Clinton A. Hutton is Lecturer in Political
Philosophy and Culture, Department of Government, University of the
West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
Michael A. Barnett is Senior Lecturer, Department
of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work, University of the West
Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
D.A. Dunkley is Assistant Professor, Department of
Black Studies,University of Missouri, United States.
Jahlani A.H. Niaah is Lecturer in Cultural and
Rastafari Studies, Institute for Caribbean Studies, University of
the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
"The contributors to this volume have found the language and
concepts by which to interpret Leonard Howell and the origins of
the Rastafari movement in the 1930s. This volume is richly
documented from the archives, and from interviews, and is informed
by multidisciplinary methods, so the reader is treated to an
authoritative and comprehensive collection of essays. "Leonard
Howell was persecuted over five decades by the British colonial
state and by Jamaican governments since independence in 1962. It is
in this context that Howell defined the main tenets of the
movement, a movement that has now spread globally. All the major
themes of his thinking, such as African redemption, the divinity of
Haile Selassie, repatriation, and the struggle for freedom and
self-reliance are discussed. Howell challenged British colonialism
and Jamaican elites in a very different way from the approaches
used by the middle-class intelligentsia. He focused, rather, on a
new way of seeing God, King and self, thus creating an alternative
way of being in the world. Developing Marcus Garvey's focus on
Africa, Leonard Howell and his followers reclaimed their ancestral
identity from the dehumanized condition left by British slavery and
colonialism. Howell's communal settlement on 'Pinnacle' was an
alternative communal space for Rastafari artisans, musicians and
peasant farmers."
--Rupert Lewis, Professor Emeritus, Department of Government,
University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
Ask a Question About this Product More... |