Reggae, Rastafari, and The Rhetoric of Social Control
Reggae, Rastafari, and The Rhetoric of Social Control
Reggae, Rastafari, and The Rhetoric of Social Control
A n earlier version of chapter five appeared in Popular Music and Society 22.3(1998) : 39-60. A n
earlier version of chapter six appeared as The Co-optation of a Revolution: Rastafari, Reggae, and
the Rhetoric of Social Control in HowardJournal of Communications 10:77-95; copyright 1999 by
Howard Journal of Communications and reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis, Inc., http://
www.routledge-ny.com. A n earlier version of the epilogue appeared in Marketing in the Century
Ahead: Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Atlantic Marketing Association Conference, I 1-14 October
2000. Ed. Jerry W. Wilson, 2000: 85-94.
www.upreSS.state.ms.us
1o09o8070605040302 4 3 2 I
Acknowledgments - IX
Introduction - XI
Chapter One -3
Ska and the Roots of
Rastafarian Musical Protest
Chapter Two - 26
Rocksteady, the Rude Boy, and
the Political Awakening of Rastafari
-
Chapter Three 45
Early Reggae, Black Power, and
the Politicization of Rastafari
v11
Contents
Chapter Four - 66
The Jamaica Labour Partys
Policy of the Beast
The Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
Chapter Five - 89
International Reggae
Popularization and Polarization of Rastafuri
Epilogue - I 21
Conclusion - 135
Notes - 145
Works Cited - 150
Index - 163
viii
The foundation of this book is the dissertation I completed at Indiana
University in 1997.I first would like to acknowledge the contributions of
my dissertation chair, J. Michael Hogan. Recognized as one of the leading
dissertation advisors in the field of speech communication, Mike Hogan
played a pivotal role in organizing the overall plan of the dissertation and
suggesting countless ways to improve the scope, style, substance, and direc-
tion of the dissertation. This book is dedicated to him. I would also like to
extend my appreciation to the other members of the dissertation commit-
tee: Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, Dennis Conway, and John L. Lucaites.
The books collaborators played a key role in transforming the disserta-
tion into a book. Barry Bays, an instructor of music at Delta State Univer-
sity (DSU), assisted with the musical instrumentation sections in chapters
1-3. P. Renke Foster, assistant professor of marketing at DSU, helped me
revise the epilogue. In addition, she spent countless hours reading and edit-
ing numerous drafts of the dissertation and the book manuscript.
A special word of thanks is reserved for my editor, Craig Gill, whose
enthusiasm, patience, and editorial direction helped me complete the proj-
ect. I would also like to express my gratitude to the anonymous reviewer of
ix
Acknowledgments
X
Rastafarianism is the first mass movement among West Indians preoccu-
pied with the task of looking into themselves and asking the fundamental
question, Who Am I? or What Am I?
-Dennis Forsythe
xi
lntroduction
demonstrations, and the fall of the Berlin Wall ( 3 ) .Jay S. Kaufman elabo-
rated on reggaes international popularity and political influence: (The
world-wide acceptance of Reggae . . . provides evidence that the power of
music to influence political and social change is not limited to Jamaican
society, but is something more fundamental and universal (9).
In its native Jamaica, reggae concerts also have provided a meeting
ground for warring political factions. In two notable cases, Bob Marley
headlined the 1976 Smile Concert and the 1978 One Love Peace Concert
in Jamaica; both concerts attempted to unite Jamaicastwo political parties,
the Peoples National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). At
the One Love Peace Concert, Marley invited the leader of the PNP,
Michael Manley, and his avowed enemy, JLP leader Edward Seaga, on stage
for a symbolic handshake of peace. As Marley would say of his music: [Reg-
gae music] is like the news. The music influence the people, the music do
everything fe [for] the people. The music tell the people what to do, in
Jamaica (Davis, Bob Marley 9 I ).
Reggaes influence and popularity both within and outside Jamaica
reflects its third-world origins. In particular, reggaes roots are embedded
in the historical conditions of Jamaican slavery and colonialism. Since the
arrival of Columbus in 1494, Jamaica has been a pivotal point of European
exploitation of the indigenous population (Arawak Indians), African
slaves, and land resources for profit and prestige. Jamaicas early history was
one long tale of sad intrigue, human suffering, lawlessness, and immoral
profit, at the center of which were the African slaves-the ancestors of
present-day Jamaicans (Barrett 29).
Since Jamaicas independence in I 962 from Great Britain, many black
Jamaicans have lived with chronic unemployment, street violence, and inad-
equate housing. While Jamaicas affluent society attends school and works at
middle- to upper-class jobs, a majority of young poor black Jamaicans live in
(oildrums and out in the open with maybe a jagged scrap of corrugated iron
propped by a few splintering sticks) (Davis, Bob Murky 42).
The Jamaican masses use music to counteract oppression and degrada-
tion. In fact, music is one of the few avenues for the Jamaican poor both to
xii
Introduction
create a distinctly black Jamaican identity and to vent years of pent-up suf-
fering, dehumanization and frustration under the white mans hegemony
(Hylton 26). Jamaican popular music has undergone musical and lyrical
changes, becoming increasingly political and revolutionary in tone. By the
late 1970s)reggae embodied this musical evolution, viewed by many as the
very expression of the historical experience of the Jamaican working class,
unemployed and peasants (L. Johnson, Reggae Rebellion 589). Lyrically,
reggae musicians protest against food shortages, inadequate housing, crime,
police brutality, illiteracy, political violence, homelessness, and oppression.
In another important way, reggae musics association with the Rastafari-
an movement has awakened an African consciousness in many black
Jamaicans. Erna Brodber, a native Jamaican who has written extensively on
reggae music, has described reggae as providing a new orientation to Africa:
We were glad to hear this new sound. It relaxed us. We took off our
make-up, we washed our hair and left it natural; we took off our jackets and
ties and made ourselves comfortable in shirt jacks. And we understood at a
personal level that for us black Jamaicans, there were two orientations: a
mulatto-orientation and a n Afro-orientation, the latter having been sub-
merged in our consciousness. The persistent reggae beat-and the lyrics it
carried-was partly responsible for awakening this consciousness. (Brodber,
Black Consciousness 54)
For more than thirty years, Bob Marley and the Wailers have exempli-
fied reggaes role as a protest music. In many of his songs, Marley attacked
the destructive nature of poverty by focusing on hunger (No Woman No
Cry [Natty Dread]), urban crime (Concrete Jungle [Catch a Fire]), politi-
cal violence (Rat Race [Rustaman Vibration]),police brutality (I Shot the
Sheriff [Burnin)]),and slavery (Slave Driver [Catch a Fire]).
Despite the fact that Marley and other reggae artists have become popu-
lar throughout the world, the Jamaican government on occasion has for-
bidden Jamaica radio stations from airing various forms of Jamaicas popular
music. In 1964, the ska song Carry Go Bring Come was banned from
Jamaican radio for criticizing JLP prime minister Alexander Bustamante
(Kaufman 9). During the 1972 national political campaign, the JLP banned
...
Xlll
lntroduction
several anti-JLP reggae songs, including the Wailers Small Axe (Waters
102).With the exception of Reggae Sunsplash, reggae concerts, by the early
I 980s, were banned in Jamaica supposedly because of the violence associ-
ated with some concerts and dances (Winders 67). In the view of some
political officials, according to historian James A. Winders, reggae songs
called attention to certain features of Jamaican life that the government,
anxious to attract tourist dollars, preferred to hide ( 7 I).
Paradoxically, the Jamaican government often has used reggae music to
promote its own social and political ends. First, Jamaican politicians, on
numerous occasions, have integrated reggae music into their political cam-
paigns. In the 1972, 1976, and 1980 elections, Michael Manley hired reg-
gae musicians to play at political rallies. In Jamaican society, according to
musician Jay S.Kaufman, reggae music has dominated the political arena
to such an extent that elections were almost won or lost by the popularity
of their campaign songs (9).
In recent years, the Jamaican government also has promoted reggae
music and the exotic Rastafarian culture as the official culture of the
island (Cosgrove 46). In the late I ~ ~ O the
S , Jamaican government pro-
moted reggae music to attract tourists to revive a dying economy. In
1982, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB),with the help of white American
promoter Barry Fey, assembled a vacation concert package that drew over
forty-six thousand visitors to Jamaica (George and Fergusson 62). Even
Jamaicas most popular reggae festivals, Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae
Sumfest, are supported by the government because the events help sup-
port Jamaicas tourist industry,
Since the I ~ ~ O
Rastafarian
S, images and reggae have become increasing-
ly important in promoting Jamaicas tourist industry. The Jamaican govern-
ment and its supporters market the Rastafarian movement and reggae music
as part of Jamaicas cultural heritage. In a wide range of promotional mate-
rials, travel brochures highlight reggaes happy and peaceful themes,
while obscuring the musics lyrics of social rage. In much the same way,
Rastafarians are portrayed as eager and happy participants, willing to help
fulfil1 a tourists fantasy vacation. Yet, this depiction largely ignores the
xiv
Introduction
The Rastafarian movement between 1870 and 1958 evolved in three dis-
tinct stages: ( I ) Marcus Garvey and Ethiopianism (1870-1930); (2) the
coronation of Haile Selassie as emperor of Ethiopia and the formation of early
Rastafarian churches (1930-1949); and (3) the emergence of the Youth Black
Faith as a militant faction within the Rastafarian movement ( 1949-1958).
The origins of the Rastafarian movement can be traced, in part, to
Jamaican black nationalist Marcus Moziah Garvey, Born in Jamaica on
August 17, 1887, Garvey left school at the age of fourteen to work as a
printers apprentice. In I 910, Garvey left Jamaica and traveled extensively
throughout Central and South America, becoming involved in radical j our-
nalism. In 1912, Garvey left for England and, over the next two years,
became interested in African culture and history. Convinced that blacks
must unify to overcome their oppression, Garvey returned to Jamaica in
I 9I 4 and established the Universal Negro Improvement Association
(UNIA)(Waters 37). Two years later, Garvey traveled to the United States
and established UNIA offices in Harlem, New York. The UNIA produced
the international weekly paper, the Negro World, and organized a chain of
black-owned small businesses, from grocery stores to laundromats to facto-
ries manufacturing black dolls (Berry and Blassingame 409-10). By 1920,
Garvey boasted of a UNIA membership of two million blacks.
Garvey was responsible for influencing the Rastafarian movements
theme of repatriation to Africa. Garvey originated the slogan, Africa for
Africans, and he sponsored the Black Star Steamship Line, a shipping cor-
poration founded to transport blacks to Africa. According to anthropologist
Barry Chevannes, Garvey linked the dignity and equality of blacks to their
ability to claim a land they could call their own, one in which they could
be their own master (Rustafari95).
Introduction
Garvey also inspired the Rastafarians belief in a living black God. Gar-
vey was influenced by a particular brand of black nationalism called
Ethiopianism) (Campbell, Rasta 49). Originating in South Africa during
the I 870s, Ethiopianism was a secessionist church movement rebelling
against missionary churches that condoned the practice of white colonial
rule and apartheid (Campbell, Rasta 47-50). Challenging the prevailing
argument that blacks were judged inferior in the Bible, Ethiopianism artic-
ulated a new, more positive role for blacks in the Bible. Influenced by
Ethiopianism, Garvey gloried in the African past and taught that God and
Christ were black (Berry and Blassingame 410).
Garveys success was short-lived. In 1925,he was sentenced to serve a
five-year sentence in an Atlanta penitentiary for mail fraud. In 1927,U.S.
President Calvin Coolidge commuted Garveys sentence, and he was then
deported to Jamaica. For the next ten years, Garvey attempted unsuccess-
fully to revive the UNIA. Although ridiculed by Jamaicas dominant socie-
ty, Garvey was venerated by Jamaicas lower classes as a saint and wor-
shiped by the Rastafarian movement as a prophet. Scholars of the
Rastafarian movement have pointed to two distinct events that influenced
Rastafarians to perceive Garvey as the movements prophet. According to
political scientist Horace Campbell, many of Garveys followers believed
that the UNIA slogan, Princes come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall stretch
forth her hands to God, prophesized a ruler emerging in Africa to lead all
black people to freedom (Rasta 64). Chevannes pointed to Garveys 1929
play entitled The Coronation of the King and Queen of Africa. The play dram.
atized the crowning of an African king (Rastafari 94-5).Within a year, Gar-
veys fictional play would come true.
The official coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen as the new emperor of
Ethiopia in 1930 signaled the second phase in the development of the
Rastafarian movement. During the coronation, Makonnen took the throne
name, Haile Selassie I, along with other royal titles, including King of
Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, [and] Elect of
God and Light of the World (Chevannes, Rastafari 42).Receiving inter-
national media exposure, color pictures of the events were published
xvi
Introduction
throughout the world, and newsreels of the ceremonies gave many blacks in
the United States and the Caribbean their first glimpse of Ethiopia (Camp-
bell, Rasta 70). When Jamaicasnational newspaper, the Daily Gleaner, pub-
lished photos of Selassiescoronation, some of Garveys followers in Jamaica
consulted their Bibles and subsequently believed Selassie was literally the
King of Kings, the black messiah prophesized by Garvey (Chevannes,
Rastafari 42).
Leonard Howell has been identified as the first Rastafarian preacher in
Jamaica. In the winter of 1932, Howell encouraged Jamaicans to reject the
authority of the King of England and to give their loyalties to the new
emperor of Ethiopia (Campbell, Rasta 71). Howell sold pictures of Haile
Selassie as future passports) to Ethiopia. As expected, Jamaicas colonial
government objected to Howells anti-colonial rhetoric. In I 934, the police
arrested Howell and his deputy, Robert Hinds, for breaking Jamaicas sedi-
tion laws. After a speedy trial, Howell was sentenced to two years-and
Hinds to one year-of hard labor (Campbell, Rasta 7 I ).
The Rastafarians ability to survive during periods of heavy persecution
was a testament to the movements diversification and lack of a centralized
leadership. In other words, the movement is a collection of groups who oper-
ate without a central leader. Leonard Barrett, a noted scholar on the Rasta-
farian movement, clarified the movements disdain for central leadership:
xvii
lntroduction
was revered in the Rastafarian community and his word was law in Pin-
nacle. A council of elders was established to assist in the daily administration
of the camp, and to maintain discipline among the brethren who dwelt
there. . . . Brother Howell often rode his horse around the community from
time to time in order to inspect the crops and camp activities. Brethren
would run, following his horse, anywhere he went. The community became
prosperous and Brother Howell became very well off.) (Mack 60-1)
xviii
Introduction
xix
Introduction
The Youth Black Faith also was responsible for creating the movements
unique language. Although English is the official language of Jamaica,
many Jamaicans speak patois (pronounced pa-twa). Patois combines
Standard English and African languages. The Rastafarians experimented
with patois and created their own distinctive language. Chevannes dis-
cussed the use of the most important aspect of Rastafarian talk, the per-
sonal pronoun, 1.
To the Rastafari this is the same as the Roman numeral I, which follows
the name Selassie. I substitutes for me and for mine. The religious
meaning behind this substitution is that the Rastafari is also part of God,
and if God is a visible, living man, it must mean that the Rastafari is anoth-
er Selassie, another I. Because everyone is an I, one does not say we
for plurality, but says I and I. As the most central word in the Rastafari
speech, I transforms other words as well. Brethren pronounced in the
dialect as bredrin, becomes Idrin; (eternal,Iternal; hour, Iowa);
times, Iimes; creator, Ireator; and so forth. (Raufari I 67)
xx
Introduction
tally ill. A year earlier, a Rastafarian and a police officer clashed at Coro-
nation Market located in West Kingston. During the incident, local ven-
dors sided with the Rastafarian, thus encouraging police retaliation (Fer-
guson 62). Shortly after this altercation, police raided Back-0-Wall, a
Rastafarian shantytown in West Kingston, and forcibly shaved Rastafari-
ans dreadlocks (Semaj, Inside Rasta 8). Bongo Israels own mistreatment
at the hands of the police supports the movements claim of police brutal-
ity: We had to watch out for the police, come in and destroy us. They
catch us on the street. They cut our locks (Stepping Razor).
As police intimidation of the Rastafarians increased, repatriation
emerged as the movements most urgent demand. In 1955, a representative
from the Ethiopian World Federation (EWF) announced that Selassie was
building a Merchant Navy with the hope of eventually providing transport
to Ethiopia for Jamaicans (Barrett 90). Founded by Haile Selassies cousin
in 1937, the EWFs purpose was to unite several groups who were support-
ing Ethiopia during its war with Italy (Campbell, Rasta 76). According to
Leonard Barrett, the announcement of Selassies repatriation plan creat-
ed what might literally be called a religious revival among the Rastafarians.
The Rastafarian movement, according to Barrett, doubled its membership
almost overnight (90).
While the Rastafarian movement would prove unsuccessful in achieving
the dream of repatriation, the movement had become by the late 1950s an
irritating thorn in the side of the Jamaican government. Meanwhile, musi-
cal experiments involving Rastafarian musicians, such as drummer Count
Ossie, and musicians associated with a popular form of music known as ska
began to forge a four-decade relationship between the Rastafarian move-
ment and Jamaicaspopular music. As a result, the popular music of Jamaica
became more than a mode of entertainment; it became perhaps the chief
medium of political and social commentary and, ultimately, a threat to the
government. This study explores how that politicization of Jamaican popu-
lar music came about and how, ultimately, the government co-opted the
politics of reggae.
xxi
Introduction
xxii
Introduction
xxiii
Introduction
reggae, examining its roots in the form of popular music known as ska
(1959-1965). During this era, the fast, cheerful sounds of ska reflected the
optimism of Jamaicas independence from colonial rule. While ska did
hint at Rastafarian themes, the music expressed more personal than
political protest. Chapter 2 explores the short-lived but influential
protest music known as rocksteady (1966-1967). This chapter will con-
sider the role of the Rude Boys, a youth rebellion in Jamaica, in the
development of a more aggressive, political music. A tension between vio-
lence and peace distinguished rocksteady as a transitional form between
ska and early reggae. Chapter 3 discusses the emergence of early reggae
music (1968-1971), noting how the Black Power movement in Jamaica
played a significant role in coalescing Jamaicas dissident groups. In par-
ticular, the once apolitical Rastafarian movement became increasingly
politicized, as evidenced in the more aggressively political themes of early
reggae songs. Chapter 4 investigates the Jamaican governments response
to the growing politicization of the Rastafarian movement during this
entire period, from 1959 to 1971. The government and its surrogates used
a variety of control strategies, from evasion to more aggressive strategies
of coercion and suppression.
