JOSEPH - A RASTA REGGAE FABLE
by
BARBARA BLAKE HANNAH
3rd Edition published 2006 by McMillan Caribbean Publishing Co.
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SYNOPSIS
In the 1970s the Rastafari movement grew from national scorn and disfavour into an internationally-recognised religious expression, mainly because of the international popularity of the music created by the movement’s faithful. Among these faithful, one man stood out and became a national hero and icon. The times in which he lived were eventful and unusual, as the socialist politics of the ruling PNP government clashed directly with not only the conservatism of its opposition JLP party, but especially with the diametrically different lifestyle, hairstyle and beliefs of the Rastafari movement.
At the height of the 70s, it seemed that Rastafari held more power over the people than the government. Yet in reality, no leader stepped forward to assume the mantle of power and whenever this seemed possible, efforts were made to discredit and destroy any who seemed to have leadership qualities.
It
is against this background that JOSEPH is written, offering a fictional
hero in a story which turns history on its end, and wonders:
What would have happened, if …. or could have happened, if….
* * * *
PROLOGUE
The story begins in flashback.
A long line of cars drives along a Jamaican country road in one direction. On both sides of the road people stand three and four deep, waving, smiling, shouting, waving red-gold-and-green flags, as reggae music blares from loudspeakers, boomboxes and radios, generating as much excitement as on a national holiday.
Inside one of the cars are four Rastas, two men and two women, one of whom is our Narrator ASHANTI (also called SISTER SHANTY). As they speak, we realize the celebration is in fact a funeral procession for a famous man, but ASHANTI expresses her disgust at the apparent hypocrisy of the ‘mourners’ who, while he was alive, expressed scorn for him, his religion and his music.
“Some one must tell the true tale,” she says. Her companions press her to be the story teller. They say that the man JOSEPH was a singular, saintly man, whose true story won’t be told unless someone like them who knew him well tells the story. Urging her on, they alight from the car, walk into the countryside and send up a prayer to God, JAH RASTAFARI.
At that very moment, the coffin carrying JOSEPH’s body arrives at the hillside spot where his mausoleum will be a mecca for tourists, fans and worshippers for decades to come.
* * * *
ASHANTI begins her story in the Kingston ghetto of Dungle, where her father
lived among a group of Rasta brethren, before being forced to move to
Wareika HIills – a haven for criminals and an incubator for the
reggae music that grew from Rastafari. When ASHANTI meets JOSEPH, he is
an upcoming singer who visits her father’s yard to smoke herb and
reason with Elders. She becomes his friend and ‘sister’ and
is with him when he tells that he has been offered a contract by a white
Jamaican record producer.
BUSHA, the producer, sends ZUELIKA – a beautiful Jamaican girl singer who is also his lover, to Jamaica to persuade JOSEPH to sign the contract. They fall in love and she introduces JOSEPH to a new way of loving. JOSEPH signs the contract and soon gives a performance in London which establishes him as a superstar. He becomes the center of media attention, especially a white American journalist SAM, who has an assignment to write a book on Rastafari.
Meanwhile in Jamaica, the political tension increases, as ghetto gangs become targets of officialdom. ASHANTI’s man PETER, a Robin-Hood-type gang leader, is under fire and seeks refuge from JOSEPH, with whom he becomes friends.
Through PETER, JOSEPH is invited to headline a concert being organized by the ghetto gang leaders. JOSEPH agrees and the concert is a magical, national event. Its unexpected climax comes when JOSEPH is shot in mid-song on stage, and presumed dead. A riot ensues, PETER and ASHANTI escape and are later rescued by helicopter, flown to Miami and from there to Cuba, where they hide for a few weeks.
In the meantime, JOSEPh – though badly wounded – is not dead but recovering at one of BUSHA’s many luxurious homes on a desert island in the Bahamas. ZUELIKA rushes from England to be with him and helps nurse him back to health. JOSEPH’s best friend MIKEY comes from Jamaica and tells him that PETER is being sought by the Police as JOSEPH’s killer. ZUELIKA’s own ambitions as a singer interfere with her role as JOSEPH’s woman and she makes a tragic mistake which causes JOSEPH to send her away, despite her pleas for forgiveness.
