News : Rastafari 78th anniversary and its impact on reggae

[Roots Archives]

Today marks the **78th anniversary of the divine concept Rastafari**. It was on Sunday, November 2, 1930, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I, was crowned King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Elect of God, alongside his wife, Empress Menen. The unique coronation was the first time in history a king and his wife were crowned at the same time, and it gave birth to the Rastafari Movement.

The movement came to light in the community of Pinnacle on the outskirts of Spanish Town, St Catherine, home of the first Rastafarian Leonard Howell who was originally from Redland, Clarendon. The Rastafari worldview, despite being rejected and scorned by mainstream Jamaican society at that time, rapidly impacted on the downtrodden, spreading to the slums of Kingston and neighbouring parish of St Thomas, where Howell, aka The Gong (Bob Marley adaptation for his record company and studio), once lived.

The relationship between Rastafari and reggae is a special one indeed. Both feed from each other, to the point where there was a time when people abroad thought that every reggae artiste was a ganja-smoking, dreadlock-wearing rasta, particularly because members of the Rastafari faith do not evangelise in the way conventional religions do.

Reggae music was the main vehicle to express the Rastafari way of life, and the stage was the pulpit. So the shows became pseudocrusades, and artistes such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Culture, Black Uhuru, Big Youth, Abyssinians, Fredlocks, Israel Vibration, Jacob Miller, Augustos Pablo, Dennis Brown, I Kong (remember him?), Keith Hudson, Willie Williams, Ijahman Levi, Hugh Mandell, Junior Reid, Freddie McGregor were some of the original crusaders.

Among a later breed of roots rock reggae stalwarts were Garnett Silk, Luciano, Tony Rebel, Capleton, Buju Banton, Sizzla Kalonjie and Spragga Benz, and of more recent vintage are I-Wayne, Queen Ifrica, Etana, Tarrus Riley, Warrior King, and Chuck Fenda, among others.

But the Rastafari contribution to music in Jamaica did not start with reggae. It began with the Nyahbinghi elders, with their style of drumming and chanting and from that emerged the Folks Brothers who gave us Oh Carolina, which in time provided Shaggy with his first international hit.

As far as Jamaican music goes, in all phases of the Rastafari involvement one thing remains constant - the message. The message of a holistic way of life, of mental, physical and spiritual upliftment. A message of equal rights and justice. A message of one love. This message has resonated with people of all races, around the world.

Both Rastafari and reggae were once frowned upon by the wider society. But as the greatest reggae artiste of all time, Bob Marley, told us "Reggae music will rise and rise until it finds it rightful place."

Today, as the Rastafari Community celebrates its 78th anniversary (on a Sunday, as it was in the beginning), all that is left to say is, Jah Lives.

Basil Walters

*source : [jamaicaobserver.com](http://www.jamaicaobserver.com)*

[solomon Banura]

Dear all

I have never understood the Rastafari movement until today. I love the roots reggae music with so much passion.

Many thanks guys and keep it up

Solomon
kampala, Uganda East Africa