Rastafari RootzFest – Remembering Year 1

A SHINING EXAMPLE OF RASTAFARI UNITY

‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in UNITY.” PSALM 133

This Psalm was brought to life in 2015 at the Rastafari RootzFest-HIGH TIMES Cannabis Cup held in Negril November 12-15. The event was a celebration of joy for the changes in the Dangerous Drugs Act that decriminalized ganja for medical purposes, with some freedoms allowed to Jamaican individuals to grow and carry small amounts, as well as recognition of Rastafari Sacramental Rights, by all those whose daily lives had been conducted under the fear of arrest for partaking of a plant. The thousands of RASTA who have passed on to higher heights before seeing the fulfillment of their life campaign, must have been looking down and smiling with the same joy being expressed by the thousands gathered at the beautiful Negril Beach Park that weekend.

Most of all, Rastafari RootzFest was a celebration of RASTA Unity that many people claim no longer exists within the movement at home. The disputes that had taken center stage were nowhere in sight, as Rastafari Brethren, Sisters and children from all Mansions joined together in UNITY to participate in the event and show their approval of the revision of Jamaica’s Dangerous Drugs Law. All the Mansions – Nyabinghi, Twelve Tribes, Boboshanti, House of Dread, School of Vision, Youth Initiative Council, as well as ganja farmers representing several Parishes united in Negril in a show of solidarity that surely signalled a new beginning for Rastafari under the opportunities and freedoms of the renewed law.

US magazine HIGH TIMES, an outspoken advocate of legalization for recreational use, partnered with a group of Rastafari to hold the first Cannabis Cup Jamaica as a major feature of Rootzfest and there was some doubt about this unusual partnership. But HIGH TIMES did not impose and it was clear that this was truly a RASTA event. People eagerly anticipated the event as an opportunity to earn at the booth they had rented in the Rasta Cultural Village, and especially of how eagerly they were looking forward to an event that allowed them to use ganja as freely as they desired.

The Long Bay Beach Park is a mile-long stretch of the beautiful white sand Negril beach that has been set aside for the public. On one side of the land a vast football field held tents displaying samples and promotional material of ganja products from Jamaican and US entrepreneurs, as well as samples and buds of ganja. These booths attracted the most interest from the many foreigners present happy to buy good ganja legally for the first time, visiting the stalls and learning more about exotic strains and new products such as BHO a.k.a ‘shatter’ – a THC xtract turned into a dry gum or oil that is the new and more healthy way of using ganja through electronic smokeless vaporizer pipes.

The other half of the Park housed the Rastafari Cultural Village — the real heart of the festival and a beautiful scene of RASTA life. First a food court with several stalls offering a variety of Ital dishes, then a cluster of tents housing Rastafari Mansions – Nyabinghi, Twelve Tribes, House of Dread, School of Vision , Boboshanti — leading into a beautiful craft exposition spread out under trees on the sand.

Tents fluttered Red, Gold and Green decor and pictures of the Emperor. There was jewelery of all kinds from a variety of natural woods, seeds and beads; steam chalices with short and long pipes; intricately carved calabash bowls; fresh fruit and squeezed juices. But most of all, most stalls offered branches and buds of ganja for sale, as well as products made from ganja such as oils for medicine, foods, cosmetics and wines. Tent holders seemed happy with the flow of business and music gave appropriate sounds for the occasion.

On Saturday the sunshine welcomed a crowd of visitors to the Village. At midday Priest Fagan of the Rastafari School of Vision conducted Sabbath prayers, then music by Natural High sound system provided an irie backdrop to the comings and goings of the curious and the committed. As dusk fell at Sabbath close, Ras Iv-I led a Nyabinghi chant that gathered a large crowd of participants, singing and dancing to the drumbeat. Short speeches closed the ceremony, and the Village settled in to receive the night’s visitors.

On the beach, the crowd gathered by a Sumfest-level stage featuring a dynamic opening performance by Jah9, who showed why she is in such international demand. Performances followed by Luciano, The Mighty Diamonds and I-Wayne. I coulnd’t help hinking of all the GanJAH warriors who fought the hard battle to get Jamaica to this day when the herb is FREE to use – GanJAH warriors now ancestors whose spirits were surely with us in Negril.

