Ensayo

Iron, Lion, Zion
I. Introduction
II. Religious figures
A. Ras Tafari Makonnen
B. Marcus Garvey

III. Characteristics
A. Moral Rastafarian code
B. Spiritual use of Cannabis
C. MusicIV. Conclusion
Green, yellow and red; three simple colors that represent a whole culture: Rastafarian culture. Green means the lost of the African lands, yellow means the stolen gold, and redsymbolizes the blood of the black people. This movement began in the XX century, so it is a really new movement. This movement or way of life has many important characteristics such as the reggae music,which is the Rastafarian music; the spiritual use of cannabis, the connection with Jah(God), and the African roots. It’s an amazing movement that it has to be living by the soul, not by appearance.Everything began in 1930 when Ras Tafari Makonnen, the Rastafarian’s messiah, was governing Ethiopia. Rastafarians refers him as the incarnation of Jesus, and they also say he would free Africa. He wasconsidered as a God because some Garvey’s and Bible’s prophecies. Garvey’s prophecy was said before the coronation of Ras Tafari, “Look to Africa where a black king shall be crowned, he shall be theRedeemer" (BBC). The biblical prophecies were based on the descendants of Makonnen: King Salomon and Queen Sheba, “Lord of Lords, King of Kings and Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Wikipedia).Rastafarians also based their beliefs in the fact that Ras Tafari was a black person, and they supported it with a Bible quote, “For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; asastonishment hath taken hold of me” (Jeremiah). Ras Tafari, or also known as Haile Selassie, did not consider himself as a divinity. Marcus Garvey, another divinity of the Rastafari religion was aJamaican extremist journalist, who was considered the incarnation of John Baptist. He had two important ideas: the black self empowerment and the return of the black people to their homeland, Africa. Based...