RASTAFARI

(Originally Published 11/24 – Must have accidentally been deleted subsequently)

I admire a lot of things about the rastafari religious movement. Most especially the concept of livity which is righteous everyday living. That is respecting the Earth and the humans in it.

Least Fav Part? They presented the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Salassie as the Second Coming of Christ and the man just rolled with it… Emperor was an emblemic black liberation figure that preceded the Nkrumahs and the Tourés. But the man was no Christ. When he landed in Jamaica in 1966, 100,000 Rastafari descended to airport smoking so much Ganja, it was felt in the air. When Holy Scriptures said of the Second Coming, that he will emerge from the clouds, they meant, with no plane…Bombaclat!

It gets worse… Rita Marley, the legenderay wife of Bob Marley legit wrote a book saying she noticed an imprint in the palm of his hand which she equated to marks from being nailed on the cross. Selassie, ironically being a Christian himself, did deny his deity (once) to CBS saying “I have heard of that idea. I told them clearly that I am a man, mortal, that I will be replaced by the oncoming generation, and that they should never make a mistake in assuming or pretending that a human being is emanated from a deity.” But did he though? I think not. He continued maintaining strong ties with Rastafaris and promised them many things including reparations. So it begs the question, If people mistook your for God, would you correct them?

Y’all Wildin’. God help us all.