Understanding Rastafari: A Jamaican’s Guide

Rastafari was born in Jamaica, in the poor districts of Kingston in the 1930s, and it’s one of the things the world knows us for. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. Visitors see the locks, the red, gold and green, and the ganja, and stop there. For Rastafari it is a faith and a whole way of living, with its own history of persecution and its own ideas about God, Africa, food and language. Most Jamaicans aren’t Rastafari, but all of us grew up around it, and its influence runs through our music, our speech and how we think about Africa. This is a respectful outsider’s guide to what it is and how to behave around it.

How Rastafari began

The roots go back to Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican who taught race pride and African unity in the 1910s and 1920s and is now one of our National Heroes. Rastafari theology grew out of his ideas, and it took shape after Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia as Haile Selassie I in November 1930. For many poor Black Jamaicans living under British colonial rule, a Black emperor of an ancient, independent African nation was a sign. The faith takes its name from his name before the coronation.

Several preachers in Kingston began teaching that Haile Selassie was the messiah of Black people. Historians name Leonard Howell, Joseph Hibbert, Archibald Dunkley and Robert Hinds, each with his own group, and by 1934 a core movement had formed. Howell is the best known, often called “the first Rasta”. He was arrested for sedition in 1934 and imprisoned, and while in prison he wrote The Promised Key, the first Rastafari text, according to the Jamaica Observer.

In 1940 Howell founded Pinnacle, a self-sufficient Rastafari community in the hills of St Catherine, where hundreds of followers lived at various times. The police raided it in 1941 and again in 1954, when it was destroyed. The National Library of Jamaica keeps photographs of the ruins of Howell’s house there. In 2022, decades after he died in obscurity, Jamaica posthumously awarded Howell the Order of Distinction.

Persecution and the Coral Gardens incident

For much of the 20th century, Rastafari in Jamaica were treated as outcasts, harassed by the police and looked down on by “respectable” society. The worst moment came at Coral Gardens, a farming community near Montego Bay, in April 1963. Several civilians and a policeman were killed, and numerous Rastafari were detained, arrested, beaten and forcibly trimmed by agents of the state, as JIS summarizes the Public Defender’s findings.

In 2017 Prime Minister Andrew Holness formally apologized in Parliament, “without equivocation”, calling Coral Gardens a grave injustice. The government promised a trust fund for survivors and said six lots at Pinnacle would be declared a protected heritage site by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust and developed as a Rastafari Heritage and Cultural Centre. It matters that you know this history, because it explains why some Rastafari are wary of outsiders who come to look and photograph.

The 1966 visit of Haile Selassie

On April 21, 1966, Haile Selassie arrived in Jamaica on a state visit. National Library of Jamaica photographs show huge crowds at Palisadoes Airport, now Norman Manley International, and a Rastafari leader appealing to the crowd to make way so the Emperor could step off the plane. Rastafari still mark April 21 as Grounation Day. For many Jamaicans who weren’t Rasta, that day was when they began to see the faith differently.

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What Rastafari believe

There is no single church, leader or creed, so beliefs vary. These are the common threads, in broad strokes:

• Jah. God, called Jah, is seen as present in every person. Many Rastafari regard Haile Selassie as God made flesh or as the returned messiah; others see him as a prophet or king of great spiritual importance.
• Africa and repatriation. Africa, and Ethiopia above all, is home, the Zion that Black people were taken from through slavery. The return, physical or spiritual, is central.
• Babylon. The corrupt, oppressive system of the modern world, from colonialism to greed. Rastafari aim to live apart from it.
• The Bible. Rastafari read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, through their own experience, and many follow its laws on food and hair.
• I and I. Rastafari speech replaces “me” and “you” with “I and I”, to express that Jah is in everyone and that every person has worth. Words like “overstand” for understand and “livicate” for dedicate come from the same idea, that words carry power.

How Rastafari live: livity, ital, locks and ganja

Rastafari call the way of life “livity”. It shows up in a few visible ways:

• Locks. Many Rastafari don’t cut or comb their hair, following the Nazirite vow in the Bible, and the locks are often compared to the mane of the Lion of Judah, a title of Haile Selassie. Not every Rasta wears locks, and plenty of people with locks aren’t Rasta. Never touch someone’s locks without asking.
• Ital food. “Ital” comes from vital: natural, clean food, mostly from the earth. Many Rastafari are vegetarian or vegan, avoid pork and shellfish, and limit salt, processed food and alcohol. Ital stew, with pumpkin, callaloo, ground provisions and coconut milk, is one of the best things you can eat in Jamaica.
• Ganja. For many Rastafari, ganja is a sacrament used in prayer and “reasoning”, the long discussions that are central to Rasta life. It isn’t meant to be recreational. Since the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act took effect in 2015, Rastafari may smoke ganja for sacramental purposes at registered places of Rastafari worship, and adults of the faith can apply for authorization to grow it for religious use, according to JIS. That exemption doesn’t extend to visitors. Our guide to ganja and the law in Jamaica explains what applies to you.
• Red, gold and green. The colors of the Ethiopian flag. Red stands for the blood of those who died in the struggle, gold for the wealth of Ethiopia and green for the land and hope. Black is sometimes added, for the African people.
• Drumming and chanting. Rastafari worship centers on chanting, drumming and meditation, often at gatherings called groundations or Nyabinghi sessions. That drumming is one of the roots of reggae.

The houses of Rastafari

Rastafari groups are called houses or mansions. The three oldest and best known are:

• The Nyabinghi Order, which emerged in the late 1940s, is led by elders and has no formal structure beyond them. Its early members were among the first to wear locks.
• The Bobo Shanti, founded by Prince Emmanuel Edwards, one of the strictest houses. Members wear their locks wrapped in turbans and live at Bobo Hill, near Bull Bay, east of Kingston.
• The Twelve Tribes of Israel, where members belong to a tribe according to their birth month. Bob Marley was a member, in the Tribe of Joseph.

Rastafari, reggae and Bob Marley

Reggae carried Rastafari around the world in the 1970s, and no one did more of that than Bob Marley, whose faith was at the heart of songs like “Exodus”, “Jah Live” and “Rastaman Vibration”. The Jamaica Information Service lists the Rastafari movement among the heavy influences on reggae. Read more in our guide to Bob Marley’s impact on Jamaican culture.

How to be respectful as a visitor

• Don’t treat it as a costume. Fake locks, Rasta hats and “Jah” jokes may feel like fun on holiday. To Rastafari, they mock a faith that people were beaten for.
• Ask before you take photos. This goes for anyone in Jamaica, and especially at a gathering or a home.
• Don’t assume someone sells ganja because they have locks. It’s the stereotype Rastafari hear most, and it’s insulting.
• Greet with respect. “Blessed” or “Bless up” is a common greeting, and “Give thanks” a common thank-you. Using them sincerely is fine.
• Visit on their terms. If you want to learn more, choose experiences run by Rastafari themselves. The tours at Nine Mile, Bob Marley’s birthplace, are led by Rastafarian guides; see our Nine Mile guide. In Kingston, you’ll find ital cooks and Rastafari craft stalls around the city; our Kingston guide is a good place to start.