Some time last year, I read with interest a letter to the Editor from a lady who complained about too much Rastafari in this column. While I was sorry that the good reader felt that way, I did not reply because so many of you from all walks of life regularly and consistently take time out to tell me how much you look forward to the weekly reading of HY. My passive response was therefore a passing thought about the impossibility of pleasing everyone and the importance of documenting the historical and current experiences of these people who give the gift of Rastafari culture to the world. I do not see other material about Rastafari written anywhere else in Anguilla and we are very much alive, well and making our contribution. As others document what is important to them, I document what is important to I and I and not only to Rastafarians but also to others interested in Pan-African perspectives. This week a young, shy-looking school girl made my day when I picked her up to give her a ride to school. During our short conversation, she made an observation of unusual depth and when I complimented her, she told me that in her heart she is a Rastafarian and that by her regular reading of this column she is learning more about the history and culture of “The Earth Most Strangest Man”. She also encouraged me to proceed with the monthly community lectures and reasonings on Rastafari indicating that they would be helpful to young people sighting FarI and also to their parents. It is with humility that I give thanks for that brief encounter with my student which served to reinforce my commitment of service to youth. Unlike that student, those who cannot yet appreciate the value of self-knowledge will continue to be victims of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome and the principle of self-determination which Anguillians hold so dear may mean nothing more than a tenacious cling to the status quo of plantation about which there seems to be national denial. The Rastafari Nation will not buy into this denial and will continue to resist the status quo by knowing, telling and documenting not only His-story but Her-story and I and I story of creation, persecution and redemption.

At least two significant dates were observed by Rastafarians this April, the first in commemoration of the Coral Gardens Massacre which took place in Jamaica on April 11 and 12, 1963 and the visit of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I to the Caribbean (Trinidad, Jamaica and Haiti) from April 18– 25, 1966. There is more to share about the visit of the King of Kings but not today. While millions of people around the world observe the Christian holiday known as Good Friday, this day is commemorated annually as Bad Friday on the Rastafari calendar. The Coral Gardens incident provided the reason for this. The Rastas have their own perspective but following is an excerpt from an article entitled “The even-handed Judge” written by Laura Tanna in the Jamaica Gleaner of Wednesday, March 1, 2000.
“A group of Rastafarians, in a land dispute, had set fire to property and murdered a middle-class person and a policeman, exactly the kind of thing some in society feared would happen without the protection of colonial rule. Repression by the military and police, which followed, is now known as the Coral Gardens Massacre within Rastafarian communities. As presiding judge at the trial of the accused, (Justice Ronald) Small was thrust into the public eye for a prolonged period of weeks because of the number of witnesses called and the amount of scientific evidence introduced during the trial. Mr. Justice Small’s youngest child particularly remembers the aftermath of the case. Unlike his two older brothers who followed their father into the legal profession, to his father’s dismay the rebel in the family, photographer Robin ‘Jerry’ Small, became a Rastafarian. He takes pride in the fact that his father pointed out a contradiction in the state’s position on the use of ganja. Robin maintains that although the Rastafarians, who had been smoking ganja prior to the murders, were found to be responsible for their actions and found guilty, the government subsequently tried to use the violent incident to demonstrate that ganja had caused their violence and should be dealt with more harshly. Says he: “The Government successfully used that incident to bring about a drastic strengthening in the law. You used to get seven days or 30 days imprisonment for possession of ganja, a slap on the wrist. But they were able to bring about a change in the law - 18 months mandatory minimum sentence. But the interesting thing was that my old man resisted that argument and pointed out that the lawyer was using it to show that the accused were still responsible for their actions [in the murder case], while on the other hand the crown was now using the supposition, that ganja caused madness, to bring about an increase in the sentence [for its use].”
Justice Small’s fairness in legal matters is illustrated by another case, this in which evidence adduced that the crime of obeah had been committed including the burning of candles and speaking in a foreign language, at which the Judge is reputed to have asked: “But don’t Roman Catholics do that?”

In response to the incident, Jamaica’s first Prime Minister, the Right? Excellent? Sir Alexander Bustamante ordered the island’s security forces to “Bring in all Rastafari dead or alive”, which resulted in the brutalization and murder of thousands of Rastafarians that was covered up by the State. Many of those who were witness to and victims of the atrocities, still recount the horror of the events that took place on what was supposed to be Holy Thursday and Good Friday. During the recent Empress of Zion Conference in Jamaica, one of the three Rastafari Matriarchs honoured by the Collective was Dawta Enid of the Theocracy Reign Order of Nyahbinghi who recounted hiding her husband between the mattress and bedsprings during the Coral Gardens affair, and in doing so, saved his life.

The stories of Rastafari persecution abound in the annals of oral history and some of them have never been documented. Only JAH knows what diabolical forces fuel human minds, for outcomes of evil and Rastafari involvement in violent bloodshed with religious overtones are to be found in the annals yet again, this time on Old Year’s Day in St. Lucia. The US Department of State’s website on St. Lucia gives the following account of that massacre on the eve of the New Millennium. “On December 31, 2000, two men, alleged to be members of the Rastafarian movement, attacked a Sunday Mass in a Roman Catholic Church in Castries. They killed a nun, doused the priest with gasoline and set him on fire, and wounded 12 other persons. Thirteen persons were hospitalized for treatment of knife wounds and burns, including the priest. Some hours after the attack, a male worshipper died from wounds suffered in the attack. On April 19, the priest died as a result of blood clots, which may have been an existing condition prior to the attack. Immediately after the attack, the police arrested a 20-year-old male, who was rescued from a church mob as he tried to escape the scene of the incident. A second male, age 34, was arrested a day later. The two men were believed to be Rastafarians and members of an anti-Catholic cult. Local Rastafarian leaders strongly criticized the attack. In January the authorities charged the two alleged attackers with murder and arson. In October the preliminary inquiry concluded, and the Senior Magistrate ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. At year’s end, the men were being held on remand pending determination of a trial date.”
Among the most vocal of those who immediately distanced themselves from that incident expressing the horror felt by everyone and sympathy for the victims, were my much beloved brethren and sistren who are fellow members of the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation. The horrific details led to speculation about the use of crack cocaine and the recurring lamentation about how society has managed to mix it all up making no separation between the herbs and the drugs. The most amazing thing of all, and the most Christian thing, was the response from the Catholic Church which brought tears to my eyes when I listened to it via the regional news on the radio. I cannot remember the name of the spokesperson but his response from the Church included recognition of the marginalisation and alienation of youth and the need to build bridges between the various communities in our islands so that the love of JAH could prevail.
Anguilla is witness a rise in crime and violent crime to boot. There are lessons to be learned from the experiences of the Rastafarians and the two accounts shared. Are we willing to learn or will be adopt the same strategies and suffer the same results?

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