Marcus Garvey and Haille Selassi I
Marcus Garvey
Already in 1916 the Jamaican preacher Marcus Mosiah Garvey had the idea that the
descendants of the slaves who came from Africa should go back to “their roots”,
so to Africa. After he had moved to the USA, he even tried to realise this by
founding the U.N.I.A. (Universal Negro Improvement Assosiation) and other
organisations like a shipping line that were expected to be able to help with
the repatriation in later years. But they all went bust – not without the
“help” of the US government – before this project could be started.
Nevertheless some of his ideas were later taken up again by freedom fighters
like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Burning Spear sang about this “Marcus
Garvey is the prophet, Martin Luther King he knows it, Malcolm X he fix it.”10
However Garvey’s most important prophesy for the Rastafarians and for the
Reggae music is the same that caused many people to compare him with John the
Baptist: In 1916 Garvey told his audience in the “Edelweiss Park” that
“there’s a prince in Africa to be crowned King for the black people of the
world, and when such a King is crowned then he Garvey’s work will be finished.”11
and that this King will be of divine origin. When in 1930 Ras Tafari Makkonen (
Haile Selassi I.) was crowned as the emperor or Ethiopia, he was regarded as the
promised King and Garvey’s prophesy seemed to have come true.
Many musicians wrote songs about the prophet Garvey. The most famous of them is
Burning Spear who praised him in songs like “Old Marcus Garvey”, “Marcus
say Jah no dead” ( an insinuation about the prediction of a divine King) and
“Lets recall some great man”. Although Garvey is a very important figure in
Reggae music, there is still a more important one: The King Garvey had foreseen.
Haile
Selassi I. - Jah
On the 5th of November in 1930 the grand nephew of Menelik, the former emperor
of Ethiopia
was crowned as the new emperor with the title “His imperial majesty Haile
Selassi I., king of kings, lord of the lords, conquering lion of the tribe of
Judah, emperor of Ethiopia, elect of God.” His real name Ras Tafari Makkonen
is rather unknown, but explains the name of his “followers”, the
Ras-Tafarians.
In Reggae songs he is designated in different ways. Sometimes as Rastafari, as
Jah (as I have already explained this is the Rasta word for God), as Lion of
Judah, as H.I.M. (His imperial Majesty) or simply as Selassi I (“I” is here
not the sign for 1st, but again the spiritual personal pronoun “I” that is
used to show a deep connection between Haile Selassi and the musician who sings
about him). There are first of all a lot of songs that want to convince the
audience of the belief in Haile Selassi.
The song “Have a faith in Rastafari” by Phillip Frazer is probably the most
direct one. The message of the song is that the faith in Rastafari is the best
way to a content life. A more famous song that treats this topic is “Jah
live” of Bob Marley, a song that he wrote after the death of Haile Selassi in
1975 saying that Selassi is not really dead, because as a god or Jah he can not
die, but lives on in the spirits of the Rastafarians. It was in the first place
a reaction to the ridicule that some people held up against the Rastafarians,
because the man that they regarded as immortal had died.
An important aspect is that Rastafarian musicians belief that they can only
write songs with the help of Jah. Bob Marley once said : “If God hadn’t
given me a song to sing, I wouldn’t have a song to sing. The song comes from
God all the same” 12 Peter Tosh who was a member of Bob Marley’ s band
“The Wailers” before he started a solo career sang about this: “In my song
Jah is the melody, in my song, Jah is everything to me...”13 The role of Jah
for the music is also clear when you look at the multitude of songs that praise
him. “Jah Glory” by Alpha Blondie, “Glory be to Jah” by Burning Spear,
“Give thanks and praises” by Bob Marley, “Jah works” by Terror Fabulous,
“Gospel time” by Beenie Man and “Jah Jah never fail” by Gentleman are
just some of these. But not all musicians who praise Jah are Rastafarians. The
“Jah- Rastafari”- calls are by now so popular that their rarely miss at a
Reggae concert or festival. Unfortunately their sense often seems to be
downgraded to the level of the “Is everybody in the house”- calls of the
Hip-Hop musicians.
Anyway, there is still a song about Haile Selassi that I want to write about. To
be precise, the lyrics are not written about him, but derived from a speech of
Selassi that he made in front of the United Nations on the 28th of February
1968. The English version of this song called “War” is by Bob Marley, the
French version (“La guerre”) by Alpha Blondie. The topics of the song are
the requirements that have to be met before a lasting peace in Africa can be
guaranteed and
the criticism of prejudice and social injustice which is voiced very directly:
“Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is
finally and permanently discredited and abandoned everywhere is war.”14 It is
one of Marley ‘s most famous songs, but not the only one that is derived from
a speech of Haile Selassi. “Who the cap fit”, also a song from the CD
“Natural Mystic” would be another example for the teachings of Haile Selassi
in Reggae.
As I have explained, Haile Selassi is the god/ Jah of the Rastafarians and the
Rastafarian
movement, ideology or religion – the opinions about this are varying – was
founded after the coronation of Selassi.