Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah (Author)
Digital List Price: $35.00
Kindle Price: $35.00
Product Description
The first book on the Rastafari religion written by a member of the faith. First published in 1980, the book contains information on the principles and philosophy of the faith including chapters on Emperor Haile Selassie I, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, the founding fathers, the Ganja sacrament, and reggae music. Fully illustrated with rare colour and black & white photos and icons of the faith.
From the Author
This book was written in 1981 while I was researching Marcus Garvey at the Schomberg Museum in Harlem, New York. It grew out of five articles published in the STAR newspaper in Jamaica in 1977 and was first self-published in New York in 1981. The second edition was published in Jamaica, then in 1983 an edition was published in London, England. Since then there have been two revised editions and the book took on colour covers. The 6th edition was published in 2007 in Jamaica. This Gold Medal edition is, as all the others, fully revised with additonal information and pictures.
About the Author
BARBARA MAKEDA BLAKE HANNAH is a Jamaican who has been writing all her life and is the author of four books and numerous articles on Jamaican culture, entertainment and humanist philosophy. She is also a film maker, directing 8 films including the noted documentary 'Race, Rhetoric, Rastafari' for CHANNEL 4 UK in 1983.
After moving to London in 1964, Barbara gained notoriety in 1968 as the first Black journalist on British TV (THAMES, ATV, BBC). Returning to Jamaica in 1972, she adopted the Rastafari faith and wrote the first book on the religion written by a practising member. It has been re-published in 7 editions and though copies are sold only in Jamaica, the book has travelled the world and been read by people of all nations.
Her second book, the novel 'JOSEPH - A RASTA REGGAE FABLE', was inspired by the life of her friend Bob Marley and was re-published in 2005 by Macmillan. Her third book 'HOME - THE FIRST SCHOOL' recounts her experiences as Jamaica's homeschooling pioneer, educating her son Makonnen from birth until he made world history in 1998, when he was appointed Youth Technology Consultant to the Jamaican Government at age 13 years.
In 2010 Hansib Publishers UK published Barbara's fourth book 'GROWING OUT: Black Hair & Black Pride', a memoir of her early years and the decade she spent living in England.
Given the Ethiopian Orthodox Church baptizmal name Makeda in 1984, Mrs. Hannah was appointed an Independent Opposition Senator in the Jamaican Parliament, and gave birth to her son in 1985. The Ethiopian Crown Council awarded her a Gold Adowa Centenary Medal in 1998 for her services to the Ethiopian Royal family, and in 2010 the Rastafari Youth Initiative Council (Jamaica) awarded her the Empress Mennen Award.
She has lectured at the Universities of the West Indies (Jamaica & Guyana campuses), New York, Vienna - Austria, US Virgin Islands and Florida International University, and was a member of the Jamaican delegation to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa.
Barbara has organized several film festivals in Jamaica since 1974. In 2008 she initiated an annual Reggae Film Festival screening films that include or document Jamaica's reggae music culture. In her spare time Barbara enjoys the beauty of Jamaica's countryside, beaches, foods and people. She writes a weekly entertainment blog and participates in television and radio programmes on Jamaican culture.
