By Lipton Matthews*

Despite its humble origins in 1930s Jamaica, Rastafarianism has blossomed into a global liberation movement. Rastafarianism’s impact on popular culture has been phenomenal, its message of resistance resonating with people around the world. Even in death, Bob Marley, probably Rastafarianism’s most famous symbol, continues to inspire the world with his groundbreaking music. Today, anthropologists officially recognize Rastafarianism as a religion.

But outside the hallowed halls of the university, few appreciate the anti-state ethos of Rastafarianism. Rastafarianism arose in direct response to the injustices perpetuated by a colonial state in Jamaica. Blacks made up the bulk of Jamaica’s population, but they were doomed to a life of misery. In 1898, fifty years after emancipation, there was only one doctor for every 19,400 Jamaicans, and although those classified as poor were entitled to free health care, this privilege was never extended to Poor blacks.

Life for black Jamaicans, who mostly resided in rural areas, was a drudgery. Thus, to alleviate their harsh living conditions, many moved to urban settlements in the 1920s. However, opportunities for social mobility were marginal, and by the 1930s the Great Depression had compounded the hardships of West Indian life. Sugar prices plummeted, businesses closed, and workers went into unemployment. Moreover, the government’s handling of these crises, with disregard for human suffering, has exacerbated the difficulties.

To illustrate the indifference of the colonial authorities, historian James G. Cantres shares the damning conclusions of the Moyne Commission:

There is not enough housing for children attending school…housing is often…in a chronic state of desperation and unsanitary…teachers are in short supply…poorly paid…training is largely or non-existent .

In Jamaica and the wider British Caribbean, a growing awareness of social injustice has led working citizens to campaign for better working and living conditions. The genesis of Rastafarianism must be understood in the context of the oppression that plagued Caribbean societies. Leonard Howell, credited with founding Rastafarianism, conceived of the movement as an alternative to the oppressive narrative of colonialism.

Howellian thought is part of a venerable tradition of anti-colonial criticism of Caribbean intellectuals. As a young man in the 1920s, Howell became familiar with Garveyism and joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Marcus Garvey’s philosophy of black economic empowerment has mesmerized people of African descent and spawned many social movements.

Howell returned to Jamaica in 1932 with the intention of initiating change by delegitimizing the colonial state in the eyes of black Jamaicans. An energetic speaker, his meetings in Saint-Thomas quickly attracted the attention of the working classes. Howell pushed for the dismantling of the racist infrastructure that ignored the plight of working-class blacks and sidelined competent black professionals. Howell’s sermons also chastised colonial authorities for their blatant abuse of power, earning him the ire of elites.

Powerful actors recognized that Howell’s philosophy dethroned the racist undertones that legitimized colonial authority. Giving sermons on Ethiopia, Howell taught black people that they love white people, that they too have a glorious history, and that they cannot be inferior. Jamaica’s Guardians feared Howell’s liberating gospel might incite insurrection, so in 1933, The daily gleaner concluded that “diabolical attacks are made at these meetings against the government, both local and imperial, and the whole conduct of the meeting would be intended to provoke an insurrection if taken seriously”.

Diane Stewart in The Three Eyes of Travel: African Dimensions of Jamaican Religious Experienceargues that the Jamaican state sought to tame the influence of Rastafarianism by using the law to discredit its key figures:

The most political Rasta leaders were incarcerated, branded mad and quarantined in asylums. Even after Jamaicans gained independence from Britain in 1962, the Rastas were harassed, repressed and condemned by the establishment – “the Babylon system” and by the general public.

From the start, Rastafarianism proved to be a counter-cultural movement that challenged the legitimacy of a corrupt colonial state. Rastafarians have remained steadfast in their quest to combat this condition. Leonard Howell energized working-class Jamaicans in St. Thomas; however, the best-known Rastafarian settlement is Pinnacle in the St. Catherine Hills. For the libertarian spirit, Pinnacle is a classic example of success without the state.

Howell built a vibrant community which, according to Myles Osborne, was recognized as a distinct sphere by the 1944 Attorney General’s Report. Pinnacle was an entrepreneurial black community, where residents cultivated a plethora of crops for sale in major urban centers and received no state support. In fact, black people at Pinnacle enjoyed a higher quality of life than their peers in destitute Kingston.

However, to undermine the project, the Gleaner maliciously reported in 1940 that conditions at Pinnacle were unsanitary, so to correct this erroneous report, Howell invited government officials to inspect the community. In describing the report’s findings, Osborne notes that, on the contrary, Pinnacle’s facilities were extravagant compared to those of the general working population:

The subsequent report revealed that 275 supporters resided in the camp. They occupied 35 houses of acacia and thatch, each having four doors. The rooms contained one to two beds, and the fly-proof latrines, canisters of boiled water, and “good natural drainage” impressed the official.

Around the camp, residents grew cassava, peas and maize and, in the 1950s, supplemented their income with the sale of ganja. Howell provided – in short – all the facilities necessary to enable the colony to function independently and, by providing drinking water, did more than the government could in parts of Kingston.

Similarly, through the efforts of the Ethiopian Salvation Society, Pinnacle operated a social security scheme that aided members, insuring them against risk. For example, an individual who had served six months as a member would receive one pound for the first week of his illness; a maximum of 15 shillings for the following two weeks; and a maximum of 10 shillings per week for the next six.

Moreover, despite the newspaper’s claims, Pinnacle was never a communist plot. Writing about Pinnacle’s economy, Barry Chevannes reveals that private property was valued: “This community may look like a township, but a young informant who grew up in Pinnacle said that each household supported themselves by farming plots of private land granted by the ‘Gong’, ‘Councillor’ or ‘Prince Regent’, as locals variously called him Howell.

Pinnacle’s autonomy threatened the conservatism of colonial society. Obviously, in the 1940s it was inconceivable that black Jamaicans could organize themselves without the direction of white colonial authorities. Pinnacle represented the collapse of the colonial state, and its existence angered conservative elements in the labor movement. Howell fearlessly criticized the middle-class leadership of the labor movement for its failure to address the racism that penalizes black workers in the labor market.

Howell’s fierce criticism of the labor movement made him an enemy of Sir Alexander Bustamante, a labor leader and Jamaica’s first Prime Minister, who in a 1939 letter recommended that the colonial government place him in an asylum.

Howell was not wrong to describe the labor movement as an instrument of advancement for middle-class activists, as first-hand accounts indicate that many felt sabotaged by Bustamante’s leadership.

Using primary sources, Helene Lee highlights how the trade union movement led by Bustamante has betrayed the working class: “Since the labor unrest in May of last year, I can’t get a permanent job. I just drift from place to place, which is actually contrary to my faith,” Frank Warren wrote to the Colonial Secretary in 1939.

Egbert Charles Smith, another unemployed man, wrote to the governor complaining that the autocratic Bustamante had victimized workers who did not support him: “For the past six months I have been totally victimized because I have refused to support the dictatorial industrial union of Bustamante…. We did not know that there were two governors in this island, Sir Arthur and Sir Bustamante.

In short, Leonard Howell was a frequent target of the colonial state because he was not afraid to expose the flaws of elites and their enablers. By using religion as a tool to enhance the self-esteem of black Jamaicans, Howell directly overthrew the authority of an exploitative colonial state. Although Rastafarianism originated in Jamaica, its rhetoric of liberation inspires oppressed minorities around the world to disrupt the conventions of oppressive states.

*About the author: Lipton Matthews is a researcher, business analyst and contributor to Merion West, The Federalist, American thinkerIntellectual Takeout, mise.org, and imaginative curator. Visit his YouTube channel, with many interviews with a variety of researchers, here. He can be contacted at [email protected] or on Twitter (@matthewslipton).

Source: This article was published by the MISES Institute