The Rastaman cometh, so will 55 days of Lent

By Mitiku Adisu

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Ethiopia is once again grabbing the headlines. An estimated three hundred thousand people�Rastafarians, fans, bewildered onlookers, and few protestors�have descended on Maskal Square. It is February; and it is reggae time in Addis.

February has not always been a joyous month. In 1937 close to 30,000 civilians were massacred by Fascist Italy.[i] In 1974 �leftist� Mengistu and his group brought the imperial era to an ignominious end. That was to mark the beginning of mass demonstrations and untamed and often subdued jubilation.

Maskal Square was renamed Revolution Square. The Cross was exchanged for the hammer and sickle. There was severe contestation for the center in which God lost and man won. Thereafter, as many will recall, matters began to spin out of control.

The February Revolution now long gone, Maskal Square regained its name and has since become the site of big crowd action. With over a quarter of a million people currently celebrating, it may be worth assessing the implications of the festivities from a viewpoint different from that of the sponsors.

Africa Unite

By most accounts Africa Unite is a success. The Ethiopian Government showed certain savvy in allowing the event to take place. And hopefully, it will result in a new source of revenue. On the other hand, Africa Unite is but one more example of how African governments like to talk big without addressing issues close to home.

The reason for the extravaganza is, of course, Bob Marley. More than twenty years after his death, the Rastaman still inspires countless many through his music. Marley, as was evident during the Michael Manley administration, was a political genius.[ii] In 1978 he single-handedly brought together Jamaican opposition groups to shake hands. For that he was awarded the United Nation�s Peace Medal.[iii] Indeed, people movements, wealth disparity, and ethnic conflicts around the world have only increased his relevance.

Will dancing to Reggae bring healing to the fractured body politic in Ethiopia? 

Mardi Gras?

Like Mardi Gras, Rastafarianism is infused with religious symbols and sensibilities.[iv] Both are syncretistic; so is the Ethiopian church. In Creole culture, the two weeks before Ash Wednesday are especially a very festive occasion.[v] Music, dancing in the streets, colorful floats, food and everything else preceded the solemnity of the Lent seasons. In other words, feast your heart out before the lean and grueling fasting days set in.

Rita�s statement

Rita Marley, Bob Marley�s wife, has made statements (or so it is rumored) that she will exhume her late husband�s remains in Jamaica and rebury them in his spiritual home, Ethiopia.[vi] Our late-Emperor (the Ras Tafari of yesteryears for whom Rastas or Rastafarians are named) was also buried twice�first in secret and then in public. Perhaps it is fitting for the obedient �spiritual son� to follow in his �father�s� steps.[vii] However, time will tell if all this was not a PR ruse. Will Madam Marley go to Ghana next because Nkrumah championed Pan-Africanism and slave ships had hauled Africans from its shores? Or is it going to be to South Africa to cash in on Mandela�s prestige and Mbeki�s NEPAD connections?

At any rate, this is the first time Marley was celebrated in this fashion outside of his native Jamaica.

Ethiopians are not unknown for firsts: the first non-white nation to defeat a European imperial power;[viii] first barefoot modern marathon victory; where coffee was first consumed and discovered; first to offer the world firm clues to origins of the human race; first operator of the ultramodern Boeing 787 Jetliner in Africa.[ix] And now an Ethiopian version of Mardi Gras?

Why Ethiopia?

Well, for Marley and Rastas, Ethiopia is the Promised Land. Jamaica and the West are Babylon�depraved and to be left behind. The late-Emperor Haile Selassie is divinity. He is to lead the Black race home.[x] Ganja is the herb (rather the verb) of inspiration, the essential �wisdom weed� during �reasoning� sessions. The tri-color with the Lion of Judah coat-of-arms and the dreadlock further defined the identity of the Rasta.

Ethiopians in general do not feel similarly, however. The Promised Land for Ethiopian youth and professionals lies not in Ethiopia proper but to the north of Jamaica�a place commonly referred to as America. To reach the land of Americans, Ethiopians are willing to pay any price�even to undergo the humiliation of kissing in full view of the U.S. consular officer and report on the color of their underwear to prove their matrimony;[xi] those thirty and under do not have a memory of the late Emperor�s humanity, let alone his divinity; khat is ganja-light and for years provided generations of Ethiopians passage to the world of post-adolescence and daydreams.

