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It is been 59 years now and this story is still not in the mainstream of history teaching.



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In reply to Emir

That's a great share, Emir. I didn't know of this. Ah, bwoy! Black people the world over sure have suffered!

I heard long ago that even my beloved Norman Manley had issues with Marcus Garvey (in the sense of 'looked down on'). To that end, I just searched for "norman manley vs marcus garvey" and got The Manley-Garvey face-off of 1932 as one match.

--Æ.

In reply to JayMor
That conflict, longstanding too did occur but check Manley's record on Rastas

In reply to Emir

In recent years is has been discussed widely here. Rastas are still victims in Jamaica. The racist hair policies remain a big issue. You can wear 50lbs of weave but woe be to lil Rasta children in some of these schools.

In reply to Emir

Thankfully the Rastas did not exact revenge by blowing up innocent folks.

In reply to Chrissy
I will never understand that. Thought that woulda dun from '60's.
Never forget seeing a young child (6yrs. old) out of his dad's
eyesight trying his best to use a ruler and comb his locks just to
have primary school principal let him in. I was 9

In reply to JayMor

Not much folks know of this and the great irony is the perception of Jamaica as a sanctuary for the great Rastafarian religion and way of life.

In reply to Chrissy

I have held the view that Afro Saxons in our region persecuted Rastas during the 50's to the 70's. With respect to hairstyle, the same is true in the region not only in Jamaica and this is very sad indeed!

In reply to JayMor

That (looked down on) could be true.

Jamaica was and still to a certain extent is a very class conscious place.

But the trouble with these one-off statements is precisely that they are one-off.

Much of the situation between Norman and Marcus arose from the fact that Norman had to oppose Marcus in Court while he Norman was holding brief for some company... I forget which its was at the moment. Any good feeling he might have nurtured about Garvey and his activities had to be put in abeyance.

But many people have used that to say bad things about Norman in relation to Garvey.

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In reply to Ewart

First, thanks for chiming in, Maas Ewie. Any Yardie topic like this cannot be complete without your input.

I fully appreciate that NWM would have been on the forward edge of race/class issues in terms of justice and accommodation. It's not hard to figure out that many of his fellow upper-society peers would not have shared his world view in this regard. So even though you tell that NWM would have held in abeyance any good feeling he may have harboured for Marcus, what we have as revelations are the cases where they were at loggerheads. Of course, you may point me to other cases where he, NWM, embraced Marcus. Mind you, you know, I cannot for one moment think that Norman Manley didn't quietly support Marcus Garvey's politics. But open support was perhaps seen as too radical at that time.

Do you have any comments on the link I posted? ...The Manley-Garvey face-off of 1932. One thing I got from the events is that NWM wanted to 'address' Marcus but didn't like it when Marcus 'addressed' him back. That even bolsters my argument here.

--Æ.

In reply to JayMor

Your reading of the situation cannot be faulted. And I am not aware of any cases where he openly embraced Marcus.

What I have found with research is that you only get what the writers get. One of the most extensively researched books I have read is by Obika Gray but on closer examination his sources were almost all from one side of the political, divide!

What we have here in the piece you quoted is not quite as bad but is written by a man who inextricably associated himself with the Jamaica Labour Party for most of his life and as the main spokesperson for the Bustamante Foundation. I do not recall him writing anything complimentary about either of the Manleys.

There is another consideration. Norman was a Black boy from Jamaica who went to fight for England and met Edna there. Coming home to Jamaica at the time he did he would be very conscious of the prevailing mores that were the result of 300 years of white-ruled slavery and culture. To what extent that played out in his relationship with Garvey is unclear.

What I can say of him as a person is this. My grandfather, Black by name and Black in colour, was the market clerk in Cave Valley, St. Ann, and when he had a matter in court he had the good sense to employ Norman who won the case for him.

On receiving payment, Norman drove back to Kingston only there to discover that he had been overpaid. He never sent it back by messenger or by mail. Norman jumped in his car and drove back all those 70-odd miles of tracks that passed for roads to Cave Valley to refund Mr. Black his overpayment.

