Rastafari and the Arts: An Introduction

301 Pages·2015·2.28 MB·English

by  Darren J. N. Middleton

RASTAFARI AND THE ARTS
Drawing on literary, musical, and visual representations of and by Rastafari,
Darren J. N. Middleton provides an introduction to Rasta through the arts, broadly
conceived. The religious underpinnings of the Rasta movement are often over-
shadowed by Rasta’s association with reggae music, dub, and performance poetry.
Rastafari and the Arts: An Introduction takes a fresh view of Rasta, considering the
relationship between the artistic and religious dimensions of the movement in
depth. Middleton’s analysis complements current introductions to Afro-Caribbean
religions and offers an engaging example of the role of popular culture in illumi-
nating the beliefs and practices of emerging religions. Recognizing that outsiders
as well as insiders have shaped the Rasta movement since its modest beginnings in
Jamaica, Middleton includes interviews with members of both groups, including:
Ejay Khan, Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah, Geoffrey Philp, Asante Amen, Reggae
Rajahs, Benjamin Zephaniah, Monica Haim, Blakk Rasta, Rocky Dawuni, and
Marvin D. Sterling.
Darren J. N. Middleton is Honors Faculty Fellow and Professor of Religion in
The John V. Roach Honors College, Texas Christian University. He has published
eight books, received several teaching awards, and he lives in Fort Worth.
This page intentionally left blank
RASTAFARI AND
THE ARTS
An Introduction
Darren J. N. Middleton
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Darren J. N. Middleton to be identifi ed as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without
intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Middleton, Darren J. N., 1966-
Rastafari and the arts : an introduction / Darren Middleton.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Rastafari movement. 2. Arts and religion. I. Title.
BL2532.R37.M53 2015
299.6'76167—dc23 2014029637
ISBN: [978-0-415-83188-8] (hbk)
ISBN: [978-0-415-83189-5] (pbk)
ISBN: [978-0-203-48165-3] (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
In honor of
Asante Amen, Rocky Dawuni, Geoffrey Philp, and Benjamin Zephaniah,
for teaching me how to drop it metaphysical
and to
S. Brent Plate,
for bringing my religious theory to its senses
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xiii
1 A Smart Way to View Rastafari 1
2 Rastafari Literary Art 42
3 Rastafari’s Righteous Wail: From Reggae to Dub Poetry 89
4 Benjamin Zephaniah: Postcolonial Performance Poet 134
5 The Reel Rasta: Selected Documentary Films 153
6 Artful Africans at Home and Abroad: Ghana and Japan 181
Epilogue: Commodifying Rastafari 224
Appendix I: Dr. M’s Rasta Riddims Playlist 231
Appendix II: Seven Sacred Sites and Wonders of the Rastafari World 238
Appendix III: Lois Cordelia: Art, the Bible, Rastafari, and Social Media 241
Selected Bibliography 245
Selected Webliography 271
Index 273
This page intentionally left blank
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Back in the early 1980s, when I was not day-dreaming of captaining England’s
cricket team, I would watch my father on his way to work, jostling with the strik-
ing coalminers recently arrived from Yorkshire—the hostile pickets who keyed his
car and called him a ‘scab.’ In retrospect, I was caught somewhere between fantasy
and reality, a liminal fi gure, though at the time I did not recognize, much less
use, such fancy phrasing. Still, I am here today because my mates and our music
rescued me. Time and again reggae’s drum-and-bassline, the soundscape for the
Nottingham housing estate where I was born and raised, made me smile and kept
me real. Friends who spun such records were mostly Jamaican Rastafari, children
of postwar immigrants to England, and all of them were eager to evangelize—to
help me grasp the sadness and grace and joy and rage of reggae, its easygoing good
times and its militant uprightness. I was an easy convert. Day after day I unplugged
my ears, released the madness, and heard the Siren’s Song. In 1985, the song was
“Picture on the Wall” by Natural Ites, a hometown band who put a local face on
this global sound and word; after heeding their hymn to the divinity of His Impe-
rial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, my life was never the same.
Although I never took a course in ‘Rastafari Studies’ from the three British
universities I attended, independent research has taken me to several continents,
keen to hear the soundings of sistren and brethren as well as to participate in their
reasonings. I have been fortunate to spend a year journeying throughout Jamaica;
to DJ a ‘religion and the arts’ reggae show on Tennessee community radio; to con-
duct ethnographic research on devotees who have made their home in Ghana and
Senegal; and, to develop alliances with Rastafari artists around the globe. Again,
looking back, I realize that I have learned more from such people and places than
what is contained within my book’s covers. Written after careful observing, read-
ing, and listening, Rastafari and the Arts is intended primarily for undergraduate