Rasta theology

The fusion of reggae with Rastafarianism has become a potent tool for mobilization.[xii] While reggae lent voice to those who daily contend with deprivation, Rastafarianism offered hope of a coming �Zion�. The late-Emperor Haile Selassie, the consummate international diplomat that he was, indeed led few hundreds to their �home� in Shashemene. Ironically, his own people lived landless and unrecognized until he was deposed in 1975.

Rastafarianism seeks to �tell� stories and create � myths � not leaving this to Disney.�[xiii] Its theology makes a very selective use of biblical passages. For example, �herb� or plant in the books of Genesis (3.18) and Exodus (10.12) refers specifically to ganja though there are countless other plant species. Another frequently cited supportive verse is Psalm 105.14,

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,

However, the next verse (15), �and wine to gladden the human heart�, is conveniently left out. Rastas do not drink alcoholic beverages nor do they read the New Testament portion of the Bible. Of course, we should realize that Rastafarianism is not a unified religious entity. There are The Sufferers and then The Twelve Tribes of Israel, etc. Though there have been strong ant-white sentiments in the past,[xiv] the latter group incorporate both whites and blacks in their ranks. Hence, some of the above strictures do not have universal application.

Rasta theology also contradicts Orthodox theology. To the Rasta Christianity is not Jewish but white and European; it needs �Africanizing�, rather returning it to its original African and Black form. Rastafarianism is also in the habit of making failed predictions of end times.[xv] To the Rasta there is no eternal life or hell; ganja is a sacrament;[xvi] Christ is not the Savior. The late-Emperor is a savior among several, including Christ;[xvii] consumption of araqi and red meat[xviii] are taboo. To the true Orthodox the first three amount to heresy and blasphemy while the last two are to be enjoyed whenever the occasion permitted.[xix] Why did not the late-Emperor, knowing full well what was happening,[xx] discourage tendencies of worship directed toward him? Why did not His Holiness Abuna Paulos publicly state that the Emperor was a mere human and not a savior?[xxi]

The promoters and the protestors

Instead we heard His Holiness claim Marley as his �spiritual son�, effectively making Marley son of two kingdoms�the late-Emperor representing the political kingdom and the Patriarch the religious one. Or is it the other way around?

 �The church�s task�, said Abuna Paulos, �is to preach any time to anyone, no matter their hairstyle.�[xxii] That is fine. But what was the message? Or rather, what was the symbolic message? The church�s endorsement of any cause is bound to tarnish or enhance her prophetic message and confuse or instruct those within and outside the fold. Moreover, Lent season is coming. Personal morality has plummeted. The few rich have gotten corrupt and richer while the majority remains destitute and expendable. Ethnic strife, the daily struggle for basic needs, and epidemics are weighing on everyone�s mind.

The only protest, albeit feeble, came from a handful of Christians. Eight of them were detained and later released for protesting that the deification of the Emperor is sacrilegious and that such a public endorsement of ganja culture[xxiii] in the end is bound to be counterproductive.[xxiv] First, Ethiopians are better disposed to know the humanity of the late-Emperor than Rastas. Second, the protestors� concern is legitimate in that the use and peddling of the herb has been known to have increased among West African Rasta converts. Ninety percent of those in Ghana, for example, have come out of Christian churches.[xxv] Perhaps, of grave concern is the emerging phenomenon of shisha use among uninformed and bored Ethiopian teenagers.[xxvi] Will the festivities be a license to using illicit drugs for �religious and medicinal� purposes?

Would the Emperor have allowed other than the yearly Maskal festivities held on Maskal Square? I don�t know. But one may get hints from his disposition to trendiness. Some of my male readers will remember being stopped by the police on the streets of Addis to get a quick mowing of their afros; for ladies it was double portion�pelting with eggs and tomatoes by fellow students at a fashion show and whips for wearing mini-skirts.

Would Chairman Mengistu have allowed this occasion to transpire? Perhaps not, for the mere fact that the proliferation of ganja culture is severely censured and that any exercise to emasculate the revolutionary youth from advancing the cause of the revolution was frowned on. This is all hypothetical, of course. Any one of the leaders mentioned above would have had no qualms about promoting their agenda. 

The scramble for the spotlight

The speeches delivered at the opening ceremony may tell us something of the current mood in Ethiopia. Hence, �All Purpose Marley� might be an appropriate superscript of the event. We were informed, for example, that �No Woman, No Cry� and �Get up, Stand up�, respectively, are inspiration to toiling African women and a call-to-arms in the fight against the AIDS epidemic. That is, assuming the concerned population is conversant in Rasta lingo.[xxvii] We may want to inquire further if Marley�s �Exodus� could explain the mass migration of young Ethiopian women to Lebanon and the hopeless condition of impetuous youth and disgraced civil servants in refugee camps.

Another speaker, incognizant of its immediate application, pointed out that �Bob Marley through his music expressed call to rebellion against all forms of aggression".[xxviii] The effective Mayor of Addis, on his part, is doling out citizenship and prime real state to honor Marley at a time when the significance of the Battle of Adwa is played down and mocked. A statue is to be erected for the singer in front of the Imperial Hotel, in addition to a park enclosure on Entoto hill.

Look around and be dismayed. Emperor Haile Selassie does not have a monument fitting his long reign. Chairman Mengistu is remembered only in association with some (mostly unhappy) event. There have been calls for Emperor Menilik to dismount his horse.[xxix] Perhaps I am taking this thing too far since we don�t want to remember that part of our history anyway.

But a park on a hilltop may indicate insensitivity on the part of our leaders. Hilltops, in our Christian religious orientation, have been the preserve of holy sites. The revelation of the Law and the Transfiguration and Crucifixion of Jesus took place atop mountains. Entoto is Mariam. Yeka is Michael. Kulubi is Gabriel. Is Marley going to cast a long shadow now that a park bearing his name will adjoin Mariam? Will this situation present us with a cultural crisis? What about the proposed monument in front of the Imperial Hotel? Could Churchill Road be a better location? How about replacing cigar-totting Churchill with ganja-spliffing Marley�the imperialist with the anti-imperialist? That may be worth considering.

Prince Bedemariam, the Emperor�s grandson, was also present at the opening ceremony. His presence is perhaps most interesting. First, it is a testament to the political agility of the current government in projecting tolerance toward dissenting voices. Our leaders know that they are dealing with a toothless and clawless Prince. The Prince�s public appearances merely serve to intensify his weak and curio status. Second, though his long absence may have alienated him from a generation of Ethiopians, even so, one would not help but entertain the efficacy of returning to some form of the monarchy to forestall the dangers of ethnic politics.

What�s in it for us?

The government of Ethiopia is in for the money and the publicity. The shoeshine boy and the taxi driver are in for the month-long job security and the extra change. We can go on. Some have humanitarian concerns and others not so humanitarian concerns. What is wrong with that, one may ask. Nothing wrong, I guess, if all that matters is the monetary side of life.

What then accrues to the church? The church continues to move with the center. She need not ally herself with the powers that be; that has been the source of her vulnerability. She needs but remember her spiritual wealth and the following she could muster. The late Abuna Tewoflos would not even mention the name of the late Emperor in his 1974 New Year�s message.[xxx] Instead, he blessed those who rebelled against his Benefactor, presumably, to save his life. Alas, it was in vain. In the failed coup of December 1960, the then presiding Abuna Basilios did not take sides until he was certain which side was winning.[xxxi] Do we see a pattern here?

Rasta for you

Rasta is not all ganja. It too can have some redeeming qualities. For one, it comprehends the power of the word, the futility of violence (at least tentatively)[xxxii] and the implications of love and peace.[xxxiii] Words are not to be used flippantly. Words have destructive and restorative power. Hence, a Rasta would say Incere instead of Sincere because of the sin; Livicate and not Dedicate because of the ded (dead), and so on.[xxxiv] That may sound inconsequential but one wonders what would happen if fellow Ethiopians sensitized themselves accordingly.

Reggae music is largely a religious and political reaction to institutional injustice and violence and purports to advance its cause by non-violent means. As the lyrics below convey, the music could turn prophetic as well as hauntingly melancholic. It intimates that change is imminent; that changes do not last and hence, the search must continue.

NATURAL MYSTIC   [Bob Marley, 1977][xxxv]

            There's a natural mystic blowing through the air;

            If you listen carefully now you will hear.

            This could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last:

            Many more will have to suffer,

            Many more will have to die - don't ask me why.