The final thing... and it might not even be necessary... we have to be careful not to arrive at conclusions from two or three stories about people like Norman. There are several. And we have a good chance of approaching a correct conclusion when we read as many as we can.

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In reply to Ewart

In addition to which, the Coral Gardens story is now being told only from a Rastafarian point of view.

At the time of the incident you could count the number of Jamaicans who were not afraid of Rastas, especially after the Whappy King rape and murder on Palisadoes Road.

Times have changed...

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In reply to Ewart

"now being told from a rastafarian point of view", so true.

59 years after will we ever get the true story or a revisionist version which seeks to demonize one side. Weren't some innocent non-rasta folks also killed in this incident? Was a lad in primary school when this happened on Good Friday 1963. In fact remember being sick in bed, did not make it to Good Friday service.

In reply to Ewart

And then you subsequently added "the Coral Gardens story is now being told only from a Rastafarian point of view".

I like that! The latter story involves Bustamante but instead of piling on, you painted with an even brush. Understood and appreciated.

You're right but again, the stories are many wherein Busta and the JLP have supported/protected upper-class interests over those of the poor man while ostensibly using pork barrel politics to blind his eyes.

Nice story that re NWM and your grandfather. My parents took me out to see him when he came to Jericho during his "Man with the Plan" campaign, and I can square that man with one who would do something like that.

Thanks for your reply again. One love, sah.

--Æ.

In reply to JayMor
Jay how life treating you? I haven't been to the rock for nearly 3 years, the longest I have been away since the 1960s. I Normally visit 2-3 times per year. My wife was pretty sick from 2019-2021 and with COVID, we thought it wise not to leave Canada. During this time we were blessed with a grand daughter in Sept 2020, celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in late Dec 2021 and my wife has recovered extremely well. Naturally, we will be heading down in a few weeks time irrespective of all the problems being encountered by our parish and the island.

Just my 2 cents worth to this thread. I left Ja in 1962 so I wasn't around for the Coral Gardens "massacre." My understanding was that it was one Of Kerr Jarrett's gas stations that was attacked by the Rastas. Kerr Jarrett being rich, white, major Montegonian property owner and labourite naturally elicited the kind of response that Busta pronounced. In fact, I believe that Busta even recommended a Knighthood for Kerr Jarrett shortly after independence. I recall that for the longest time there was a fear and mistrust of Rastas by the general public. In 1960 there was a small uprising led by Claudius Henry after he supposedly asked Fidel Castro for advice as to how to plan and lead a revolution. I believe that his son and a few rastas were executed as a result. Manley was the Premier at the time.

When I returned to Ja in 1969, I was pleasantly surprised as to the changing attitude toward Rastas. I believe that many Jamaicans today have little or no idea as to how Jamaicans on the whole, irrespective of party affiliation, viewed the Rastafarian movement in the 50s and up to the time I left the island in April 1962.

In reply to DonD

Big Congrats - glad wifey is recovering well.

In reply to DonD & JayMor

Emancipation, Rastafari, Whoppy King, And Coral Gardens

May 28, 2020

Tales of the Black Friday Coral Gardens events in recent years disregard the deeper background and leave a warped understanding of Rastafari and the emerging Jamaican society.

Rastafari emerged in the 1930s, 100 years after emancipation turfed three hundred thousand Black people off the sugar estates into an uncertain future without food, lodging, money or education. The Rastas’ dread philosophy encouraged the Black man’s awareness of self and his recognition of his authenticity as an equal participant in the global community.

Rastafarians were feared and scorned, often stoned, ridiculed and beaten by civilians. They were branded as cannibals and “Black Heart Men”. They had to function “underground” for the most part, avoiding public places.

Rastafari represents a determined retreat from the prevailing mores of the society in early 20th century Jamaica, and is an entirely Jamaican creation. The movement generated a mood to redefine the present by returning to the past. The philosophy also adopted some of the beliefs and practices of the Adventists which had taken root in mostly rural Jamaica from as early as 1903, with education and health as essential planks.

