The myth of Garvey and Rasta

Tomorrow marks the 123rd anniversary of the birth of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, one of the greatest black leaders and philosophers of the 20th century (not forgetting Martin Luther King Jr), and one of the greatest of all times.

Professor Carolyn Cooper claimed in her column yesterday, 'Claiming Garvey and Rastafari', that Garvey would certainly endorse the inaugural Rastafari Studies conference hosted by the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the UWI, Mona this week. Garvey may possibly have been willing to endorse the conference for some reason, but not for the reason of affinity between himself and Rastafari on some critical points.

One of the prevailing myths of the culture is that Marcus Garvey was some kind of proto-Rasta. The Rastafarian movement, aided by 'scholarship', has (mis)appropriated Garvey as a special icon of the movement. Professor Cooper has previously functioned as a medium for bringing messages from the dead, like Morris Cargill, and may indeed have a message from Garvey. But from Garvey's own copious words while alive, it is extraordi-narily doubtful if he would ever be a locksman dragging on the sacramental chalice and shouting "Selassie I, Jah Rastafari" and 'bun Jesas'.

Inchoate movement

Rastafarianism is a rather inchoate movement, something which we hope a serious conference of scholarship about Rastafari will have the courage and honesty to explore. One of its principal proponents, Mutabaruka, is an atheist. Others venerate Selassie I. Some are respectful of Jesus; others want to bun him. For some the 'blessed hope' is repatriation to Africa. Others have dropped out of Babylon but will sell brooms and vegetables to the Babylonians, while still others, the pop musicians perhaps and academics being the best examples, have accommodated Babylon and are using the system to their advantage, while 'chanting down Babylon'. Some are polygamists. Others are monogamists. Some lick Arnold, some don't.

A few things hold the movement together with any kind of coherence: veneration of Selassie I, either as god or great man-hero; the sacramental herb; and black pride - the last being perhaps the only point of real contact between Garvey and Rasta.

Incontestable record

It is a matter of incontestable record that Marcus Garvey detested Selassie I and severely chastised him for his conduct as emperor of Abyssinia in the war with Italy and in the treatment of his own people.

Listen to Garvey: "Haile Selassie ... kept his country unprepared for modern civilisation. He resorted to prayer, feasting and fasting, whilst other nations were building up armaments...

"When Haile Selassie departed from the policy of the great Menelik and surrounded himself with European advisers, he had taken the first step to the destruction of the country.

"Why he kept the majority of his countrymen in serfdom and almost slavery is difficult to tell. Why he refused to educate the youth of his country to help him to carry on the government and lead the masses in a defensive war against Italy cannot be understood.

"If Haile Selassie had only the vision, inspired with negro integrity, he would have still been the resident emperor in Addis Ababa, with not only a country of twelve million Abyssinian citizens, but with an admiring world of hundreds of millions of negroes [around the world]."

Garvey had more nasty things to say about the Rasta-venerated Selassie I. But listen to this one on Solomon: "The new negro does not give two pence for the line of Solomon" which is venerated by Rastas. "Solomon was a Jew. The negro is no Jew."

Despite her supporting quotations, Cooper is far from being right, and certainly not honest, in her assertion that Garvey had a "daring conception of God" with which Rastafarian thought and theology, such as it is, coincide. While rejecting the Europeanisation (the whitening) of God, Garvey was close to being an orthodox Christian. It is more likely to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which retained purer conceptions of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ than almost anything in Europe, that Garvey would be aligned, not Selassie I-venerating Rastafarianism.

Garvey through Cooper: "We negroes believe in the God of Ethiopia, the everlasting God - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, the one God of all ages." As orthodox as Christianity comes and anchored in the Apostles' Creed."

'Righteous' cause

"Our cause", Garvey said, "is based upon righteousness. God Almighty is our leader and Jesus Christ our standard bearer." 'Bun Jesas'? Jesus the first great reformer had the blood of all races in his veins, Garvey said. "The Church is the most beneficent institution, the greatest civilising agency; the institution which is the begetter and ward of the rights and privileges, the freedom and liberty, not only of the community, but of the individual."

And as a personal profession of faith Marcus Garvey wrote: "I believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost; I endorse the Nicene Creed. I shall never hold Christ or God responsible for the commercialisation of Christianity... ."

The Rastafarians and their apologist scholars cannot just be left alone to misinterpret and misappropriate Garvey, his faith and his philosophy. They cannot just be allowed to make things up as they go along and foist falsehood upon us because it serves their interests.

At odds

Sociologically, Garvey would be at odds with much of Rastafa-rianism. He was an unabashed capitalist and advocated wealth and power - not dropping out of Babylon, or repatriation - as the key to the advancement of the black race.

