Elementos constitutivos

Introduction

Ever since the 1900s, African descendants followed by the Rastafari from West Indies have been repatriating to Ethiopia (Gebrekidan, 1998, pp.151-186 & Bonacci, 2015, p.27). However, their life after repatriation is filled with various adversities ranging from expression of their cultural heritage, legal status and denial of the land grant by Emperor Haile Selassie I to the Black people of the world. As a result, the repatriation to the Promised Land has not been accompanied by integration yet.

This chapter explores how the challenges are manifested in the Rastafari society in Ethiopia. While doing so, the research relies predominantly on open-ended interview method mixed with introspection. The study has also used participant observation in some instances. For a comprehensive understanding of the numerous forms of the Rastafari challenges, the research has thematized the challenges according to their distinctive nature such as cultural expression, acquiring legal status, land grant, challenges of the everyday and challenges within the community itself. The investigation notes a great deal of evidence that demonstrates the Rastafari’s resilience in the face of the daily adversities.

Primarily, the chapter discusses the grief associated with the legal status of the Rastafari community, the key factor of the challenges. In the second place, illustration is offered on how Rasta culture is contested. The struggle with the land grant followed by the daily confrontations of the community is next in order. The daily miseries consist of misperception; lack of integration, exclusion; corruption; theft; ethnic conflicts; challenges in business; the bureaucracy in the country; and the health issues caused by the city garbage in the residential area of the community. Challenges within the Rastafari community as opposed to with the local and government are also discussed. Finally, the chapter foregrounds some of the implications.

The Root of all Challenges: Legality

The issue of legal status is a cross-cutting subject in this chapter and throughout the thesis since it is a root cause of all the problems. For the last five decades, the Rastafari returnees deprived of becoming citizens or legal residents in Ethiopia. What makes the issue much worse is that the deprivation also applies to the Rastafari children born in Ethiopia. In July 2017, the

Ethiopia granted recognition for this community84_{. Correcting of the injustice made by denying}

83_{The common phraseheard from the participants of this research.}

84 _{Details of what happened after the recognition is announced by the government of Ethiopia are analyzed}

their legal status for 50 years would mean providing a solution to the challenges they face. The lack of legal status made the challenges of the community be in a vicious circle. This is because they cannot move from point A to B without it. Thus, legalization is vital to all aspects of their lives. Concerning the legal status, the participants make remarks. The following are some of the examples.

Sister Wendy:

“A stumbling block is what I call it.” Said Sister Wendy when I asked her what the hindrances of the Returnees in her six years stay in Ethiopia are. She continued, “ This legal status issue is a barrier not to work, travel, economic sustainability.”85

Reuben Kush:

“Living here day-to-day we find it difficult to put food on the table,…it is difficult to travel around Ethiopia let alone outside. Some of us, we don’t have the right ID, if we are stopped [by the police] we have problem,… Because we don’t have enough money, a lot of us is in Shash and they don’t come out of there unless to pick someone from the airport or meeting with government offices.”86

Lacking legal status for the community means quite everything: inability to work, lack of freedom of movement, economic unsustainability. unentitlement to properties such as land and house, inability to send children to school (due to wearing their dreadlocks), inability to attend weddings and funerals, and denial of policy and budget for the community to self- support and support family. Again, it means being limited to contribute to the economic development of Shashemene, a mandate given by the Emperor to EWF. Moreover, the legal status issue that particularly affected the elder generation is haunting the younger generation as well especially the amount of tuition fees has become quite substantial as they are categorized as a foreigner.

With regard to cultural expressions, deficient in legal status insinuated religious freedom such as registration of religious institution and permitting their spiritual practices like ganja smoking for spiritual purposes.

The Ethiopian government has taken the Rastafari community by surprise by taking a step to acknowledge the Rastafari community after five decades and to issue national identification (ID) card issued to foreign nationals and Ethiopians by birth (see Chapter 6). This was on the news in July 2017. The process was not as simple as the volume of the news. For instance it was after nine months, in March 2018, that the first ID was issued. So far, only a handful of member of the community got the ID. Notwithstanding, the returnees are hopeful but have their reservation on whether this information will be passed on down to the implementing bodies like immigration, court houses, land administration offices, educational institution,

85 _{Interview with Sister Wendy, Shashemene, 21 Juanuary 2018} 86 _{Interview with Reuben Kush, Addis Ababa, September 2017.}

health offices and the like. There are discontented returnees because of the hold up of the implementation of the ID. Qes Banduli says: “It has been like six months that they put up on the news that on the big media internationally,… the Rastafari get legal status, but InI here same way and nothing has been done and it has been swept under the carpet and all this thing is wrong… the longer it take to get our residency, they have no respect for us.”87

Ras Kabinda who tried to get the ID, but failed to acquire it, strongly expresses: “Here in Ethiopia, it is the most backward mentality. It is the same day that they said this on the TV, that same day they wanted to charge me 300,000 birr because I wanted to leave the country. And it is them who keep me here. I have to close the company. So, there is no justice, no equality, nothing like that exists here when you come to InI in Ethiopia. The Oromo government gave the Oromo people “carta plan” [land registration certificate] while they denied the Rasta community. That [not having the legal status] gives them the right and purpose. They can take advantage of us and there is no one who stands up to defend InI cause.”88

Fig. 24. Ras Kabinda, in his residence compound, Shashemene. Picture by Mahlet A. Beyecha

On the other hand there are members of the community who are sympathetic towards the government and do not agree to be called illegal. They contend that although the government is aware of the Rastafari’s legal status, it still let the community stay and this is recognition by itself. Taking their argument further, they add that however long one stays undocumented, there has not been a single deportation case of a Rastafari unless it is related to crime like

ganja smoking and even that happens after a prison statement89_{. Ras Ibi from Shashemene}

underscores: “We know that we are legal” and forward a question to me: “If we weren’t legal,

87 _{Interview with Qes Banduli, Shashemene, January 2018.} 88 _{Interview with Ras Kabinda, Shashemene, 20 Januay 2018.}

89 _{This is a view shared by Dr. Desta Meghoo and Sister Ijahnya Christian, women elder participants from the}

how come a thousand or more people come from foreign countries and settle in the country, buy pieces of land or build houses, send their children to school open companies, if we weren’t legal? That couldn’t work. So, we are always legal.”90

Challenges of cultural Expression

The Rasta appearance represents a counter-cultural stance against the slave masters culture in the Caribbean in particular and in the Babylon culture in general. The politics of cultural confrontations in the Caribbean expressed itself in cultural language (Rasta dialect), dress; music, and, ultimately, religion, collected from different African countries. There are, dashikis, hairstyles- Afro and hair-lock; and Rasta colors- red, gold and green flags and decorations. These expressions are deeply rooted “in an objective material base of poverty and dispossession” (Tafari, 2001: 52-3).

Beneath the politics of cultural confrontation globally and nationally lie a secondary cultural contradictions embedded in ethno-nationalism. For instance, in the period of 1966-1988, according to Tafari, ethnic groups like the Oromo, Tigre, and Somali were discontent with the ruling- Amhara cultural tradition. Their primary and secondary cultural confrontations directly relate to the Rastafari challenges in Ethiopia (ibid, p.52).

Studies show that African cultural expressions and reflections are performed, manifested proudly amongst the African descendants in Brazil than one would find with similar African traditions religions within the continent. Perhaps, this explains why there is a persisting longingness for foreign culture and migration to outside the continent when the continent’s old diaspora consistently identify themselves with Africa and celebrate their Africanness (Prah, 2012, p.5). Yet, their cultural symbols counteract when they reach the motherland.

Dreadlock: Deadlock of Rastafari?

Afro hairstyles, beards for the male, head-ties, and scarves for female with Ethiopian flag colors, green, gold (yellow) and red, used as identifier of Rastafari in Jamaica before their acceptance (Murrell et al, 1998, p.76). Dreadlocks, known as also knotty dread are a fierce symbol like the lion’s mane. It is as well considered as crown (referring to the real His Imperial Majesty’s crown). Owens persists that many misunderstand the meaning of dread in the Rastafari language. “Dread is an experience; it is the awesome, fearful confrontation of a people with a primordial but historically denied racial selfhood” (Owens, 10976, p.5).

The discrimination against bearded Rastafari has been a dispute from the beginning of the movement. For instance, in bearded or dreadlock Rastamen were not allowed to be members of the local EWF in Jamaica in the early 1940s. It was also a point of debate amongst themselves. Bonacci (2015, p.166) explains that there are three categories of Rastafari: the combsome, the bearded, and the wearers of dreadlocks. Bonacci adds that the dreadlock wearers are opposed to all baldheads.

After dreadlocks were accepted, certainly in the 1950s, its role was beyond a style, one that separated those who were hard-core or militant Rastafari dedicated from the weak-hearted (Murrell et al, 1998, p.76). The Rastafari persistence for their cultural identity not only brought confrontation from within but also anywhere else in the world. For example, they are discriminated by the Black Jamaicans in Jamaica. Even more striking is the alienation by the nation they thought are blood-bonded to.

In respect to the Rastafari in Ethiopia, it is largely the youth at school facing the challenges of discrimination because of their dreadlocks. Zion, 12, says the non-Rastafari schoolmates bully him: “There is a mop on your head and the teachers do not like how I am [referring to his hair].”91

As for adults, they feel the pain of discrimination because of their dreadlock or in general their cultural expression when they look for a job. For the Rastafari in Shashemene, when it comes to older adults, dreadlock is hardly a problem. However, this is not because Ethiopia is different. The main reason for the older adults to avoid the confrontation is because they are undocumented. This means that they are ineligible to work or even to apply for work. That is why they depend on self-employment like farming in their yard. Nevertheless, this does not mean they are immune. Going to government or private offices and to get things done is difficult, as they are mistreated. While in Shashemene, I had to get administive works done at kebele [lowest district level]. For this, I had to visit the kebele offices. When I got there, although I am an Ethiopian, I always had to get rid of any traces of Rasta symbols on me like headscarf with Rasta color and hide all my dreadlocks inside my scarf. However, after all these, still being Rasta wife can be a reason for mistreatment in these offices. Sister T, a repatriated Rastawoman from the United States recalls how she was laughed at when she was in grade four by black students who used to tease her saying, “Don’t you know where the comb is?” Reflecting on this, she says:

“When black people have dreadlocks they not only are intrigued by white people but they also are degraded by their own [black] people because a Rastaman or Rastawoman is a constant reminder of what black people do not want to be.”92

History testifies that the Rastafari in Jamaica was confronted by the black Jamaicans and this was the case for Sister T. in the U.S. and for me in Ethiopia. My mother tried different things to convince me to cut my dreadlocks. She tried to take me to the Church to get me baptized with the tsebel [holy water] with the assumption that locking my hair was a devil’s work. She also used elder friends of family to mediate and to get me cut my hair. Except foreigners and pro-reggae Ethiopians, most locals have scorned me.

The irony is that dreadlock is not a foreign culture to Ethiopia. The Afar tribe in the northeast and the Hamer women in the south Ethiopia have dreadlocks. Among the Konso in the

91 _{Interview with young Zion, Shashemene, 5 November 2017.} 92 _{Interview with Sister T., Shashemene, 20 January 2018.}

southwest, dreadlocks are worn by elderly women as a sign of having a grandson93_{. Though} not accepted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the hermits of the church are allowed to have dreadlocks. It is the hermits that the Rastafari identify with next to the biblical story of Samson, renowned for the prodigious strength he derived from his uncut hair (Book of Judges, Chapter 13-16). The Jamaican-English dictionary (Cassidy, 2002) translates the word dreadlock as “Hair uncut and plaited, as worn by the most fully committed adherents of the Ras Tafari cult.” According to Cassidy, these men of dreadlocks were the Ethiopian warriors. The picture below are the Afar tribe, in the northeast Ethiopia, and the Hamer down south have plaited hair (see pictures below).

Fig 25 : An Afar man from Northeast Ethiopia with dreadlock94

93 _{I got this information from Dr. Ongaye Oda Orkaydo, a researcher from Dilla University, Ethiopia, and a} visiting fellow at the African Studies Centre Leiden, The Netherlands.

94 _{The men of Afar tribe use butter to style their hair.}

https://www.google.com/search?q=Afar+men+dreadlocks&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=V4zaXlLfCHnWdM %253A%252CfjEB1ZkgiNlvHM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kT5jNMQbVk7SF8jggq4OK9FoZH-

Fig.26. A Hamer woman from Southern Ethiopia with dreadlock hairstyles95

One important point to raise, on the impact of wearing dreadlocks amongst the youth in Ethiopia is different for a Rasta youth in Addis Ababa and Shashemene. The later, has its own community school, established by the Rastafari society in the city. However, since the school is open for all residents in the city, ridiculing the Rasta students by non-Rastafari students still exists.

In Addis Ababa, international schools and only one private school allow dreadlock children in their schools. In 2014, when a private school rejected my son because of his hair, I found it highly contradictory in a country that follows an ethnic federal system, and yet does not to respect and tolerate multiculturalism. Of course, the national constitution has nowhere mentioned about school dress code including how children’s hair should be in school. The only commentary is for the Muslim women to be accepted with their hijab in school and at work places. Our conclusion would then be that the law of the land does not give a provision that supports those who exercise the banning of dreadlock children.

95 _{The women in the Hamer tribe use butter with ochre to style their hair. The Hamer, also spelled Hamar, are}

an Omotic community inhabiting South Western Ethiopia. They live in Hamer Wereda (or district), a fertile part of the Omo valley region. Source: and

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Su_WW7mSCcflkgXtnI-

wAw&q=Hamer+women+dreadlocks&oq=Hamer+women+dreadlocks&gs_l=img.3...103514.107828.0.107979.2 2.22.0.0.0.0.81.1042.22.22.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.12.606...0j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i30k1j0i5i30k1j0i8i30k1j0i8i10i30k1j

Ganja: ‘Holy herb’

“Ganja or herb is a plant that grows everywhere. Rasta didn’t invent it.” Mama (Dr.) Desta Meghoo Another significant symbol of a Rastafari is the ganja sacrament or ritual, often known as amongst the Rastafari the holy herb. The mainstream refers to it as cannabis and marijuana

though there is a big debate about it96_{. Emily Dufton, author of “Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall}

and Rise of Marijuana activism in America”, said; “no other drug has inspired this kind of

debate and been tied to issues from war to racism to criminal justice” (www.theverge.com

viewed on 28/6/18). The consumption of ganja in Jamaica amongst the Rastafari community is very common; it is smoked (or steamed), used in cooking and for the preparation of tea and other beverages. This “healing of the nation” has an important place in the traditional medicine in Jamaica and wherever the Rastafari exist. The use of cannabis for local medicine is more advanced and widely used in the Rastafari community in South Africa (Philander, 2018).

Distinctly, the Rastas use ganja is for spiritual purposes. The ritual of smoking the herb can

also be compared with Christian churches (www.sensiseeds.com viewed on 28/6/18). The

rituality of the herb is also connected with Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Particularly, the monks

in the remote monasteries97 _{consume the herb significantly, and yet this is not recognized by}

the officials of EOC, and probably will not be acknowledged soon.

Possessing, using or trafficking in illegal drugs in Ethiopia results in severe penalties, and offenders could face long jail sentences and heavy fines. Even after the legalizing of marijuana by some of the developed countries, there is no discussion on any media type about its benefits in terms of medicine. A Rasta youth, Adam, 13, tells: