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Ever since high school, and particularly since arriving in Humboldt, I’ve become increasingly aware of the growing number of white kids who dread their hair. Some of them do it for fashion—because they look cool. Others do it because it’s easier than styling their hair every morning. Plus, they never have to cut it. Dreadlocks have become a staple of American counterculture and there’s no doubt they will continue to be.
Still, some dreadlock-wearing people claim to be adhering in part to the lifestyle and beliefs of Rastafarianism. When I ask people with dreads what this entails, many just shrug and change the subject. Some can at least recite a brief run-through of the history of the culture, but often their accounts of the facts are shaky, lacking in structure and depth, leaving me with the impression that they don’t know much about the culture at all, and that their adherence to it goes no further than smoking “ganja” and listening to reggae.
So I set off to work researching to gain a better understanding of the culture. I soon realized the hypocrisy of my initial pessimism. What right do I have to judge people when I don’t know a thing about the subject myself? I also realized an interesting parallel to my negative attitude. There are tons of people (many of them white) who say hip-hop is a purely black phenomenon and that white people have no right getting into it. Yet there are white rappers today who have changed the way many of us look at hip-hop, and few people question their legitimacy. It’s part of any culture’s natural progression to adjust and adapt to reach a wider audience in a multitude of ways. Perhaps the same thing is happening with dreadlocks and Rastafarianism today.
Anybody can look up historical facts on the Internet or in the library, but when trying to analyze a culture, I think it’s best to supplement such data with expert testimony. For this, I visited Conquering Lion Reggae, a local shop on Arcata’s Plaza specializing in all things Rastafarian. I first talked to Neeve Selassie, one of the co-owners, who was more than happy to give me an in-depth lecture on “Rastafari,” as it is properly called. I was immediately impressed by her extensive knowledge of the history of the culture, especially since she was neither black nor Jamaican, as I had naively assumed she would be. Neeve said her husband Michael would be able to give me more information when he came in the next day. She said he looked more like what I might expect a typical Rasta to look like, pointing out her short black hair, which just a few months earlier had been long, thick dreads. "I just got sick of 'em," she said.
Origins of Rastafarianism
Rasta roots go back to the Old Testament. King Solomon of Israel fathered his first child with Makeba, Queen of Sheba (a large kingdom containing modern-day Ethiopia). Until this point, she and her kingdom had worshiped the Egyptian sun god, Ra. Solomon converted her to Judaism, and she converted her kingdom.
As Christianity spread, Paul the Apostle converted a highly respected Ethiopian rabbi, who then converted Ethiopia, establishing the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This sect remained a “pure” form of Christianity and Judaism, even as people of power in Europe worked to censor and distort some of the Bible’s messages. Certain books and texts that were left out of the Bible are of vast importance to the Rastafarian faith, many involve prominent black Christians.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Jamaica was still under British rule, the country was extremely segregated socially and politically, and most of the black underclass was oppressed and impoverished. Marcus Garvey, a prophet to the people, called on his fellow Africans to empower themselves, to remember and acknowledge their glorious roots, and to “look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King; He shall be the Redeemer.” Garvey would later initiate the Back to Africa Movement, encouraging black Jamaicans to return to the homeland, the only place where they would be truly free.
In 1930, more than a decade after Garvey’s prophecy, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia and proclaimed Negusa Negast, or King of Kings. A direct descendant of King Solomon and Queen Makeba, the new ruler took on the name Haile Selassie, meaning Power of the Holy Trinity. (Michael and Neeve took this name in honor of Haile.) Jamaicans who followed the prophecies of Marcus Garvey believed this man to be the embodiment of Jah (Jehovah). Hence, Rastafari was born.
But in 1930s Jamaica, it was more than a religion—it was a movement. Rastafarians fought for, among other things, black equality, an end to colonialism and the economic disparity that left so many impoverished, reparations for their ancestors’ slave labor, and the legalization of “Jah Hola Herb,” or marijuana. Many Rastas encouraged the masses to reject society and return to Ethiopia to live a life of simplicity in the service of Jah. Most of their political demands were never met. Jamaica gained independence in 1962, but poverty and oppression continued.
