The First Books Of Rastafari

The Rastafari Movement: A North American and Caribbean Perspective provides a historical and ideological overview of the Rastafari movement in the context of its early beginnings in the island of Jamaica and its eventual establishment in other geographic locations. Building on previous scholarship and the author's own fieldwork, the text goes on to provide a rich comparative analysis of the Rastafari movement with other Black theological movements, specifically the Nation of Islam and the Black Hebrew Israelites in the context of the United States. The text explores the following topics: • Pan-Africanism, Black nationalism and Rastafari; • gender dynamics; • globalization; • concepts and symbols; • other Black theological movements. This text is ideal for students of religious studies, sociology, anthropology, African Diaspora studies, African American studies, and Black studies who wish to gain an understanding of the history and beliefs of the Rastafari Movement.

Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.

What is the first thing a Rastafari does when he/she wakes up in the morning? What is the correct way to grow dreadlocks as a Rasta? What products do Rasta in the Caribbean use to wash their dreadlocks and why? What are 10 Essentials of a Rastafari Home? What can one do to Convert to the Rastafari Livity? What are some Bible Chapters special to Rasta and why? “Rasta Way of Life” is a book for the student of Rastafari Livity. Follow the way life of Jah Rastafari, dictated to Rasta, to enter Holy Mount Zion.

THE FIRST BOOKS OF RASTAFARI: HOLY PIBY, PARCHMENT, PROMISED KEY & SELECTED UTTERANCES OF HIS MAJESTY

From its obscure beginnings in Jamaica in the early 1930s, Rastafari has grown into an international socio-religious movement. It is estimated that 700,000 to 1 million people worldwide have embraced Rastafari, and adherents of the movement can be found in most of the major population centres and many outposts of the world. Rastafari: A Very Short Introduction provides an account of this widespread but often poorly understood movement. Ennis B. Edmonds looks at the essential history of Rastafari, including its principles and practices and its internal character and configuration. He examines its global spread, and its far-reaching influence on cultural and artistic production in the Caribbean and beyond. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The first comprehensive work on the origins of the Jamaica-based Rastafaris, including interviews with some of the earliest members of the movement. Rastafari is a valuable work with a rich historical and ethnographic approach that seeks to correct several misconceptions in existing literature—the true origin of dreadlocks for instance. It will interest religion scholars, historians, scholars of Black studies, and a general audience interested in the movement and how Rastafarians settled in other countries.

Reveals the personal experiences of those who adopted the Rastafari religion in the 1950s to 1970s. This title explores the identity development of the religion, demonstrating how shifts in the movement's identity have led some of the elder Rastafari to adopt, embrace, and internalize Rastafari and Blackness as central to their concept of self.