historical light on Rasta involvement in politics

Rastafari and politics

LOUIS EA MOYSTON Jamaican Observer Tuesday, August 21, 2001

LOUIS MOYSTON

IN recent years we have witnessed the emergence and participation of more political parties in local politics. In this thrust, there is a re-emergence of the element of Rastafari in party politics. Prior to the formation of the dominant political parties in Jamaica, the Rastafarian Movement was an established political sphere, a new centre of power that challenged the colonial and ex-slave legacy. In 1961, Ras Sam Brown made the trailblazing entry into representational politics. He received fewer than 100 votes but he made a point. This article examines aspects of the contribution of Ras Sam Brown to Rasta and politics in Jamaica. It asks to what extent is the resurgence of Rasta in representational politics influenced by the pioneering role of Ras Sam Brown?

From 1934 to 1954 the chief philosopher of the Rastafari Movement, Leonard P Howell, laid the philosophical foundations and established a practical approach to the building of a new Jamaican society. From its inception, the movement has played a most important political role in the building of the black consciousness movement among the ex-slave population. The movement and its leader were harassed by efforts of the colonial society to "arrest" its development. The use of sedition to imprison Howell and to curb the utterances of the movement lost its effect in the attempts to destroy this thrust against colonialism and conquest. It is often cited that the emergence and development of the Rastafari movement urged the colonial society to give early recognition to the middle-class expression of Jamaican nationalism and party development in the 1930s. It was in 1961 that Ras Sam Brown organised a Rastafarian-based political party and entered the election of the same year. As the police and military raid smashed Howell's thrust in 1954, the destruction of "Back-o-wall" in 1966 destroyed the base and political organisation of Ras Brown. Like the 1954 destruction, the seeds of Rastafari were scattered once more after the 1966 forced removal of the "Back-o-wall" residents. In recent years we have witnessed an increasing participation of Rastas in elected politics. Unlike the era of Ras Brown, it is very difficult to grasp what they stand for. Are they Rasta-based candidates or candidates who are Rastas?

Ras Sam Brown was exceptional in his approach because he declared a party that was Rastafari-centred and community-based. His thrust in party politics was accompanied by his famous "21-point plan". This plan became known as the Foundation of the Rastafari Movement. He was not successful at the polls but his movement left an indelible mark in the history of the development of the Movement and politics in modern Jamaica. Ras Sam Brown died in August of 1998 while attending an International Conference, Trade Fair and Cultural Expo in Barbados. He was bold in the pronouncements of the "21-point plan" as he strayed away from some of the traditional calls from the movement and in some ways he redefined the role of Rastafari in terms of how it saw this society. This column salutes another anniversary of the passing of this controversial and outstanding Rastafarian figure.

This Rastafarian is described as a fine orator and excellent thinker by one observer who interviewed him. His political intervention was instructive and purposeful. He was not in politics for the publicity. He was running around the country as if he was chasing the camera. He established ideas and a base upon which he sought to build a movement. It is important to note that his intervention aims not only to seek a new role for Rasta but also to develop a new consciousness. One observer notes that his "black power" thrust was earlier than the emergence of the movement in the USA and its interpretation in Jamaica.

THIS first intervention by a Rastafarian in party political activities provided new insights to the public of the movement. His Suffering People's Party received fewer than 100 votes in the 1961 elections.

His plan was developed at the end of the federation and at the time of the construction of the new constitution and at the eve of independence. At that time mainstream politics shunned the politics of African Nationalism: the condition was made worse by the inability of the black community to assert itself as a powerful force. It was against this background that Dr Carl Stone made this acute observation: "Jamaican blacks as individuals have developed enormous self-confidence over the years but lack strong ethnic allegiance on the false premise that loyalty to the country requires that black man deny his sense of allegiance to black ethnic membership." (Gleaner 11/87)

Ras Brown attempted to put the issue of Rastafari and black people on the centre of the national political agenda. Though race conscious he preached racial harmony. The following is a selection from Ras Sam Brown's 21-point plan. It is extracted from Leonard Barrett's The Rastafarians:

*Members of the Rastafarians' movement are an inseparable part of the black Jamaican people.

* As such we cannot and do not proclaim any higher aims than the legitimate aims and aspiration of the black people of Jamaica.

*The Rastafarian Movement stands for freedom to its fullest sense and for the recovery of dignity, self-respect and sovereignty of the black people of Jamaica.

*The Rastafarian movement, for the furtherance of these ends, must have the backing and support to lead a political party of its own.

*The Rastafarian movement has the backing of no political party. We are the subject of persecution and discrimination.

*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 upliftment of the poor and the oppressed.

*All men, therefore, are free, irrespective of colour to join this political crusade. The only condition is that he must abandon evil.

Ras Sam Brown captured the idea of power to the people before it was made popular by Manley in the 1970s. He managed to go against some of the popular interpretations of the movement when he developed his 21-point plan and entered in the 1961 election. Most amazing was his attempt to organise the "Back-o-wall" community as his political base. After independence there was an emergence of "rude boy" culture, as gang warfare engulfed the shanty town. Events in 1964 led to the arrest of Ras Sam Brown. By July 1966, bulldozers and fire levelled "Back-o-wall". For a second time a prominent Rastafarian community was destroyed resulting in the second scattering of the seeds of the movement. What is the impact of the twice "scattering of seeds" on the development of the movement of Rastafari? To what extent has the new thrust by Rastafari candidates and parties been influenced by the contribution of Ras Sam Brown?