The Rastafarians: Using Style, Message, and Marley

to Create a Sustainable and Emulative Diaspora Model

We know where we’re going,

We know where we’re from,
We’re leaving Babylon,
We’re going to our Fatherland,
Exodus,
Movement of Jah people.
– Bob Marley

Rastafarians. The word evokes images of dreadlocks, reggae music, colorful

red, gold, green, and black clothing, Jamaica, and marijuana, among other identifiers.

Although all typically associated with the Rastafarian movement – referred to as

“Rastafari” by members of this culture – focusing on these characteristics alone

presumes a superficial understanding generally expressed by people outside this

culture as to what they believe makes up the totality of this culture.

Rastafarians cannot simply be categorized as a religion, culture, sociopolitical

party, or as just the creators of a type of popular music. They are, rather, an

international movement whose beliefs, style, appropriative actions, charismatic

leaders, ability to influence those outside their culture, and their collective identity

have led to the development of a complex, multi-dimensional, and sustainable

community that has continued to expand and thrive for nearly one hundred years.

Making the statement that Rastafarians are a sustainable community is

interesting to some degree as an academic observation, but when we apply what we

might term a “diaspora filter” on this community, the significance of the Rastafarian

movement becomes far more apparent and relevant to advancing our overall

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understanding of diasporic cultures. In fact, I contend that when we examine

Rastafarians as a diaspora they present as one of the most stable, diasporic cultures

we can study, and could serve as a model for other cultures that are struggling with

their sense of identity and belonging within their own diasporas.

I realize that describing Rastafarians not only as a diaspora but as one that is

more stable than, and as a model for, other cultures that are living in diaspora is

unusual and requires significant supportive evidence, so let’s begin exploring these

hypotheses by first stating what Rastafarians are not in relation to some

traditionally accepted characteristics of diasporic cultures. We can accept at face

value that Rastafarians do not: (1) have the same globally recognized importance

and impact as other broad-based, diasporic cultures; (2) have the same type of

politically charged conflicts surrounding a homeland or nation-state as, for example,

the Jewish or Armenian diasporas; (3) exist separately from a host society; or (4)

share a collective and binding tragedy as a group – with the qualifier that,

historically, the birth of their culture and ideology can be traced in part to the slave

trade and British colonialism – as is the case with black Jamaicans in general – so

Rastafarians are, by association, part of the Paul Gilroy- and Stuart Hall-theorized

black triangular diaspora. Quoting Hall:

It was only in the 1970s…Jamaicans discovered themselves to be “black” –

just as, in the same moment, they discovered themselves to be the sons and
daughters of “slavery”…This profound cultural discovery, however, was not,
and could not, be made directly without “mediation.” It could only be made
through the impact on popular life of the postcolonial revolution, the civil
rights struggles, the culture of Rastafarianism, and the music of reggae – the
metaphors, the figures or signifiers of a new construction of “Jamaican-ness.”
(Hall, 241).

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In addition to the above points, one could also argue that Rastafarians have not

existed for even a hundred years, let alone thousands, so there is not enough

“history” to even qualify this culture as a diaspora.

The problem with any comparative method is that we could come up with

many examples that could counter and then cross counter what constitutes a

diasporic culture. But at the very least by initially identifying, in “Safran-esque” and

other diaspora theorists’ terms, a few core examples of what the Rastafarian

diaspora is not provides us with a starting point for our analysis, and by then

exploring what the Rastafarian diaspora is is where the significance lies in

understanding their sustainability, continued relevance, and unchallenged

hegemony.

A Brief Overview of Rastafarian History and Identity Formation

The first Rastafarians appeared in the 1930s out of the oppressed black

underclass in Jamaica and following the coronation of Haile Selassie I, the

Rastafarians’ spiritual leader, as the emperor of Ethiopia whom they believed

would, “…facilitate the emancipation…of all of Africa’s children…from bondage of all

kinds” (Erskine, 47). Today, it is estimated that there are 1,000,000 Rastafarians and

that, “…adherents of Rastafari can be found in most of the major population centres

and many outposts of the world” (Edmonds, 71). The word “Rastafarian” comes

from the two words: “Ras” – meaning “head” or “title,” and “Tafari” – meaning “one

who is revered,” and it is also the given first name of Selassie prior to his coronation.

Rastafarians’ foundational belief in Selassie can be traced back to Marcus Garvey,

the Jamaican-born leader of the Back to Africa movement and a central political

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figure in Rastafarian ideology, as well as the subject of many reggae music songs,

who said in 1920, “"Look to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned, for the day

of deliverance is at hand." When Selassie was crowned emperor ten years later,

many thought Garvey's words had come true” (“The Rastafarians’ flawed African

‘promised land.’” bbc.com).

Rastafarians' connections to their culture and to each other include very

specific music, dress, politics, rituals, and language, and they, as with all cultures,

have explanations and justifications for how they express their identity; and,

interestingly, they interpret virtually every aspect of their culture hermeneutically.

For example, according to Rastafarian theology there are, “…various rules for living

as set out in the Bible; how you eat, how you live, how you treat other people…if you

practice these things life will be better not only for you but better for everyone else”

(Macdonald, Marley). Their music, reggae, is believed by Rastafarians to be

preordained, “It is mentioned in the Bible that you shall hear music that all people of

all global concerns shall play and dance and sing. It’s in the Revelations. What other

music could that be? Reggae” (Macdonald, Marley). With regard to the ritual

smoking of ganja (marijuana), “Rastas frequently cite…Revelations 22:2: ‘On each

side of the river stood the tree of life…And the leaves of the tree are for the healing

of the nation’” (Edmonds, 48). And certainly the most recognizable and outward-

facing image of Rastafarians is their dreadlocks hairstyle; one explanation they

provide for wearing dreadlocks is their belief in the, “…biblical injunctions against

the cutting of hair and the shaving of beards among the Nazarites (Hebrews who

took a special vow of consecration to God)” (Edmonds, 43). Incidentally, one is not

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required to grow dreadlocks to be a Rastafarian, and one can certainly grow

dreadlocks without being a Rastafarian, but the traditional wearing of dreads,

“…meant you were a Rastafarian and had taken a vow not to comb or cut your hair

for a certain length of time and it…is not to be taken lightly” (Macdonald, Marley).

Through their writings, music, and religious practices, Rastafarians articulate

and express their identity and their feelings of historical oppression, their

unwavering belief in Selassie, and a deep desire to return to Ethiopia, their

mythically significant homeland, which, as is similar with the relationship between

the Jews and Israel, is believed to, “…hold together memory of a sacred past and

hope of future deliverance” (Erskine, 47). The practice of Rastafari also involves the

appropriation of symbols, naming conventions, and myths from both the Jewish and

the Christian faiths to legitimate and support their beliefs and cultural structure

further perpetuating and strengthening this sense of community, belonging,

acceptance, and diaspora. These include, among others, using the Jewish star and

the Lion of Judah in their imagery; the use of the word “Jah” as their name for God,

which is a shortened version of “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” – the biblical names for God;

poems and songs about returning to “Zion” (Africa); the absence of pork from their

diet; and their belief that, according to Rastafarian theology, Selassie was the

reincarnation of Jesus Christ. To quote Bob Marley, arguably the most famous

Rastafarian and whose impact on the growth of Rastafari we will address later:

Christ promised mankind that Him will return in 2000 years. And when Him
return Him will be the King of Kings through the lineage of King Solomon and
King David. Now we look out there to see who is this? One man, Haile Selassie
I (Macdonald, Marley).

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 In addition to revering Selassie as their messiah and Ethiopia as their

mythical homeland, it is essential to note that Jamaica is universally recognized by

Rastafarians as their “secondary” homeland. And although the highest concentration

of Rastafarians live in Jamaica, and many people from around the world will come to

Jamaica to engage with Rastafarian culture – especially given this is the birthplace of

Rastafari, virtually no Rastafarian will ever “return" to Ethiopia, let alone even visit.

We could argue that this homeland duality is similar to how, according to Levy and

Weingrod, Moroccan Jews embrace their relationship to both Israel (“mythic

homeland”) and Morocco (“symbolic homeland”) (Levy, Weingrod, 10) in the sense

that Jamaica would be considered a clearly identifiable homeland for the

Rastafarians even though, as is the case with the Moroccan Jews and Israel, Jamaica

is not the land to where all Rastafarians believe they are biblically expected to

return.

Although Rastafarians believe they have a biblical connection with Ethiopia,

unlike Moroccan Jews – or any Jews in diaspora who feel some kind of association

with, or responsibility for, Israel – Rastafarians do not focus on affecting economic,

social, or political change in Ethiopia, and any changes in Ethiopia do not affect

Rastafarians in Jamaica or elsewhere. Conversely, there is a clear symbiotic

relationship between Rastafarians and Jamaica in terms of each entity’s ability to

impact the other. For example, there is a Rastafarian member of Jamaica’s

Parliament, and earlier this year marijuana was legalized in Jamaica after decades of

Rastafarians petitioning Parliament that the use of cannabis falls under religious

freedom laws. But what is most important to recognize as the primary benefit of this

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limited actionable relationship between Rastafarians and Ethiopia is that this

separation allows for the mythology of Ethiopia to continuously sustain itself. Eva

Hoffman would argue, perhaps, that this is a case where, like the Jews and Palestine,

Rastafarians intentionally avoid affecting any real change in Ethiopia due to the

responsibilities involved with turning their mythic homeland into an, “…actual,

ordinary home” (Hoffman, 55). However, the reason may be far less calculated than

Hoffman’s theory would imply and may be more in line with Levy and Wiengrod’s

assertion regarding the varying significance of relationships that can exist between

the homeland and diasporic groups where, “…the “homeland” may have a kind of

mythic meaning, but how on-going social or political developments in the

“homeland” influence the “diaspora” is not a primary issue” (Levy, Weingrod, 19).

Rastafarians: Diaspora or Subculture?

Whether we, as non-Rastafarians, accept any part of Rastafarian theology is

fundamentally irrelevant. To quote Rastafarian scholar, Leonard Barrett, “A

religious myth such as Rastafarianism…claims for itself an immunity from logic not

granted to any other kind of knowledge system” (Barrett, 104). But what is critical

to acknowledge is that, as explained earlier, Rastafarians’ core religious beliefs are

integrated seamlessly within their culture and mythology. And it is the expression of

their religion, culture, and mythology – shared with the outside world via music and

style, specifically – that are not simply what we might deem examples of “symbolic

ethnicity” or “Rastafarian-ness.” They are, rather, active cultural vehicles that have

facilitated the expansion and acceptance of Rastafari by those outside the culture

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who would not normally tolerate, let alone embrace, unfamiliar and directly

delivered religious, social, or political doctrines.

The sustained acceptance of these Rastafarian-created identity expressions –

music (reggae) and style (the red, gold, green, and black Rasta color combination) –

by those outside the culture forces us to question what this adoption by the mass

market means in terms of how we view the legitimacy of the Rastafarian diaspora

itself. Given it is both music and style that are the influencing points between

Rastafari and the outside world, it becomes easy to dismiss Rastafarians as little

more than a successful subculture. In fact, we need look no further than Dick

Hebdige’s seminal work Subculture: The Meaning of Style to succinctly reinforce this

label:

As the subculture begins to strike its own eminently marketable pose, as its
vocabulary (both visual and verbal) becomes more and more familiar, so the
referential context to which it can be most conveniently assigned is made
increasingly apparent...The process of recuperation takes two characteristic
forms: (1) the conversion of subcultural signs (dress, music, etc.) into mass-
produced objects (i.e. the commodity form); (2) the ‘labelling’ and re-
definition of deviant behavior by dominant groups – the police, the media,
the judiciary (i.e. the ideological form) (Hebdige, 109).

Hebdige continues by addressing the rationale behind why subcultures express

themselves a certain way, “The communication of a significant difference, then (and

the parallel communication of a group identity), is the ‘point’ behind the style of all

spectacular subcultures” (Hebdige, 118). Hebdige was studying punk subculture of

the 1970s when he made these observations, and punk had its own clearly

identifiable music and style. So, given the popularity of reggae music across multiple

demographics and with other influential musicians, and the ubiquity of Rasta colors

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in clothing and paraphernalia that can be found from the street corners of New York

City to your local Wal-Mart, there appear to be several parallels between

Rastafarians and punk and, therefore, we should classify both as subcultures. A

reasonable conclusion, however, I would argue it is one that is too simplistic.

Let’s return to Hebdige and his explanation of the effect acceptance and then

the, undoubtedly unexpected, adoption of punk style by the public at large had on

punk subculture:

...punk clothing and insignia could be bought mail-order by the summer of

1977, and in September of that year Cosmopolitan ran a review of Zandra
Rhodes’ latest collection of couture follies which consisted entirely of
variations on the punk theme... and the accompanying article ended with an
aphorism – ‘To shock is chic’ – which presaged the subculture’s imminent
demise’ (Hebdige, 111-112).

The critical point here is that the arc from the genesis of punk style to mass

appropriation – including by the fashion industry, no less – occurred in less than a

decade and punk was unable to maintain its hegemony let alone sustain its

significance as a subculture. One could say that it simply combusted. In contrast,

Rastafari – even if one were to consider this movement as only a subculture – has

not suffered any noticeable fracturing from its expansion and related appropriation

of its style by outsiders; and, incidentally, this is over a much longer period of time

and by a much wider audience than with punk. Perhaps this means that Rastafarians

are, therefore, something akin to a “super subculture” and they have found a way to

walk the line between internal stability and external expansion. Again, this suggests

a narrow appreciation of the Rastafarian diaspora versus the subculture model

given that Rastafarians, unlike punks, bikers, hip-hop, or any number of other

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recognized subcultures, have religious and historical frameworks as part of their

cultural and diasporic identity along with the core requirement of any diaspora,

which is an unwavering connection with a real and/or mythical homeland.

Expanding and Sustaining the Rastafarian Diaspora: The Bob Marley Effect

In his Transnationalism and Ethnonational Diasporism essay, Gabi Sheffer

provides us with a compelling model we can use to compare some of the similarities

between Rastafarians and other, more commonly identified, diasporas:

… a diaspora can exist when two significant preconditions are met. The first
precondition is met, when, in addition to and to an extent overlying the
existence of individual and familial emotions and cognitions concerning their
“belonging,” individual diasporans and small familial groups have inherent
and very clear cognitive and emotional recognition of belonging to a wider
group that cultivates solidarity and fosters commitment to the entire
enthonational entity. The second precondition is met when there is an
inherent readiness on the part of individual diasporans, their families, and
larger diasporic groups to publicly identify themselves as members of these
entities (Sheffer, 132).

Based on Sheffer’s description – along with the Rastafarians’ homeland mythology –

Rastafarians would qualify as a diaspora; but the question for us to consider is not

only whether Rastafarians are a diaspora, but also whether they could be

considered emulative for other diasporas that are wrestling with their own

identities and structural instabilities. In order for us to answer both of these

questions as effectively as possible, (within a short essay), we need to look closely at

the individual who was, arguably, the one most responsible for the international

growth and development of the Rastafarian movement: Bob Marley.

Marley’s contribution to Rastafari, and on popular culture in general, was

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first felt globally between 1975-1981 by Rastafarians and non-Rastafarians alike

when he became a true reggae music “star,” but his impact is felt far more

significantly today almost four decades after his death. Images of Bob Marley can be

found nearly everywhere on posters, mugs, and t-shirts; the Marley brand with the

Rasta colors is used on everything from headphones to energy drinks; Jamaica is an

international destination attracting tourists with its mix of exotic resorts and Rasta-

influenced trinkets; reggae music and style has inspired popular musical artists

including The Police, Rush, UB40, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Clapton and many

others; and everyday an immeasurable number of young people are hearing Bob

Marley’s hit songs such as “No Woman, No Cry,” “Redemption Song” or “Three Little

Birds” for the first time furthering the awareness of Bob Marley and extending his

legacy.

Growing up in Trench Town, one of the poorest areas of Jamaica, Marley –

whose father was a white, British solider whom he barely knew, and his mother was

the daughter of a poor, black farmer – was exposed from an early age to a mix of

music, racism, politics, poverty, and culture, which, not surprisingly, provided him

with multiple perspectives and a complex, and often confusing, identity. The outlet

he chose to express his beliefs about inequality, oppression, religion, and the path to

redemption was music:

Bob Marley became the bard of Rastafarian social values – a prophet crying
in the wilderness of the Caribbean, some have even called him the Charles
Wesley of Rastafarianism…his message can be heard from Europe to Africa
and from Canada to Australia. He became the idol of the Third World, and his
musical message became a rallying theme for the oppressed on many
continents…his songs were revelations, and many translated this message
into a way of life…soon even Whites began to be identified with the
movement from America to Europe (Barrett, 213).

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 Author Alice Walker was insightful when she wrote that Marley not only,

“…loved Jamaica and loved Jamaicans and loved being a Jamaican…but…knew it was

not meant to limit itself…to an island of any sort” (Chevannes, 270). Marley’s ability

to reach and influence those who felt “oppressed” both inside his homeland of

Jamaica, “…known the world over [due to Marley] for being home to the Rastafari “

(Price, 191), and around the world through his music, message, and instantly

recognizable style is one of the key reasons Rastafarians have been able to sustain

and grow as a diaspora.

We don’t need to delve into a comprehensive Marley biography or

discography to show the connections between his identity, music, message and his

indelible impact on Rastafari, but it is important to look at some specific incidents in

Marley’s life where his influence on the Rastafarian diaspora was actualized.

Jamaica, in the mid- to late 1970s, was suffering from civil unrest and gang

violence due to the clashing of competing political factions – both parties led,

incidentally, by white men. Marley was particularly outspoken about the issue,

“When you have political violence, the youth fighting against the youth for the

politicians then I really feel sick. See, I find none of them really do anything good for

the people. It’s divide and rule” (Macdonald, Marley). In an effort to stop the

violence, Marley, along with then Prime Minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley,

organized the “Smile Jamaica” concert featuring a number of reggae artists. Two

days before the concert, Marley was shot during rehearsal and he sustained minor

injuries. No one claimed responsibility, although clearly it was one of the two

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political parties, but he decided to perform at the concert anyway despite the

potential risks. The concert was successful, the violence began to quell, and Marley –

a member of the, very small, Rastafarian minority in Jamaica – had almost

singlehandedly united the country. But two weeks after the concert, Michael Manley,

taking advantage of the newfound goodwill Marley had created across Jamaica,

immediately called for a general election thereby ensuring his continued

appointment as Prime Minister. Marley was disillusioned by this political

manipulation and he went into self-imposed exile in London.

It should not be lost in our appreciation of the dynamics of the Rastafarian

diaspora that its unofficial leader went into exile where the, “…habits of life,

expression or activity in the new environment inevitably occur against the memory

of these things in another environment” (Said, 172) – Marley used his exile in

London to launch an international tour. He felt that, “The music will get bigger and

bigger until it reaches the right people” (Macdonald, Marley), and he was correct – in

one six-week tour of Europe he performed in front of more than two million people.

He went on to stage hugely successful concerts in Canada, America, and Africa but

he also found that, with the exception of those in Africa, of course, the vast majority

of concertgoers were white. Despite Marley’s messages of black redemption, belief

in Haile Selassie, and returning to Africa, black audiences were unresponsive. One

could imagine Marley would have been both surprised and disappointed by this, but

if we place the diaspora filter on this issue this was, in fact, a watershed moment for

the Rastafarian movement.

The reality with any diaspora is that it is confined, by its very nature, to the

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culture from whence it came. So its “diasporic reach” is usually limited to its

connection between its own people, e.g. Jews relating to other Jews, or between its

people and those who have some kind of relationship with that culture or an aspect

of that culture or its mission – for example, Jews and those who are not Jewish but

feel particularly strongly about Israel’s independence. For the Rastafarian

movement as a whole, unintentionally appealing mainly to white audiences outside

of Jamaica crossed an international sociopolitical and ethnic boundary that few

could have fathomed being crossed. For example, imagine an Orthodox Jewish

musician playing sold out concerts around the world not to Jews but to virtually

only Muslim audiences. An impossible scenario to construct today, but yet

collapsing the separation between black and white in the 1970s would have been

equally unimaginable yet is exactly what Marley did, and by doing this he installed a

massive global base not of Rastafarian disciples, necessarily, but of Rastafarian

“accepters” and acceptance is the key to expansion and sustainability. It was these

white accepters, attending his concerts around the world, buying Bob Marley t-

shirts, some starting to grow dreadlocks, and most able to sing word for word and in

unison to Marley’s songs about black independence, Jah, slavery, and returning to

Zion, who were captivated by the music, the style, and the man but, importantly, felt

no threat from the message.

To further highlight this point, let’s look at the first verse from one of

Marley’s most famous songs called “Redemption Song”: “Oh pirates yes they rob I /

Sold I to the merchant ships / Minutes after they took I / From the bottomless pit.”

The average white teenager living in suburban New Hampshire today who has a

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poster of Bob Marley in his bedroom certainly knows this song but would have

almost no cultural understanding of the message; it is simply a great song to him.

But, again, this superficial connection between the teenager and the music is not an

issue that negatively affects the structure of the Rastafarian movement because,

even though the teenager doesn’t “understand” in the ethnic sense, he listens, he

gains peripheral awareness, and he accepts the message as well as appreciating and

respecting at least a portion of the culture surrounding the message. Hypothetically,

if a black politician delivered this same message about the oppression of black

people to this same teenager it is unlikely the teenager would even notice let alone

listen.

Marley returned to Jamaica after learning that the country was struggling

again with internal conflicts and he staged another concert called the “Peace

Concert” saying, “My life is for the people” (Macdonald, Marley). This concert was

also successful and at the end of the show he brought both competing white leaders

of their respective political parties on stage with him where the three embraced.

That type of public showing of solidarity was unprecedented and was covered

internationally and Marley was awarded the Order of Merit, Jamaica’s third highest

honor. Soon after the Peace Concert, Marley opened for The Commodores at

Madison Square Garden where black audiences finally became, at the very least,

black “accepters” embracing both his music and his message.

Unfortunately, Bob Marley did not live much longer after these professional

and social advances; he died in May 1981 from melanoma, which, perhaps ironically,

is a disease that primarily affects white people. And although the hyperbole I use

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here is intentional for effect, in many ways Bob Marley was a modern day messiah

for the Rastafarian diaspora considering how quickly he was able to spread both the

gospel and culture of Rastafari to the outside world. I would venture to say that,

initially due almost exclusively to Marley, there is no other diaspora today that can

claim this kind of sustained global appreciation, acceptance, and in some cases

adoption – in whole or in part – of its culture.

Conclusion

It is certainly not possible to examine every facet and dynamic of Rastafarian

culture in an initial research essay to definitively determine whether Rastafarians

are, not only, a diaspora but also whether they provide an emulative structure for

other diasporas. But the concepts and examples we have identified so far are

intriguing on the surface and I would argue, at the very least, raise enough

additional questions and curiosity to warrant further exploration.

In order to set the stage for a more detailed analysis, we must first

acknowledge that a diaspora is, “…continually in the process of construction”

(Pattie, 50), so what serves as the accepted model(s) today will inevitably change as

cultures and time advances. With this in mind, let’s ask a modified version of the

question I raised in the beginning and look now at what traditionally constitutes a

diaspora as it relates to Rastafarians: (1) they have a collective identity and sense of

belonging; (2) they have symbolic and/or mythical homelands; (3) they have a

clearly defined and recognizable style, culture, and rituals; (4) they are able to

connect with other members of their culture across global boundaries with

consistent messages – cultural, religious, stylistic, social, or political; and (5) they

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share a common and accepted mythology.

We then combine these characteristics with what we have identified as the

diasporic characteristics that are unique to Rastafarians: (1) they have appropriated

symbols and rituals from other recognizable and established cultures as part of their

own mythology; (2) they have a message that is accessible to broad audiences and

delivered via their music and style; (3) they deliver their religious and cultural

messages and mythology consistently both inside and outside their homeland; (4)

they focus on affecting political, social, and economic change in their symbolic,

(although one could argue their primary), homeland, Jamaica, rather than in their

mythical homeland, Ethiopia; and (5) they successfully use charismatic leaders to

spread their social and religious messages.

Having collected enough information to be able to outline, at least in broad

terms, some of these traditional and specific characteristics, we now have a baseline

understanding of the similarities and differences between Rastafarians and other

diasporas. Whether Rastafarians will maintain their hegemony and what effect any

Rastafarian-specific diasporic models may have on other diasporas is unknown but,

at this point, it is fitting for us to conclude by revisiting William Safran who provides

us with an overarching question for us to consider when seeking to understand the

dynamics of any diaspora. He asks, “How long does it take for a diaspora

consciousness to develop, and what are the necessary and sufficient conditions for

its survival?” (Safran, 95). There is no one answer to this question, of course, nor is

there a singular, replicable model that can be followed by all diasporic cultures to

ensure their growth and sustainability. But to paraphrase Bob Marley’s words from

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the opening of this essay, every diaspora must, at the very least, know, “where

they’re going” and “where they’re from.” Beyond those critical and fundamental

foundations, only time will tell.

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Edmonds, Ennis B. Rastafari: A Very Short Introduction, London: Oxford University

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Erskine, Noel Leo. From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology. Gainsville: University
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Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” Theorizing Diaspora. Ed. Jana Evans
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Hoffman, Eva. “The New Nomads.” Letters of Transit: Reflections on Exile, Identity,
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Marley. Dir. Kevin Macdonald. Tuff Gong Pictures, 2012. Film.

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