Beyond the Dreads

A look at how one Atlanta teenager practices Rasta

Illustration by Sara Elands / VOX Staff

By Alexandria Clark / VOX Staff
 
Pictures of Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey and his majesty, Haile Selassie, cover the walls of the dimly lit room. In the center of all of these images resides a large banner of the Rastafarian flag. The flag features a green stripe, representing the color of the land; a black border, representing the primary color of the faiths’ people; a red stripe, representing the blood they have shed; a gold stripe, representing the sun overhead; and in the center, the lion of Judah, representing Rasta’s leader Selassie as defiant, unconquerable and African.
 
Marcus Flowers, 17, begins the “Reasoning” ceremony with a prayer. Smoke begins to fill the air as he lights the three-foot-long, ganja-filled pipe, which is then smoked and passed in a clockwise fashion. As the pipe moves around the circle, the Rastas in attendance discuss political, religious, social and ethical issues. The topics range from the Pope’s recent comments about Islam to the increasing number of African-American males in prison.
 
The three-hour ceremony closes with the final prayer, which is spoken by Marcus: “May the spirit of Jah continue to bind and bless thee, Jah, Rastafari.” Marcus invited me to watch the ceremony so I could better understand his beliefs and not be fooled by the rampant stereotypes of Rastafarianism.
 
Marcus, who is home schooled with other Rastas in Atlanta, closely follows the teachings of the primarily Jamaican-based faith, which was founded in the early 1930s — approximately around the time Prince Stafari was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. After being crowned, the prince took the name of Haile Selassie, and Selassie’s rise to power is the primary foundation to Rastafarianism.
 
Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born activist, prophesied Selassie’s crowning as an interpretation of Biblical scripture. And in doing so, some say he accidentally created a religion that borrows from his influential Back to Africa Movement in the early 1900s — a movement that encouraged former slaves to return to their African roots.
 
The scripture that Garvey interpreted is Psalms 68, which reads: “Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Garvey also told many of his followers, “You must look for a king in the east, a black king.” And that is what many Jamaicans did in creating the Rasta way of life to pull themselves up out of poverty and fight what they saw as white man’s oppression.
 
The primary belief of Rastas is that Selassie is the living God, that he is Jesus come again in his true and rightful form, teenage Marcus said. Rastas believe that the black race is being punished due to the Biblical sins of Ham, Noah’s son who was cast out and cursed to be “a servant of servants” to the descendents of his brothers Shem and Japheth. That is why they believe blacks are in exile of slavery in the western world. Rasta’s goals are to rise up against what they call Babylon, the world’s dominant white political structure. Rastas peacefully work to remind blacks of their heritage and allow them to take pride in their culture.
 
Dreadlocks are one very important symbol to Rastas, according to teenage Marcus Flowers. They are grown in defiance to contrast the image of blacks who typically have short kinky hair, and whites, who typically have straight hair. This image of Rastafarianism is now not only worn by the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Rastas that live in the United States, but also has been adopted thousands of others as a bold fashion statement.
 
Although the Rastafarian faith derives from Christianity, Rastas believe that many of the passages in the Bible have conveniently been changed to support white domination. This is why they do not read only from the Bible; Rastas also use the Holy Piby, otherwise known as the “black man’s Bible,” and the Ethiopian Holy Book, the Kebra Negast, for inspiration.

Seventeen-year-old Marcus Flowers, named after Marcus Garvey, talked to VOX to explain the fundamentals of the Rastafarian faith, the misconceptions and stereotypes associated with it, and what it’s been like to grow up as an oft-misunderstood Rastafarian teenager.

VOX: Dreadlocks have become an increasingly popular hairstyle. Many people — teens in particular — wear dreads for no other reason than because they think it’s fashionable. What do dreadlocks mean to you?
 
Marcus: They symbolize the mane of the Lion of Judah. Also the length of a Rasta’s dreads represent the wisdom, maturity and one’s time being a Rasta. We grow our dreads because in Leviticus 21:5 it reads: “They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.” The term dreads derives from dreadful, meaning fear or praise of the almighty.
 
VOX: Besides dreads, what are some other things that are primary ways of life for Rastafarians?
 
Marcus: Well, true Rastas only eat I-Tal foods, meaning only natural foods. We don’t eat any food that is touched by chemicals or that come in a can. All our food must be fixed in the rawest form possible, without salts, preservatives or condiments. We do not smoke cigarettes, drink liquor, milk, coffee or soft drinks in my house, because they are viewed as unnatural. Our bodies are our temples.
 
Christians have their church buildings, Muslims have their Mosques, and we Rastas have our bodies. We do not have any particular place of worship except for ourselves.
 
VOX: Not only have others borrowed Rastafarian dreadlocks for the sake of fashion, but they have also taken ganja — marijuana — from your sacred rituals. Is it offensive to you that people have taken a substance important to your faith and use it with no significant value other than to get stoned?
 
Marcus: Yes is offensive, because people have given ganja a negative image out of ignorance.
Ganja is not something we Rastas sit around and smoke all day. We use it primarily for our religious practices. I guess it would be equivalent to when Christians pass around a communion cup.
Ganja is a natural substance from the earth, and in Exodus 10:12 it says: “Eat every herb of the land.” So we try to take heed to this and use every herb or natural substance we can.

VOX: Is it difficult to be around other teens who do not live life as you do, from their choice of foods or appearance, such as your dreadlocks?
 
Marcus: No, not at all, because honestly I’m not around that many teens that aren’t like myself.
I am home schooled with other Rastafarian teens. I have never attended public school. My mom has always felt that it would be in my best interest to be home schooled, but I do have friends that are not Rastas who I hang out with.
 
They look different and eat different things than I do, but we still give each other respect. Most people know or see people every day who they are different from. When I go out, I do get weird stares because my hair is what many consider untamed.
 
True Rastas, as myself, are supposed to grow their locks without cutting, combing or brushing, so my locks do not look the traditional way that most blacks of America do.
 
VOX: What does being a Rastafarian mean to you?
 
Marcus: Being a Rastafarian to me means believing that his majesty (Haile Selassie) is Jesus come again in the image that is described in the Bible, such as matted hair and “feet were like unto burning brass” [meaning black skin].
 
It means not letting things or others keep you oppressed. It means that I believe in the expression “I and I,” that all people are totally equal.
 
It means that one who claims to be apart of this way of life should have the mind set that a man’s skin color has about as much significance as the color of his eyes.
Being a Rastafarian to me is being a symbol of love.
 
VOX: I noticed that you said “way of life.” Does this mean that you do not consider it a religion?
 
Marcus: No, we do not consider our faith a religion, but a way of life. We believe one should find inspiration by themselves, and then let the spirit of Jah prevail on its own.
 
Alex is a senior at Southwest DeKalb.