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Chapter 5 / An Ambivalent Routinization

The period of 1961 to 1971 might be designated as the period of "ambivalent routinization" for the Rastafarians. The word "routinization is taken from Anthony F.C. Wallace: "Revitalization Movement etc" (1953), suggesting the last stage of the dynamics as a movement attempts to establish itself within society. These years came as a time of high expectation in which the possibility of imminent repatriation and feverish organization took place. As many as twenty groups of Rastafarians were to emerge int he cities of Kingston, Spanish Town, May Pen, and Montego Bay, with satellites in other parts of the island all bearing special names and headded by different leaders. As the hope for imminent repatriation faded, many organizations ceased to exist or merged with others. During these years, a few of these were recorded in the author's notes as : the Ethiopian African Congress and Rastafarian Melchizedek Orthodox Church, led by Prince Edward Emanuel---a movement which has continued to the present; the Rastafarian Movement, African Recruitment Center, 1000 Marcus Garvey Drive, led by Ras Samuel Brown; the Rastafarian Repatriation Association of Jamaica, 26 Adastra Road, operating under the name of "The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari" and led by the three brethren who visited Ethiopia in the government's mission; the Ras Tafari Untied Front, Liberty Hall, 76 King Street, Kingston; and various others which seem to have disappeared from the scene or have changed their names.

Factors Leading to Routinization

This chapter seeks to analyze the decade between 1961 and 1971, and to show some of the factors leading to the routinization of the movement in Jamaica society---an event which has contributed greatly to their prestige on the island, and has contributed enormously to aspects of the island's economic, political, and social development.
The University Report on themovement and the subsequent visit of some brethren to Africa made the Rastafarians visible in the island in a very important way; and, as we have seen, contributed to diffuse the excitement for repatriation. But, to the author, three incidents which are now scarcely discussed outside the circle of the brethren might have been the most important factors leading to the routinization of the movement. They are: the candidacy of Ras Samuel Brown for political office; the destruction of Back-O-Wall; and the visit of Haile Selassie to Jamaica. Each of these events have more than historical meaning.

Ras Sam Brown

Ras Brown is one of themost complex personaities within the Rastafarian movement. He combines in his person the attributes of a mystic, poet, orator, saint, painter, and what a govenment official called "a lovable rascal." In his presence at one given moment, one feels free and relaxed, and in the next moment tense and frightened. Since the early beginnings of the movement he has been one of themost ardent Rastafarians and is today one of its most important poets, if not the best. Born in the parish of Trelawny in 1925, he attended the local elementary school and was so brilliant a student that it is reported he won a scholarship to a prestigious secondary school in Kingston, but failed to accept the offer because of poverty. After working at various trades he became interested in printing. By 1965, when the author met him, he was without a job and was the leader of a group of brethren in Back-O-Wall. He told the author how vividly he remembered the night he heard Marcus Garvey in Edelweise Park, when he was only five years of age---a mere tot brought by his mother who was a member of the Garvey movement.
Three years before my interview with Ras Brown he created a mild sensation in the island when he entered the 1961 election compaign as an independent candidate for Western Kinston under the banner of the Black Man's Party. This was the first time in history that a Rastafarian entered the arena of active politics. Although receiving less than one hundred votes, his famous "Twenty-One Points" platform and his boldness to campaign on it not only gave the average citizen a new insight into the movement's philosophy but, for the first time, drew the attention of the elite to the potentials of the movement. The famous Twenty-One Points are known as the Foundation of the Rastafarian Movement, which for historical reasons will be quoted verbatim from a tattered copy presented to the author during field research. It states that:
1. Members of the Rastafarian Movement are an inseparable part of the Black people of Jamaica.
2. As such we cannot and do not proclaim any higher aims than the legitimate aims and aspirations of the Black people of Jamaica.
3. The Rastafarian Movement consists of the most advanced, determined and uncompromising fighters against discrimination, ostracism and oppression of Black people in Jamaica.
4. The Rastafarian Movement stands for freedom in its fullest sense and for the recovery of the dignity, self-respect and Sovereignty of the Black people of Jamaica.
5. Many deplore and accuse the Black people of raising the colour question in this island. But White supremacy was the official policy of this island for hundreds of years and white supremacists never regarded Black men as good as the dogs in their yards.
6. To white supremacy has been added Brown-man supremacy and the mongrel children of the Black woman came to think and behave contemptously of Black people.
7. Time has removed some of the grosser aspects of white and brown man supremacy; but discrimination, disrespect and abuse of the Black people are still here in many forms.
8. For instance, in their employment policies, the big guns get generous salaries, house allowance, travelling expenses and bonuses. The poor Black man working in the same industry or enterprise cannot get adequate food, money, and has to accept poor treatment and insults as part of the price of holding the job.
9. In their housing policy, they have houses for the rich, housing for the middle-class and housing for the under-privileged. "Underprivileged" is only another name in Jamaica for poor Black people.
10. God did not say "come let us make underprivileged man, middle-class man, and rich man." He said "come let us make man." The existence of underprivileged man in Jamaica is a product of white and brown man supremacy.
11. The Rastafarian Movement has as its chief aim the complete destruction of all vesttiges of white supremacy in Jamaica, thereby putting an end to economic explotation and the social degradation of the Black people.
12. The Rastafarian Movement stands for Repatriation and power and for the fullest cooperation and intercourse between the Governments and people of Africa and a free and independent people of Jamaica.
13. The Rastafarina Movement, for the furtherance of these ends, must have the backing of its support to , or lead, a political movement of its own.
14. The Rastafarian Movement has the backing of no party. We are subject to persecution and discrimination.
15. The Rastafarian Movement has lent its support to the two big Parties, this support has been in vain because no improvement has taken place in our condition. Neither are we offered or do we see any hope.
16. The Rastafarian Movement therefore has decided to actively join the political struggle and create a political movement with the aim of taking power and implement measures for the uplift of the poor and oppressed.
17. Because we have no other aims than the legitimate aims of all Black people in this island as states in clause 2, this movement is open to all Black people, irrespective of class, riligion or financial standing.
18. We are not declaring against the political leadership of white men and brown men because of their colour; but becasue of the wickedness that they represent and invite them to repentance.
19. Consequently, if a man be as Black as night, his colour is in our estimation of no avail if he is an oppressor and destroyer of his people.
20. All men therefore are free irrespective of colour to join this political crusade. The only condition is that he must abandon evil.
21. Suffering Black people of Jamaica, let us unite and set up a righteous Government, under the slogan of Repatriation and Power.

Sam Brown's entry into politics, at that time, was an innovation contrary to Rastafarian philosophy and the pronouncements were contrary to Rastafarian beliefs, but Brown was a realist and, as such, was a man of foresight. His emphasis lay upon a strong foundation which actually blueprinted the routinization of the movement which gradually took place. His ideas predated even the Black Power Movement in America whose philosophy was similar to that of Brown's.
A look at the clauses of this document which appeared in 1961 suggests that Ras Sam Brown sas the eventual rountinization of the movement within his society. At that period when most Rastafarians were preparing to repatriate (in clause 1), he was saying that the movement is an " inseparable part of the Black people in Jamaica." He saw the movement as "not proclaiming any higher aims than the legitimate aims and aspirations" than those "of the Black people of Jamaica. "In clause 3 and 4, he advanced some ideas that were to be taken up by former prime minister of Jamaica in the fight against discrimination, ostracism, and oppression, towrd the recovery of dignity and self-respect and sovereignty of the Black people of Jamaica. On the subject of White and Brown supremacy, he again antedated the former prime minister who, although a member of an elite family of Jamaica, saw the need to reecho the entrenched problem of racism which has always menaced Jamaican society. In Jamaica, the ruling racial philosophy has always been "If you are Black, keep back! If you are Brown, stick around! If you are White, you are right!" What Ras Brown boldly attacked in 1961 was the same philosophy Michael Manley sought to destroy. The salary differential and working conditions referred to in clauses 8 and 9 were now incorporated by the Manley government. In the last budget speech given by Manley, the language attacking the privileges of the upper class and the professionals was indentical to that of Sam Brown. In clause 12, Sam Brown linked repatriation with the word "power," which when really interpreted means "liberation and power," and which also anticipated the present stance of the Rastafarians who now see "liberation before repatriation" as their goal. All this would suggest that the Rastafarians were the forerunners of the ideology of democratic socialism, the former political philosophy of the Jamaican government.
After the election, Brown was rejected by the movement as a radical who eventually split the movement. But he continued his political involvement to this day, and remains one of themost advanced thinkers of Rastafarianism.
At the time of my first interview with Ras Brown, the summer of 1965, he was still at his headquarters at 1000 Marcus Garvey Drive. A short review of this personal encounter and references from my field notes will set the stage for the second phase of routinization. The residence of Sam Brown was a small house consisting of two rooms. Just beyond this dwelling was a small yard in which all activities were centered. The signs about the yard impress themselves on the visitor in a symbolic way. Examples are:
Be happy about what is saved rather than gloomy about what has been lost.
The growl of a hungry stomach the rich knows not.
One God, One Aim, One Destiny.
Grudge is sin.
Cowards cannot win.
Informer beware.
All Black men are brothers.
On the day the author visited Ras Brown, he entered the yard through an inner gate within a larger gate. The atmosphere was suspicious until the purpose of the visit was reiterated and finally believed. There were some objections to taping the interview, but this was finally permitted upon the presentation of a few dollars. These preliminaries dispensed with, Ras Brown settled down to a most polished speech which is quoted verbatim:

It has ever been a mystery to the non-Rastafarians to know the standards of this faith. The mystery deepens with the knowledge that there is no textbook or manuscript dating back to actiquity that depicts the cult of the Rastafarians making any impact on the then-present world order. From the day of the first slave landing in Jamaica, possessing the knowledge of forcible displacement from his original habitat Ethiopia, until this day, has caused the slaves to be resentful and at times revengeful to the cause of their enforced exile and ultimate privation. While at the same time, in the majority of cases, such resentment is marked by a mask of abject docility. The resentment of the African to colonialzation and domination has expressed itself in many violent slave uprisings in this and other western lands. Quaco, Koffie, Accompong Nanny, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon, and the great Garvey were truly individual exponents of the same Rastafarian thoughts existing in their age. Such thoughts are: (1) basically, unanimity and a common racial heritage; (2) a god as seen through Black men's eyes discarding the questionable or mythical dogma of a European Jesus crucified; (3) the aim fro the beginning has been likened to the prodigal son. whom, after many vicissitudes, realized the place for his recovery was his home, hence our demand for an African Repatriation; and (4) one destiny exemplified by the obliteration of tribalism, thereby fostering unity in its entirety.
The Rastafarians are the fulfillers of all these with an additive exclusively his. Indeed, the Rastafarian is he who will never relinquish the fact that he is an African. He also never forgets that Britian was chief signator to the Act of an African return.
It is remarkable what pains the intellingensia will take in an effort to erase from the minds of the blacks of this country that we are Africans, telling us that we are Jamaicans and Negroes. Your Bible that was given us as a means of Christianizing clearly contradicts the ...plans of both local and universal Christianizers by its declarations: "The leopard cannot change his spot, neither the Ethiopian his skin" and also for the minds genuinely seeking a solution to the problem they have caused, to rid their conscience of hypocrisy, and take a new view of the situation and realize that the only Jamaican is the one originated here. For example, the extinct Arawak and the immediate mulatto. Remember there is no Negro from Negroland, neither Jamaicans from Africa. We have seen planned systems of partial genocide enacted time and again. You cannot kill a problem; it beggars your solution. The seeming fanaticism of the Rastafarians in regards to black and white in all aspects, stems from the knowledge of the past that we were the shackled slaves on the Estates, and even unto this day it remains a fact that the historians of tomorrow will record us the Blacks, notwithstanding category, as the slaves of the present day. It is only a matter of time boosted by extremem pressures of the Europeans and his derivatives, that all black peoples, especially the under-priviledged ones, will realize that possessed with the spirit of black emancipation, all the sons of Africa, notwithstanding shades, are one. In Jamaica we see a planned system of propaganda based on isolation of the Rastafarians, not only from society, but even among those blacks who have not yet emerged from the obscurity of themselves. The Rastafarian does not naturally hate any member of mankind, but determinedly detested systems which will not allow the true brotherhood of men to blossom forth in its full richness. We are not bent on the destructionof the figure of God, which is man, but of confederacies bent on wickedness and suppression of the poor.
It is greatly scandalized throughout the world that the Rastafarian is a ready vehicle for communism, a fleshpot who deified ganja. The truth is he deals with all things with a sense of normality, and on "ism," it is purely an African Brand.
The Rastafarian is quite aware of the fact that all past and present government is reluctant to deal with the Rastafarian problem, but instad brands us with the stigma of ganja as a pretext for continued prepression. Nevertheless, we of the Rastafarian order know that brutality of punishment is no detriment to the human will. The willingness of the majority of African States to accept their exiled offsprings is enough incentive to continue our struggle to a victoriuos conclusion, and prove to these twentieth-century Pharaohas that power of will without discretion or self control leads to destruction.
So in concluding, I take this medium of appealing to the Christian-minded people of Jamaica, to use their unbiased minds and honour the rights of all sections of the people, thereby proving to the world that independence in Jamaica is not only a White Hall dictated mockery.

The first interview with Sam Brown was mainly observational. He took the initiative in supplying much information. At the close of the visit he invited the author to a special strategy meeting on Sunday, July 11, 1965, at which most the brethren of his group were present. (The presence of the author was somewhat disconcerting to some of the group.) Since the same distrust of unbearded men prevailed among these brethren as among all others, Ras Brown introduced the author as a student of African history, asking him to say a few words about his interest in the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica. After a short speech by this author, the tension was visibly relaxed, at the conclusion of which Brown rose and addressed the gathering on the purpose of the meeting. Part of this address, taken in longland follows:

We are gathered here Brethren to reorganize our groups to save the people of Jamaica. We have to harass the people who have us under their feet. A large river starts with a little stream. This is not a new work; it is the liberation movement of Africans abroad. We will have to fight here with all our means. We did not have the means in 1961 or else we would have toppled the political parties of this country. No rebel army in the world can defeat us. The white man's age is coming to an end; all we have to do is to move. We are starting back but we have to reorganize. Each man among us must take on some responsibility. We are not many but this is a nucleus. We must get back on the street with agitation. We cannot sit down now; we must begin. (Referring to the researcher, he said:) We hope this man writing here will later substantiate our effort with what he will write. This is not the day of Garvey; this is a new day---we cannot stop now. This government will one day beg Africa to take us because England and Canada will not take us, so with no place to send us and with the population explosion there is going to be hunger here. We must start. Algeria has 20,000,000 people but only 3,000 of her men were in the liberation movement at first.
Plenty of our men got discouraged when did not win. But Jah Rasta helps only those who help themselves. We will fill the roads again.

Toward the end of 1965, social tension, acts of vandalism, and gang warfare became frequent in Shanty-Town. Due to the heavy concentration of cultists in this part of Kinston, this renewed social unrest was attributed to the Rastafarians. This led not only to the arrest of Ras Sam Brown, but also to the destruction of the Back-O-Wall area itself---an act which brought torrents of criticism on the heads of government, but more importantly a dispersion of the various Rastafarian groups to seek greener pastures both at the edge of the city and to other parts of the island.

The Destruction of Back-O-Wall

Although the government had plans to develop the area known as Fourshore Raod which included Back-O-Wall as an industrial complex, the social upheavals which grew tense at the end of 1965 appeared to have hastened the need for its destruction. The author was an eyewitness to this historic situation and shall report this incident from notes gathered furing the operation.
On the morning of July 12, 1966, at precisly 9 A.M., a regiment of 250 police from all over the city assembled at the Denham Town Police Station, opposite Back-O-Wall. Armed with guns, bayonets, pistols, and clubs, ther scene resembled a preparation for battle. Squatters caught without notice saw several bulldozers roaring down the street toward their dilapidated shacks and, with the sharp deployment of the police at key points in the area, the government "clean-up" campaign began. When it finally dawned on the "shantyites" that judgment day had arrived, many made a mad rush to save their few belongings. For the most part, others stood in amazement and watched their homes of many years reduced to rubble by the giant machines. When the first raided camp was demolished, a blazing fire of unknown origin consumed what remained to ashes while the fire company stood by. The sorrows and sufferings of the people were too much to report. In three days, three camps were destroyed and hundreds of people were left abandoned with only the rags on their backs. Hundreds simply moved into the nearby graveyard, setting up temporary shelters; others found some comfort at the Spanish Town Roman Catholic Church and others simply lodged on sidewalks.
Of three camps destroyed in 1966 the most important were the Rastafarian Movement Recruitment Center of Sam Brown, and the African National Congress of Prince Edward Emanuel. The Rastafarians took the ordeal mildly; they accepted the destruction as only another incident of government's brutality to the poor and need, further confirming their desire for Ethiopia. During the operation, A Rastafarian woman stood on the sidewalk and sang:

Since we are squatters in Jmaica
Send us back to Ethiopia
We will be citizens there.

As usual the forcible removal of the squatters of Back-O-Wall brought torrents of public reaction, most of it against the government. The national weekly, Public Opinion, wrote:

The bulldozers were ordered by government into action and have completed their dastardly destruction, leaving hundreds shelterless and in absolute destitution. Operation "bulldoze and burn" was exectued with ruthless efficiency, indicating meticulous advanced planning and anyone who witnessed the devastation of the settlements and the devastation of the poorest of our poor people must wonder whether in the government, we have men or monsters.

A letter to the Daily Gleaner entitled "Unfortunate People" asked: "Is this the new independent Jamaica which boasts of decent democracy?" Then, alluding to the squatters in the cemetery, the writer appealed to the citizens of the island to aid the unfortunate youths:

I am asking and appealing to every decent citizen to try and save these young children from sleeping on the tombs of May Pen Cemetery. I do not see where the living have any right to be mixing up with the spirits of the dead.

The church and the government were later to help many of these people, but Back-O-Wall was no more. The destruction of the area was to become a political struggle, but many of the residents blamed their troubles on Sam Brown and the Rastafarians.

The Visit of the King of Kings

The visit of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie to Jamaica took place on April 21, 1966, and continued for four eventful days. It should be noted that the visit of the Emperor had nothing to do with the Rastafarians, but they eventually received great publicity as a result of his visit. Jamaica was included in the Emperor's itinerary when members of the Afro-Caribbean Affairs and other African nationalists organizations were informed that Haile Selassie was to visit Trinidad and Tobago at the invitation of Dr. Eric Williams, then prime minister of that region. A telegram from these Jamaican organizations to their governtment requesting that the Emperor include Jamaica on his agenda received a favorable reply. When the announcement appeared int he press, the Rastafarian movement was stirred to feverish pitch with the expectation of immediate repatriation. Every cultist in the island began to prepare for what the Greek New Testament called a "parousia." On the day of his arrival, Dr. M. B. Douglas, one of the nationalists instrumental in bringing the Emperor and an eyewitness of the airport scene, gave the author this report:

There were no less than 100,000 people at the airport to meet him. The Rastafarians numbered at least 10,000. The morning was rainy and many people were soaking wet. Before the arrival of the plane the Rastafarians said that "as soon as our God comes, the rain will stop." This turned out somewhat like a miracle, because the rain stopped as soon as the plane landed. As soon as the plane had come to a stop, the Rastafarians responded with a roar of joy and surged out on the tarmac, each one pushing to get a touch of the plane. When the Emperor saw the people, the Rastafarian flags, the cheering and singing,---he wept.
The crowd was so thick around the plane that the Emperor was unable to get out for close to thirty minutes. The police tried in vain to restore order, so I was called by the Haitian Ambassador, I being one of the Nationalist Leaders to speak to the crowd; but not being a Rastafarian I suggested the name of Martimo Planno, who was called over the public address system to the plane. He went up the ramp, shook hands with the Emperor, turned and informed the crowd to clear the way for the descent of the Emperor. This was done and the Emperor came down from the plane, but by this time all the official plans for the welcome ceremony, that is common to ruling monarches, were completely destroyed. The Emperor got into his car and rode off to King's House. The Rastafarians were not interested in protocol or official welcome, their explanation was:
"This is our day! This is our God! It is him we come to see! It is we who welcome him!"

