Jamaica, Queen Nanny and the Rastafarians

Danilo Anton

 The Maroons Nanny Granny Ashanti was a woman who was kidnapped as a child in the Guinea coast of Africa and sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of Jamaica in the second half of the seventeenth century.

According to tradition shortly after his arrival on the island she managed to escape from captivity along with other slaves seeking refuge in mountainous and jungle regions.

The escaped Africans, to which Taino indigenous survivors were incorporated, formed a free community in the wilderness. It was a matriarchal society known under the generic name of Maroons (or "cimarrones" as they are called in Cuba).

Because of her charisma Nanny assumed leadership of the community and, commanding his people faced the colonial armies of occupation. The Spaniards were defeated and the British suffered many casualties. Maroons finally forced a peace treaty with the British authorities and the freedom of former slaves was recognized.

Still today some villagesl survive in the Jamaican mountains: Moore Town, Charles Town, Scotts and Accompong Town Hall, some of which I had the opportunity to visit during one of our trips to the island.

In contemporary Queen Nanny was the founder of Jamaican values and deepest identity..

In the early 1930s in Kingston and other cities of Jamaica island emerged a monotheistic spiritual movement, of Christian inspiration, revering temples and African and Ethiopian traditions.

This movement is usually called Rastafarianism and its adherents are knoan as “Rastafarians” of “Rastas”-.

Rastafarianism is basically an ideology of protest generated in the mainly black population of the island of Jamaica. Its practitioners sought to vindicate their African roots displacing the Judeo-Christian centers of the African land of Ethiopia religiosity. Rastas believe that the late Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Helassie, was the reincarnation of Yahshua (Jesus) and the dynastic descendant of Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Sheba. Selassie would be who would lead the faithful to build a perfect world called Zion, which could meet in the New Jerusalem, located in the town of Lalibela.

When the rasta movement began Ethiopia was the only African country that had managed to maintain its independence and historical identity. For adherents of the new religion Haile Selassie1 represented a sacred cultural heritage. It was considered the 225th heir of the dynasty of King Solomon, proclaimed as the world's oldest. The Rastafarians reject the corrupt elements of Western culture they called "Babylon" and argued that Africa, also called Zion, was the cradle of humanity.

The Rastafarians developed its ideological system by integrating the views and aspirations of African-Jamaican religious nationalist leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who was regarded by many as a prophet contemporary reincarnation of San Juan Bautista.

At present, rastafarianism is a dynamic religious movement that has spread beyond Jamaica to the United States, Canada and the UK.

Like other African-American movements, rasta ceremonies are accompanied by sounds of drums, dance and ritual consumption of cannabis. Cannabis (also known as ganja or sacred herb) is a direct channel with Jah (God) and helps develop meditation and wisdom. A sacred rasta holiday is April 20, which is considered as the International Day of Marijuana.

Like the Ethiopian Christians, Rastafarians celebrate Christmas on January 7 and New Year on February 7. The Rastafarians consider themselves as heirs of the Coptic Christians of Etiopía.y tje Queen Nanny. Its spiritual inspiration is basically an expression of rebellion against slavery, imperialist colonization of Africa and against discrimination suffered by African descendants in the Caribbean. Ethiopia is the only African nation that resisted colonization and Queen Nanny was the triumphant expression of a rebellion that managed to remain proud and sovereign.

From “Chronicles of Human Adventure”, Danilo Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones