1930 - Religion

Religion

Rastafarians in Jamaica, British West Indies, hail the new Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, as the living God, the fulfillment of a prophesy by Marcus M. Garvey, who is said to have declared, "Look to Africa, where a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is near" (see politics [Garvey], 1924). Members of the new sect will withdraw from Jamaican society, call white religion a rejection of black culture, insist that blacks must leave "Babylon" (the Western world) and return to Africa, and contribute to Jamaican culture (notably to the island's reggae music), but Rasta extremists will traffic in ganja (marijuana) and engage in acts of violence.