Dr. Douglas said that in his experience no monarch had ever received such a welcome in the history of Jamaica. Serveral special occasions were planned in honor of the Emperor in which he met with members of the island's African organizations at King's House and at the Sheraton Hotel. At least sixty of the leading brethren of Rastafarians were officially invited. The official invitation cards and the Ethiopian medals in gold which were given the Rastafarian leaders are now sacred items of the movement and many were viewed by the author. The Rastafarians' papers were filled with comments on their evaluation of the meaning of the visit. One read:

For the first time in the history of Jamaica Rastafari Brethren and persons of Back-to-Africa movements were officially invited to King's House: Glory be to the visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Although we were born here, the privilege was never granted to us until April 21,1966. It was a mixed assemblage at King's House. The Rases were there, the aristocrats were there, the peasants and outcasts were there. It was a real occasion of the haves and have nots. It took Ras Tafari in person to occasion the reality, "that all men were created equal...."The King of Kings and Lord of Lords did not think himself too highly to leave his High Throne in Ethiopia to sit on a chair in King's House among the servants of the earth.

Another Rastafarian leader states, "His coming lifted us from the dust and caused us to sit with princes of this country;" while yet another saw his visit as comparable to the triumphal entry of Christ in Jerusalem.
The Emperor's visit gave the Rastafarians a great boost in prestige. Many of the elite who had paid little attention to the movement suddenly saw their Rasta leaders in resplendent robes moving about and receiving greater attention than they in King's House. This was especially true of the Rastafarian brethren who had visited Ethiopia in the 1961 mission. The Emperor, although obviously elated at the outpouring of the praise toward him, had little to say of the daily comments of the presslinking his name with the cultists. Dr. Douglas however stated that the Emperor said that, "He never dreamt that he had such a following in this far away country where people never saw him before."
Two important developments resulted from the Emperor's visit. The first was the special private communication which was said to have been given by the King to some of the leading brethren. This communique was that the brethren should not seek to immigrate to Ethiopia until they ahd liberated the people of Jamaica. This new ideology, "liberaton before migration," has become the routinization technique of the younger members of the movement and has worked wonders in the adjustment of Rastafarians to the realities of Jamaican life. The second development is the celebration of April 21 as a special holy day for the movement. The coming of Haile Selassie to Jamaica, then, proved an important event in the routinization of the movement in the life of the island.