Special mention must be made of five people whose work was crucial to the event’s success. Ras Iyah-V was statesman-like in his speeches and presentations. He is to be commended for being bold enough to accept the HIGH TIMES proposal, despite much negative pressure, and

Ras Iyah-V & Prof. Charles Nesson

to make it manifest in a manner that was both sacramental as well as economic. His constant insistence that grass roots ganja farmers must be the chief beneficiaries of the revised law, gives confidence that he will use the power and influence that the success of the RootzFest has given him to keep that objective in sight.

Law Professor Charles Nesson shocked his Harvard University years ago when he admitted being a ganja smoker. Through his love of Jamaica, he followed the discussions leading to the revised ganja law, then persuaded his HIGH TIMES friends to partner with Rastafari In Inity to celebrate the new GanJAH Freedoms. Nesson’s activism at the highest levels of the national and international legalization campaign provided the assurance the organizers needed to move forward with the project. His presence at the event (with his wife Fern, whose photos decorate this article) added to the organizational help.

Sister Mitzie Williams is well known as a RASTA voice on many issues and actions. At RootzFest her quiet supervision of all aspects of the event, and her motherly female personality provided the confidence and firm foundation on which the event proceeded.

Rick Cusick, HIGH TIMES Editor deserves praise for the easy manner in which he manifested the partnership with RASTA culture. HIGH TIMES funding and the contacts that brought so many foreign exhibitors to compete joyously in Jamaica, enabled the event to be an excellent start for what has now become a regular annual event. Many eyes were opened by the Cannabis Cup and it was good to see Jamaican entries among the winners.

And last, but by no means least, the then-Minister of Justice Senator Mark Golding who deserves the highest commendation and praise from the Rastafari community for the measured and intelligent way in which he guided the revision of the ganja laws through Parliament, with especial consideration for the Rastafari community. Ignoring critics, Golding treated the RASTA community with total RASpect throughout the process and has thereby earned himself in return a similar high level of RASpect and LOVE.

Rastafari RootzFest 2015 was a very peaceful 4 days and nights of Rastafari UNITY, with not a single incident of crime, no fights, not even a bag snatching. Some of the celebrities who mingled with the crowd included Rohan Marley, Donisha Prendergast, Jah9, Chronnix, Kiddus I, Jah Cure and Mutabaruka. It was wonderful to have been there and I look forward to a bigger, better event at its 4^th staging this December 14-16, 2018.

(c) Barbara Makeda Blake-Hannah

December 4, 2018

The Power of the Cross

THE IMPORTANCE OF BAPTISM IN THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX FAITH

The Christian celebration of Easter is a time when the origins of RASTA as a Bible-based religion come under severe examination. Though RASTA beliefs are heavily founded in the Psalms, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation, many RASTA reject the Bible story, yet on the other hand claim Emperor Haile Selassie as a modern-day manifestation of Christ.

The contradiction is further compounded by the fact that following his visit to Jamaica 50 years ago, the Emperor made a significant gift to the RASTA nation by sending his personal priest Abba Mandefro to open the first branch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston and teach the prayers and liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Faith, and to baptize RASTA in the ancient Christian faith.

While some RASTA obeyed the Emperor’s wishes, few today are baptized members of the EOTC and the program of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Emperor’s visit does not include a memorial of this important gift from H.I.M.

The importance of Baptism in the Orthodox faith was underscored by Bob Marley’s baptism on his deathbed by Archbishop Yesehaq who reported in a 1984 interview I did with him in the Gleaner’s Sunday Magazine titled ‘Abuna Yesehaq Looks Back on 14 Years of Ministry in Jamaica‘ the following report about Bob Marley’s baptism:

“Bob was really a good brother, a child of God, regardless of how people looked at him. He had a desire to be baptized long ago, but there were people close to him who controlled him and who were aligned to a different aspect of Rastafari. But he came to Church regularly. I remember once while I was conducting the Mass, I looked at Bob and tears were streaming down his face…When he toured Los Angeles and New York and England, he preached the Orthodox faith, and many members in those cities came to the Church because of Bob. Many people think he was baptized because he knew he was dying, but that is not so…he did it when there was no longer any pressure on him, and when he was baptized, he hugged his family and wept, they all wept together for about half an hour.”   Today, 40 years after Bob’s passing, it may seem that Marley received the everlasting fame he holds around the world to the blessing of his EOTC baptism.

A book “The Power Of The Cross: Maskel of Lalibela” by Alfredo Johnson seeks to explain the importance of Baptism in the Orthodox faith.  I share excerpts from it here.

” The name Haile Selassie given to Ras Tafari on his Coronation means the Power of the Trinity, and that Trinity is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Before Christ left this earth after his ministry, he gave his disciples a command to baptize the nations in the name of this Holy Trinity.

“The name Haile Selassie is not just a name written on a piece of paper meaning nothing. The name means The Power of the Holy Trinity.  Haile Selassie then became the Defender of the Faith to uphold the gospel of the Cross which was preached by the same embodiment of the Holy Trinity.  When one gets baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity, one becomes one with the living embodiment of Haile Selassie 1st. For this reason the name Haile Selassie MUST be praised.

“To the many who claim to be following Haile Selassie 1^st, but refuse to be re-born again (St. John 3: 3-21) through baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, the name Haile Selassie 1^st will only be blasphemed by you, because one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven in the body of sinful flesh, nor stand in the presence of the consuming fire of Kidus Selassie because Eyesus Krystos has already destroyed that body/temple (St. John 2: 19-22) of sin/flesh and there is only but one baptism (Ephesians 4: 4-7) in the name of the Holy Trinity!

“After baptism each person is given a new name after his re-birth, this in essence means the person is changed from one level to another because the old man is done away with and the new man is born. The flesh of sin is destroyed and replaced with the new Christ.

“So one cannot have one foot inside claiming to know and serve Yahweh God, while having one foot outside, disobeying His call to perfection, because He requires righteousness and not unrighteousness. As His name means Power of the Holy Trinity, perfection is the ultimate attainment and one cannot come short of this.

“When Abba Yesehaq came to the West it was with the power and authority of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1^st with the Maskel (Cross), sent as a Shepherd for the Rastafarians primarily to be re-born in the Orthodox faith of which Haile Selassie is the head. But to many they are still holding on to the flesh and as it was shown in the Book of Isaiah 6: 1-13, Yaweh of Host was never seen in the temple (Church) until the King Ussiah died, meaning the flesh was removed out of the way so ones and ones could see Haile Selassie 1^st in spirit and in truth in His embodiment of the Holy Trinity.

“Haile Selassie 1^st was the living embodiment of the Holy Trinity, Kidus Selassie. This name is Amharic as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Name which all was commanded to be baptized in to be in one with the Holy Trinity Kidus Selassie.  One could enter the congregation of Holy Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, in the general assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirit of the just men made perfect of Kidus Selassie (Hebrew 12: 21-24).  This Mystery of Yaweh God has now been revealing, and all are called to Baptism in the Holy Trinity.

“There is a book called The Liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, English Translation of the Preparatory Service, 14 Anapahoras and Covenant Prayers.  Haile Selassie 1st set in order that these 14 ancient books be collected and printed at His own expense and produced from the ancient language, translated from Geez into English and printed by order of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I for use in the Church of which He is Head of: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and in the Anaphoras which outline the power of the Holy Trinity.

“In these 14 books are outlined the right and true order of Christ’s Church and the Divine Srvice to the people of which no man should alter or deny.  The fourteen books gave a strict revelation of Holy Mary with all her symbolism, with the Holy Trinidy coming together as One embodiment with the Holy Communion for the people who are baptized with its importance.

“Therefore, to my brothers and sisters who know nothing about these fourteen Anaphoras Books of Divine Service, one should go in search and find it, because it was commanded to production by Haile Selassie I, the embodiment of the Holy Trinity, whose ways is Baptism in the Church, who also is the Defender of the Faith for all in the name of the Holy Trinity which the Books outline to all, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit which exist before birth and man, Kidus Selassie.

“And if the uprisers were studying Yaweh’s words they would have seen that if they touch the rights of Haile Selassie 1^st they would be playing with fire which they are not able to quench, and so the written words of Yaweh sayings which link the seven spirits of Yaweh came to the Church and gave His warning of He who opens and no man shut, and shut and no man open, and there is only One who holds such title and rights, Our LORD GOD and Saviour Yesus Kristos in his embodiment of Kidus Selassie Haile Selassie 1^st.

“As the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he came and stood in the Church who John also behold walking in the midst of the seven lamps which He reveals to John and the Church, and received all His titles and Honors and gave a warning:

“And to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write these things: He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the Key of David. He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength and have kept My word and have not denied My name.” (Revelation 3:7).

“It is therefore because the Holy Trinity name is denied by many and blasphemed every day by those who allow the diabolical war of Satan to poison their mind against the Holy Trinity Haile Selassie 1^st. Christ is coming again to His Church with His eyes as flame of fire to judge the wicked (Revelation 19: 11-16) in which Anaphoras it is also written in a chant to the Holy Trinity.

“Therefore to all Christians who are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the name Haile Selassie 1^st is present and always will be.  The name Haile Selassie 1^st means the Power of the Holy Trinity, therefore He was there at the Annunciation, Baptism and Ascension, so how can one deny Haile Selassie 1st, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah? Glory and Honour are meet to the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit at all times, both now and ever and world without end. Amen.”

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” (John 3:16-17)

(c) Barbara Makeda Blake-Hannah

 

Of Beaches, Farmers & Swans

 

Burwood Beach

TO SWIM ON OUR OWN BEACHES     The activist campaign being waged by Jamaicans to save the beaches where Jamaicans who are not tourists can swim, won a victory this week when the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) announced it would be upgrading Burwood Beach in Trelawny.

      Burwood Is one of the few beaches now remaining around the island where Jamaicans have free access to the white sands and beautiful Caribbean sea, as the hunger for tourism development has led to the disappearance of more and more public beaches. In recent years disputes with persons who claimed ownership of Burwood Beach, as well as lack of action by the Trelawny Parish Council, left the beach an unsupervised, barren space for grateful locals to access the sea for various forms of relaxation, so the TEF announcement that it will upgrade the beach with sanitary and parking facilities, gazeebos and play areas was very welcome. Best of all, the TEF upgrade will not include either a fence or an entry fee, so the beach will  remain FREE for all.

      With SAVE OUR BEACHES activists still fighting to save Winnifred Beach in Portland and Little Dunns River in Ocho Rios from threatened upgrades by the Urban Deveopment Corporation (UDC) that will include fences and fees, the promised action by TEF sets a precedent I hope will be copied by the UDC.

GANJA GROWERS UNITE          As I write this column, a preparatory meeting of Jamaica’s ganja growers is taking place in Kingston to formalize the Ganja Future Growers & Producers Association (GFGPA). I am not at the meeting, but have received both an invitation and a copy of the Draft Proposal for setting up the organization. According to it,the formation of this organization has been led by the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Task Force, the National Alliance for the Legalization of Ganja, the Ganja Law Reform Coalition as partners and Community Consultants Ltd. as the Project Manager.

Prof. Archibald McDonald, Paul Burke, Delano Sievwright, Paul Chang

       As someone who has been part of organizations campaigning for legalization and decriminalization of ganja since the 1970s, the names of the persons associated with each of these organizations are unfamilar to me, apart from Paul Chang who came on board the Legalize Ganja committees in the 1980s when activists like attorneys Dennis Forsythe and the late Sandra Alcott were among our bold and outspoken ganja warriors. These days the campaign is headed by Paul Burke, one of the most senior and important members of the People’s National Party organization.

       Among other names and faces in the forefront of the ganja growers is another leading politician, Delano Sievwright of the Jamaica Labour Party. Utter respectability of the organization is assured by its host, Prof. Archibald McDonald,  the head of the University of the West Indies.

       Where, you may ask,, is RASTA in all this? So far, the lone Rasta whose name pops up is attorney Miguel Lorne (who seems to pop up in everything these days). He not only is a member of one of the aforementioned organizations, but recently set up a Western Hemp & Ganja Farmers Association (WHGFA) in Negril in association with Ras Iyah V – one of the leading Nyabinghi Rastafari – attended by a large number of Rastas. Presumably, or hopefully, several meetings were held prior to this announcement to organize Rastafari ganja growers into a strong association to campaign for RASTA Ganja Rights.

       For after all, was it not RASTA who has suffered for decades for promoting what these nice gray-haired gentlemen are now intending to legalize and commercialize? Surely there is a detailed document, a Position Paper, an Economic Blueprint, a Future Development Plan by and from RASTA that will be accepted as the foundation of the industry RASTA created, established and suffered imprisonment, brutality and worse for. I am really hoping this is so, but I’ve heard of none so far. Perhaps such documents will be introduced today.