Rastafarianism Today
Today, the religion has a whole spectrum of followers of many different countries and ethnicities. Most Rastas have relatively normal lives and jobs, working within the system while keeping their faith and ideals, while some of the more extreme ones completely drop out of mainstream society and civilization.
 |  | | | Bob Marley brought reggae music, and with it, rastafarianism, to world culture. |
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Reggae music has brought elements of Rastafari to a worldwide audience. This has turned a lot of people on to the culture who otherwise never would have known about it. I think most people are not aware that certain sects of Rastafarians live very strict lives in the service of Jah, and some of their beliefs conflict with what we think of as typical liberal viewpoints.
Many Rastafarians believe in having sex solely to reproduce; hence, they are very anti-birth control and anti-abortion. Also, as Neeve told me, Jamaica in general tends to hold a negative view of homosexuals. This stems partially from the history of sexual deviants visiting developing countries like Jamaica to find poor children to sexually exploit.
Perhaps the strictest sect of Rastafari is the Nyahbinghi Order. According to the ancient guidelines in a book titled “Jahug Nyahbinghi Order Theocracy Reign,” intimate relationships with whites is strictly forbidden. It also commands that a wife be obedient to her husband and “recognize her King as her head.” Women cannot “congregate among the brethren” during their monthly cycles. At ceremonies, women are forbidden from playing the drums but may shake rattles instead. They must keep their heads covered at all times and are not allowed to wear trousers or “garments that reveal flesh.” Piercing the ears is strictly forbidden by Jah. Cooking with meat and salt is also forbidden, as are cigarettes and alcohol, according to the guidelines.
Relatively few Rastas live by such strict guidelines, particularly in America. It seems like most are just trying to get by in the world, as most do, working hard to pay the bills and fill their stomachs. But just as the movement stood for social and political change in Jamaica half a century ago, Rastafari stands for change in America today.
I talked with Madi Simmons, a musician who happened to be in Conquering Lion Reggae at the same time as I. He seemed eager to help supplement my conversation with Michael and talked with us for at least 15 minutes, providing me with a black perspective on the topic. He described America as a modern-day Babylon, citing our mass consumerism and wastefulness, our lack of morality and our government’s war mongering. He sees rebellion against current systems of oppression as an essential part of modern-day Rastafari.
“The fire that’s burning right now is going to intensify,” Simmons said, referring to the amount of people who fight for peace and progress in the western world. While his view of America wasn’t exactly uplifting, he seemed open-minded to the idea of white people joining the Rasta community, as long as they’re sincere about it. But dreadlocks, he said, do not make a Rasta. Rather, they should serve as an external representation of the Rasta spirit within.
On campus recently, I talked to Zach Funk, a sociology junior of African descent with long, healthy dreads. He believes in the teachings of Rastafari and lives by a strict diet but does not attend a church or participate in ceremonies. To him, “It’s more a philosophy than a specific religion.”
I realized upon finishing my research that a huge chunk of my “expert testimony” had come from two very knowledgeable white Rastas. Michael and Neeve Selassie could have talked to me all day and still not exhausted their knowledge of the topic. They faithfully adhere to the lifestyle and philosophy in their own way—maybe not in the same way as the Nyahbinghi, but in a way that’s just as valid and much more adaptable to our society. These individuals helped re-establish my faith in the idea of white Rastafarians and the ability of Americans to integrate a culture without exploiting it. Many people with dreads make no claims to Rastafari at all and instead embrace the hairstyle as something that has been assimilated into our culture. For others, their dreads have everything to do with Rastafari and African heritage. And then there are some that claim adherence to Rastafari and really know very little about it.
Rastafari has gone through countless transformations since the union of King Solomon and Queen Makeba 3,000 years ago. Like the blues, jazz and hip-hop revolutions of the 20th century, it will continue to transform and adapt as humanity does. I suspect that all members of the human race will some day find middle ground through the adaptation of such cultural phenomena, and we will be one giant step closer to the ideal of racial unity.
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