Part 2 investigates the tension between agitation and control from
1972 to 1980. Chapter 5 reveals how the Rastafarian movement and reg-
gae music became an international phenomenon after I 972. During this
period, U.S. record companies successfully marketed a new and
improved reggae music to international audiences. While promoting
reggae as a new brand of revolutionary music, record companies such as
Island Records ironically modified reggaes sound in order to appeal to
white audiences. Chapter 6 examines how the government under the
leadership of Prime Minister Michael Manley employed an entirely new
strategy for responding to the challenge of Rastafarians as reggae grew in
popularity. Rather than suppress the music, Manley co-opted it, hiring
reggae musicians to play at political rallies and integrating Rastafarian
themes into his political rhetoric.
xxiv
Introduction
The epilogue examines how the Jamaican government and the Jamaica
Tourist Board (JTB) used reggae music and Rastafarian images to promote
the movement and the music as part of Jamaicas cultural heritage. The con-
clusion of the study will elaborate on the contributions of this research to
the study of social movements, the rhetoric of social control, and protest
music.
xxv
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Chapter One
To the casual listener, ska may appear to be nothing more than some
form of speedy and spirited reggae. This is not entirely inaccurate. Ska is
actually the pop-based precursor to reggae.
-Dale Turner
3
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
4
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
5
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
workers and urban dockworkers rebelled against low wages and demanded
improved working conditions. During the national strike, several were
killed, hundreds were injured, and many others were jailed for their partic-
ipation in the rebellion (Post 276-84).
To pacify the enraged workers, the British Crown established a Royal
Commission, led by Lord Moyne, to investigate the workers demands (Beck-
ford and Witter 62). The Moyne Commission established several new poli-
cies, including steps to establish representative self-government in Jamaica.
Meanwhile, Jamaicascolonial office conceded to the leaders who voiced the
workers grievances against the colonial state, Alexander Bustamante and
Norman Washington Manley (Beckford and Witter 61). In 1938, Manley
became the leader of Jamaicasfirst mass political party, the Peoples National
Party (PNP), and Bustamante assumed the leadership of one of Jamaicasfirst
organized labor unions, the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).
In 1942, Manley and Bustamante disagreed over the PNPs political role
in Jamaica. Manley envisioned the PNPs mission as seeking Jamaicas con-
stitutional independence, while Bustamantes interests were to secure the
new relationship of direct bargaining of the laboring class with the ruling
class (A. Brown, Color, Class, and Politics 103). Tension between the two
leaders became so great that Bustamante left the PNP and used his BITU to
launch Jamaicas second political party, the Jamaica Labour Party in 1943.
Following the split, the relationship between the two parties remained
tense; the conflict often moved from simmering hostility to open warfare.
The PNP was considered left wing, sponsoring economic and social reform,
a high profile in international affairs and, at times, a socialist government.
The JLP, in contrast, was described as a right-wing party maintaining a
conservative ideology that favored capitalism, free enterprise, and a close
link with western countries.3 A number of rival political parties, including
the Peoples Political Party (PPP), never achieved much success in Jamaica.
Led by Barrister Millard Johnson, the PPP was a socialist party that ran polit-
ical advertisements in Jamaicasnational newspaper, the Daily Gleaner, advo-
cating the redistribution of wealth, eradication of racial discrimination, and
developing economic and social ties to Africa (B. Johnson 25).
6
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
From 1944 to 1962, Jamaicas political leaders and the British Crown
worked on a plan for Jamaicas full independence. In 1944, the British
Crown signed into law a new Constitution, granting Jamaica Universal
Adult Suffrage (Beckford and Witter 62). Ultimate authority for Jamaicas
internal and external affairs still rested with the governor-general who rep-
resented the British monarchy in Jamaica. By 1957, however, Britain began
to undertake serious steps to relinquish control of Jamaica because of the
financial burden the Caribbean colony placed on British taxpayers (Panton
26). In 1957, the PNP implemented a Cabinet government that enabled
the Jamaican government to play a more influential role in determining the
nations economic policies (Panton 26). Two years later, the PNP estab-
lished Jamaicas first fully autonomous government (Panton 26). This new
arrangement allowed the prime minister to assume full responsibility for all
internal affairs and reduced Englands authority in Jamaica to issues of for-
eign policy. O n August 6, 1962, Jamaica finally secured full constitutional
independence and became an independent parliamentary state within the
British commonwealth. While the governor-general still remained official-
ly head of the state, his role was now reduced to appearing at ceremonial
events. The prime minister and his Cabinet government now had full exec-
utive power to make policy decisions in domestic and international affairs.
Less than four months before Jamaica became a sovereign nation, Man-
ley and the PNP were voted out of office, and the JLPs Alexander Busta-
mante became prime minister. Bustamante presided over a remarkable eco-
nomic resurgence which occurred prior to and following independence.
From 1950 to 1968, Jamaicas gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for
inflation, increased 6.7 percent (Kuper I 7). In I 960, the unemployment fig-
ure dipped to 13.5 percent, one of the lowest unemployment rates on record
(Boyd 8-9). In addition, between 1956 and 1967, Jamaicas manufacturing
sector expanded as Jamaican entrepreneurs profited from an assortment of
exports, including furniture, garments, and footwear (Stone, Power, Policy
and Politics 27). Jamaica also continued to be one of the worlds leading
exporters of bauxite. The Jamaican government encouraged American and
Canadian companies to invest in Jamaican bauxite; bauxite continued to be
7
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
Jamaicas chief export for the next decade. As economist Derick Boyd has
summarized: The decades of the fifties and sixties were, in the main, good
years for the Jamaican economy (5).
While workers mined the unlimited deposits of bauxite in the hills of
Jamaica, the Jamaican government also began to develop an equally appeal-
ing, less physically demanding gold mine. In order to catch the eye of the
wealthy foreign traveler, the Jamaican government actively encouraged for-
eign investors to expand the tourist industry on Jamaicas north coast. The
sunny attractions, including Negril, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios, sprouted
new resort hotels, airport runways, and private beaches.
As foreign visitors celebrated their new tropical escape, the JLP contin-
ued to face both old and new social and political problems. There are at least
four factors that plagued Jamaica as it made the transition from a British
colony to an independent nation. First, Jamaica became even more eco-
nomically dependent on foreign powers, The JLP and the PNP strived to
emulate the Puerto Rican Model to create a new Jamaica. The effort to
emulate this model, nicknamed Operation Bootstrap, encouraged foreign
investors to establish manufacturing activities in Jamaica. By I 962, Jamaicas
economy was heavily tied to foreign investors, with dramatic increases in
exports to Britain, the United States, Canada, and Japan. Jamaicas depend-
ence on foreign countries turned the island into a peripheral attachment to
the international capitalist system (Beckford and Witter 79). In the case of
bauxite, for example, Jamaica possessed the raw materials but did not possess
the management and technological resources. In effect, Jamaica lacked the
means of processing raw materials, such as bauxite and sugar. Because
Jamaica depended on foreign powers for production, the island suffered from
trade deficits, high interest rates, and high fees charged for technological and
management services (Beckford and Witter 79).
Second, multinational corporations continued the process of purchasing
Jamaicas rural land. American and Canadian companies had taken over
control of the bulk of the bauxite industry, and these multinational compa-
nies often drove small farmers from the rural areas of Jamaicas parishes,
8
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
including St. Ann and St. Elizabeth (Campbell, Rasta 93). Between 1943
and I 970, according to Campbell, 560,000 rural inhabitants were displaced
from Jamaicascountryside (Rasta 86). As these multinational corporations
purchased the farms to mine for bauxite, Jamaicas agricultural output
dropped steadily, and Jamaicans began to rely more and more on imported
food products.
Third, because of the land seizures and Britains 1962 immigration law
that severely restricted Jamaicans from migrating to England, thousands
migrated to Kingston, Jamaicas capital city. There they suffered from unem-
ployment, food shortages, and a high infant mortality rate. Many who could
not find work turned to hustling, prostitution, and crime. In the slums, food
shortages and disease played a significant role in a high death rate for chil-
dren under four years of age. The Life Tables for British Caribbean Countries
indicated that, from 1959 to 1961, 5,980 out of IOO,OOO infant males died
during their first year of life (32). This was the highest death rate of all age
groups in Jamaica.
Fourth, with the increasing migration of the populous to the city,
Jamaica experienced a severe housing shortage. Although Jamaicas Town
Ptanning Department Report in 1961 stressed a need to redevelop some of
Kingstons poorer suburbs, including Trench Town and Kingston Pen, the
commission was unable to make any substantial changes in these areas,
building very few domiciles (3). For the very poor who could not rent a sin-
gle-story tenement or a small apartment in a government housing project,
squatting on government land became a matter of survival (Clarke 234).
As the need for housing increased and the available housing slowly turned
into crumbling tenements, middle-class Jamaicans built new houses in the
Kingston Heights. Soon, Kingston visibly displayed the contrast between
the rich and poor, as mansions climbed up the hillsides while ghettoes
spawned along Spanish Town Road (Beckford and Witter 74). The
increasing economic disparity between the middle and upper classes and
those crowded in the urban ghettos made Jamaicas national motto, Out
of Many, One People, seem more and more an empty slogan.
9
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
I0
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
alist Marcus Garveys fictional play, The Coronation of the King and Queen of
Africa, spotlighted the crowning of an African king. In 1930,when Ras
Tafari Makonnen, the great grandson of King Sahela Selassie of Shoa, was
crowned emperor of Ethiopia (and renamed Haile Selassie I), many
Jamaicans were convinced that he was literally the King of Kings, the liv-
ing black messiah. Many Rastafarians believed Selassies status as a deity was
a rejection of the white Christian church. The living black messiah reject-
ed both the Bibles portrait of Jesus Christ as white and the story of his
death. For the Rastafarians, Jah was a symbol of resistance to the white
church (Beckford and Witter 76).
T h e third protest term with unique significance in the Rastafarian move-
ment was Mount Zion. Lamenting their own captivity in Jamaica, Rasta-
farians consulted their Bibles and identified their suffering with the plight
of the Jews in the Bible. Consequently, Zion was torn from its biblical con-
text and came to express the Rastafarians hope for repatriation to Africa.
Through the Rastafarian lens, Mount Zion moved from Israel to Africa.
Rastafarians rejected the traditional Christian interpretation that heaven
was a spiritual place in the sky)and promoted the belief that Mount Zion
was, literally, a heaven on earth.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s) the Rastafarian movement actively
began to seek repatriation to Mount Zion in Africa. In 1959,a self-declared
Rastafarian prophet, Claudius Henry, sold fifteen thousand tickets to
Rastafarians and other poor Jamaicans promising repatriation back to
Ethiopia on October 5 (Smith, Augier, and Nettleford 16). Many aban-
doned their homes, sold their belongings, and traveled long distances to the
port in Kingston where Henry promised that a ship would be waiting. The
tickets even included a written promise that [nlo passport will be necessary
for those returning home to Africa (Smith, Augier, and Nettleford 16).
After Henry could not deliver on his promise of repatriation, he was jailed
and fined for disturbing the peace.
The arrest of Claudius Henry only served to confirm what many had
already thought about the Rastafarian movement-that they were a bunch
of crackpots, deluded by visions of returning to Africa. After his release
I1
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
I2
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
were under the influence of drugs when they launched their Holy Thurs-
day rampage (8 Killed I). Within twenty-four hours, more than 150
Rastafarians were arrested on assorted charges, including vagrancy and
unlawful possession of drugs and weapons (8 Killed I ).
Because the Rastafarian movement continuously evolved, it is difficult
to describe its doctrines at any given stage of its development. A t the
request of some members of the Rastafarian movement, three University of
the West Indies (UWI) researchers conducted two weeks of intensive
research on the movement in July 1960 and summarized the movements
core beliefs in a brief pamphlet entitled the Report on the Rastufari Movement
in Kingston, Jamaica. Their report found that the Rastafarian movement
unanimously believed in the divinity of Haile Selassie and favored the repa-
triation of all its members to Africa. After discussions with Rastafarian
members, the authors also summarized the movements goals: to end police
persecution, to improve economic conditions and access to adult education,
and to strengthen human rights, including freedom of movement and
speech (33-4)-
Despite occasional incidents like the Coral Gardens uprisings, most
Rastafarians preached love and peace. In a 1964 article in the daily news-
paper, Public Opinion, one Rastafarian said: A Rastaman cant bruk shop, a
Rastaman cant chop up no one with machete,-Rastaman him no business
with gun (Heymans 8). In the Star, a Jamaican afternoon newspaper
tabloid, Brother Aubrey Brown, a Rastafarian spokesperson, argued that the
Rastafarian movement did not condone preaching race hatred . . against
+
the pink nor the yellow (qtd. in Watch Word 7). The Report of the UWI
research team confirmed this nonviolent attitude when it reported that a
great majority of Ras Tafari brethren are peaceful citizens who do not
believe in violence. The Report did suggest, however, that the movement
was heterogeneous, and that a small minority of Rastafarians were criminals,
revolutionaries, or mentally deranged (27). However, most Rastafarians
did not seem to fit the Jamaican governments portrait of their cause as a
violent, revolutionary social movement.
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
We had turned out a generation of musicians that were able to not only
win acclaim here, but migrate to Britain primarily. People like Bertie King ...
established themselves also in the United States, and recorded for Blue Note
records. So, there was this kind of level of musical excellence, particularly
from the instrumental point of view. And that carried over into the ska period
for a bit.
The popularity of this music was often credited to the influence of the
Europeanized school missions in Jamaica. The Alpha Boys School, a kind
of reform school located in West Kingston, was the best example of how
European schools of music were established in Jamaica to train Jamaican
musicians to emulate the European wind band tradition (Witmer I 2).
The Alpha Boys School sported an extraordinary music school and gradu-
ated some of Jamaicas finest big band, swing, and jazz instrumentalists. The
Alpha Boys School also trained musicians to fulfil1 national duties, such as
playing for the Jamaica Military Band (Witmer I 2).
The popularity of both R&B and ska was linked directly to a technology
known in Jamaica as the sound system. Sound systems were portable
music systems on wheels; vans would carry high-fidelity playback equip-
ment to neighborhood dances in Kingston (Winders 68). These gatherings
usually took place in outdoor venues, such as neighborhood yards (Witmer
16). In order to provide this service, all that was needed was access to a
power line. With an available power source, a sound system could envelope
the community in music with two to eight speaker systems (Davis, Talking
Drums 3 3 ) .
The sound system promoted R&B, music typically unavailable to many
Jamaicans. Legendary ska producer and promoter Clement Dodd often trav-
eled to the United States and reentered Jamaica with copies of American
recordings. The sound systems were instrumental in exposing Jamaicans to
American music, because the majority of Jamaicans then could not afford
the radios that could pick up foreign stations, and so were not exposed to
the kinds of music coming out of America. It was left to the sound-systems
to educate and entertain the average Jamaican to the musical happenings
(Jingles I).
Roots of Rastufurian Musical Protest
More important, the sound system became the focal point for the devel-
opment of a community of dissent. As one of the few affordable social activ-
ities for the poor, the sound system brought music to places where the voice
of the poor could be heard without interference by local authorities. As cul-
tural critic Dick Hebdige has written, the sound-system came to represent,
particularly for the young, a precious inner sanctum, uncontaminated by
alien influences, a black heart beating back to Africa (Subculture38). At a
sound-system gathering, a deejay encouraged dancing and made toasts to
the audience.5 Yet the deejay also would engage in a running commentary
on political events in Jamaica.
By 1962, Jamaican ska was a hot musical item. A 1962 issue of Spotlight
Newsmagufine, a Jamaican music magazine, reported that whether or not it
catches on in the States, there is no doubt that Ska is a big business in
Jamaica (Ska-The Up Beat 3 1-2). The ska sound (called (bluebeat in
England) even created a national tremor in England. In blue beat, the
musics (monotonous,pulsating and compulsive)rhythms inspired a frenzied
dance underscored by the guttural grunts and groans of the dancers, who act
like an exhausted person gasping for breath (Patterson, The Dance 40 I ) .
Edward Seaga, future JLP prime minister and a pioneer in recording
Jamaican Revivalist music, managed to book a ska band at the 1964 Worlds
Fair in New York. Despite skas popularity, however, Jamaicas upper classes
often ridiculed the music as an inferior art of the lower classes.
Protest Lyrics
Many ska songs were either searing, jazzy instrumentals or romantic love
songs. Borrowing from the American black music tradition of jazz and blues,
the theme of personal angst was materialized in ska lyrics that highlighted
male-female relationships. Within these genres, especially the blues, women
were portrayed as embodying love and loneliness, devotion and infidelity
(Spencer 126). One might read some ska songs, such as the Checkmates
Turn Me On and Lee Perrys Sugar Bag, as strictly trivial love songs
( S k a Bonanzu). In most of the songs, however, ska musicians expressed deep
personal pain, brought about by the corrupting female influence. The
16
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
Ska musicians frequently looked to God for solace. Spirituals and gospel
music had historical roots in a country populated with Christian churches.
American gospel music has a direct link to the slave experience in the cot-
ton fields. Gospel music draws on African tribal music, black spirituals,
slave work songs, and Protestant church hymns (Carpenter 405). Gospel
music has since influenced folk, blues, and R&B. In particular, the Wailers
string of gospel singles, including the songs Amen and Habits, reflected
the importance of the Christian church in the lives of many of these musi-
cians (One Love).
As in most spirituals, Gods role was that of a silent redeemer. As a shin-
ing light or spirit, the faithful experienced Gods presence and patiently
waited for God to fulfil1 biblical prophecy. In Over the River, the Jiving
Juniors invoked the imagery of the Second Coming: Ill be here when he
come / My savior, my savior / Ill be here when he come ( S k a Bonanza). In
the Wailers song, I Am Going Home, Bob Marley cried for God to carry
me home (One Love). With Gods will at work, the oppressed passively
waited for liberation and deliverance.
The theme of repatriation to the promised land also can be located in
a variety of ska songs. Despite the fact that ska musicians did not focus
attention on the Rastafarian goal of returning to Africa, the repatriation
motif was important in developing subsequent Rastafarian themes. Ska
musicians associated biblical references to the River Jordan with the theme
of returning home. In the Bible, the River Jordan stretched from the Sea of
Galilee to the Dead Sea and symbolically represented the watery impasse
between the wandering lost Jewish tribe and the promised land. Over the
opening chords of the Wailers I Am Going Home, Bob Marley sang of the
River Jordan while the background vocals cried, I am going home. In
another ska song, River Jordan, Clancy Eccless backup vocalists repeated
the chorus roll River Jordan roll, while Eccles described Noahs Ark,
thunderous rain, and Gods return to rescue the faithful from oppression
(Tougher T h n Tough). Although the Maytals Six and Seven Books of
Moses simply recited the books of the Old Testament, the song hinted at
the Israelites return to the promised land (Tougher Than Tough).
