At
a recent symposium at Nova Southeastern University, The Rastafari Impact on the Culture of Jamaica and the World, what
began as an assessment of the movement was transformed into a lively discussion
about the future of Rastafari. This was hardly surprising. From the time I was
a yute in Jamaica, I've been a part
of and sometimes witnessed these deep reasonings. And this was a vitally
important discussion. Nearly all of the panelists, Ras Don Rico Ricketts, Dr.
Roy Augier, Nana Farika, Mama Iyaddis, Dr. Michael Barnett, Dr. Jahlani
"Bongo" Niaah, and Dr. K'adamawe K'nife, seemed to be wrestling with
the issue of "how to be in the world, but not of it." The significance
of this issue lies in the genesis of Rastafari, which was labeled as a cult by
the British government, and its growth into a movement that has had a profound
impact on global cultures, especially in the area of music.
The
presentation began with a pointed analysis by Ras Don Rico Ricketts, who moderated
the symposium. He was followed by Sir Roy Augier, the only surviving author of
the seminal Report on the Rastafari
Movement in Kingston, Jamaica.
Dr.
Augier began by noting the contributions of M. G. Smith and Rex Nettleford, whose
influence was noted by nearly every panelist. After a brief summary of the
report, Dr. Augier challenged Rastafari to become more engaged in their
communities and pointed to several forms of denial that were prevalent in the
Caribbean and Rastafari. While he acknowledged that the idea of repatriation
was a central tenet of Rastafari, Dr. Augier suggested that repatriation among
Rastafari was a form of denial of the "lives that made a culture on these
shores."
If
it was a rebuke, then it was a mild one. For Dr. Augier had nothing but praise
for Rastafari when he introduced the concept of negotiation, which set the tone
for the challenges, which he suggested that Rastafari and the Caribbean must
confront:
"Negotiation
is a metaphor for navigation of the African presence in ourselves… We see it in
the mirror and we don't like it…We are not whole. We are bifurcated."
Dr.
Augier then asked the rhetorical question, "How do we negotiate the
African presence in the Americas?" Rastafari, Dr. Augier argued began as
an interrogation of the African presence in the Americas and that the movement
posited an alternative value system of capitalist systems. He also contended
that the movement could have positive effects on governance and the dietary
habits of the Caribbean--noting the deleterious effects of fast food chains of
the health of Caribbean peoples: "We are not eating right."
The
discussion shifted its focus when Nana Farika, a senior Rastafari elder,
stressed the importance of restoring the Omega balance, expressed in of Empress
Menen of Ethiopia and Mama Iyaddis mused about Rastafari losing its impact by
the growing commercialization of the movement. Dr. Michael Barnett and Dr.
Jahlani "Bongo" Niaah also highlighted the significance of The Report on the Rastafari Movement in
Kingston, Jamaica.
But
it was Dr. K'adamawe K'nife, a lecturer in the Department of Management Studies
at the University of the West Indies, whose startling break with the program captured
the imagination of the audience.
In
his presentation, "A New Hope for Humanity," Dr. K'nife offered an
elegant assessment of Rastafari's centrality in Jamaican culture and offered Rastafari
as an alternative to the current social, political, and economic systems:
Emphasis on the human rather than
capital
Rastafari: an ethic for sustainable
development
Application of Rastafari in conjunction
with the deep ecology
Movement away from reliance on texts
such as the King James Version to
intuitive and metaphysical livity
Itral: The Law of Life
"Rastafari, the ancient future. Man
of the past, living in the present, walking into the future."
Following
Dr. K'nife's lecture, Ras Don Rico Ricketts invited audience participation in a
Q&;A session, which continued until the conclusion of the program.
Rastafari,
in its current incarnation, which was born in slave ships, flourished in the
hills of Jamaica, and blossomed in reggae, has had a profound influence on my
generation. Drawing on its roots in Garveyism, which emphasized self-reliance
and entrepreneurship, unity and nationhood, Rastafari informed our sense of
identity. And because Rastafari did not separate the physical from the
spiritual in all their manifestations, the movement offered an attractive
alternative to the Cartesian models of the West. Like many Caribbean Boomers,
Rastafari has been, to borrow Dr. Augier's metaphor, a way of honoring the
African presence in our lives and negotiating between a system that values
capital over the human and Dr. K'nife's expansive interpretation of the
movement.
Image created by Ras Don Rico Ricketts.