Rastas first gathered together at Tabernacle near August Town under Leonard Howell who then established a Rasta commune on land he bought at Pinnacle, near Sligoville in 1940. Pinnacle maintained up to 1,600 residents on several farms and was self-sufficient.

The Rastafarian bredren lived peacefully there and, in accordance with their interpretation of the Bible, they grew and smoked ganja, the illegal weed, to aid their meditations. They taught that the King of England was not King of Africa, as that could only be His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I. And so they were seen as a threat to the status quo which led to several raids by the police.

Familiar Rastafarian words like Jah, overstanding, irie, idren and ital were not yet a part of their lingo. They were a peaceful, contemplative people who lived together in a commune away from “the world” of Jamaica. Abstaining from pork, they promoted a natural diet, human rights, righteous living, respect for others and pride in one’s self. They planted their own food, raised their own livestock, praised ganja as the wisdom weed, smoked it in their ceremonies, and studied the Old Testament for guidance. As Old Testament followers, they were, by definition, not Christians (followers of Christ) for they saw Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I as god.

When Pinnacle was destroyed by the police in 1954, the Rastas were dispersed, and different streams of Rastafari emerged. Many, who affected Rastafari, were not Rastas at all; some were simply bearded men, later known as “Beardmen,” a term enshrined in the popular instrumental Beardman Shuffle that was a feature of the JBC’s Saturday afternoon Teenage Dance Party programme. Others were simply “plastic Rastas,” and even when the term “locksman” came into use, some with locks were not Rastas. As a conscious Rastaman is reputed to have said, “Hairy face don’t make hairy heart.” Eventually, Dreads became the generic name for Rastas.

The early Rastafarians were mostly men of “peace and love,” which was their greeting to all and sundry. They first appeared on Kingston sidewalks wearing long gowns of white, or red and gold and black and yellow. They often carried a staff. Their heads were wrapped in a turban, or else they left their hair dangling in locks that eventually became known as dreadlocks, although both Marcus Garvey who is hailed as a prophet, and Leonard Howell who is credited with starting the movement, remained “bald-head” and locksless.

But some of them would verbally attack people, especially women. “Fire fi yuh,” was a constant cry when they saw something they objected to. These objections often were directed at women with straightened hair. This did nothing to endear them to the rest of the population. Not entirely of their own making, they were outcasts and they were despised.

And then, on June 11, 1951 a savage murder and rape on the Palisadoes Road heightened the society’s disdain and resolve against Rastas. A criminal named Whoppy King, who wore the beard and trappings of a Rasta, attacked a young couple out for a romantic tryst, killed the man Sidney Garel, and raped the young woman Bernadette Hugh.

Whoppy King was arrested. His arrest, trial and conviction remains today one of the biggest and most sensational court cases in Jamaica’s history. Thousands gathered at the Cross Roads Police Station where he was held and even more turned up at the Supreme Court building at Justice Square, downtown Kingston for his trial and conviction.

Ousted from their communal comfort at Pinnacle, the Rastas became artisans and artists. Many walked the streets and came to the doors of offices selling brooms, straw goods, clothes and carvings they had made. And they became singers. Indeed, by the mid-1970s, after the established success of Bob Marley and the Wailers, it seemed that any youth who wanted to be a singer felt he had to become a dreadlocks first.

But it was not always clear who was who. A number of criminal incidents were said to have been committed by “Rastas.” Nobody really knew for sure whether these were genuine Rastas or plastics — all that people really knew was that they had beards and sometimes dreadlocks.

People were afraid.

This fear was exacerbated by the arrival of a group of former American army men led by Reynold (Ronald) Henry who had taken up residence in the hills. His father, Rev Claudius Henry, had returned to Jamaica earlier and tried to revive Garvey’s old People’s Progressive Party, at least in name. Establishing something he called the African Reform Church, he started preaching “Back-to-Africa,” and began selling “Back-to-Africa” tickets for passage on a ship which was to take ticket-holders, mostly Rastas, to Africa and away from the despair, drudgery and degradation that was Jamaica.