The Process of Routinization

The process of routinization of the movement in Jamaica was aided by many factors and on various levels. First, we look at the role of the government. During the 1960's the ruling party of Jamaica searched desparately to aid the movement to repatriate to Africa or to Ethiopia. Lacking any practical logistics, this project was quietly dropped. Instead, a period of benign neglect appeared to have replaced the government's response. Most official pressures were lifted from Rastafarian activities, which meant less police harassment for small incidents, and some recommendations set out in the University Report were instituted, such as building better facilities for the cultists, providing them with jobs, and incorporating some of their creative activities in the Jamaica National Festivals. On many occasions, the Rastafarians received medals for thier outstanding performances and wood work. This new attitude must be accredited to the insight of Edward Seaga, the present prime minister and noted sociologist who did much to promote the folk culture of Jamaica in yearly festivals. This gradual integration of Rastafarian creativity into the mainstream of Jamaican expressions gave them a feeling of importance to society. On the other hand, the former government began to turn its eye the other way to the Rastafarian capture of "crown lands" where communal communities began to develop. On these lands the cultists built their homes where they lived and worked tax free. This new trend aided the growth of the movement immensely. In addition, the government's ministers began to talk favorably about the cultists, to adapt their lifestyle in speech, if not in dress and appearance.
The second factor of routinization must be attributed to the dynamics of the movement itself. Encouraged by the publicity during the emperor's visit, the movement was challenged to prove itself worthy of the positive evaluation given. This immediately set loose a wave of hitherto unknown industry by the brethren. One of their first contributions was music. Almost from the beginning of the Rastafarian movement, a new drumbeat, totally unrelated to any other cult music, came into being. The originator of this beat was the famous Count Ossie, now a legendary figure in the movement. He was a member of the Rastafarian Repatriation Association of Adastra Road in Eastern Kingston from the start of the group. The group is now known as "The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari" and was probably the first to record the music of the brethren in a landmark three-record album called "Grounation." This album was to be the beginning of what has become Jamaican musical industry, for today Rastafarian music is heard in Jamaica, the United Stated, England, and Africa. No musical event of importance would be complete without the appearance of important Rastafarian artists about whom we shall speak later.
Along with music, Rastafarian art has now become the pride of Jamaica. The etchings of Ras Heartman are sought after by Jamaicans, tourists, and art collectors. Hundreds of sculptors have emerged among the brethren and the tourist sculpture of Jamaica is totally Rastafarian. The author has seen Rastafarian sculptures of fine quality that bring as much as seven hundred Jamaican dollars. Their painters have also received many awards for their work in Jamaican art exhibitions. These few examples show how the Rastafarians have aided in the routinization of the movement within the Jamaican social structure, but it does not say that they have allowed themselves to be co-opted. They are aware of their role as a movement for change and, though their tactics have changed, their strategy remains in their creation and production of songs, music, and sculpture. These have now become the medium through which the message is spoken.
But there is a third and final ingredient to the process of routinization , and that is the acceptanace and support by the masses of the Rastafarians, as the avant garde who are carrying the fight for freedom, justice, and a better Jamaica. The overwhelming majority of poore youths and a large segment of the priviledged youth ahve become either Rastafarians or sympathizers. Ras Brown states that six out of ten underprivileged Jamaicans are now Rastafarians or sympathizers. So influential is the Rastafarian movement that even the former government turned to them for an answer to the crime wave and violence on the island. A commentary on the times was solicited from Ras Brown during the emergency which these criminal activities created. He sent a written manuscript to the Jamaica Broadcasting Company for use as a national statement of the Rastafarian; it was never used. Ras Brown has consented for it to be incorporated in this book. The content of this tightly-written paper should leave no doubt in the mind of the reader that the Rastafarians are now commited to radical social change in Jamaica. The paper presented here is a slightly edited version:

By this excerpt I will try to give my impressions on the current situation of unrest and violence bedeviling the country, and try to impart advice towards its solution. Brutal severity of punishment is no detriment to the human will. The rapings, maimings, killings of the ghetto must be kept within its confines. The hordes of slaves who are rated the lowest in the society seek a release from their dilemma. The ghettoman, who is introverted, when consciousness of his identity and of his brothers dawned on him, he tends to become extroverted. Natural envy takes hold of his consciousness, he attacks the suburbanite, committing the unpardonable sin. Even the educated slaves who hold the authority of life and death over the inhabitants of ghetto dare not commit the sin of uncouthness against suburbia. The disturbed ghettoites are not being fused in the melting pot of time. The stringency of enactments will fail to arrest the global movement now taking place. The turbulent ghettoite does not readily see himself distinctly racial, so his struggles are for the opportunities, the rights of man. The angry young man of the ghetto spawned in poverty and filth, coming to maturity, views with alarm and envy the imbalance of affluences and wealth in favor of high society. The inducements of abortion, the stringency of laws and other deterrents will not provide the solutions to the problems. This is definitely a struggle against class bondage; the only solution of which the society is well aware is more equitable distribution of the wealth. As long as society continues to make a mockery of justice by denying the rights of the poor, the turbulence of the ghetto willeventually overspill, leading to ultimate anarchy, the various media of communications coupled with desperation, due to the seemingly impossible positon unured theghettoman to desperate boldness, one who will not be cowed by amorued might or military personnel. If the people are content no one needs live in fear.
Suburbia will not attack itself, so laws for the constraining of violence are laws of the ghetto, wearing a democratic mask. A society of equality and justice does not live by the gun. Without defending a particular system, one would ask, are there ghettos in the U.S.A., Britain, the Soviet Union, or the English-speaking Caribbean? It is futile for the rulers of these ghetto colonies to foster the idea that bias to the ruling society or reliance on the protection of amoured might will be able to arrest the rolling ball of the peoples' revolution. Killing on the whole is reprehensible, yet every life created by divine laws to fulfill a role is important. Yet no national outcry or mourning is experienced at the demise of the ghetto person. If the changing tide of world conflict won't, then economic pressure will, compel all sections of down-pressed people---for example, police, soldiers, and the ghetto people---to look in one direction. As water pressure develops in an insecure dam, its banks eventually give way---

