The only memory more revered than Bob Marley’s in the Rastafarian village of Shashemene, 150 miles / 220km south of Addis Ababa, is that of the last Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie. In 1948, the Emperor granted 500 hectares of his own land to Rastafarians as their ‘homeland’ after an appeal from Jamaican Rastafarians. How this came about is now part of an extraordinary story that links the Jamaican-born Reggae star and other Black Africans in the diaspora to their African homeland.
For the Jamaicans, it all began with the ‘Back to Africa’ and Pan Africanism movements of the 1930’s, spearheaded by the black activist Marcus Garvey. Inspired by the coronation in 1930 of a black monarch, Haile Selassie, in his own independent African country, Garvey and his followers linked various Old Testament tracts together and came to the conclusion that Ethiopia was their homeland, and that the new Emperor was God incarnate.
How Rastafarianism Started
For Haile Selassie himself, it all came as something of a surprise. He was born Ras Tafari, or Prince Tafari (meaning ‘He who inspires awe’ in Amharic, and accepted his other titles, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God, as a matter of tradition, along with the claims that the Ethiopian royal line was descended from the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. He was unaware of how central his name and cult was becoming to Garvey’s followers in Jamaica, and was soon embroiled in ridding his country of Mussolini’s Fascist invasion that preceded World War II.
Founding of Shashemene
After World War II, the Emperor agreed to meet Jamaican leaders of the Rastafarian religion named after him in Addis Ababa, and in 1948 set aside some of his own land for them to thank the Black diaspora generally for their help during the war.
Little else happened in Ethiopia until the Emperor was invited to visit Jamaica in 1960, and was amazed that 100,000 Rastafarians and other Jamaicans turned up at Kingston airport to greet him. Many of these had sold all their possessions, convinced that he had come to take them back to their Ethiopian ‘homeland’. When Haile Selassie died in 1976, many Rastafarians refused to believe it because they considered him divine.
Bob Marley’s Involvement in Rastafarianism and Shashemene
It was actually Bob Marley’s wife, Rita, who witnessed airport scenes and became a convert. With Rastafarianism declared a religion, its followers had adopted the black, red, gold and green colours of the Ethiopian flag for their dress, along with dreadlock hairstyles thought to be typical of Ethiopian warriors. Rastas had also come to believe that marijuana was the sacred medicinal weed mentioned in the Bible, while alcohol, milk and coffee were forbidden. Bob Marley himself became a convert and began to write his memorable Reggae songs that made Kingston the centre of a music boom.
Shashemene Rasta Life Today
- The first wave of one hundred or so settlers arrived in the late 1960’s.
- There are now over a hundred families, mostly of Jamaican origin, with others joining from Britain and America, on what has been described in a Times Online feature (February 2005) as ‘dusty, windswept . . . a sea of open scrubland’.
- Attempts at small scale mixed farming and running stores have been made but the community remains poor, with some of the younger members going to seek work in Addis Ababa.
- Local Ethiopians (who are Orthodox Christian and regard the incomers as an anomaly) have begun to move onto the land, causing friction.
Other Ethiopian Pilgrimage Sites for Rastafarians in Addis Ababa
- St George’s Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral, founded in 1896 by Emperor Menelik II. Haile Selassie was crowned here, and there is a small museum with fascinating pictures of the ‘Lion of Judah’ himself and other imperial memorabilia.
- Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral, off King George Street, where Haile Selassie is buried. Its Amharic name is Kidist Selassie.
- Lion of Judah statues such as the one near the National Theatre.
Without the protection of the last Emperor, the future for the Rastafarians of Shashemene depends very much on their own ability to survive in a wider Ethiopian context, as well as on sympathetic visitors and outside help. The 2010 anniversary of Bob Marley's birth could provide a useful boost.
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Kate Nivison - Kate Nivison has published 2 novels, over 250 short stories and travel features, visited 74 countries and written about most of them.