Suffice it to say, nothing of the sort happened. The day came, but the ship didn’t. Then in an April 1960 raid on his Rosalie Avenue headquarters police found a weapons cache including dynamite with over 4,000 detonators, a shotgun, cartridges, conch shells, and numerous machetes sharpened both sides. They also found a letter addressed to Fidel Castro imploring him to take over Jamaica and rescue the people from a government indifferent to the people’s needs.

Autoclaps! Even though Castro had never shown any inclination to involve himself in Jamaica’s affairs — and there is no indication that the letter was ever sent – — the old bogey of “communism” was again let loose, and that was the last thing people wanted to hear. Rev Henry and 11 others were arrested. Meanwhile, in the wake of the murder of three Rastafarians and two British soldiers in the Red Hills area, Reynold Henry and his colleagues were hunted down and captured, found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death.

Into this situation stepped Premier Norman Manley. He commissioned a study that gave the genuine Rastas recognition and a platform on which to build. University College of the West Indies (UCWI) history professor Roy Augier, UCWI Extra-Mural head Rex Nettleford and anthropologist MG Smith conversed closely with the Rastafarians and produced a report entitled, The Rastafari Movement in Kingston, Jamaica. Conducted in the same time-frame of the contortions around Jamaica’s role in the West Indies Federation this study, published in 1961, gave credibility to a social group which had been previously construed as vagrants, social outcasts and, in some cases, murderers like Whappy King.

Premier Norman Manley soon met Rastafarian elders including Mortimer Planno, who is credited with mentoring the young Bob Marley in Rasta thought and belief, and who was a leading member of the (Christian) Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jamaica and a friend of Haile Selassie. That meeting further led to the Government sending a delegation of Rastafarians to Ethiopia.

Many years later, Rex Nettleford was to choreograph for his National Dance Theatre Company, a dance, The Court of Jah, which brought recognition, respectability and a measure of normalcy to the Rastafarians.

But it was the success of singers like Dennis Brown, Burning Spear (Winston Rodney), Joseph Hill of the group Culture, and Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari (Rasta Reggae), and especially Bob Marley with his Wailers, that was to bring Rastafari into the mainstream and a far different lifestyle than at the beginning.


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In reply to Ewart

Thanks for a delightful and very readable historical summation. To quote Whoppy King "If you say so DEE."

In reply to DonD

True and sober words, Don D. I did live though those changing views of the Rasta movement. I can specifically identify with your take on that at the turn of the decade through mid 1970s. (I always thought Rasta should have given up its passive or 'anti' stance on politics and gone in with Joshua. Would've been their watershed moment, to my view.)
      Surnames like Kerr-Jarret and DeLisser always invoke MoBay and take me back to my growing up days.

Great to see you, sir. Sorry to hear of your wife's troubles with Covid-19 but wonderful it is to learn of her eventual recovery. Life's treating Me well here in retirement. Travelling and making the best of it. Some things happening at StETHS mandate that I be there in the Summer, so if the time coincides, maybe...


(Me soon come, Ewart. Haffe go full me belly and fuel up to tackle your post. LOL.)

--Æ.

In reply to JayMor




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In reply to Ewart

As we would've said in the distant past, that post was boss. It has the makings of the start or base of something much more comprehensive. Quite a few nuggets in there, stuff I was unaware of. I have saved the piece; thanks.

--Æ.

This Black Friday massacre bears particular resonance for me because Rudolph Franklyn - thr first Rasta casualty-was a relative. His brother Rev. Lebert Frankyn is my uncle

In reply to jacksprat

It rough outa John shop, me fren, but hush! Ah, the injustices of this world!

--Æ.

In reply to Chrissy

I brought up the subject of discrimination against Rastas in a recent thread and Brerzerk danced all around the subject like it didn't exist.

And, you rightfully acknowledged that this discrimination existed.

In reply to JayMorThanks for your concern. It wasn't COVID my wife was sick with. Actually, we both avoided it.

In reply to DonD

Took a second look at your post just now, Don, and saw that I misread your words; sorry. So glad me no have goat mouth.

--Æ.