18
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
In one of the few ska songs to employ Rastafarian images explicitly, Carry
Go Bring Come, Justin Hines and the Dominoes invoked the image of
Mount Zion, an image that would echo through reggae songs during the
1970s. In the song, Hines alerted followers to seek in Mount Zion high /
Instead of keeping oppression upon an innocent man (TougherT h n Tough).
While some ska songs hinted at repatriation back home, Carry Go
Bring Come discussed the oppressive experience in Jamaica and specifical-
ly acknowledged Mount Zion in Africa as the promised land. Although the
ska sound was mostly a blend of several genres of popular music, Rastafari-
an themes were clearly expressed in song titles and instrumentation.
Musical Instrumentation
Ska music blended a variety of musical styles. Kenneth M. Bilby, a schol-
ar of Jamaican music, has referred to the blending of musical styles as the
process of creolization. Creolization refers to a meeting and blending of
two or more older traditions on new soil, and a subsequent elaboration of
form (The Caribbean 2). American musical forms such as jazz and big
band music inspired skas horn sound, and R&B influenced the musics gui-
tar style, the types of chords used, and the length of the song (usually under
four minutes). Jamaican music expert Garth White has also suggested that
ska was influenced by its predecessor, mento: skas shuffle-rhythm [is] close
to mento but even closer to the backbeat of the r&b (Mento 38).6 Ska
also contained a mix of blues and African elements such as call and
response (Turner I 48).
Skas top music producers, Clement Dodd, Leslie Kong, and Duke Reid,
would invite young, upstart ska musicians like Jimmy Cliff to record songs
with a studio house band, consisting of some of the best musicians on the
island. Because of the limitations of two-track recording, a producer would
be forced to record the band live (i.e., all the musicians would play in the
same room at the same time). One of Jamaicas most influential bass gui-
tarists, Jackie Jackson, recalled the limitations of the two-track studio:
It was all of the instruments on one track and the vocals on the
other. Thank the Lord +track came along. You used to play out your
Roots of Rastufurian Musical Protest
soul o n 2-track because every time you take a cut, all of the instruments
pop up o n one track. Sometimes you go back and listen and you cant
hear something. So you take another cut, you go back i n and listen, and
now something too loud. It went on like that for ever and ever because
there was no separation. (qtd. in Gorney 4 I )
20
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
In the typical ska arrangement, the piano and horns would help the gui-
tarist emphasize skas offbeat sound. For example, Don Drummonds instru-
mental, Man in the Street, featured a guitar, piano, and horns playing the
same rhythm, each instrument emphasizing the offbeat. However, in songs
such as Derrick Morgans Forward March, when a guitarist was not avail-
able, the horns and piano provided the offbeat pattern (Tougher Than
Tough).
As a musical experience, the rhythm guitar created a positive, almost
optimistic sound. The ability of the guitarist to create this happy and
uplifting sound was a result of the usage of major, as opposed to minor,
chords and keys. For centuries, western musicians have used major chords
and keys to convey happy and optimistic feelings to listeners. Although
some ska songs did utilize minor keys, most songs were written in major
keys, relying on the three major or primary chords (I, IV, V). Playing a short,
choppy rhythm, the ska guitarist enhanced this happy sound by playing
mid-register voicings on the top three or four smallest strings near the mid-
dle of the guitar neck. Some guitarists further emphasized this sound by
employing more frequent chord changes. In (Simmer Down, the guitarist
used two chords, changing every two beats ( I & 2 & 3 & 4 &) within the
4/4 framework.
While the rhythm guitar, piano, and horn section anchored skas offbeat
sound, the drummer typically emphasized downbeats 2 and 4. The drummer
typically played a timekeeping role, utilizing only a minimal number of per-
cussive instruments: snare drum, hi-hat, ride cymbal and, occasionally, the
bass drum. In most ska songs, the drummer would hit the snare drum on
beats 2 and 4, while playing a steady eighth-note pattern on the hi-hat or a
ride cymbal. Yet, in songs such as Man in the Street and Nimble Foot
Ska (Ska Bonanza) the drummer played a more adventurous role, using bass
drum accents, snare fills, and busier improvisational work on the hi-hat to
add color to the sound. Despite these occasional rhythmic flourishes, the
drummer played a subordinate role in the ska arrangement. It was not until
the birth of international reggae that the drums became an extremely
important, if not dominant, musical instrument.
21
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
T h e bass, along with the rhythm guitar and drums, served as an impor-
tant part of skas percussive sound. Employing a stand-up bass (electric bass
guitars were not widely used in Jamaica until the mid-1960s), the ska bassist
would frequently play a walking bass line, a bass figure often heard on jazz
and blues records. To achieve this sound, the bassist would play four quarter
notes per bar illustrating the one-note-per-beat style. For example, in
Jimmy Cliffs 1962 song Miss Jamaica (Tougher Than Tough), the bass
player played this ska bass line (figure 1.1):
A simplified version of this bass rhythm would look like this (figure 1.2):
X X X X
While the electric guitar, piano, upright bass, and drums functioned as
skas unwavering rhythmic heartbeat, the horn section would have far
more latitude and freedom to explore the boundaries and scope of its col-
lective function and sound. The horn section performed multiple roles,
including sustaining chord tones, doubling the guitars offbeat staccato
chords, playing a songs main riff or theme, and-at times-even improvis-
ing solo passages. For example, in Carry Go Bring Come the trombone
provided the opening statement, while additional horns acted in a support-
ive manner by blowing unison lines in the background. After a four-bar
theme, the trombone joined the other horns, and for the remainder of the
song, the tenor sax, trumpet, and trombone played in unison, while addi-
tional horns doubled the guitars offbeat figure. In this song, one horn sec-
22
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
23
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
more horns and, occasionally, the vocals would improvise around the rest
of the ensemble to help create skas happy, joyous, and uplifting sound.
Some of these vocal arrangements harkened back to traditional American
black music, especially gospel music, which is often marked by vocal
improvisations. Perhaps ska can best be characterized as a product of cre-
olization, borrowing heavily from black American music (jazz, gospel, and
RGrB), while also incorporating indigenous (mento) and African elements
into its sound. In addition, ska music began to reflect the influence of the
Rastafarian movement.
The connection between Rastafari and ska music was most evident in
the work of two pioneering musicians: Oswald Williams, popularly known
as Count Ossie, and Don Drummond. In the Count
I ~ ~ O S , Ossie was
inspired by Burru drumming, an African drumming pattern, and he estab-
lished several Rastafarian camps and invited many sympathetic to the
Rastafarian movement to be part of his musical experiments (G. White,
Mento 39). His earliest recordings have not survived, but Ossie high-
lighted Rastafarian drumming in the haunting song Oh Carolina (Tougher
Than Tough). The song was sung by the Folkes Brothers with Count Ossie
and other Rastafarian musicians adding traditional Rastafarian drumming
and backup vocals.
Rastafarian influences were also evident in the titles of his instrumental
songs such as Another Moses and Babylon Gone. Another Moses
referred cryptically to the divinity of Haile Selassie, and Babylon Gone
expressed the Rastafarian hope in being delivered from Jamaicas oppressive
social structure to their home in Africa (G. White, The Development 64).
In the mid-~&os, Ossie formed a group called the Mystic Revelation of
Rastafari. Cedric Brooks, a noted Jamaican musician, said that Count Ossie
was the pioneer in bringing the Rasta Music into the open (Brooks 14).
Don Drummond has been credited with introducing Rastafarian influ-
ences into the musical nucleus of ska. As the leading trombonist for the
Skatalites, Drummonds songs-Tribute to Marcus Garvey, Reincarna-
tion, and The Return of Paul Bog1e-reflected his Rastafarian faith
(Jerry I). Dermot Hussey explained in an interview the connection
24
Roots of Rastafarian Musical Protest
Rude bwoy [boy] is that person, native, who is totally disenchanted with
the ruling system; who generally is descended from the African elements in
the lower class and who is now armed with ratchets (German made knives),
other cutting instruments and with increasing frequency nowadays, with guns
and explosives.
-Garth White
26
Political Awakening of Rastufari
27
Political Awakening of Ras tufari
(Beckford and Witter 83). The JLP continued to rely on restrictive laws and
unilateral, nonreviewable edicts to maintain its rule (Gray I 96).
During this time, a new genre of Jamaican popular music, rocksteady,
expressed more clearly the problems and contradictions of Jamaican life.
Most popular critics and music scholars recognized rocksteady as a more
politically aggressive protest music than ska. Jamaican music scholar Vere-
na Reckord observed that rocksteady musicians were coming to grips with
the stifling social conditions which pervaded life in the ghetto, from which
most of them came ( I I). Patrick Hylton claimed that rocksteady musicians
sang songs that were expressive of the peoples suffering, their everyday life,
and their attitude towards the society in which they live[d] (27). Longtime
reggae observer Garth White has commented that rocksteady built cultural
solidarity with its qualities of rugged morality and fearless protest, qual-
ities that later would characterize reggae as well (Mento 42). Clearly,
rocksteady represented a leap forward in the development of a popular
music as a means of social protest in Jamaica.
At the same time, while most Rastafarians continued to espouse nonvi-
olence and were politically apathetic, the movement began to gain some
popularity among more politically active middle-class youths. In I 966,
28
Political Awakening of Rastufari
29
Political Awakening of Rastufari
No wonder these criminal pests have been going around the suburbs as
well as the slums behaving like new lords of the jungle! They knew that,
more often than not, just as soon as they were arrested, some politician
would be behind the scenes sending to bail them. (At Last I )
While the Rude Boys struck terror into the hearts of the middle class,
most Rastafarians retreated in a different direction. By 1965, most Rastafar-
ians still advocated political disengagement, believing that their salvation
would come from entailed meditation, discussion, and reading the Bible
(Gray 74). Many Rastafarians were waiting for Haile Selassie to send his
ships to the shores of Jamaica to take the oppressed away to Ethiopia. Yet,
by the end of 1967, more and more middle-class youth were beginning to
find the Rastafarian movement appealing, and the visit of Haile Selassie
increased the political consciousness of the Rastafarian movement.
Most middle-class and upper-class Jamaicans viewed the Rastafarian
movement with contempt. In response, Rastafarian spokespersons attempt-
ed to overcome misconceptions about the movement. In a Treatise on the
32
Political Awakening of Rastafari
33
Political Awakening of Rastufari
honour of His Imperial Majesty and his family. It might here be mentioned
that the black multitude of Israel went to receive the visit of their King
and the white folks went to look into the Negus face and then to decide
which God they will serve. . . . As soon as the Negus had entered the air-
port then, my God His Majesty wept. The King wept after seeing the thou-
sands of Rastafarians and the accompanying multitude of black people who
had come to give voice to the slogans for repatriation back to Ethiopia.
(The Rastas Speak 41)
Before the mid- 1960s) many Rastafarians believed that liberation could
be realized only through a physical repatriation to Africa. During his only
trip to Jamaica, however, Selassie proposed a new concept of repatriation.
After Selassie allegedly met with several Rastafari leaders, a new tenet of
repatriation emerged: Rastafarians should liberate the Jamaican people
before repatriation to Africa (Barrett I 60). Some writers have claimed that
Selassies apparent change on repatriation inaugurated a new wave, in
which the movements apolitical philosophy gave way to more immediate,
more political demands (Jacobs 87). This new political philosophy created,
in turn, a division between political) and religiousRastafarians.
From its inception, however, the Rastafarian movement was a mixture of
both religious and political elements. Rastafarians were certainly political in
that they claim African citizenship, openly expressed their racial pride, and
argued that Jamaicasindependence from Great Britain was a farce (de Albu-
querque, The Future 24). Moreover, Rastafarians critiqued the prevalent
individualis[m] and imperialistic capitalism that were responsible for the
African slave trade and subsequent massive poverty. However, anthropol-
ogist Yoshiko S.Nagashima distinguished political Rastafarians from their
religious counterparts in terms of active political involvement in Jamaica.
Thus, Rastafarian groups such as the Rastafarian Movement Association
(RMA)were considered political in that they argued for active involvement
in Jamaican politics. Religious Rastafarians, on the other hand, maintained
that the movement must refuse to participate in Jamaican politics as they
have often felt betrayed ( 2 ) . In short, while political Rastafarians argued that
active engagement in Jamaican politics would provide them with authority
34
Political Awakening of Rastafari
By I 965, ska musicians had begun moving away from the sounds of RGrB
and jazz. These musicians embraced a more emotional and direct form of
U.S. black music, soul music. Born out of the American South, soul music
was the product of a fusion of rock-and-roll, gospel, and R&B and blues.
Stax records, in Memphis, Tennessee, was one of the major
producers/recording studios of this new musical genre. The urgency of rock-
and-roll transformed rhythm and blues into a more emotional, grittier,
stripped-down music. Soul music was primarily characterized by the emer-
gence of more emotional vocals and more insistent, bracing rhythms
(Gillett 274). Rocksteadys attention to vocal harmonies and slower
rhythms mirrored its American counterparts new developments. In addi-
tion, rocksteady musicians recorded a number of American soul songs, such
as Wilson Picketts In the Midnight Hour.
35
Political Awakening of Rastafari
Music critics have suggested other reasons for the emergence of rock-
steady. Some suggest that the torpid steamy summer of 1966 created a sit-
uation in which people no longer wanted to dance as frenetically as they
had before (Steffens, Skatalites 894). Dizzy)Johnny Moore, a trumpeter
for the Skatalites, argued that skas decline was due to the inability of
younger, less talented musicians to master the more difficult style of ska:
[Rocksteady]was really a slowing down of the beat and this was because the
younger musicians, who were less knowledgeable about other forms of music
than us, found it difficult to keep that fast ska beat (qtd. in B. Henry 4).
Rocksteady never produced a dance craze like the Ska Jerk. It did,
however, assume a more rebellious stance, which explains why the Jamaican
government did not market the music overseas. The rocksteady genre relied
less on gospel and spiritual forms and more on the beliefs and feeling of
Jamaicas disaffected classes. Like the name, the music was steadier and
rockier, but it also was ruder and more political.
Protest Lyrics
Many rocksteady and ska musicians were united in representing the frus-
trations of the lower classes in Jamaica. Many of these musicians were poor,
lower-class blacks who lived in the impoverished areas of West Kingston
and struggled daily to overcome the lack of shelter, food, and steady employ-
ment. Ska and rocksteady musicians acted as a musical community of dis-
sent, and certainly both involved Rastafarians and those sympathetic to the
movement.
Like ska, rocksteady featured crying as a common theme. Yet rock-
steady musicians started to redirect this feeling from the personal pain of
lost love to encompass the suffering experienced in the ghetto. In Alton and
the Flames Cry Tough, the singer urged Jamaicas ghetto dwellers to stay
tough, even when they grew old: Cry tough / Dont you know youre slow?
/ Cry tough / You are getting old / How can a man be tough? / Tougher than
the world / For if hes rough / Hes against the world (Duke Reids). In U-
Roys song, Everybody Bawling, the themes of pain and sadness grew out
of the problems of separation, alienation, and poverty, as U-Roy cried,
36
Political Awakening of Rastafari
Everyone bawling / Crying out for love (Duke Reids). In the Three Tops
Its Raining, the trio of voices sounded the theme of despair over the lack
of food and shelter. Lamenting his bad luck and inability to find a direction
in life, the singer decried a social situation where you cant find your food
or shoes (Duke Reids). To prove rocksteadys commitment to Jamaicas
poor, the Wailers released an adaptation of Bob Dylans song Like a Rolling
Stone. As the guitars jangled, Bob Marley sang familiar lyrics with special
meaning in Jamaica: How does it feel to be on your own / With no direc-
tion home / Like a complete unknown / Like a Rolling Stone (One Love).
Unlike ska, however, rocksteady songs celebrated the rebel,
memorializing the Rude Boy as a violent hero who sought social and
political justice with a knife and a gun. While the Jamaican government
publicly denounced the Rude Boys violence and antisocial behavior, many
rocksteady musicians championed the good Rudie by celebrating his
strength, youth, intelligence, and aggressiveness. In one of the first songs to
celebrate the Rude Boy, the Wailers Hooligan, the Rude Boy was por-
trayed as a violent disrupter of middle-class society. In the song, a Rude Boy
visited the home of a love interest only to offend the household with his
dirty mouth and sharp studs. Upon his exit, the mother was weeping
and the floor covered with broken glass (One Love). In the Wailers Let
Him Go, Bunny Wailer reminded police authorities that the Rude Boy was
younger and smarter and less mortal than ordinary Jamaicans (One
Love). The Rude Boy became the dangerous Rudie, the stepping razor,
and the youthful hooligan who resisted police enforcement, broke beer
bottles at local dances, and wielded knives at middle-class Jamaicans on the
dangerous Kingston streets.
Rocksteady musicians even celebrated the Rude Boys penchant for guns.
Baba Brookss Gun Fever described newspaper headlines detailing a night
of gunfire, fresh killings, and escape from the law. The Rude Boy, Brooks
sang, had created a gun fever on this little island (qtd. in Waters 69).
Prince Busters Too Hot cautioned those who might combat the Rude Boy,
warning that the Rude Boy, unwilling to give up his guns,)was [plound for
pound ruder than his opposition. Those who tangled with the Rude Boy
37
Political Awakening of Rastafari
39
Political Awakening of Rastafan
Musical Instrumentation
As rocksteady emerged as Jamaicas new genre of popular music, a number
of producers tried to take credit for this new musical development. Without a
doubt, Duke Reid became synonymous with the rocksteady sound because,
according to reggae expert Steve Barrow, he (was the producer who capi-
talised on this musical advance, who did more than anyone to define the
sound (15). Although the rocksteady sound was still marred by an uneven
production quality, the introduction of four-track recording during the early
to mid-1960s helped producers like Reid achieve a better sound quality.
