Rastafarianism In Jamaica

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What factors influence the practice of Rastafarianism in the Caribbean during the 20thcentury? Tracy Nicholas author of the book Rastafari a way of life quotes one of Garveys most influential statements, ‘We negroes believe in the God of Ethiopia, the everlasting God -----God the Father, God the son , and God the holy ghost ,the one God of all ages’. ‘That is the God in whom we believe, but we shall worship him through the spectacles of Ethiopia’. According to Ashdown and Humphrey (1998) Rastafarianism is a vibrant movement inspired by the back to Africa teaching of Garvey and the colonization of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. Greenwood and Hamber (2003) further maintained that the Rastafarian movement started in Jamaica in the (1930’s).This movement was primarily on the views expressed by Marcus Garvey after his return from the United State, one of his aim was to unite black people with their homeland Africa, the place of interest was Ethiopia which was seen as a sanctuary to the Rastafarian movement. The author further maintained that Marcus Garvey’s teachings provided an inspiration for the movement .Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930.According to Tracy Nicholas author of Rastafari: A way of life’ Garveys revelation of the true messiah, the crowning of a black king, led to the coronation of Haile Selassie which was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and Haile Selassie as the messiah of African redemption’. Some of the founding members of Rastafarianism who took this crowning seriously were; Leonard Howell, Robert Hinds, Joseph Hibbert and Archibald Dunkley all four of them may have been followers of Garvey and at least three of them had traveled outside of Jamaica. The Rastafarianism movement in Jamaica had a rocky start. Greenwood and Hamber (2003) postulated that under the leader named Leonard Howell, the

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