       The proposal to establish the GFGPA describes a ‘National Council’ of 60 members very similar to the organization of a political party. The island will be divided into 4 ‘Chapters’, each of which will elect a President, VP, and Management committee of between 15-20 persons and send 4 members to the National Council. Composing this National Council, the founding organizations will have 12 seats  and their membership will never be renewed and reviewed as will membership by other organizations.

ONLY 7 RASTA MEMBERS       The Jamaica Agricultural Society will have 5 members. (Is this assuming that members of the JAS are ganja farmers?) Though listed separately, the small business community will have a total of 12 Council members (Micro, small medium enterprise – 5, agro producers – 3, and Small business – 2 members). Dividing it up still further, “Women Owners” will have 2 members. Out of 60 members on the National Council for legalization, growing, producing and earning from the Rasta Sacrament Ganja, RASTA will have only SEVEN members.

       I am hoping the discussion today and tomorrow will see the inequality in the proposal and adjust these numbers to make Rasta have a larger representation out of the 60 members.  I am also concerned that the Coalition requires all members to sign a document promising not to plant or grow ganja until the Government legalizes or decriminalizes it. Surely it is RASTA that will be restricted by this promise, as few of the other organizations have been growing ganja as RASTA has.  On top of that, the Coalition has invited the Police Force to patrol the meeting to ensure that no one smokes ganja in or near the building.   As I said, I am not at the meeting, but I know its outcome will be well-documented because it will undoubtedly form the basis of the next Jamaican election campaign. Watching and listening, with interest.

PINNACLE        Like a swan gliding smoothly across the surface while paddling furiously underwater, the Occupy Pinnacle Movement continues to display a calm exterior while battling to keep hold of the reins of the situation they birthed. In a strong letter to the Group’s FB page titled “Crabs Inna Barrel”, son Monty Howell laments the bitter disputes that have ravaged the group’s Facebook page, as well as the lack of political experience of the organizers now trapped in the strategic chess game being played by government. Having appointed three of the PNP’s most loyal and faithful members to handle the matter, the government has placed the matter in a procedural limbo, allegedly awaiting discovery of a clear paper trail from Leonard Howell‘s land purchase to Richard Lake’s title before taking any further action.

       Meanwhile, the nexus of the RASTA activists claim for all 500 acres of Pinnacle rests on all involved agreeing about whether the fight is for ownership of the land by descendants of Leonard Howell, or ownership of the land as a heritage for the RASTA Nation at large. If the former is the case, then Howell’s descendants  insist they be allowed to continue fighting the battle without help from concerned (or misguided) Rasta activists of all stripes. If the latter, then the claim must be made for RASTA as an ‘indigenous’ national movement with a history deserving of being memorialized and replicated according to internationally accepted positions on Indigenous Cultural Heritage.The conflict between both sides must be welcome news for the developers, still assured that nothing will move their chief asset (and the obstacle to possible satisfactory resolution), the Minister of Youth & Culture.

       I am not part of the OCCUPY PINNACLE organization, have attended no meetings nor marched in the streets. As a journalist, I always give support as best I can for all good RASTA works, and OCCUPY PINNACLE has noble objectives that deserve my media support. However, experience has taught me that RASTA business is best approached from a distant perspective by ones such as I, until called for specific purpose. Thus, I wait with interest the outcome of this struggle now taking place, while always eager to update my readers on any news and information I receive and can share.

RGC – Fairfield House, May 23, 2013

RASTA IN ENGLAND       Sending BigUps and BLESSINGS to Ras Tony Tafari Thomas and Ras Robbie Shilliam, founders of the Rastafari Global Council (RGC) & Rastafari Council of Great Britain (RCGB) who were chief activists in preventing the sale of the Emperor’s House at Bath and converting it into a Rastafari HQ.

       The RCG has been offeirng a 12-week Rastafari Community Leadership Training Programme as one of several initiatives to organize and educate Rastafari in Britain to fully participate in and benefit from living in Britain and participating in political decision-making. Their FB page is a fountain of information and discussion on Rasta and African affairs, and is well worth a visit. Unfortunately, the group is not accepting more members on its page, as the Administrators keep a tight rein on posts to avoid sabotage and fifth columnists,while filling the page with positive proposals and knowledge.

       I sincerely hope the RGC truly becomes a Global Council for Rastafari. We need such strong examples and leadership, as Rastafari continues to grow as a strong international fellowship of humanity.

SABBATH BLESSINGS & LOVE