemet and Nubia]to Songhai and the Moors[who took over Spain for 300 years and brought them civilization), Asians(Chinese Dynasty, Indians and Hinduism, Southeast Asia, Japanese, even the Pacific Islanders had created massive head-shaped sculptures, Native Americans in the form of the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayans, and Incans and their temples, etc.) The only massive structures the Western European culture could contrive as a sign of civilization was Stonehenge. Soon they began to realize that they needed an ancient source to base their push for civilizing the Western Euro culture and its dominance. They began to rewrite history, steal from others, and it worked. They also artfully and craftfully redesigned their own culture, destroying the Celtic, Saxon, and other "barbarian" aspects(dress, religion, music, etc.) of it. They noticed, from the other cultures, that in order for them to succeed in creating a new "order" they would have to be efficient, "cultured", and orderly in all aspects. ... And so this "order", or the product of it, is what the world now exist in. All white people are not "evil". They now very little of their "tribal" culture, and this if for a specific reason, yet many are naturally returning to it. Rastafari helps tap into it; calls to it in all of us. So InI salute mi white bredren - keep strivin' mon fa all dats natural and true. Learn about ya ancient history an roots. Learn about why they keep it a mystory and try ta keep it quiet. Why deres so many books about Black History but few about White History before da Greeks? An little about da rest of da Europeans? What was dey doin' while da Greeks was learnin'? Keep strivin' mon. JAH BLESS
Posted by Ras TURNBOW on June 22,2008 | 12:34 AM
yes kollin, although we Rastas have an African spiritual base, Rastafari deals not with color of skin but only with the righteous of heart. SELASSIE GUIDE
Posted by Natty on May 20,2008 | 11:06 PM
i have just recently read up on the rasta history and i have become very interested and motivated by it. The message of unity and peace really speaks to me and i hope the rasta movement increases and is made even more well known. I love what the rastafarians stand for but I happen to be white and am wondering if it would be ok if I made my voice heard in my support for the rasta's and wear the beautiful and very meaningful colors of green, yellow, and red.
Posted by Kollin on May 4,2008 | 05:40 PM
After reading the above comments it seems some non-white people accuse whites for the effects of a SYSTEM ruled by an ELITE of white people. Most white people (the working class) do not play any part in enforcing such a system on other nations & are tolerant towards other cultures (as long as they are reciporical in their tolerance). Do not make the foolish error of mistaking the effects of a FEW white poeple as a WHOLE colour of people. Its the system that need needs to change- by emancipatory knowledge, as Marley himself advocated. Are we are all one nation under the sun? Peace, Rob.
Posted by Rob Blythin on April 1,2008 | 08:06 AM
In the words of Issac Newton Hook There is no begining of time, space, or man therefore there is no end
Posted by Alan Wagoner on March 30,2008 | 12:43 PM
of course it is evident that a one in citing the history of Rastafari would begin in modern times and especially in Jamaica and with the coronation of his Majesty Tafari Makonnen who came to represent the POWER OF THE TRINITY [ THE CREATOR, THE PROCESS OF CREATION AND THE CREATION]as haile selassie. His majesty stated in the autobiography that the coronation and the spirituality within which it is emmersed goes back three thousand years from 1931. We must move our selves from the extant past and look at life as being as old as the creator. Etymologically Ras Ta Fari is the DEFENDER OF THE CREATORS PLACE, WITH RAS POSSESSORY FOR OF RA TA THE PLACE AND FARI THE DEFENDER, THE RETAINING WALL, WHICH MORPHED INTO PHAROAH. tHE HISTORY of Rastafari as it is written in the essay is a history of the ressurection of Rasta. Rasta is the place through which all that goes out of and comes into existene passes. No one comes into existence without going through Rasta. A word known by the ancients. ....and the creator had no place upon which to stand and the creator created such place out of the goodness of the creator's heart.....RASTA
Posted by dave britton on February 1,2008 | 09:14 PM