            Things are not the way they used to be,

            I won't tell no lie;

            One and all have to face reality now.

            'Though I've tried to find the answer to all the questions they ask.

            'Though I know it's impossible to go livin' through the past -

            Don't tell no lie.

Back to love and peace

Love and peace are the running theme of the Rasta movement: love yourself and others, know yourself and others, and live in peace with yourself and others. How these ideals are realized at the individual and societal levels is beyond the scope of the present essay. I submit, however, that one sure way to show love and respect is for Ethiopians to become conversant in a majority language in addition to a mother tongue. Let the Amhara and Tigre learn to speak Oromiffa and name some of their children Kenenisa and Derartu, and vice versa. What is wrong with that? Is that stranger than naming them Jimmy or Suzy? Indeed, this may be the precursor to solving the �Oromo Question�, the �Amhara Question�, the �Afar Question� and ultimately, a good part of the �Ethiopian Question�. But then who am I to dictate what parents should name their children? Incidentally, there is a �Chaltu� within the TPLF ranks. One could only surmise this to be fictitious.

Now that I have touched upon languages, will the Rastaman put himself through the rigors of learning Amharic so he can study Ethiopic scripture?[xxxvi] Will this result in Amharic gaining international recognition from its relative obscurity? Should Ethiopic replace Amharic? Is the Ethiopian church, or for that matter any group, well organized to accommodate or advance such a project?

Knowing oneself and others may even have greater import than loving oneself or others. Indeed, not knowing our history incurred an incalculable damage to our image, resources, and our future. A most recent letter to the editor of Addis Tribune would illustrate the point.[xxxvii] The writer, unable to find the Oromo word Shashemene (for which a town is named) in standard Amharic dictionaries, proposed to rename it Marye (a play on word endearing Marley). A few days later an Oromo reader sent a strongly worded response, Let Shashemene Be Shashemene.[xxxviii] This by no means is an isolated case.[xxxix]  

Conclusion

Rasta accoutrements and practices are not altogether new to Ethiopian socio-religious reality. Christian and Muslim holy men have worn dreadlocks for hundreds of years.[xl] Some on the fringes of the two faith traditions also enjoy smoking and/or snorting Shisha (eTse faris/surret). Unlike the pacifist Rastaman, the Ethiopian monastic holy man carries a staff with a crossed top and a pointed end�ever ready for a kiss or a poke and to withstand adverse conditions as he traverses the valleys and the mountain passes.

The Rastaman is in the end a metaphor for an interminable mobility toward some destination in search of rest and contentment. The Ethiopian landscape is littered with footprints of long distance traders, of those fleeing epidemic and natural calamities, of footprints of Tigrayans trekking back and forth across the border with the Sudan, of forced and not so forced resettlements.

Then there are religious pilgrimages to Kulubi, Sof Omar, Axum Tsion, Mecca/Medina, Egypt, Jerusalem, and Rome; white-clad mothers proceeding with deliberate caution and grace. Some fled from forced military recruitment while others marched to the sound of the bugle and war drums. There is the fugitive from the law. One could hear the sound of children�s feet on city streets, as they are hauled out of the sight of visiting dignitaries to an unknown and unmarked location, only to return later. There is the shifta against the establishment, and liberation fronts scouring for refuge in the rugged mountain peaks and snake-infested caves.

The diligent pupil and the devout parent search the nooks and crannies for secret knowledge and holy water. There is the madman swirling for no rhyme or reason, and the nomad meticulously following paths to survival. And then there are the likes of Miruts Yifter and Haile Gebreselassie who run to and from rural schools to collect dusty miles that yield fame or fortune, or both. Let us not forget the million-strong Diaspora navigating the Seven Seas. What do Ethiopians want? When will they ever find rest? The Ethiopian Lent season may be the opportune time to reflect on such deep matters of ethics, community, and morality. And for this Ethiopians need not look farther than the living church and their humble abode.

�Mitiku Adisu, 2005

* Photo source: Page Two: Bottom, L to R.: Emperor Haile Selassie, https://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown/HaileIII.html; Chairman Mengistu Hailemariam, cover photo in Tiruneh, Andargachew. (1993). The Ethiopian Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Bob Marley, https://www.caribcon.com/boblive.html; Winston Churchill, https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/genocide/churchill_holocaust_01.shtml

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