Garvey was a serious advocate of science and almost certainly would have had strident objections to the use of a herb religiously or otherwise that evidence suggests may worsen the lackadaisical attitude of 'the negro' against which Garvey complained so much as an obstacle to the progress of the race.

Garvey actively engaged politics and founded the People's Political Party whose extra-ordinarily progressive 1929 election manifesto remains as relevant - and as unfulfilled - as it was then. Rastas have tended to philosophically and practically withdraw from political engagement and to call down fire pon Babylon.

Garvey was no Rasta.

Source: www.jamaicagleaner.com

Beating Bolt changed my life, says Gay

LONDON, England (AP) — Tyson Gay heads into the Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace today insisting his breakthrough win over Usain Bolt in Stockholm last week was a breath of fresh air for athletics.

American sprinter Gay recorded his first-ever success over Bolt in the 100 metres when he clocked 9.84 seconds to easily beat the reigning world and Olympic champion in the Swedish capital last Friday.

Bolt’s lack of fitness has taken much of the gloss off Gay’s victory — the Jamaican runner subsequently ruled out returning to action in 2010 as he bids to recover fully from a back injury — but Gay does not underestimate the important of finally defeating his chief rival.

Gay, the 100 and 200 world champion in 2007, said yesterday the Stockholm win has changed his life.

“I know this may sound weird, but I have received more attention for that victory than I did when I won the golds in 2007,” Gay said.

“That race, even though there weren’t any medals on the line, it really meant a lot to people and to the fans of the sport. I got to see other people happy. It was a good day for the sport.”

Gay has been left as the clear favourite for the 100 at the London Grand Prix, a two-day meet which begins today, after Jamaican rival Asafa Powell joined Bolt on the sidelines.

The 27-year-old Powell said in a statement yesterday that he had failed to recover from ongoing back trouble that caused him to withdraw from the race in Stockholm last week.

“I visited the doctor yesterday and he has advised me not to run in order to help the recovery of my injury,” Powell said.

Gay has been deprived of the chance to beat a second Jamaican rival in a week, but said he appreciated the reasons behind Powell’s decision.

“I’m disappointed that he’s injured. I definitely understand he wouldn’t want to risk further injury by racing,” Gay said. “Next year is a big year so it only makes sense for him to do what’s best for him.”

Other world-class performers competing at Crystal Palace include in-form American sprint hurdler David Oliver and 200 runner Allyson Felix, who will also compete in the 400.

Oliver has never been beaten when competing in Britain and is in good form, having lowered his national record to 12.89 when winning in Paris on July 16.

He will have a job getting anywhere near his personal best, never mind threatening Dayron Robles’ world record of 12.87, as no hurdler has broken 13 seconds in Britain, where conditions are not suited to sprinting.

“There’s a reason for that,” Oliver said. “There have been some great hurdlers that have run here but the conditions really dictate who is going to run what.

“I can’t really worry about the times, just about getting the win.”

Felix leads the field for the women’s 200, while compatriot Jeremy Wariner will aim to extend his lead in the Diamond Race in the 400 by recording his fifth win in the series. Closest rival Jermaine Gonzales of Jamaica will be up against Wariner.

Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com

Ten killed in Jamaica from gang violence

KINGSTON — Gunmen in Jamaica killed eight people early on Friday in suspected gang killings on the Caribbean tourist island, police said.

Police later shot dead two of the suspected killers following the early morning murders in St. Catherine County, west of the capital Kingston.

A church was set ablaze in the violence on the island, which has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world.

In the first attack, the gunmen killed a mother and her daughters aged 24 and 11 and a son aged 16 after kicking down the door of their home. They then attacked another house where they killed a grandfather, his son, his grandson and a nephew.

Police said the two suspected gunmen killed by police were known members of the Clansman Gang, which operated near the old capital Spanish Town in an ongoing bitter gang turf war over drugs and arms. Five other gang members were being sought.

The killings were likely to reignite debate over whether parliament should have extended last month a state of emergency declared in May when security forces clashed with armed supporters of fugitive accused drugs kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding's government did not receive enough supporting votes in parliament to extend the emergency measures.

Coke, described by U.S. prosecutors as the leader of the "Shower Posse" that murdered hundreds of people during the cocaine wars of the 1980s, was extradited to the United States in June. He has pleaded not guilty, and faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Before Coke was arrested in June after a five-week manhunt, 76 people were killed in four days of gun battles in May when Jamaican police and soldiers stormed the Tivoli Gardens slum in west Kingston in an attempt to capture him.

Some slum residents complained of abuse by the security forces, and Amnesty International called for a thorough investigation of the high number of civilian deaths.

Source: www.msnbc.com