http://www.tntmirror.com/2012/04/08/rastafarians(yea.. it abit long..but readable)
From Our Files: February 7th 1973New cult springing up near the banks of the East Dry River
RAS RALPH never ran a comb through his hair for seven or eight years now.
Ras Victor McQueen is likewise.
He has not touched a comb in four years.
Who are they?
They are part of a group that is attracting the most comment in Trinidad, because of their weird look.
They are Ras Tafarians.
The Ras Tafarians are members of a new cult springing up in shadows of the East Dry River, on Observatory Street, Port of Spain.
But what are they after, these Ras tafarians?
If they are after public comment and ridicule they already have it.
For, they’re being looked upon by certain sectors of this community, as a bunch of filthy, unkempt black power terrorists who are only out to make trouble.
But, is this true of the Ras Tafarians?
Are they out to scare people with their matted hair, and grisly beards?
Are they troublemakers?
To find, out we went into the headquarters of the cult on Observatory Street.
The Ras Tafari way of life would cause certain people in this community to take greater offence.
For, they do not believe in church marriages.
They believe the best way, is to get together with a “virgin” and live as man and wife.
The Ras Tafarian way of life appears to be a protest against the present-day established order of society.
For they do not follow today’s fashion trends.
Their hair is grown long, kinky, and unkempt, and as a result turns a bright rust colour after a few years.
They prefer simple blue duck pants, jerseys, merinos and lumber jackets.
Their shoes are soled with discarded motor car tyres.
They are not against weed smoking, since they believe that marijuana is pure and holy.
However, they are not for violence, but peace. They even have a peace prayer.
Ras Ralph said: “We believe in a peaceful life.
“And we have a peace prayer to guide us.”
He recited it: “I give thanks and praise to thy most Holy God, Jah Ras Tafari.
“Even though I fall, let the wicked beware for I shall rise again.
“Flip the pagan heart, O Lord, and smite the wicked in thy name, Jah Ras Tafari.”
Although their protest is against the present-day order of society, need to survive causes them to seek out the capitalists for work.
However, they prefer certain jobs.
Said Ras Ralph: “Most of us work with the Port of Spain City Council and on road projects.
“We do not work on offices, because we feel employers would be prejudiced against us.
“So, we don’t bother to seek employment there.”
Ras Victor McQueen, another Rasta, said:
“I would like to get a job in an office behind a typewriter. I believe that society would not give me the chance.
Why did Ras McQueen become a Rasta?
He said: “Life for me was one big economic struggle. I had not other choice but to create my own world.
“There are lots of people who would like to become Rastas, but they do not, because of their jobs.
“Rasta is now a way of life on this block.
“People in Trinidad think we are dropouts from society, but we feel proud to be ourselves.
“Ras Tafarians means self-consciousness, and that’s what we are about.
“We prefer to do for ourselves and live our own life.
“If you follow society you achieve nothing.”
While there are imitation Rastas roaming the streets of Port of Spain there are only about 25 real hard-core Rastas in Trinidad.
They are not anxious to go back to Africa like their Jamaican counterparts, but to remain here and “develop the place where they were born”.
However Ras McQueen pointed out they were following the philosophies of Marcus Garvey and other black revolutionaries.
He said they were trying to establish links with their Jamaican “Ras” brothers who live in secluded areas.
“There are thousands of them,” McQueen pointed out.
He said Rastas in Trinidad were not yet organised into any kind of group as such, but this will be done soon.
McQueen, who was the most talkative of the lot, added: “There is talk that the Jamaicans hate Trinidadians.
This is not true.
“If our Government is trying to establish closer links with Jamaica, why then, we can’t do it at this grassroot level.”
The Ras Tafarians concept in Jamaica is a different thing to Trinidad.
“The Jamaican cult, claims Haile Selassie as its God, and has grown to an estimated 60,000 in 30 years.
They disclaim allegiance to the laws of Jamaica.
To the Ras Tafari in Jamaica, all white men are English, just as all black men are Ethiopian.
They do not believe in the “white man’s Christianity.”
They say it’s a hoax perpetrated on the black race by the white.
Also, the Jamaican Ras Tafarians believe that all black men are all reincarnation of God’s chosen people, the Israelites.
The Jamaicans too, believe that blacks were exiled to the West Indies as slaves because of their transgressions against God, and blacks are superior to white in every way.
They believe that God is not a spirit, and Haile Selassie is God by reincarnation.
Ethiopia, Selassie’s country they say is Heaven, and Jamaica is a hopeless hell.
The Jamaicans believe that soon Selassie will arrange for them to return to Ethiopia.
They say that all the lands in Jamaica is theirs by right, and that Jamaica is for black men only, and that taxation is illegal and that the throne of England is subservient to that of Ethiopia.
As a result, the Jamaican cultists squatted on lands as they saw fit, and allowed their hair to grow uncut and seldom washed.
Slowly but surely, their habits put them outside normal living with fellow Jamaicans, who set up barriers against them, and refused to employ them.
Is this going to be the future of the Ras Tafari in Trinidad, now that it has started her? Only time will tell