* * * *
JOSEPH and MIKEY decide to make a pilgrimage to Ethiopia, and they travel
to London to obtain visas. There they meet up with RED DREAD, a Black
English Rasta, who is leader of a committed group of repatriationist Rastas.
SAM also meets up with them, following JOSEPH for a major story. When
getting Ethiopian visas proves difficult, SAM uses his media contacts
to get visas for them, on condition that he be allowed to travel with
them.
Meanwhile, after an interesting stay in Cuba, ASHANTI and PETER have traveled via Cuban army troop plane to Ethiopia. There at Shashemane they are surprised and pleased to meet up with JOSEPH, MIKEY, SAM and RED DREAD and reflect on past events. They realize there is a plot to destroy JOSEPH, and feel that it would be good to visit the holy shrine of Lalibela for the spiritual protection they feel they need.
They all set off for Lalibela, led by an Ethiopian guide MIKEL. After days of travel, they reach – not Lalibela, but a hidden valley which turns out to be a secret monastery of some very special priests. They are each given a small chapel to stay in, each of which is dedicated to a different Ethiopian Saint. Joseph disappears into his chapel and does not emerge for two days. The others are awed by the holiness of the place.
ASHANTI and PETER decide to be baptized in the stream that flows through the valley. The priests conduct a sacred baptism ceremony, and just as ASHANTI and PETER emerge from the water, JOSEPH appears carried on a stretcher and looking as ill as when he was shot. The priests carry his stretcher into the water and baptize him, then disappear with him again.
That night PETER and ASHANTI pray a special prayer found in their chapel, for the blessing of a child. The next morning as they all prepare to leave, JOSEPH appears looking brighter and fitter than he looked for many years.
* * * *
When the group returns to London, they are surprised to be greeted by crowds of boisterous demonstrators, cursing JOSEPH. Unknown to him, during his absence tabloid newspapers circulated stories that JOSEPH held drug orgies in his hotel room while he was in London.
Deciding once and for all to end the efforts to discredit him, JOSEPH organizes a massive concert at the Albert Hall, to which he also invites the world media. There JOSEPH uses his music as a platform from which to present a multi-media video/computer show explaining his religion and the urge for repatriation. JOSEPH describes the creation of a new Africa settled by Africans returned home from the Diaspora. He shows computer visions of a model city created with modern technology and methods. He is cross-questioned by the world’s leading journalists, some of whom are receptive, others hostile.
Among these is SAM, the journalist, who finally exposes himself as the traitor responsible for the recent press stories, and the mole sent to destroy the man seen as the Rastafari leader. JOSEPH’s presentation triumphs over SAM’s allegations.
The strain is too much. JOSEPH collapses after the performance and his old wounds re-open. BUSHA fears for JOSEPH’s life and wants him to seek the best medical help in Eutope. But JOSEPh relies on his Jamaican doctor – a Rasta – who takes him back to a monastery in the Jamaican hills for traditional treatments of ancient Africa retained in Rastafari priests.
Treatment begins, but JOSEPH’s life continues to hang by a thread and his friends begin to despair. However, as they pray, theDoctor begins a treatment that requires human bodyheat to be successful. SUELIKA arrives just in time to give a unique kind of help. Her reward is to learn from JOSEPH the secret of the chapel in which he stayed in Ethiopia.
* * * *
EPILOGUE
ASHANTI is in Shashemane, building the new city. PETER is with her and also their son JOHANNES. Many happy people can be seen working and living together.
JOSEPH
and ZUELIKA are among them.
No, JOSEPH did not die. The treatment worked.
What was buried at the funeral was a wax dummy of JOSEPH, and his locks.
Now JOSEPH and ZUELIKA live happily, building a future world of Peace
and LOVE.