It was during this period that rocksteady producers created a production
technique called versioning,a more expedient and less expensive method
to produce records. Versioning is a process in which a new song is created
by taking the rhythm track of an old hit and have a singer voice a new
song on top of it (Friedland 5). Reggae guitarist Ray Hitchins clarified the
versioning process:
Political Awakening of Rastufari
Imagine Quincy Jones, for instance, taking the riddim [rhythm] track
from Michael Jacksons hit song, Beat It, and then asking Tina Turner to
sing Whats Love Got to Do with It over the same riddim. As you can
imagine, Tina would say hes crazy (and perhaps youre thinking the same
thing!), but this is precisely how reggae musicians have been forced to think
and work-independent of the mainstream, with a method created by their
own environment. (7)
strayed from its accompanying role and played a repetitive, muted, sin-
gle-note, fragmented riff. In this case, the role of the second guitarist
was to double the bass guitar pattern in order to ensure that the [bass]
line would be heard n o matter how bad the recording or listening envi-
ronment (Bassford 45). This twin-guitar attack was perfected during
the early reggae period.
With increasing frequency, rocksteady musicians turned to the bass gui-
tar to augment their musical statement. T h e electric bass guitar in rock-
steady (typically not used in ska) boomed like a cannon. As rocksteady
musicians sang mournful words, the bass guitarist explored the low-end
potential of the instrument to establish a fat complementary tone. Rather
than playing a walking bass line, many rocksteady bassists often played a
repetitive pattern of short, quick notes intermingled with brief periods of
silence or rests. The song Queen Majesty, recorded by the Techniques in
I 967, exemplified this new approach (figure 2. I ):
Elecrric Bass
space on notes 12, 14, 15, and 16. A simplified version of this bass rhythm
would look like this (figure 2.2):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
l1 I I
1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1516
I
Beat 1 Beat 2 Beat 3 Beat 4
43
Political Awakening of Rastufari
44
C h a p t e r Three
The sounds of reggae . . .are the sounds of screeching tyres, bottles break-
ing, wailing sirens, gunfire, people screaming and shouting, children crying.
They are the sounds of the apocalyptic thunder and earthquake; of chaos and
curfews. The sounds of reggae are the sounds of a society in the process of
transformation, a society undergoing profound political and historical change.
45
Politicization of Rastafari
By 1968, the JLP apparently had come to believe that radical factions
and foreign influences were conspiring to undermine Jamaicas racial
unity and political stability. The Rastafarian challenge became energized
politically by the U.S. Black Power movement. The Daily Gleaner expressed
the governments paranoia by splashing sensational headlines about student
marches in France on the front page, along with pictures of U.S. cities
engulfed in fire. Threatened by the rising tide of discontent and surprised by
increasing agitation at the traditionally conservative University of the West
Indies, the government implemented more repressive measures such as
imprisonment and deportation in the name of law and order.
While the JLP may have been surprised by the emerging radicalism at
UWI, the rise of protest against Jamaicas economic conditions could have
been predicted. After independence, the JLPs Five Year Plan did not pro-
duce economic prosperity but, instead, even greater inequity of living condi-
tions. As the JLP encouraged foreign countries to invest in and expand
Jamaicas manufacturing and bauxite industries, the traditional pursuits of
agriculture, forestry, and fishing dropped to a low of 10percent of Jamaicas
gross domestic product in 1968 (Kuper I 7). Consequently, Jamaica witnessed
an increase in food imports. Food imports skyrocketed from J$45.9 million in
1969 to J$71.3 million in 1972 (Kuper 1 9 ) . The
~ more Jamaica was forced
to import food products, the higher the prices were on those goods. Perhaps
the most devastating statistic, however, was the unemployment figure.
47
Politicization of Rastufari
Unemployment figures rose from 13.5 percent in 1960 (Boyd 8-9) to 22.5
percent by October of 1972 (Economic Survey ofJamaica 1972 61).
Although increasingly tied to the U.S. economy, the Jamaican govern-
ment clearly disapproved of one import from the mainland: radical black
nationalism. Jamaican radicals had long admired U.S. Black Power advo-
cates. Many Jamaicans had spent time in the United States visiting relatives
or seeking job opportunities; some came back with personal accounts of
the Black Power challenge to U.S. racism (Gray 150). In addition, some
American Black Power leaders, most notably Stokely Carmichael, had been
born and raised in the Caribbean. A radical black nationalist newspaper in
Jamaica, Abeng, published stories on the U.S. Black Power movement,
praising such supposedly violent radicals as Eldridge Cleaver and Stokley
Carmichael (Stokely I ; Forms of Violence 4).
Within Jamaica itself, the chief voice of Black Power was Walter Rod-
ney, a young Guyanese scholar of African history. Rodney, who attended
UWI as an undergraduate from 1960 to 1963, received his doctorate in
African history at the University of London in England. He later taught
African history in Tanzania, Africa. In January 1968, Rodney returned to
UWI as a visiting professor of African history, espousing what the JLP con-
sidered subversive views (Gray I 6 I ). Emphasizing the relationship
between European imperialism and Jamaicas petty-bourgeoisie)) leader-
ship, Rodney argued for blacks to fight against the injustices of Jamaican
society (Groundings 27-8). After Marcus Garvey, Rodney was the first
West Indian to articulate in any coherent manner the philosophy of Black
Power (Gonsalves 2).
What set Rodney apart from most university activists was his efforts to
teach African history in the impoverished areas of West Kingston. Pub-
lished in 1969, Rodneys treatise on Black Power, The Groundings with My
Brothers, described the relationship between Black Power and community
activism: I was prepared to go anywhere that any group of Black people
were prepared to sit down to talk and listen. Because, that is Black Power,
that is one of the elements, a sitting down together to reason, to ground as
the Brothers say (63-4). Rodney also invited Rastafarians and other poor
Politicization of Rastafari
people to the UWI campus to attend his lectures. Rodney believed that the
Rastafarian movement was an integral part of Jamaicas emerging black con-
sciousness, because the movement rejected the philistine white West Indi-
an society) for the cultural and spiritual roots in Ethiopia and Africa
(Groundings 6 I ) .
While other radical professors and some Rastafarians lauded Rodneys
attempts to raise the consciousness of black Jamaicans, the JLP viewed
Rodney as a serious threat to the stability of the country. O n October 15,
1968, after returning from a Congress of Black Writers convention in Mon-
treal, Canada, Rodney was declared person non gratis and was swiftly
deported to Canada. The day after Rodneys deportation, UWI faculty and
students protested the governments actions. What was planned as a
peaceful meeting turned into a full-scale riot, leaving in its wake three
dead, an estimated one hundred people arrested, fifty damaged buses, and
property damages totaling over one million Jamaican dollars (Diary of
Events 8; Gonsalves 9).
The government and the Daily Gleaner quickly put their own spin on
the Rodney Incident. Prime Minister Hugh Shearer expressed his disap-
pointment with the UWI students who were involved with the demonstra-
tion: I am disappointed that in their conferences and meetings they are still
today discussing the lousy theory of Karl Marx which were [sic] enunciated
in 1848, which is some 120 years ago (Text of Shearers 2 2 ) . The prime
minister concluded that there were very substantial justifications for
deporting Rodney and warned the students that they have been duped into
supporting a destructive anti-Jamaican cause (Shearer Says 7). Roy
McNeill, minister of home affairs at Mona (a suburb of Kingston), believed
the students had conspired against the government when they contacted
Rastafarian groups, known and dangerous criminals, political extremists and
mal-contents to supposedly recruit them for the demonstration. McNeill
believed the protest was not a peaceful demonstration but an incitement
to violence (Students I 4).
The Daily Gleaner supported the governments decision to expel Rodney.
In an editorial entitled Cave Mona, the Gleaner pronounced that UWI
49
Politicization of Rastufari
must not be allowed to be a cave for robbers of peace and plotters of disor-
der (8). Columnist Tomas Wright speculated in his Candidly Yours col-
umn that the students have been hypnotized by a tiny minority (14).
Apparently, the Rodney Incident established a pattern of thinking among
many Jamaicans that Black Power was evil)(Nettleford, Identity I 17). Nor-
man Girvan claimed that the JLP encouraged the riot because they knew it
would later associate the students and Rodney himself with a general image
of arson, anarchy and riot))(61).
Five months after his deportation, Rodney continued to promote
Jamaicas Black Power movement from abroad. In the March 1969 issue of
the Abeng, Rodney pointed out that the present government knows that
Jamaica is a black mans country, and he argued that it is afraid of the
potential wrath of Jamaicas black and largely African population. Rodney
urged a new Black Power movement in Jamaica that would break with impe-
rialism, gain political power, and force the cultural reconstruction of. . . the
society in the image of the blacks ((TheRise 3).
Rodney was joined in his campaign by Marcus Garvey Jr., the son of the
legendary Jamaican black nationalist leader. Also writing in Abeng, Garvey
Jr. outlined the meaning of Black Power for Jamaicans: a pride in blackness,
a knowledge of African history, and a reconstruction of black institutions
and leadership. Garvey metaphorically explained the relevance of Black
Power for Jamaicans: [When] you have a huge black mass submerged in
inferiority, like the hidden portion of an iceberg, it is obvious that Black
Power is not only relevant but an absolute necessity for such people
(Black Power 3). As late as 1969, however, critics could still claim that
Black Power had not attracted a broad range of classes in Jamaica, but was
only iilocalizedand confined to students, academics, workers, and a riotous
group of unemployed protesters (Gray 163).Even Garvey Jr. confessed that
the movement had made little progress, lamenting that it must be evident
that Black Power does not exist in Jamaica today (Black Power 3).
Nevertheless, the ideology of Black Power became associated with the
Rastafarian movement, and the Black Power ideology remained alive in the
weekly newspaper, Abeng, which was first published in February 1969 and
Politiciza tion of Rastufari
continued for ten months. In the first issue, the editors noted the connec-
tions between their Black Power philosophy and the community of
oppressed Jamaicans coalesced by the increasingly political songs of
Jamaicas popular musicians:
Giving more political substance to the cause, Abeng also featured articles
by UWI faculty members such as sociologist Trevor Munroe and economist
George Beckford commenting on black nationalism and Jamaicas political
parties. The paper also published a regular column by Ras Dizzy I., a Rastafar-
ian journalist and poet, and the paper invited readers to contribute to a Diary
of Sufferers.The Diary of Sufferersfeatured Jamaicans describing their per-
sonal experiences of political victimization and police brutality. Although
Abeng was not a Rastafarian publication, the newspaper sympathized with the
Rastafarians, ultimately contributing to a wider schism between religiously
apolitical Rastafarians and their more radical counterparts.
By the late 1960s, the Rastafarian movement had begun to attract the
attention of students, radical academics, and some middle-class youths in
Jamaica because of its association with Black Power. Marcus Garvey Jr.
acknowledged the relationship between Rastafari and Black Power in
Jamaica: [Rastafari] held the torch of Africa alight at a trying time when
the forces of evil had driven my father from the land. . . . It is they who now
make it possible for me to emerge to a much easier task than I would have
had if they had not existed (Marcus Garvey 2). Although black leaders
Politicization of Rastafari
like Marcus Garvey Jr. and Walter Rodney were not members of the faith,
they appreciated and identified with the Rastafarians anti-colonial stance.
As a longtime observer of Jamaicas social movements, Rex Nettleford, has
noted, however, some Rastafarians were critical of the ideological tenets of
Black Power: Yet many of the older Rastafarians while sympathizing with
the younger advocates embrace of black nationalism questioned their sin-
cerity on the key tenets of Repatriation and the divinity of Haile Selassie
(Identity 99).
A t the end of the decade, the Rastafarian movement started publishing
Rasta Voice, the movements first official newspaper. Rasta Voice was the
official organ of the Rastafarian Movement Association, one of the more
political))Rastafarian groups. Printed on ditto paper with cover drawings of
Haile Selassie, the newspaper contained editorials, poems, short stories, and
handwritten slogans, such as Up with the Rasta-fari Movement and Free
Ganga [sic] Now!
The movement continued to reflect the tension between passively await-
ing repatriation to Africa and political activism within Jamaica. In the
Rasta Voice, and in the Black Power newspapers Bongo-Man and Abeng,
some Rastafarians still argued for a return to Africa. In his article Revolu-
tion or Repatriation?,Ras Dizzy I. suggested the incompatibility of the two
goals, declaring that the people must pledge their own determination for
either government revolution or repatriation back to Africa. In the end,
Dizzy argued for repatriation because it is better to rest up in the desert with
a hive of bees more than dwell with a den of fools (4). In the December
1968 issue of Bongo-Man, Bongo Dizzy acknowledged that we are truly
humble people whose response to evil is to flee from it (14). A writer with
the pseudonym Rasta Historian, writing in the Bongo-Man, agreed with
Bongo Dizzy that we have to go to Africa to live with our brothers and sis-
ters there. Blacks remember, our King grant land space for us in Ethiopia
[and] the world know [sic] it (18).
Although the Rasta Voice, in particular, endorsed an eventual return to
Africa, this did not blind the paper to the daily injustices in Jamaica. In an
editorial entitled A Poor Mans State in the Rich Mens Kindom [sic],Ras
Politicization of Rastafari
D.Bent complained that the capitalist[s] raised food prices so they (always
have milk, but the poor cant get it (4).The editors of the Rasta Voice
intimated that Rastafarians should observe these economic contradictions
and ((come together and slay the beasts of imperialism and capitalism
(Tucker 2).
The Rasta Voices political agenda was also evident in its attacks on the
University of the West Indies. Dubbing radical students at UWI phony
revolutionaries, the editors of the Rasta Voice claimed that they were
afraid of their own mothers and fathers. The real revolution, according to
the editors, was not at the U-Blind campus but (out side [sic] where
batons and gun-butts lick hard and dreadful. The cultural revolution, the
African revolution, involves not books and talk and study groups, but per-
sonal reflection, meditation and scrutiny of self (Rasta Voice Editorial
Board 4).
In an editorial entitled, (U Blind Yu Cant See [sic],)I Ras I argued that
True struggle cannot be defined by hierarchical relationships [sic] the
student and the lecturer must become PEOPLE-AFRICAN PEOPLE
before the[y] can claim to speak of LOVE, LIFE, DIGNITY, JUSTICE and
FREEDOM. The student[s] shed their claims to superiority and humble
themselves before JAH and MAN. They must come to RAS TAFARI
because HE is the key to the[ir] own Regeneration and Revolution.(5)
Although the Rasta Voice did not publish articles on reggae music, the
Rastafarian movement increasingly gave reggae its ideological content and
musical direction. Rastafarian scholar Horace Campbell noted that the
influence of Rastafari on the development of the popular culture was evi-
dent by the fact that most serious reggae artists adhered to some of the prin-
ciples of the Rastafarian movement (Rasta 134).Although it is difficult to
ascertain whether most Rastafarians actually identified with reggae, some
scholars have noted that the Twelve Tribes of Israel, a middle-class Rasta-
farian group formed in I 968 under the leadership of Vernon Carrington, did
embrace reggae as a new voice of Rastafari. In Jamaica, the often privi-
leged brown class was designated (middle class because members usually
53
Politicization of Rastafari
54
Politicization of Rastufari
tract with JAD Records to write songs for Johnny Nash, the famous African
American actor and musician. One product of this collaboration was Nashs
reggae hit, I Can See Clearly Now (T. White 227-33).
Blackwell finally achieved major success in his efforts to popularize reg-
gae internationally in the early 1970s. With the release in 1972of the Wail-
ers first international record, Catch a Fire, and the international success in
that same year of the movie and soundtrack, The Harder They Come, reggae
suddenly seemed more than a passing musical novelty. Largely because of
Blackwells efforts to market reggae for international consumption, reggae
became an international musical phenomenon.
Protest Lyrics
With rocksteady slowly retreating into the background, reggae musicians
placed greater emphasis on protest themes. Early reggae placed more and
more emphasis on the Rastafarian concepts of Babylon, Mount Zion,
and Jah. Reggae musicians identified Babylon as the European slave trad-
er, the Jamaican government, or the police. Reggae artists also celebrated
the Rastafarians increasingly aggressive political protests and Jahs (Haile
Selassie) powers as a vengeful God. In addition, reggae musicians sang about
the spiritual pleasures of marijuana, used history as an ideological tool to
educate Jamaican audiences about slavery, and combined calls for repatria-
tion with protests against oppression in Jamaica.
While reggae songs continued the rocksteady tradition of expressing the
personal pain of living in poverty, many reggae artists also began addressing
more specific political and social issues. The Ethiopians popular I 972 cam-
paign song, Everything Crash, recounted how Jamaicas social system had
collapsed under the weight of national strikes in the 1960s (Waters 99). The
Maytals 54-46 (Thats My Number) critiqued Jamaicas penal system
(Tougher Than Tough). Nineys Blood & Fire and the Wailers Fire Fire
employed the flame metaphor to comment on the struggle of the poor,
deploring specifically the lack of water in the Kingston ghettos (Tougher
Than Tough). Without water to cool the passions of the poor, the ghettos
burned in revolution. Other reggae songs addressed more generally what
55
Politicization of Rastafari
the Maytals called the (Pressure Drop. The pressure in the ghetto
dropped when unemployment and homelessness exploded into gunshots
and violence (Harder They Come).
In the early reggae period, the various enemies identified vaguely by
rocksteady musicians-the police, the legal system-became fused into the
distinctively Rastafarian enemy, Babylon. Dennis Forsythe, in Rastafari:
For the Healing of the Nation, has noted that the Rastafarian concept of
Babylon was derived from Babe1-the biblical city. In the Bible, the city
of Babe1 symbolized a variety of evils: unmasked aggression toward its neigh-
bors, moral degeneracy, and the worshiping of false deities (91). To under-
score their own captivity in Jamaica, reggae musicians equated Babylon
with the Roman Catholic church, the Jamaican government, the police,
and various other political oppressors.
Many reggae musicians associated Babylon with particular people or
institutions. The Melodians Rivers of Babylon, for example, took its
inspiration from Psalms 137, and associated Babylon with European
pirates and the African slave trade. T h e song provided a history lesson on
Babylons evils and encouraged the oppressed to call for (freedom.
Under a loping rhythm, the lead voice remembered when the (wicked
carried us away captivity, in a new strange land of plantations and
forced labor (Harder They Come). Peter Toshs Dem [Them] Ha Fe [Have
to] G e t a Beatin and Junior Byless Beat Down Babylon equated Baby-
lon with Jamaicas neo-colonialist government (Waters 134). Max
Romeo identified Babylon with the corrupt and racist Jamaican police
force:
Reggae artists also used history as an ideological tool to address the ques-
tion of slavery. The effort to teach alternative history lessons in songs can
be attributed, at least in part, to the Rastafarians. Some Rastafarians have
maintained that slavery never ended in Jamaica. In the Wailers ((400
Years, Peter Toshs weary voice lamented ((400 years of the same old phi-
losophy (Collection Vol. 3). The Abyssinians Declaration of Rights nar-
rated how Africans were removed from civilization to (slavein this big
plantation (Satta Massagana). As reggae matured in the I ~ ~ O musicians
S ,
57
Politicizution of Rustafuri
Nineys Blood &a Fire warned that in the House of Jah Rastafari, judgment
had come and mercy had gone. In the Newcomers Killing Jamaica Chil-
dren, Jah condemned Babylon for starving Jah Jah children (qtd. in L.
Johnson, The Politics 364). With the advent of reggae, the silent, redeem-
ing God of rocksteady increasingly became Jah, the vengeful God.
While the rocksteady period reflected the portrait of an aggressive Rude
Boy, reggae musicians developed the imagery of a more aggressive Rastafari-
an warrior. In Beat Down Babylon, the righteous Rastaman advocated
whip[pings]and beat[ings]to destroy wicked men (qtd. in Waters ~ 3 2 ) .
In an early version of the Wailers Duppy Conqueror, the singers desire to
cross the bridge to Mount Zion was temporarily thwarted by a bull-bucker,
a Rastafarian term for bully (Collection Vol. 3 ) . In order to complete the
journey to Mount Zion, the singer promised that the ((duppy,)a Jamaican
term for a dead spirit, would be conquered. In Dem Ha Fe Get a Beatin,
Peter Tosh declared that the wicked had reign[ed] too long (qtd. in
Waters 134).Rejecting the strategy of nonviolence, Tosh repeated the call
to beat the wicked. The Wailers Small Axe, while casting Babylon
ambiguously as the big tree, identified the Rastafarians as the (smallaxe
ready to cut you down (Collection Vol. 3 ) . In contrast to the traditional
Rastafarian philosophy of love and nonviolence, reggae songs had the Rasta-
farians beating, whipping, cutting, and conquering)the enemy.
Nevertheless, many reggae musicians continued to promote the themes
of unification and peace. Ken Boothe declared that the chains of illitera-
cy and oppression would be lifted and people would unite on freedom
street (King Kong). Other reggae songs, including Greyhounds song Black
and White, encouraged blacks and whites to live in peace and love (His-
tory of Trojun). Nicky Thomass Love of the Common People challenged
Jamaicans to love the dispossessed lower classes (History of Trojan). The
Uniques song My Conversation urged Jamaicans (to love your brothers
and sisters (Tougher Than Tough). Roman Stewarts Live and Learn
reminded Jamaicans of the necessity of coexistence, while U-Roys Stick
Together pleaded for Jamaicans to stick together and love one another
(Musten of Reggae).
Politicization of Rastafari
Musical Instrumentation
As a musical form, reggae echoed skas jaunty, offbeat guitar and rock-
steadys emphasis on the electric bass guitar and vocal harmony. The early
reggae sound downplayed the horn section, however, and songs such as 400
Years encouraged musicians to slow the reggae rhythm to match the hyp-
notic pulse of Rastafarian drumming. As producers Lee Perry and King Tubby
were experimenting with the new reggae sound, the keyboards became more
important components in the reggae ensemble. The organ assumed an
important supportive role, providing a colorful, rich texture to the reggae
arrangement.
Much like its predecessors, ska and rocksteady, early reggae producers
would audition new reggae songs to dancehall crowds at night before com-
mitting only the most popular songs to vinyl (Friedland 5). Reggae expert
Steve Barrow noted that reggae music-compared to American rock-and-
roll-was still produced quickly and inexpensively: Whereas a rock group
might take a year to produce a concept album, Bunny Lee in Kingston
could, and did, make three albums in one night (19).
Although the production value of reggae music improved slightly with
the introduction of multi-track recording, many early reggae songs were
still recorded on basic recording equipment in Kingston. For this reason,
59
Politicization of Rasmjari
60
Politicization of Rastufari
In the next section of the song [I :I 61, the lead vocalist (now loosely dou-
ble-tracked)3 shifted from singing a structured, harmonized part to a freer,
improvisational mode, echoed by harmony parts:
Harmony: ah-ah-ah-ah
Harmony: ah-ah-ah-ah
Harmony: ah-ah-ah-ah
Harmony: ah-ah-ah-ah
61
Politicizution of Rastufari
[RI: hmm-hmm-hmm
In the first vocal phase, both the left and right vocal parts sang the same
lyric, but with slightly different inflections. In the next phase, the lead
vocals sang the identical lyrical phrase until the last word in that line. At
this point, the left vocal shouted ((sister,)while the vocal part in the right
channel yelled brother. At the end of the third phrase, the left and right
vocal parts not only traded the words brother and sister, but each part
improvised a slightly different vocal embellishment to conclude the phrase.
In the fourth phrase, the left and right vocal parts sang near identical notes
and rhythms, but employed different word syllables. As illustrated, with
each successive phrase, the left and right vocal parts became increasingly
creative and improvisational in nature.
Heavily influenced by R&B, soul, and the emerging funk sounds of James
Brown, most reggae songs introduced a twin-guitar attack, with each guitar
playing separate, but important rhythmic functions. Guitar #I continued to
play the typical offbeat figure (commonly called bang or skank in reggae
lexicon) creating reggaes distinctive and unique sound, while also utilizing
a clear and bright percussive sound and mid-ranged chord voicings.
Similar to American black music, guitar #I would ((chopout) a simple
chord progression based on a familiar pattern of primary chords (I, IV, V).
Most reggae songs contained two (e.g., African Herbsman [Bb and Gm])
or three chords (e.g., Eric Donaldsons Cherry Oh Baby [B, E, and F#]). In
contrast, a few reggae songs such as the cover of the American recording,
Young Gifted & Black [Tougher Than Tough], employed a fairly sophisti-
cated chord structure containing seven chords as opposed to two or three.
In addition to the primary or major chords (C [I], F [IV], and G [V]), the
song also incorporated the three secondary or minor chords (Dm [ii], Em
[iii], and Am [vi]). The use of the F/G chord and the addition of a string sec-
tion lent a Broadway or showtune-like influence to the song. And unlike
many reggae songs of this period, this song had a smooth and polished
sound, allowing all of the instruments to be heard clearly in the mix.
62
Politicization of Rastafari
evolved during this period. Reggae guitarists started to double up, playing
sixteenth notes on the upbeat instead of the eighth note patterns of Rock
Steady (Friedland 7).
Assuming a different stylistic approach, guitar #2 played a repetitive,
muted, fragmented riff, often in unison with the bass guitar. For example, in
Desmond Dekkers song Israelites (figure 3. I ) , this unison riff acted as the
musical backbone for most of the song:
J=
?.,
Electric Guitar
Electric Bass
The second guitarist and the bassist were able to create a seamless musical
grooveby implementing consistent volume levels, similar muted tones, and
near-exact doubling of notes and rhythms. In fact, the casual listener would
most likely perceive the two sounds as emanating from one instrument.
The electric bass guitar played an increasingly important role in the reg-
gae arrangement. Similar to rocksteady, the reggae bassist played a riddim
based upon a repetitive pattern of notes followed by a brief pause or rest. To
anchor the sound and provide a counter-statement to the often scratchy,
trebly rhythm guitar, the bass guitarist utilized a full-bodied, deep, warm, fat,
and round sound.
During this period, the bass guitarist employed a number of diverse rhyth-
mic patterns. And while many reggae songs (e.g., the Ethiopians Reggae Hit
the Town) featured a sixteenth-note pattern, in some songs, such as 54-46
(Thats My Number), the bass guitarist would occasionally play quarter and
eighth notes interspersed within a sixteenth-note riddim pattern. Despite the
fact that many reggae songs employed a sixteenth-note bass figure,
Politicizution of Rastufuri
Reggae bass playing is very laid back. You will see many examples that
contain sixteenth-note rhythms, yet the articulation must be relaxed-
almost lazy. The Reggae sixteenth note is not the same as a Fusion sixteenth
note. T h e groove is very heavy and the downbeat must be played with con-
viction. (Friedland 9)
While the bass guitarist was experimenting with new riddim patterns,
the drummer continued to perform the traditional timekeeping role, occa-
sionally employing snare fills and busier improvisational percussion work.
For the most part, however, the drums still served to provide reggae with a
steady, hypnotic groove primarily based on repetition. The constant,
unyielding drum beat helped turn the reggae song into a musical form with-
out a beginning, middle, or end.
However, the drums-especially during the first phase of the early reggae
period-were often underrecorded, and in some cases, almost inaudible. For
example, in the songs (Israelites and Reggae Hit the Town the drums
were often mixed so low that only the snare and the hi-hat were audible to
the listener. In the song Blood & Fire the bass drum was seemingly the
only audible component of the drum kit. By the mid-1970s, however, the
partnership of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare would
refine and redefine reggaes rhythm section. In addition, advancements in
recording techniques allowed the bass and drums to be moved to the front
of the audio mix, thus solidifying the contemporary reggae sound.
T h e early reggae arrangements also showcased the multiple roles of the
electronic organ. In songs such as the Harry J. Allstars The Liquidator
and Lloydie and the Lowbites sexually outrageous Birth Control, the
organist played an independent, yet supportive, riff which added richness to
the reggae arrangement (History of Trojan). In other songs, the organist
would simply provide a chordal accompaniment to the guitar and the
drums. For example, in the song Cherry Oh Baby, the organist doubled
rhythm guitar #I, reinforcing the songs harmonic structure. In many reggae
songs, the role of the organist was to connect with the bass guitar and bass
drum and communicate a warm, pleasant-sounding backdrop (Ehrlich 54).
Finally, the organist would occasionally act as a counterpart to rhythm gui-
Politicization of Rastufari
tar #I. In (Riversof Babylon the organist filled space by playing on the
downbeat while the rhythm guitar emphasized the upbeat.
In total, the early reggae arrangement was characterized by both repeti-
tion and improvisation. The bass guitar and drums provided the repetitive
riddim figure; guitar #I played a chordal figure; and guitar #2 would usually
double the bass guitar. The reggae arrangement, of course, did not normal-
ly include instrumental solos that were present in reggaes influences,
including R&B and soul music. The noted exception to this rule was the
occasional liberties taken by the lead vocalists and the horns.
As the Rastafarian movement continued to reveal its increased political
consciousness in popular music, Jamaican authorities responded with strate-
gies to control the movement. The Gleaner vilified the movement as a
threat to national security, and the police disrupted Rastafarian meetings
and imprisoned members. The broadcast media restricted the exposure of
Jamaicas protest music, and during a national crisis, the JLP even placed a
broadcast ban on anti-JLP songs. The next chapter explores in greater
depth these efforts to control the Rastafarian movement.
Chapter Four
And whilst these body-blows are coming in theyre kissing your cheeks
with Trips to Africa and Hints of Possible Links with Ethiopia . . .weve
watched the policy of the Beast shifting from outright brutality and duplicity
to the more subtle approach of a few surface concessions.
-A. King
Since the 1930s the Rastafarian movement has been in conflict with
Jamaicas colonialist web of economic exploitation and racial stratification.
While the Rastafarian religion traditionally has emphasized repatriation
back to Africa, the movement also has agitated for a number of political
reforms in Jamaica. This politicization of Rastafari may be traced to Haile
Selassies I 966 dictum, liberation before repatriation, yet the Jamaican
government perceived the movement as a threat long before Selassies visit
66
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
68
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
them to emulate European values and rewarded those who did. Since the
formation of Jamaicas political parties during the early I ~ ~ O the
S , brown
middle class has generally held the balance of political power in Jamaica. As
Rex Nettleford noted, As the pure white population dwindled, the free
coloureds became the heirs to the European position and power and regard-
ed themselves as the rightful sons of the Jamaican soil (Identity 28-9).
After the fall of colonial rule in 1962, Jamaicas political parties, the JLP
and the PNP, maintained the British social and political structure, and the
result was a type of neo-colonialism, not genuine independence. Like the
British rulers who came before them, the new ruling class in Jamaica encour-
aged its citizens, especially the middle class, to embrace white European values
and emulate British culture. Unfortunately for the ruling class, this neo-colo-
nialism became increasingly difficult to maintain in the mid- to late 1960s, as
the anti-colonial and Black Power impulses sweeping the world were mani-
fested in Jamaica in a more politically challenging Rastafarian movement.
STRATEGY OF EVASION
Ethiopia Court was debating Jamaicas proposal, Manley lost the 1962
narional election and the new JLP government plunged into preparations
for Independence. As a result, the JLP government shelved the issue of
repatriation for the rest of the decade (Nettleford, Identity 70-1). The
PNP had evaded the demand for repatriation, and just as it appeared that
real progress had been made, the JLP simply killed the plan. In the final
analysis, however, the whole episode only increased the sense among some
Rastafarians that repatriation was indeed a realistic possibility.
A second evasion tactic, denial of means, likewise failed ultimately to
control the agitation of the Rastafarian movement. Potentially an effective
weapon against a movement dependenr o n music as means of protest, denial
of means involved denying a movement the media or forums to spread its
ideas. In Jamaica, this involved simply censoring or even banning popular
protest music. In the view of Jamaicas dominant classes, any cultural arti-
fact considered African posed a threat to the established order. Under
colonial rule, Jamaicas dominant classes were indoctrinated with the belief
that high-brow foreign music was superior to the primitive music of
home. According to Dermot Hussey, the upper classes had been condi-
tioned (to look outside to a music being a better music. This conditioning
underlay efforts to keep indigenous music-and especially politically threat-
ening indigenous music-off of Jamaicas public airwaves.
Two companies historically have controlled the broadcast media in
Jamaica. In 1950, Jamaicas first mainstream radio station, Radio Jamaica Re-
diffusion Limited (RJR) was established as an independent, privately owned
subsidiary of a Great Britain telecommunications corporation, Rediffusion of
London (A. Brown, MassMedia 19). The station reflected the interests of its
British owners with no particular commitment to national cultural expres-
sion (A. Brown, Mass Media 19). During the 1950s) the stations playlist
was dominated heavily by American and British popular and classical music.
Jamaican popular music received very limited airplay (Witmer 13).
In 1959, PNP Prime Minister Norman Manley facilitated the creation of
Jamaicas second mainstream radio station, the Jamaica Broadcasting Corpo-
ration. Supposedly, the JBC was created as a (vehiclefor Jamaican creative
72
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
cultural expression. Unlike the RJR, the JBC was government controlled
and managed by a government-appointed Board of Directors with a Gener-
al Manager as [its] chief executive (A. Brown, Mass Media 18). Accord-
ing to Hussey, shortly after the creation of the JBC,ska musician Theophilus
Beckford recorded his rollicking hit, Easy Snappin, in a JBC studio.
Yet even the JBC continued to favor foreign music over Jamaicas indige-
nous forms. More important, both stations, when they did play indigenous
music, promoted ska musicians who played safe, nonpolitical songs. The
lyrics of many of these songs reflected romantic themes, and the instru-
mentation was often clean[ed] up for the tastes of white audiences
abroad (Hebdige, Cut 67). In one case, British musicians were hired to pro-
vide the lush instrumentation behind Millie Smalls bubbly 1964 hit My
Boy Lollipop (Jones 58). As sociologist Simon Jones has argued, however,
these attempts to present safe groups like Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
as authentic ska musicians did not fool many Jamaicans. The creative base
for ska music remained firmly rooted in the working-class ghettoes of
Kingston throughout most of the 1960s (22).
As ska evolved into the more politically threatening forms of rocksteady
and reggae, the Jamaican government more actively denied the movement
the means of protest by simply banning certain songs from the public air-
waves. Dermot Hussey experienced first hand the governments method of
censorship. A governmental official would, according to Hussey, contact
the radio stations program manager and request-or often demand-that a
song be removed from the playlist. In the year leading up to the 1972
national elections, the JLP banned several PNP campaign songs, includ-
ing the Wailers militant Small Axe, Delroy Wilsons optimistic Better
Must Come, and the Abyssinians Declaration of Rights (Waters 102).
According to sociologist Anita Waters, who has studied the relationship
between reggae and Jamaican politics, even indigenous music that was not
banned received minimal airplay ( I 02).
Yet Jamaicas lower classes had a way to circumvent the establishments
control over the public airwaves. With portable public address systems
known as sound systems, they had, in effect, their own radio station on
73
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
74
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
75
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
77
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
78
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
authors reported that police routinely employed physical force and intimida-
tion, including the shaving of dreadlocks, to punish the Rastafarians (36). In
another study by religious studies scholar Neville Callam, it was reported
that Jamaican security forces had infiltrated Rastafarian meetings, arrested
members, and raided and damaged Rastafarian homes (39). In her book on
the Rastafarian movement, sociologist Anita M. Waters reported that police
harassment had long been a common tactic used to control the movement.
In one case, according to Waters, police deliberately set fire to cave
dwellings near Wareika Hills, killing one Rastafarian (104). In the most
comprehensive study of Jamaican political violence, Terry Lacey reported
that Jamaicasunderpaid and overworked security forces often used excessive
force to subdue the Jamaican poor, including the Rastafarians ( I 16-18).
The Rastafarians themselves complained often about police brutality in
such forums as the black nationalist newspaper Abeng. One Jamaican man,
who claimed to have witnessed police harassing Rastafarians for selling
brooms, told Abeng that police hit the Bretherens with their batons. One
burly member of the pack began tearing the Bretherens [sic] hair from their
faces and head while his cronies all with guardsticks, after [sic] keep on to
batter the Bretheren (Grant 2). In another incident reported by Abeng,
police allegedly raided and burned down a Rastafarian hut in Morant Bay,
the parish capital of St. Thomas. Accused of illegally squatting on govern-
ment land, Rastafarian fishermen, according to the report, were left desti-
tute by this vicious attack on their persons and the destruction of their
property (Police Destroy I ).
The Jamaican government backed up this intimidation and violence
with legislation making it easier to arrest and to imprison Rastafarians. Most
notably, according to Nettleford, the government established a convenient
rationale for coercion against the movement by declaring ganja a danger-
ous drug and all users a danger to the established social order (Identity 79).
In 1964, Jamaicas Parliament passed amendments to the I 948 Dangerous
Drugs Law, implementing tougher marijuana laws (Fraser 373). Prior to the
amendments, a first conviction for selling, cultivating, or possessing ganga
resulted in a twelve-month sentence and a monetary fine. Under the new
79
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
80
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
most Rastafarians, perhaps not even for a sizable minority. His arrest and
imprisonment did little to stem the growth of Rastafari in the 1960s.
A second spokesperson for the Rastafarian movement targeted by the
government, UWI professor Walter Rodney, likewise did not really speak
for the broad spectrum of Rastafarians in Jamaica. Deported by the govern-
ment in 1968, his crime had been to champion the intellectual doctrines
of the Black Power movement on the UWI campus. Some religious Rasta-
farians, however, did not view Rodney as a leader, since Rodney himself
critiqued the movements idealization of Africa. More important, some
religious Rastafarians could not identify with Rodneys attempt to affiliate
Rastafari with Jamaicas Black Power movement. Still other Rastafarians
rejected Rodneys efforts to intellectualize the movement. The Rastafari-
ans newspaper, the Rasta Voice, dubbed academics like Rodney false rev-
olutionaries (I Ras I 5). For these reasons, Rodneys deportation in 1968 did
little to disrupt the movement.
The Jamaican government and its surrogates also targeted some of the
more outspoken reggae musicians, apparently convinced that they had
become leaders of the movement. Bob Marleys biographer, Timothy
White, claimed that by the mid-1960s, it was rumored that the police want-
ed the Wailers behind bars (221). In 1967, the Wailers percussionist
Bunny Wailer was arrested for allegedly possessing marijuana. Wailer served
a fourteen-month sentence that included hard labor. Peter Tosh, another
member of the Wailers, received a brief jail sentence for his participation in
the anti-Rhodesian demonstrations in Jamaica in 1968. Reggae artist Fred
Hibbert of the reggae group the Maytals composed several prison songs
while serving a twelve-month sentence for possession of marijuana, includ-
ing the song entitled 54-46 (Thats My Number) that recalled Hibberts
own mistreatment in jail. These imprisonments did not, however, silence
the music. Indeed, they only turned a number of reggae musicians into mar-
tyrs for the cause and provided still more evidence of the injustices about
which they sang.
Between 1959 and 1971, the Jamaican governments coercive tactics
thus did little to disrupt or suppress the Rastafarian movement. Therefore,
81
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
82
Rhetoric of Social Control Strategies
In April 1966, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie made his first official
visit to Jamaica. Since the Mission to Africa committee visited the African
continent in 1961, the Jamaican government has routinely invited African
dignitaries to Jamaica (Nettleford, Identity 6 1-2). The Jamaican government
invited Selassie to Jamaica when they realized that the emperor had plans to
visit Trinidad and Tobago. During the visit, Selassie met with government
officials, addressed both houses of the Jamaican Parliament, and was award-
ed an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of the West Indies (T.
White 2 1 2). Selassie also allegedly met with Rastafarian leaders.
Rather than simply appeasing the Rastafarians, however, Selassies visit
empowered them by highlighting the strength and popularity of Rastafari as
a grassroots social movement. Selassies visit drew the largest Rastafarian
contingent assembled in Jamaicas history, and for the first time, the
Jamaican government and the public realized that the Rastafarians were
more than just a tiny cult of drug addicts and religious fanatics. During a
I 994 interview, Jamaican anthropologist Barry Chevannes recalled the
impact of Selassies visit on the Rastafarian movement: What we had was
a movement which had spread among the masses, and so the rest of the
Uamaican] population was not aware of this, and they were totally taken by
surprise. Leonard Barrett, a noted scholar of the Rastafarian movement,
called Selassies visit one of the major turning points in the Rastafarians
rountinization or legitimization as a social movement in Jamaica ( 161).
More important, Selassie ignited the already growing political con-
sciousness of the Rastafarian movement with his decree that the Rastafari-
ans ought to seek liberation in Jamaica before repatriation to Africa. In
the aftermath of Selassies pronouncement, the Rastafarian movement
formed a tenuous alliance with Jamaicas Black Power movement, published
its first newspaper, the Rasta Voice, and became more identified with the
increasingly politicized lyrics of Jamaicas popular music. In effect, the gov-
ernments attempt to adjust to Rastafarian concerns by inviting Selassie to
visit did not merely fail to appease the movement; the whole strategy back-
fired. Instead of mollifying the dissidents, the visit became the single most
important event in the politicization of Rastafari.
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C h a p t e r F i we
Not everybody who dreads their hair is a true Rasta. Some of these guys
talk about how they are a dread and a Rastaman, but they are using it as a
disguise. Rastafari business isnt what you have on your head; its what you
have in your heart.
89
Popularization and Polarization of Rastafari
92
Popularization and Polarization of Rastufan
93
Popuhrization and Pohrization of Ratafari
94
Popularization and Polarization of Rastufari
Mr. Manley keeps hoping to lead us to the promised land but continues
walking up and down the shore of the Red Sea hoping that, like Moses, he
can persuade the waters to roll back and provide passage for Jamaicans.
Maybe he once thought that some great socialist country would perform
that miracle for us but even he must know by now that none is coming for-
ward to do that. And dont ask me to explain to you why Moses could per-
form that miracle and Joshua Manley cant do it. (6)
By the spring of 1980, Manleys political career was virtually over. From
February to October 1980, 750 Jamaicans died in political violence (Waters
199). In June 1980, there was a failed coup attempt by supporters of the JLP
(JDF I ) . Bringing about his own political demise, Manley called for early
elections in October I 980. Manley himself looked for a vote of confidence,
but instead the Jamaican people elected JLP member Edward Seaga as the
new prime minister.
Since the inception of ska in the late U.S. and British record com-
I ~ ~ O S ,
95
Popularization and Polarization of Rastufari
Protest Lyrics
International reggae remained a radical political music. Lyrically, inter-
national reggae exposed and critiqued the deplorable living conditions in
Jamaicas slums (e.g., Toots and the Maytals Time Tough). In addition,
reggae songs such as Catch a Fire (Catch a Fire) and Slavery Days
(100th Anniversary) continued to ground such critiques in historical mem-
ories of slavery, conjuring up images of slave ships, plantations, manacles,
and whips. Reggae songs also continued to denounce Babylon (i.e.,
police, CIA, Jamaican government), praise Jah, the vengeful God, and
encourage belief in the dream of repatriation (e.g., Bunny Wailers
Dream Land [Blackheart Man]). However, there were at least three
changes in international reggae that universalized its themes of protest
and repositioned the Rastafarians as part of a larger, more universal,
pan-African movement.
First, Marcus Garvey, who represented a defiant symbol of black national-
ism for blacks throughout the world, became a more prominent figure in
international reggae. Burning Spears first two international releases, Marcus
Garvey and Garveys Ghost, celebrated the life of Garvey, while Black Star-
liner Must Come, by a reggae group called Culture, lamented that Garveys
Populurization and Polarization of Rustafari
97
Popuhrization and Polarization of Rastafari
attempt to reverse this trend, Chris Blackwell took the Wailers instrumen-
tal tracks for Catch a Fire, previously recorded in Jamaica, and remixed,
edited, and mastered the tracks in a London studio (Jones 64). Rock critics
Ed Ward, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker highlighted the dramatic
change in reggaes new sound: Catch a Fire was revolutionary, . . . far supe-
rior in its technology than most other reggae records (emphasis mine) (54 I ).
U.S. record producers also manipulated the instrumentation in reggae
arrangements to create a lighter, softer reggae. Some U.S. record produc-
ers would de-emphasize reggaes dominant instruments, the electric bass gui-
tar and drums, and push the keyboard and electric guitar to the front of the
mix. In 1980, Jamaican dub poet and musician Linton Kwesi Johnson pro-
vided a clear rationale for the systematic manipulation of the reggae sound:
[There was] the belief that the hard Jamaican sound, with the emphasis on
the drum and the bass, would not be as accessible to the non-Jamaican lis-
tener as a lighter sounding production would be (Some Thoughts 58).
To appeal to international audiences, reggae musicians also incorporated
familiar genres of American music into the reggae arrangement. During the
remixing of the Wailers Catch a Fire, for example, Blackwell overdubbed tra-
ditional rock-and-roll instruments, including lead guitar, keyboard, and syn-
thesizer, using British and American musicians (Jones 64). During the record-
ing of the same album, a session guitarist, Wayne Perkins, also added guitar
solos. Throughout their career, the Wailers dabbled in blues (Talkin Blues
[Natty Dreud]),funk (Could You Be Loved [Uprising]), disco (Exodus[Exo.
dus]), and folk music (Redemption Song [Uprising]). Similarly, Toots and
the Maytals, in their 1973 Funky Kingston, fused R&B and reggae in the
albums title song, and even recorded a country song (John Denvers (Coun-
try Road) and a rock-and-roll standard (The Kingsmens Louie Louie). In
yet another example, Peter Tosh brought a reggae beat to a classic fifties rock-
and-roll song, Chuck Berrys Johnny B. Goode (The Toughest).
In sum, the new international success of reggae music in the 1970s may
have been more the result of marketing and changes in its sound than
changes in its message. Reggaes sudden status as an international musical
sensation focused unprecedented attention on the Rastafarian movement
99
PopuluTizution and Polarizution of RastUfuTi
I00
Popularization and Pohrization of Rastafari
thetic study, flowered and the wind . . . dispersed the seeds far and wide
(Semaj, Rastafari 22). In Japan, a self-proclaimed Rastafarian named Jah
Hiro promoted the movement as a spiritual alternative to the dead culture
of Europe (Eastham 2). The African countries of Zimbabwe and Nigeria
sprouted several Rastafarian collectivities, and closer to Jamaica, the Rasta-
farian presence was strongly felt in the eastern Caribbean countries of
Antigua, Barbados, and Trinidad. So common did Rastafarian groups
I01
Popularization and Polarization of Rastafari
I02
Popuhnzation and Polarization of Rastufari
criticized even reggaes most influential star, Bob Marley, for what he con-
sidered to be a disservice to the movement:
Is it Bob Marley who has the song, I Shot the Sheriff?To me, thats
not a contribution; to me, thats a great damage that can do nothing except
inspire violence. Are the followers who follow after him doing anything
conscious? Ive yet to hear of it. Reggae music is doing a lot of damage to
the ganja argument. For when you try to show the non-smoker what ganja is
about, they look to the Rasta. (qtd. in Blake I )
Back in Jamaica, even the Gleaner denounced the Coptics as Star Island
hippies and insisted that neither the white rastas from Miami nor their
paid black minions have any authority to speak about Africa where, they
say, Rasta originated (Kitchin, A Peoples 8, 13). Critical of the Coptics
materialism, the Gleaner observed (crispexpensive European cars parked at
the Coptic settlement (Ritch, Middle-Class 6) and accused the group of
acquiring their wealth through shady land deals and drug trafficking
(Campbell, Rasta I 15-16).
Nevertheless, the Coptics provided the most extreme example of what
had become a real problem for the Rastafarian movement-the prolifera-
tion of ((pseudo-Rastafariangroups claiming to speak for the movement.
Typically embracing only the external trappings of Rastafari-the ganja
smoking, the dreadlocks, or reggae music itself-these groups threatened to
reduce Rastafari to little more than a cultural fad. While never a highly
organized movement with strong central leadership, Rastafari became, in
the 1970s) even more fragmented, more diverse, and less unified by com-
mon religious or political tenets.
While this might have made the movement harder to suppress, it also
made it more vulnerable to co-optation and domestication by the new PNP
government. In the I ~ ~ O the
S , PNP government no longer even tried to
control the movement by evading its demands, refuting its claims, or
coercing Rastafarians into compliance. Faced with the growing popularity
of international reggae, Manley thus turned to a new approach to deal with
the movement: co-optation-embracing the movement not only political-
ly, but as Jamaicas new cultural treasure.
C h a p t e r Six
I 06
Co-optation of the Rastufuri and Reggae
There are all sorts of songs that are directed against my Government, or
directed against things for which my Government-as you call it-is
blamed. If you take, for instance, you know . . . the problem of the cost of
living; with this terrible world inflation-in which the whole world, natu-
rally including Jamaica, is caught-there have been lots of songs protesting
against that. And I think thats entirely healthy. . . . if anybody is going to
protest against me, at least I want them to do it with style. (Manley, A
Politician 43)
I 08
Co-optation of the Rustufari and Reggae
During his two terms in office, Manley also seemed to pursue a second
adjustment tactic: incorporating part of the dissent ideology. In particular,
Manley sympathized publicly with the Rastafarian movements long-stand-
ing goal of reviving Jamaicas African heritage. In a 1973 interview with the
Jamaica Journal, Manley urged Jamaicans to become at-ease with all the
strands of its heritage. While denying he was hung up on Africa, Manley
understood that Africa was a clearly important aspect of development [for
Jamaica] (44). A decade later, Manley continued to emphasize the impor-
tance of recapturing Jamaicas African roots: We were convinced that it
was only through the rediscovery of our heritage that we would evolve a cul-
ture that reflected the best in ourselves because it expressed pride in what
we were and where we came from (Jamaica 39).
While recalling Jamaicas African roots, Manley pledged to restructure
Jamaicas system of social stratification. In his first book, The Politics of
Change, published in I 974, Manley promised to change the imbalances
of Jamaican society where people with light complexions enjoy[ed] a psy-
chological advantage and consciously or unconsciously have assumed an
Co-optation of the Rastdfari and Reggae
II0
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
111
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
I I2
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
While generally not known for expressing sympathy for either the Rastafari-
an movement or reggae music, Seaga even applauded reggaes peacemaking
potential. In a 1978 article headlined, Seaga Thanks Marley, Seaga praised
Marleys performance at the concert and assured the reggae star that the con-
cert would promote the efforts to support the Campaign for Peace (2).
Reggae Sunsplash, an annual tourist festival created in 1978, is perhaps
the clearest example of how the Jamaican government and its surrogates
tried to co-opt the Rastafarian movement. Unlike the One Love concert,
Reggae Sunsplash was officially sponsored by the Jamaican government.
This tourist event has lured thousands of international visitors to Jamaica
to listen to some of Jamaicas top reggae artists. Reggae Sunsplash has
become an economic boon to a country increasingly dependent on tourism
as its main foreign-exchange earner. As a highly popular and profitable
tourist event, Reggae Sunsplash has even been duplicated in the United
States and Japan (Chevannes, Rustufari 272).
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
I 16
Cocoptation of the Rastafari and Reggae
1974, Haile Selassies monarchy was overthrown, and the new military gov-
ernment nationalized all of Ethiopias rural land while the ((poor of
Shashamane seized all the tractors, land and assets of the small Rastafari-
an community. Eventually, the new government returned a small plot of
land to the Rastafarians who wanted to stay (Campbell, Rasta 226), but
the failure of the Shashamane experiment demonstrated the Rastafarians
inability to successfully repatriate its own followers to Africa.
Manley also refused to recognize the religious significance of ganja, or
marijuana, to the Rastafarians. During his first term in office, Manley prom-
ised the Rastafarians he would review Jamaicas marijuana laws (Yawney
235) and grant pardons to those serving long-term prison terms for mari-
juana possession. Yet for the remainder of his time in office, he supported
only minor reductions in the penalties for marijuana possession in Jamaica.2
Manley even cooperated with the U.S. governments efforts to eradicate
Jamaicas marijuana trade (Campbell, Rasta I 12). In 1973, for example,
President Richard Nixon launched an anti-drug operation called Opera-
tion Buccaneer, which included search and destroy missions aimed at
Jamaicas marijuana fields (Campbell, Rasta I I 2-14). Manley cooperated
fully in this effort, apparently convinced that the ganja trade needed to be
controlled in order to achieve political stability in Jamaica. Critics claim
that Manleys support for Operation Buccaneer was a heavy-handed effort
to suppress the Rastafarian movement (Campbell, Rasta I 14). At the 1978
One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica, reggae star Peter Tosh even went as far
publicly to lecture Michael Manley and ULP leader] Edward Seaga for their
failure to support the legalization of ganja (T. White 301). During the con-
cert, Tosh also attacked Jamaicas corrupt social and political system:
I and I have to set up this country and eliminate all those shitstem [system]
that black poor people dont live in confusion cause hunger people are angry
people. If the government just come together and say right now if you want to
build this country and build the people, cause right now cant build the coun-
try and dont build the people. People suffering from malnutrition and all them
thing there. Is just a shitstem that laid down to belittle the poor. You no seen?
(Stepping Razor)
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
I 18
Co-optation of the Rastafari and Reggae
T h e radio stations is [sic] a pack of shit and I hate it badly for that. It is
trying to defamate the character of reggae music and make those who are
playing reggae music look like fools. When I go to other places, I am treated
like a king. In the place where reggae music is originated] the people who
make reggae music are treated like dogs. (qtd. in Salaam I 14)
I20
[Slo important has reggae proven to our economy that it is seen as a major
foreign exchange earner as well as a major promotional entity for industry,
particular tourism. . . . Indeed, Reggae is to Jamaica what boxing is to the
United States-national economic benefit, promotion and the improvement of
the lot of many poor and impoverished youths.
-Eron Henry
I21
Epilogue
I22
Epilogue
began singing with the Wailers in the early 1960s, residents and fans of the
reggae star are transforming a few rundown buildings into a new Bob Mar-
ley museum (Rosenberg, Bob Marleys A2). Across the island, the Bob
Marley Mausoleum (again with a gift shop) has been erected in the singers
birthplace, Nine Miles, located in the parish of St. Ann. Jamaica has desig-
nated Marleys birthday as a national holiday, commemorated with the Bob
Marley Birthday Bash, an annual four-day musical festival celebrating the
life of the reggae star (Luntta 61). Tourists from around the world flock to
this and other festivals celebrating Marley and the music he made famous.
Yet the exploitation of reggae music and Rastafarian imagery in promot-
ing Jamaican tourism has gone well beyond invoking the memory of Bob
Marley. In all sorts of promotional materials, the enchanting sounds of reg-
gae and the image of the smiling Rastaman beckoned tourists from around
the world to Jamaicas major tourist areas. The tourist guide Caribbean for
Lovers, for example, touts the sensual beat of reggae music and the cult
of Rastafari, while other guides-Frornmers Jamaica and Barbados, Fodors
Exploring Caribbean, and Jamaica Handbook-provide brief histories of the
movement and discuss the international popularity of reggae music.2 In the
travel guide Access Caribbean, tourists are encouraged to dance to the
rhythms of a reggae band and adopt the Jamaicans unofficial motto:
Dont Worry, Be Happy (Dempsey and Karle 162). Writing for another
tourist guide, Berlitz Travellers Guide to the Caribbean, travel writer Jennifer
Quale observed: ([Tlhebest reason to go to Jamaica is to be captivated by
the seductive rhythms that keep the rest of the world at bay (36). Similar-
ly, Fodors 92: Jamaica opens with the image of a grinning Rastafarian
watching a blonde female MBA student, a New York lawyer, and a honey-
mooning couple sway ((to a joyous reggae beat drifting across a splendid
expanse of white, powdery sand. All celebrate the sweet life of Jamaica
because whatever you ask, the answer is the same. . . . [n]o problem, rnon
(Diedrichs I ).
Many brochures which feature a rainbow of Jamaican resorts and hotels
(from five star to economy) play up reggae and Bob Marley. The Adventure
Tours USA Sun Escapes catalogue mentions in the Tours Available section,
Epilogue
the Kingston Bob Marley Tour (42). The Jamaica-Jamaica brochure in the
night entertainment section mentions ([tlhe rich reggae music which
Jamaica has given the world will soak into your very bones; . . . kick off your
shoes and your inhibitions to dance to a primordial rhythm at our beach
party (14). In another example, the NegrilJamica: Into the gos! brochure
describes Negril as a place where one can hear the intoxicating sounds of
the famous Reggae beat ( I ) .
Beyond travel guides and brochures, magazines such as Modern Bride,
National Geographic Traveler, and Road and Track use reggae as a metaphor
for describing paradise. In a Modern Bride article entitled iJamaica-
Romance to the Reggae Beat, the authors blend the sound of reggae with
images of paradise: Like the easygoing yet stirring syncopation of the reg-
gae music that was born here, Jamaicas landscape is at once startling and
soothing in its beauty (Bain 364). Throughout the article, the musical
phrase rhythm attempts to capture the emotional experience of visiting
Jamaica. Tourists move to joyous rhythms of this island paradise and slip
into the soon come rhythm of island time (Bain 440, 434). In another
example, a National Geographic Traveler reporter weaves Rastafari and
reggae into a seamless, exotic narrative:
I 26
a 1994 interview, Dermot Hussey discussed the JTBs reluctance to promote
Jamaicas cultural heritage:
[After the popularity of reggae in the 1970~1it took them [the JTB] at
least 20 odd years to do that [include reggae and Rastafarian images into
JTB promotional materials] because before the Tourist Board would have
never done that. And they just did that in the eighties, you know. . . . you
even see a dreadlock in a commercial now with a baby-a white kid-that
would have been totally taboo. . . . You just have to go back and look at the
ads that are there from the tourist board and youll see [the absence of reg-
gae and Rastafarian images].
Jamaican investors) in its magazine ads often use reggae and Bob Marley as
a recurring theme in its promotional materials. For example, the guide
encourages tourists to come to Jamaica, and quoting a Bob Marley and the
Wailers song, and feel all right (Air Jamaica 36). Other airlines attract
tourists to Jamaica with commercials blending reggae music, dreadlocked
Jamaicans, and lush tropical images of an island paradise. American Air-
lines, for example, use Bob Marley and the Wailers ode to universal unity,
One Love / People Get Ready, to sell Jamaica as an oasis of peace and
serenity. In the ad, the narrator intones come visit Jamaica as visual images
of swaying palm trees, waterfalls, and sandy beaches flash on the screen. The
images of an island paradise, and songk refrain--One love / One heart /
Lets get together and feel all right-work in concert to suggest a safe
Jamaica. The commercial closes with the camera focused on the logo:
Jamaica: One Love.
Once in Jamaica, international travelers can purchase a variety of reggae
and Rastafarian souvenirs. Street vendors (called higglers) and gift shop
clerks display and sell items ranging from ganja T-shirts to fake Rastafarian
dreadlocks to inexpensive posters of reggae stars. Indeed, many gift store
souvenirs are decorated with the Rastafarian colors of red, green, and gold.3
Writing in the Sunday Gleaner in 1992, Basil Walters, a Rastafarian,
remarked: Take a casual stroll around the tourist areas, and one cannot
escape the images reflecting the Rasta consciousness. T-shirts and clothing
with Rastafari motifs are the most common items sold to visitors to this
country ( I 2A).
In a wide range of promotional materials, Rastafarians are portrayed as
smiling, ganja-smoking servants willing to accommodate foreign visitors.
The Rastafarians are not depicted as a social movement engaged in the task
of reforming Jamaicas neo-colonial society and/or returning to Africa.
Moreover, travel brochures emphasize reggaes joyous) and peaceful
themes, while denying the musics call for revolutionary change in society.
These images of the reggae guitar-strummingRastaman (e.g., Bob Marley)
are interwoven into a larger narrative of an island paradise. The two mar-
keting strategies-touristic culture (e.g., paradise themes) and cultural
I 28
Epilogue
The Rent-a0Dreads
Rent-a-Dreads, often called Rentas, are part of the informal romance
tourism industry (Pruitt and LaFont 422-40).4 Since the 1970s) women
have traveled to the four corners of the globe-from Gambia to Brazil to
Jamaica-seeking out new, foreign male escorts (de Albuquerque, In
Search 83). Some female tourists want to redefine confining gender roles
or engage in forbidden interracial relationships; others simply desire a new
cultural experience (Pruitt and LaFont 425-8).
Since the I 97os, the Rentas-young, often uneducated and unskilled
Jamaican men-have locked their hair and assimilated themselves within
the Rastafarian community to appeal to women tourists (Pruitt and
LaFont 433). In these tourist zones, Rent-a-Dreads advertise their care-
fully constructed Rastafarian identity by shaking their dreadlocks dry on
beaches (de Albuquerque, In Search 84). In addition, many Rentas
adopt a Rastafarian dialect and create a presentation that expresses the
Rastafarian emphasis on simplicity and living in harmony with nature.
For the female tourist, the Rentas seemingly possess many favorable qual-
ities: (The penchant foreign women have for men with dreadlocks is
fueled by the mystique associated with the dreadlock singers of the inter-
national reggae music culture who project an image of the Rastaman as a
confident, naturally powerful, and especially virile man (Pruitt and
LaFont 43 I ) .
This relationship is often built o n a strict social-exchange contract.
While female tourists attempt to fulfil1 a (fantasy))vacation, Rentas view
a relationship with a foreign woman as a meaningful opportunity for them
to capture the love and money they desire (Pruitt and LaFont 428). A
female tourist will often supply her Rent-a-Dread with free drinks and
meals, access to night entertainment, and a small cash allowance (de
Epilogue
Literally fearing for their lives, the Jamaican middle class have left
Jamaica in record numbers for the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.
The British High Commission reported that immigration applications rose
an average of 21 percent annually from 1997 to 2000 (Rosenberg, Hard
Times B4). Beyond threats of violence, many middle-class Jamaicans have
fared poorly during Jamaicas recent economic crisis. Some have lost their
private-sector jobs, while others-small business owners-have watched
their fortunes vanish or lost their businesses altogether. Barry Chevannes
Epilogue
summed up the cause for the exodus of Jamaicasmiddle class: People are fed
up with high levels of violence and the deep recession that the economy is
in, without any prospect of turning around (qtd. in Rosenberg, Hard
Times B4).
Observers have speculated on the causes for this recent upswing of vio-
lence. Writing in the New Republic, reporter Ed Vulliamy traced the vio-
lence back to the 1970s) when the two warring political parties armed
citizens to create what were called political garrisons in the ghetto-in
effect, military wings of each partys election machinery (screens 1-2).
After the defeat of Michael Manleys democratic socialist government in
1980, the gangs, according to the Economist, deserted the political parties
and started to make money from drugs and extortion (Welcome,
screen I).
Other observers have suggested that a 1996 banking crisis has con-
tributed to the escalation of violence in Jamaica. In a failed attempt to bail
out banks as well as insurance and investment companies, the Jamaican
government borrowed heavily, an estimated one billion dollars, from inter-
national sources. The bailout, experts suggest, had a ripple effect through-
out Jamaica: interest rates skyrocketed to nearly 40 percent, small business-
es closed or declared bankruptcy, and unemployment jumped to an
estimated 25 percent. This economic crisis left Jamaicasyouth population
to fend for themselves, and many turned to crime as a means of survival
(Rosenberg, Hard Times B4).
The response to the rise in violence has been swift, but quite unsuc-
cessful. Dubbed Operation Intrepid, the Jamaican government and its
security forces seized eighty-five firearms, two thousand rounds of ammu-
nition, and arrested sixty-five criminals in 1999 on charges ranging from
rape to murder (Webster, screen I). In July 1999, the violence was so
intense that Jamaica augmented its police force with its military after a
week in which more than 10 people were murdered and hundreds of resi-
dents fled their homes fearing for their lives (Jamaican Troops,)screen
I). During the summer of 2001, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson activated
Epilogue
reggae music has helped many Jamaicans understand and appreciate their
African ancestry. Reggae music also gave voice to the Rastafarian ethos
and helped popularize the movement in Jamaica and throughout the
world. Yet, at the same time, the Jamaican establishment and its surro-
gates co-opted the images of reggae music and the symbols of the Rasta-
farian movement, most notably for the promotion of Jamaicas growing
tourist industry.
Nobody is scared of Rasta anymore; its accepted; its something that peo-
ple look at with more seriousness now. Those things have been won.
-1bo Cooper
of the Jamaican economy after 1976 may have had some effect on the
increasing commercialization of the Rastafarian movement.
The Rastafarians reliance on music as its chief form of political dissent
also has implications for social movement theory. This study illustrates how
music might serve as an effective vehicle to recruit new followers or sympa-
thizers to a cause (commonly referred to as identity marketing). According
to communication scholars James R. Irvine and Walter G. Kirkpatrick lis-
teners do not readily identify music as argumentative or persuasive and thus
may be ready recipients of the rhetorical appeal of a song without being
aware of its complete implications. Attracted to music as entertainment,
listeners may be less prepared to reject its verbal message (273). Reggaes
unique combination of protest lyrics and a tranquil sound-what cultural
critic Dick Hebdige has called a classic Caribbean package of bitter social
commentary wrapped up in a light, refreshing rhythm-represented a
uniquely enticing and subtle form of social protest (Cut 81).With the rage
of its lyrics softened by its soothing, even hypnotic sound, reggae invited
some listeners to lose themselves in the feel of the Rastafarian/reggae culture.
Yet music, as a mode of protest, may be especially vulnerable to co-opta-
tion. Michael Manley and the Peoples National Party (PNP) apparently had
little trouble enticing reggae bands to play at political rallies during the 1972
national election. Similarly, few reggae musicians could resist the opportuni-
ty to become international stars, even if that meant the commercialization
of their music. Some Rastafarian traditionalists were horrified by the role of
reggae music in Jamaicaspolitical elections, and traditionalists also criticized
reggae musicians for commercializing the movement. Nevertheless, reggae
musicians willingly participated in the transformation of reggae music into a
cultural commodity. The critics were probably right: more and more started
playing for profit rather than for spiritual or political purposes.
The question still remains: Can music really communicate serious ideo-
logical content? According to communication scholar Ralph E. Knupp, the
answer is no, since music thrives on ambiguities, sweeping assertions, and
panoramic criticisms rather than on specific issues, policies, and arguments
(384-5). Bob Marleys Exodus,)) for example, invoked such familiar
Conclusion
SOCIAL MOVEMENT
(Rastafarian Movement)
Yet, the traditional model fails to accurately depict the historical experi-
ence of (neo)colonialism in Jamaica. Thus, it is important to distinguish
between an external target group, an outside entity with the legitimate
Conclusion
SOCIAL MOVEMENT
(Rastafarian Movement)
In the 1960s) the Jamaican government (internal target group) and its
surrogates perpetuated a neo-colonial stratification system, encouraging its
citizens to emulate British culture (external target group). Jamaicas citizens,
especially the ruling classes, denigrated any Jamaicanor African artifact
as backward, primitive, or unsophisticated.)) The Rastafarian move-
ment-with its allegiance to Africa and its demands for repatriation-chal-
lenged this neo-colonial stratification system. Similarly, Jamaicas popular
music contested the image of an island paradise by highlighting the racial
injustice and economic poverty in Jamaica.
By the early 1970s) Jamaicas new political leadership (internal target
group) and the popularity of reggae and Rastafari signaled, at first glance,
the end of neo-colonialism in Jamaica. Recognizing Jamaicas African her-
itage and implementing new economic policies, Manley seemed to censure
Jamaicas neo-colonial stratification system. Furthermore, the growing
international acceptance of reggae played a significant role in the popular-
ity of the Rastafarian movement. With the international stamp of approval
(external target group), Jamaicans began to view reggae music and the
Rastafarian movement as important and positive symbols of Jamaicas cul-
tural heritage. Despite Manleys new democratic socialist government and
the acceptance of reggae and the Rastafarian movement, a neo-colonial
social structure continued to exist in Jamaica during the 1970s.
Conclusion
area of study for social movement scholars, this study offers new insights into
the co-optation strategy. First, scholars have not examined how target groups
co-opt social movement leaden2 Since the Rastafarian movement lacked a
central leader, the Jamaican establishment co-opted the religious, political,
and cultural symbols of the movement. In several recent interviews, Rasta-
farian and reggae scholars, including Barry Chevannes, acknowledged that
Rastafarian symbols have, in part, been co-opted by Jamaicas dominant
classes. Indeed, Manley and his supporters embraced the external trappings
of Rastafari-the locks and reggae itself-but threatened to reduce Rastafari
to little more than a cultural fad. This study suggests that establishments can
co-opt both leaders and symbols of a social movement. While contributing
to social movement theory, this study also provides important contributions
to the study of protest music.
Chapter One
I. Mento emerged in the 1930s and is generally characterized by its experimentation with
European (trumpet) and African (drums) instruments. While mento was heard
throughout Jamaica, it is largely a rural-based music. See, for example, Garth White,
Traditional Musical Practice in Jamaica a d Its Influence on the Birth of Modern Jamaican
Popular Music (Kingston, JA: African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica, 1982).
2. Rastafarians also use reasoning, an informal dialectic, to debate issues and seek
wisdom.
3 . From 1940 to 1952, the PNP espoused socialism until the more conservative members
of the PNP convinced Norman Manley that the partys extreme left wing, a group of
self-proclaimed Marxists, were a threat to his authority. In 1952, Manley expelled the
four Marxists, popularly known as the four Hs-Ken and Frank Hill, Richard Hart,
and Arthur Henry-from the party. For the next twenty years, the PNP would remain
dedicated to a liberal, democratic policy until Norman Manleys son, Michael Manley,
reintroduced the political philosophy of democratic socialism in 1974. See, for exam-
ple, Car1 Stone, Tower, Policy and Politics in Independent Jamaica, Jamaica in Inde-
pendence: Essays on the Early Years, ed. Rex Nettleford (Kingston, JA: Heinemann
Caribbean, 1989), 21.
4. In 1961, Norman Manley decided to send delegates (from the Rastafarian movement
and a governmental council) to search for land in Africa. The committee traveled to
five African states to experiment with the idea of emigration and eventual citizenship.
Unfortunately, for the Rastafarian movement, the first official mission to Africa
(1961) and a nongovernment-sponsored second mission to Africa (1963-1965) did
not result in achieving the movements goal of repatriation. See Majority Report of Mis-
sion to Africa (Kingston, JA: Government Printer, 1961) and Douglas R. A. Mack,
From Babylon to Rastafari: Origin and History of the Rastafarian Movement (Chicago:
Research Associates School Times Publications and Frontline Distribution Interna-
tional, I 999).
5. For the Jamaican DJ, the term toasting often refers to sexual bragging.
6. According to Caribbean music expert Kenneth M. Bilby, the influence of mento, in
particular, has been underrated. Not only would some argue that the characteristic ska
afterbeat actually stems in part from the strumming patterns of the banjo or guitar in
mento, but ska versions of traditional mento tunes were common during the early
1960s (Jamaica 29). Bilby also suggests that the mento influence actually
increased during the reggae era and that [flew listeners outside of Jamaica know
that there was a whole substyle or genre of mento-reggae (sometimes called country
music) that enjoyed tremendous popularity in the island during the 1970s (30).
7. The beat, according to the New Grove Dictionary ofJaez, is [tlhe basic pulse underly-
ing measured music and thus the unit by which musical time is reckoned; the beat,
though not always sounded, is always perceived as underpinning the temporal progress
of the music, and it is only the presence of the beat that allows rhythm to be estab-
lished (Kernfeld 85).
8. The following is a nontechnical description of quarter notes, eighth notes, and six-
teenth notes: Using a heartbeat as an example of a steady rhythm, four consecutive
beats represent a typical bar or measure of music. Count and repeat the numerical
sequence: ( I z 3 4 I 2 3 4 I 2 , etc.). Each beat is called a quarter note. T h e upbeats
Notes
or offbeats exist half-waybetween each beat, yielding eight notes to a bar, thus
the term eighth note. This beat is identified by an &, and can be represented by
the following illustration ( I & 2 & 3 & 4 & I & 2 , etc.). Dividing each of these
eight notes in half produces sixteenth notes. This is illustrated in the following way
( I e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a I e & a, etc.). Of course, musicians can further
subdivide the beat and are free to combine these rhythms with rests or silence to
create infinite forms of expression.
Chapter Two
I. Because of the limitations of the recording technology, the bass drum was often inaudi-
ble in many rocksteady recordings.
2. Music writer Katherine Charlton defined call and response as the practice of singing
in which a solo vocalist, the caller, is answered by a group of singers. The practice is
also used with instruments, but its origins are vocal (262).
Chapter Three
I. In 1962, the JLP established the Five Year Plan to increase economic ties to the West
and foreign investment in Jamaica.
2. S , Jamaican dollar was slightly at better than parity to the US dollar
By the I ~ ~ O the
(Manley, Jamaica 160). However, in recent years, the Jamaican dollar has undergone a
destabilization process and lost much of its initial worth. For example, in July 1994, the
exchange rate was J$32 to US$I. Seven years later, the exchange rate was J$45 to US$I.
3. According to the book entitled Modern Recording Techniques, this technique allows
a musician to play or sing along with himself [or herselfl to make his [or her] per-
formance sound fuller or so that an effect can be created. The musician listens to his
[or her] original performance and tries to match its phrasing as he [or she] overdubs.
The two tracks are then played back together. This technique is called doubling
(343-4) -
Chapter Five
I. A number of sources and, at least, one former CIA agent have confirmed Manleyscon-
tention that the CIA was intimately involved in the destabilization of the PNP gov-
ernment during the 1970s. According to former CIA officer Philip Agee, the CIA was
using the Jamaica Labour Party as its instrument in the entire campaign against the
Michael Manley government. Id say most of the violence was coming from the
Jamaica Labour Party side, and behind them was the CIA in terms of getting the
weapons in and getting the money in (Bob Murky: Rebel Music).
2. According to Michael Manley, the IMF deal forced Jamaica to devalue its dollar from
a position slightly at better than parity to the US dollar to an exchange rate of J$1.76
for US$I.OO(Jamaica 160).
Notes
3. According to Barry Chevannes, not all of Jamaicas middle class were defecting to the
Rastafarian faith: Not only the working class youths, but the middle classes as well were
now defining themselves closer to the Rasta than to the white reference point. . . . This
does not mean that the middle-class is becoming Rasta. Far from it. But it does signify a
tendency to identify more with the African reference point than with the European
(Healing 78-9).
Chapter S i x
I. See, for example, Aggrey Brown, Color, Class, and Politics in Jamaica (New Brunswick:
Transaction, 1979); Joseph Owens, Dread: The Rasrafarians of Jamaica (Kingston, JA:
Sangster, 1976); Rex M. Nettleford, Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica (New York:
William Morrow, I 972); Carole D. Yawney, Remnants of All Nations: Rastafarian
Attitudes to Race and Nationality, Ethnicity in the Americas, ed. Francis Henry
(Hague: Mouton, 1976), 231-66.
2. Under the JLP government, possession of marijuana for first-time offenders carried a
minimum sentence of eighteen months. Under Manleys revised marijuana laws, a
standard minimum sentence for possession was abolished and the maximum sentence
for a first conviction was reduced to three years (Fraser 373-4).
3. Reggae musicians were often forced to pay disc jockeys a monetary fee, often called
payola, to have a song played on the radio. If a musician did not have enough money
or refused to pay the required fee, physical intimidation became a popular persuasive
tactic. According to Dermot Hussey, a former employee of RJR and JBC, disc jockeys
frequently became targets of physical intimidation. Struggling musicians, according to
Hussey, often resort[ed] to roughing people [DJs].
I. Despite the success of Sumfest, the festival scene is not what it used to be; where
crowds once reached 30,000 nightly, even Sumfest is lucky to draw 20,000 today. As
artist fees have risen-peaking at J$I million for DJ Beenie Man in 1996-so ticket
prices have become prohibitive for many Jamaicans, who increasingly prefer to attend
sound-system jams rather than live shows (Thomas, Vaitilingam, and Vaitilingham,
screen 2).
2. See, for example, James Hamlyn, Fodors Exploring Caribbean, 2nd ed. (New York:
Fodors Travel, 1996); Karl Luntta, Jamaica Handbook, 2nd ed. (Chico: Moon, 1993);
Paris Permenter and John Bigley, Caribbean for Lovers (Rocklin: Prima, 1997); Darwin
Porter and Danforth Prince, Frommers Jamaica and Barbados, 3rd ed. (New York:
Simon and Schuster, I 996).
3. As expected, Rastafari and reggae images have been exported to other Caribbean
countries-from Grand Bahama Island to Grand Cayman Island. In many of these
tourist areas, visitors can buy merchandise (e.g., tee-shirts, hats, coffee cups, shot glass-
es) imprinted with reggaemastafari imagery.
148
4. Pruitt and LaFont distinguish romantic tourism from sex tourism. While sex
tourism serves to perpetuate gender roles and reinforce power relations of male
dominance and female subordination, romance tourism involves women traveling
in pursuit of relationships. The authors assert, however, that romance tourism is
not merely the act of role reversal. Instead of perceiving themselves as prostitutes,
the actors place an emphasis on courtship rather than the exchange of sex for
money (42 3 ) .
Conclusion
I. See, for example, William A. Gamson, Power and Discontent (Homewood: Dorsey,
1968); Andrew A. King, The Rhetoric of Power Maintenance: Elites at the
Precipice, Quarterly Journal of Speech 62 (1976): 127-34; Herbert W. Simons, Persua-
sion: Understanding, Practice, and Analysis (Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1976); Charles
J. Stewart, Craig Allen Smith, and Robert E. Denton Jr., Persuasion and Social Move-
ments, 3rd ed. (Prospect Heights: Waveland, 1994).
2. As Wilson has argued, however, this might not always be the case: [Elven where struc-
tural links between a social movements target group (e.g., a State Board of Education)
and agents of social control (e.g., State Police) can be demonstrated, it does not fol-
low that they act as one. There are large areas within any government bureaucracy for
agents of social control to play autonomous roles (471).
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Johnson, Barrister Millard. The Peoples Political Party. Advertisement. Daily Gleaner
14Apr. 1961:25.
Kassim, Pops. Police Crime Wave! Abeng 17 May 1969:3.
Kitchin, Arthur. Defining Rastafari. Editorial. Daily Gleaner 16June 1983:8,13.
. A Peoples Temple in Jamaica?Editorial. Daily Gleaner 19May 1980:8, 13.
. Rastafari Movement on Trial. Editorial. Daily Gleaner 29 Nov. 1982:8.
. Rastas and Politics. Editorial. Daily Gleaner 4 June 1979:6.
Manley Leads Party to Landslide Win. Daily Gleaner I Mar. 1972:I.
Merry Go Round. Editorial. Daily Gleaner 25 Nov. 1975:4-5.
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. Rascally Rastafarians. Editorial. Daily Gleaner 30 Apr. 1960:8.
. The Rastafarian Psychology. Editorial. Sunday Gleaner 4 Dec. 1960:9.
PM Lists Five New Govt. Priorities. Daily Gleaner 16Sept. 1974:I.
PM Says It Is Wrong to Cut Rastas Hair. Daily Gleaner 12 Jan. 1976:15.
PM, Seaga Join Hands and Dance. Daily Gleaner 24 Apr. 1978:I, I I.
Police Destroy Rasta Houses. Abeng 8 Mar. 1969:I.
Rasta Voice Editorial Board. No title. Editorial. Rasta Voice 14Jan. 1972:4.
Works Cited
I 60
Works Cited
Government Documents
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]A: Government Printer.
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Gibson, Dirk. I and I Downpressor Man: Reggae as an Instrument of Social Change.
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161
Works Cited
Interviews
Chevannes, Barry. Personal Interview. 6 July 1994.
Cooper, Carolyn. Personal Interview. 5 July 1994.
Hussey, Dermot. Personal Interview. 18 July 1994.
Nettleford, Rex. Personal Interview. 23 July 1994.
I 62
Abeng (newspaper), 25, 48,50-52; Ambush in the Night, 97
complaints of police brutality in, 79, Amen, 18
80; Diary of Sufferers,51 Andy, Bob, Ive Got to Go Back
Abyssinians, The: Declaration of Home, 40, 44
Rights, 57, 73; Forward unto Another Moses, 5, 24
Zion, 59; Sutta Massugum (album), Apartheid, 97
57, 59, 73 Arawak Indians, xii, 5
Addis Abba, 24 Arrests. See Rastafarian Movement;
administrative rhetoric, 74. See also violence
social movements
Africa Unite, 97 Ba Ba Boom,41, 43
African, 97 Babylon, 5, 10,55, 56; in songs, 5, 24,
African Herbsman, 57, 60, 62 47, 5 5 5 6
African Reformed Church, I 2 Babylon Gone, 5, 25
Afro-Caribbean League (ACL), 71 Back-0-Wall, xxi
Afro-West Indian Welfare League Barrister Pardon, 38, 39
(AIWL), 71 bauxite. See natural resources
Air Jamaica, 127, 128 Beat Down Babylon, 56, 58
Alpha Boys School, 15 beat (musical), I 46 n
Alphonso, Roland, Roll on Sweet Beckford, Theophilus, I 7; Easy
Don (Heaven and Hell), 2 0 Snappin,7 3
Alton and the Flames, Cry Tough, Beenie Man, 148n
36, 41, 44 Better Must Come, 73
163
164 Index
Birth Control, 64 Brown, Samuel, 32, 33, 84
Black and White, 58 Burnin (album), xiii, 98
Black Arks, The, Come Along, 59 Burning Spear, xi; Garveeys Ghost
Black Power Movement (Jamaica), 46, (album), 96; Marcus Garvey
50-52, 81, 83, 89; influence of (album), 96; I 00th Anniversary
Americas Black Power Movement (album), 96; Slavery Days, 96
on, 48; Rastafarian Movements Bustamante, Alexander, 6, 7, 75
critical reaction to, 52, 81, 83 Bustamante Industrial Trade Union
Black Starliner Must Come, 96 (BITU), 6
Black Uhuru, 97 Buster, Prince, 20; Barrister Pardon,
Blackhead Chinee Man, I 7 38, 39; Blackhead Chinee Man,
Blackheart Man (album), 96 17; Judge Dread, 38, 39; Too
Blackwell, Chris, 54, 95, 96, 143; Hot, 37, 38
marketing of reggae, 98, 99. See also Byles, Junior, (Beat Down Babylon,
Island Records 56358
Blood & Fire, 55, 57, 58, 64 Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, 73
Bob and Marcia, Young Gifted &
Black, 60, 62 Carmichael, Stokely, 27, 48
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Africa Carrington, Vemon, 53
Unite, 97; Ambush in the Night, Carry Go Bring Come, xiii, 19, 20,
97; Bob Marley and the Wailers 22,23
Collection, Vol. 3 , The (album), Catch a Fire (album), xiii, 55, 96, 99
57-59, 73, 74; Could You Be Catch a Fire (song), 96
Loved, 99; Exodus (album), 99, 128, censorship, xiii, xiv, 4
137; Exodus (song), 99, 137; Natty Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),
Dread (album), xiii, 99; No Woman 93, 147n
No Cry, xiii; One Love (song), Centralizing Committee of the
40, 128; One Love at Studio One Rastafarian Selassie I Divine
(album) 17-18, 37-41, 44; Punky Theocratic Government, I 10, I I I
Reggae Party, I O I ; Rataman Charmers, The, 14
Vibration (album), xiii, 97; Rat Checkmates, The, Turn Me On, 16, 17
Race, xiii; Redemption Song, 99; Cherry Oh Baby, 62, 64
(SoMuch Trouble in the World, Clapton, Eric, 101; I Shot the
97; Survival (album), 97, 101; Sheriff, I o I
Talkin Blues (song), 99; Uprzsing Clash, The, I O I
(album), 99; War, 97; Zimbabwe, Cleaver, Eldridge, 27, 48
97, 101. See also Marley, Bob; Cliff, Jimmy, 19, 22, 101; Miss
Wailers, The Jamaica, 22; Wonderful World,
Bongo-Man (newspaper), 50-52 Beautiful People, 54
Boothe, Ken: Freedom Street, 58, 60; coercive persuasion, 67, 78. See also
The Train Is Coming, 39, 41, 42 social movements
Brooks, Baba, Gun Fever, 37 colonialism, xi, 5-9, 68, 69, 111, 139,
Brooks, Cedric, 102 140. See also neo-colonialism
Index 165
Come Along, 59 digital music, 120, 133
Concerts: banned by Jamaican Dizzy, Bongo, 52
government, xiv; One Love Peace Dodd, Clement Sir Coxsone, 14, 15
Concert, xii, I 13, I I 7; Reggae Domino, Fats, 14
Sumfest, xiv, 124, 130, 14811; Donaldson, Eric, Cherry Oh Baby,
Reggae Sunsplash, xiv, 113, 124, 62,64
130; Smile Jamaica Concert, xii 007 (Shanty Town), 38, 95
Concrete Jungle, xiii Dread, Mickey, 118
Coral Gardens. See Rose Hall dreadlocks, xix, xxi, 46, 98, 104, 111,
Could You Be Loved, 99 127,129,130
Count Ossie. See Williams, Oswald Dream Land, 96
Country Road, 99 drug laws (Jamaica), 79, 80, 148n
creolization, in music, 19, 24 Drummond, Don, 24, 25; Addis
Cry to Me, 44 Abba, 24, 25; Man in the Street,
Cry Tough, 36, 41, 44 21; Reincarnation,) 24, 25; Return
Culture: Black Starliner Must Come, of Paul Bogle, The, 24, 25; Roll on
96; Two Sevens Clash, 96 Sweet Don (Heaven and Hell), 20;
Tribute to Marcus Garvey, 24, 25
Daily Gleaner, The (newspaper), xviii, Duke Reids Treasure Chest (album), 36,
xxii, 10, 12, 29, 30, 33, 35, 47, 49, 37,43
65, 82, 111, 113, 118, 119, 128, 130; Dunbar, Sly, 64
criticism and praise of the Dunkley, Archibald, xviii
Rastafarian Movement, 76-78, I 12; (DuppyConqueror, 58
criticism of Ethiopian Zion Coptic
Church, 104; criticism of Jamaica Easy Snappin, 73
radio stations, I 18; criticism of Eccles, Clancey, 108; Power for the
Michael Manley, 94; hiring People, 108; River Jordan, 18
Rastafarian journalists, I 12; praising economic problems (Jamaica), 9, 47,
the international popularity of 48,907 94, 110, 116, 131, 132, 147n
reggae, 106, I I I ; promoting Ellis, Alton, Girl Ive Got a Date, 42
Jamaican Exceptionalism, 75; emigration policies (Jamaica), 70
publishing letters from Rastafarians, Equal Rights (album), 97
82, 84; reporting on the decline of Ethiopian World Federation (EWF),
the Rastafarian Movement, I 20; xxi, 71
reviews of plays featuring reggae and Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, 103,
Rastafarian themes, I 13 104, 112, 138; criticism by Daily
dancehall music, 120, 133 Gleaner, 104
Declaration of Rights, 57, 73 Ethiopianism, xvi
Dekker, Desmond: 007 (Shanty Town), Ethiopians, The, 45; Everything
38, 95; Israelites,54, 63, 64 Crash, 45, 55; Promises, Promises,
Dem Ha Fe Get a Beatin, 56, 58 I 16; Reggae Hit the Town, 63, 64
democratic socialism, 89, 90, 92, I 10, Everybody Bawling, 36, 37, 39
119, 132, 146n Everything Crash, 45, 54
166 Index
Exodus (album), 99, 128, 137 34, 66, 83; overthrow of, I 17; in
Exodus (song), 99, 137 songs, 47, 55, 57, 58; visit to
Jamaica, 33, 34, 82, 83
54-46 (Thats My Number), 55, 60, Harder They Come, The (film), 55
63,8I Harder They Come, The (soundtrack),
Fire Fire, 55 55, 56,60,6I, 65
Folkes Brothers, Oh Carolina, 5, 24 Harry J. Allstars, The Liquidator, 64
food shortages (Jamaica). See economic Henry, Claudius, I I , 12, 35, 80, 81,
problems I36
Forward March, 2 I, 45 Henry, Ronald, 12
Forward unto Zion, 59 Hibbert, Fred Toots, 60, 81
400 Years, 57, 59 Hibbert, Joseph, xviii
Freedom Street, 58, 60 Hinds, Robert, xvii, xviii
Freedom Time, 39 History of Trojan Records I 968-1 97 I
Funky Kingston (album), 96, 99 (album), 57, 58, 60, 62, 64
Funky Kingston (song), 99 Hooligan, 3 7
Home Guard Task Force, 93
ganja. See marijuana housing shortages. See economic
Garvey, Marcus: arrest/imprisonment problems
of, xvi; background, xv, xvi; Black Howell, Leonard, xvii-xxi
Star Steamship Line, xv; Coronation
of the King and Queen of Afr-~a,The I A m Going Home, 18
(play), xvi; Daily Gleaners criticism I Can See Clearly Now, 55
of, 76; influenced by Ethiopianism, I, 1 Ras, 53
xvi; Negro World (newspaper), xv; as I Need You, 17
a prominent figure in international I., Ras Dizzy, 33, 34, 51, 52
reggae, 96, 97; as a Rastafarian I Shot the Sheriff, xiii, I O I
prophet, xvi; United Negro identity marketing, 137. See also social
Improvement Association (UNIA), movements
xv, xvi Im Gonna Put It On, 39
Garvey, Marcus, Jr., 50-52 Impressions, The, 14
Garveys Ghost (album), 96 imprisonment/incarceration. See
Gaylands, The, 14 Rastafarian Movement
Girl Ive Got a Date, 42 International Monetary Fund (IMF),
Gleaner, The. See Daily Gleaner, The 94, 147n
Gordon, Keith, 103, 104 international reggae. See reggae,
Greyhound, Black and White, 58 international
Guava Jelly, I 00 I-Roy, Lick It Back Jah, 57
Gun Fever, 37 Island Records, 54, 95, 96, 143
Israel, Bongo, xxi
Habits, I 8 Israelites, 54, 63, 64
Haile Selassie I, xvi, xvii, xxi, 10, 11, Its Raining, 3 7
77; Liberation Before Repatriation, Ive Got to G o Back Home, 40, 44
Index 167
Jackson, Jackie, 19, 20, 43 King of Kings Mission, xvii
Jah. See Haile Selassie I King Tubby. See Ruddock, Osborne
Jah Rastafari Hola Coptic Church,
II 0 Lee, Edward Bunny, 54
Jailhouse, 39 Legalize It (album), 57, 98, 118
Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation Legalize It (song), 57, 98, 118
(JBC), 72, 73, 118 Let Him Go, 37, 41,43
Jamaica Convention and Visitors Let the Power Fall on I, 57
Bureau (JCVB), 127 Lick It Back Jah, 57
Jamaica Council for Human Rights Like a Rolling Stone, 37
(JCHR), 27 Liquidator, The, 64
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), xii, 6, 8, Live and Learn, 58
27-30, 35, 45, 47,48, 132, 133, Lloydie and the Lowbites, Birth
147 n; ban on reggae songs, xiii, xiv, Control, 64
65, 72-74, I 18; criticism of Walter Louie Louie, 99
Rodney, 48-50; Five Year Plan, 47, Love of the Common People, 58
147 n; gang members as political
supporters of, 30, 113; 1980 election, Mahal, Taj, Slave Driver, IOO
95; promoting Jamaican Exception- Man in the Street, 2 1
alism, 67, 75; promoting neo- Manley, Michael: appealing to
colonialism, 69, I I I ; response to Rastafarian Movement, 91;
early Rastafarian repatriation plan, appearance at O ne Love Peace
72 Concert, I 13; co-optation of the
Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB),xiv, I 23, Rastafarian Movement, 104, 107-14,
124, 126, 127, 130 I 19; criticizing censorship of reggae,
Jamaican Daily News (newspaper), I I 5 I 18; Daily Gleaner criticism of, 94;