The Rastafarian Movement in United States and Canada

Representatives from the United States and Canada at the Second International Assembly of Rastafari, held in July 1983, all testified to the tremendous growth of Rastafarianism on the North American continent. Although there were members present from Montreal and Toronto, the largest delegations were from the United States, from cities such as New York, Boston, Rochester, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles, to name only a few. Both the vintage Rastas and Twelve Tribes have branches in North America. One Twelve Tribes spokesperson told me that "there are Twelve Tribes in every state of the Union, but our headquarters is in New York." Although there has been no systematic research on the Rastafarian movement in the United States, I have evidence that there are Rastas in almost all the states in the Union. From time to time I have received letters from Rastafarians in prison
from Mississippi to North Dakota. Outside of the large metropolitan cities, however, the movement is highly suspect, and dreadlocks are under constant surveillance by the police. In the summer of 1983, a column by Jack Anderson entitled "Terrorists Infiltrate Rastafarians; U.S. Fears" claimed that "a little-known Marxist-oriented black-supremacy group" had penetrated the Rastafarians. Anderson went on to warn that "terrorism experts believe that the racist Marxist-tinged criminal elements of the cult, already armed to the teeth, will begin striking at American political targets in the next few years. . . . One reason for official alarm is that the criminal Rastafarians have succeeded in getting brand-new small arms, possibly by intimidating Jamaicans who work at U.S. arms factories." Anderson quoted a U.S. Customs Service intelligence report as stating that "while many religious Rastafarians are peaceful citizens who do not believe in the use of violence . . . the distinct subculture and use of illegal drugs has enabled criminals, the mentally deranged and revolutionaries to penetrate the sect. . . . Because of its obsession with black supremacy, drugs, and its adherents' asocial conduct and lifestyle, the cult is in conflict with all forms of authority. . . . Even without the added potential of organized criminal or Marxist manipulations, these factors make explosions of Rastafarian violence not only possible, but probable."18
This column was followed by another entitled "Jamaica Ex-Premier linked to Rastafarians." It stated that "law enforcement officials and documents also reveal that the renegade Rastafarians have links to former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley."19
These syndicated articles were reprinted in most of the Eastern Caribbean island papers within a few days. The two articles were alarmingly dangerous in that they contained elements of truth closely juxtaposed with errors and innuendo. Anderson's prediction that armed elements of the cult would begin striking at American political targets in the next few years was too vague to believe. Moreover, the suggestion that criminal elements among the Rastafarians
might be receiving small arms from "Jamaicans who work at U.S. arms factories" could have precipitated a witch hunt among Jamaican-American citizens. The articles did throw some light on the Rastafarian communities in the United States, and the existence of criminal elements among the Rastafarians cannot be denied. But the articles' insistence that these elements are not Rastafarians was probably overlooked by most readers.
Another indication that the Rastafarian movement has affected American lives may be deduced from the two documentaries done by Dan Rather. Beginning on December 7, 1980, Rather, anchorperson for CBS nightly news, did two documentaries on the Rastafarian movement on the prestigious program "60 Minutes." The first show covered the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica, and featured interviews with Professor Rex Nettleford, Arthur Kitchen (a well-known Rastafarian journalist for the Jamaica Daily Gleaner], and a medical doctor involved with the movement. The broadcast was a fair interpretation of the Jamaican movement, with positive points made by all those who were interviewed. Bob Marley and the world of reggae were duly highlighted. The second show covered the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, located on Star Island (Miami Beach, Florida) and at White Horses (St. Thomas, Jamaica). At the time of the broadcast the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, which claimed a connection with Rastafarianism, was involved in a celebrated struggle with the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, in which they had been indicted for the use of marijuana as a sacrament. The juxtaposition of these movements, both originating in Jamaica, both using the name of Rastafarianism, and both using the "holy herb," was a bit confusing for the ordinary viewer. For this reason a brief discussion of the Ethiopian Coptic Church may be helpful.
The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church emerged in Jamaica as one of the splinter groups of the Ethiopian World Federation, all of which claimed allegiance to Ras Tafari. The church started at Mountain View Avenue, and drifted from one
1981 the Jamaica Bar Association requested that the movement be studied so that its true activities could be documented. To this day no one has undertaken such a study. The original Jamaican founders of the movement have faded into the background as the American branch has usurped the front page in both Jamaica and the United States. The Ethiopian Zion Coptic case in Florida finally came to trial; the church lost the case, and the leaders are now in jail. Although the movement has close doctrinal ties with the Rastafarians, it is important to distinguish between the two movements. The true Rastafarians believe in the divinity of Jah Rastafari; the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, like members of the Ethiopian World Federation, believes in the kingship of Rastafari, but it also holds that marijuana is an absolute, an eternally "sacred weed" that is an indispensable part of their religion. At this writing, the movement continues, but with a low profile.

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