. If the rulers really stand for the good of all the people, they must accept the fact that the present system is in error, and bad administration is the parent of crime. Without ownership of lands one cannot amount to much. The overcrowded ghetto needs land settlements, and the status it carries. It is not hidden from the sight of the silent majority that in these colonial territories, whether independent or economically tied, that nine-tenths of the agricultural and arable lands are captured by a small minority class, thereby helping to foster overcrowding ghettos.
The historians with prophetic insight do not marvel at the times. They know that these unrests are the foetal stages of the Black Revolution which is global. It is heart-rending to the leaders of Western democratic systems to know that any land on earth tinged with the poson of colonialism in any guise, will be embattled by the people, the system eventually becoming victims to the hordes of the new order---now being conscious that they who manipulate they system are the barriers to freedom and betterment. It is significant that the majority of riots and demonstrations occurring in the Western Hemisphere are being doen by black youths. Youths who now master the construction of projectile arms, who now manufacture most deadly homemade weapons. It seems only a matter of time for the mastery of the complication of the hydrogen bomb to be possible. The winds of change have caused the colonials to unlock their grips on the lands of the East. Yet the Western Hemisphere, democracy's last outpost, stands ready to massacre the slaves other than ceding the rights of man. The democratic countries did pledge ont he Charter of Human Rights, without its implementation, lasting peace in these parts in only an illusive wish.

The commentary on the times by Sam Brown is just a sample of the level of philosophical and political astuteness found among the cultists. Their ability to face perceived opponents on various levels keeps the opponent in a state of confusion. On one level the movement is purely religious; on another level the movement appears to be a separatist organization looking toward Ethiopia and immediate repatriation, yet seeking integration within the society. Language like the above with all the rhetoric of a born revolutionary is common. This kind of technique is what theoreticians call "revolutionary judo." This technique aims at emphasizing the gap between the ideal values of the society and the actual behavior which denied them, and by so doing incurs feelings of guilt among opponents. This has the effect of stimulating the establishment to action for social change. Revolutionary judo also allows the cult members to define their perceptions of social reality in ways unfamiliar to the opponent, against which they have no socially defined defense; in other words, the cultists are able to "tell it like it is," while the opponent is more likely to cover up the gaps with hypocrisies. And finally, the word magic of the revolutionary cult movement often creates visions of Armageddon in the mind of the establishment which forces it to commit indiscretions that more often than not turn to the movement's advantage.
As we have seen, the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica has demonstrated all the classical techniques of a real revitalization movement. It emerged from a period of stress brought on by a perceived cultural and social distortion, and moved through a period of heightened tension in search of a reformulation of the mazeway by adopting an ideology, relics of which were well known to the culture; the movement then undetook the task of communicating this ideology, resulting in mass recruitment and a loosely structured organization. By astutely maneuvering against the opposition, the movement attained some acceptance. This acceptance, however, was only a stage in the movement's goals. It further sought to adapt itself tot he social and cultural relaities of Jamaica by susing a variety of strategies which often creat confusion in the minds of the opponents. On the strategy of a movment's behaviour, Anthony F. C. Wallace writes:

The movement may therefore have to use various strategies of adaptation: doctrinal modification, polotical and diplomatic maneuver, and force. These strategies are not mutually exclusive nor, once chosen, are they necessarily maintained therogh the life of the movement. In most instances the original doctrine is continuously modified by the prophet, who responds to various criticisms and affirmations by adding to, emphasizing, playing down, and eliminatin selected elements of the original visions.

We have seen that all these strategies have been used by the Rastafarians up to this point. We now turn to the discussion of the movement today and its future on the island.