The First Rasta

Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism

By: Helene Lee

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Paperback | 1 January 2004

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306 Pages

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22.6 x 15.3 x 1.9

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Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell''s message, and through Marley''s visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.

Industry Reviews

"Powerful historical and social forces come together in Lee's extraordinarily useful book. The First Rasta moves with a truth seeker's determination through the slums of Trenchtown and Jamaica's back country, revealing a dauntingly complex landscape and history in which oral history is often more reliable than the written record." -- Publishers Weekly "Incredible ... a spellbinding saga ... Lee's insightful combination of toughness and sensitivity is amazing." -- The Beat "The loose threads of Rasta history [are] impressively woven into a flag of green, red, and gold ... a clear-eyed political history." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Acknowledgments	p. v
Introduction	p. vii
The Footsteps of a Spirit	p. 1
The Bird Hunter	p. 9
En Route to New York	p. 19
Harlem	p. 27
Athlyi Rogers, Forerunner of the Rasta Movement	p. 37
Early Companions	p. 45
The Ethiopianists	p. 53
First Sermons in St. Thomas	p. 63
Jail House	p. 81
The Nya-Binghis	p. 89
The Hindu Legacy	p. 97
From One Prison to Another	p. 109
Bloody '38	p. 119
Pinnacle	p. 125
Life in the Hills	p. 135
The First Raid	p. 145
Howell and the Women	p. 153
Ganja Plantation	p. 161
Like Children of God in Paradise	p. 169
A Stroll in Paradise	p. 177
Howell and Bustamante	p. 183
The 1954 Raid	p. 189
The Ghettos	p. 201
Pinnacle's Last Days	p. 211
God or the Devil?	p. 221
The New Culture	p. 227
Rasta Music-Kumina or Burru?	p. 233
Count Ossie	p. 241
The 1960s	p. 255
Reggae Stars	p. 275
Twelve Tribes	p. 283
The End	p. 291
Notes	p. 297
Index	p. 303
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

The First Rasta

Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Reggae

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