Leonard “Gong” Howell aka “Dada”: My answer to the one who claimed “Leonard Howell was not a Rastafari”.
Rupert Lewis wrote a scholarly analysis on the Rastafarians which he entitled: Marcus Garvey and the Early Rastafarians: Continuity and Discontinuity.In it he made certain interesting points and inferences, which are notable for establishing a historically accurate documentary for the time period in question. I will include some of the more dynamic and poignant, which as the reader will see bears up many points made in the present work.
I think the following from Lewis is poignant in understanding the viewpoints of Howell and Marcus Garvey; “The anticolonial content of Howell's preaching was clear in
his message that black people's only true king was Emperor Haile Selassie. But Garvey did not approve of Howell's teaching and rejected his claims that Selassie was God”. Robert Hill in his book often quoted in this work wrote that; Garvey refused to allow Howell to sell the emperors picture in Edelweis Park, Jamaican headquarters of the UNIA. Lewis went on to state that Garvey was decidedly pro Christian and the doctrines that Howell taught were of a defiant anti Christian character, which Lewis cited would have been in obvious conflict with Garveys publicly expressed Christianity. When Italy invaded Ethiopia Rastafari and certain Garveyites protested in Montego Bay on the western portion of Jamaica, similiarly protesters took to the streets in St Kitts, Trinidad and other West Indian territories. Lewis wrote that; “The Garveyite newspaper Plain Talk was commended by Dr. Malaku Bayen, Haile Selassie's personal representative in the United States, who was in charge of organizing the Ethiopian World Federation”. Early Rastafarian leaders Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert, Archibald Dunkley, and many other Rastas were foundation members of the first local branch of the Ethiopian World Federation established in Jamaica. However, Garvey was very hostile in his criticism of Haile Selassie. As early as October 1935, Garvey had argued that the Italo-Ethiopian war “affords only another example of what unpreparedness means to a people.”
The following damning editorial that appeared in Garveys New Jamaican on August 13th 1932 references specifically Cannabis smoking. “Ganja is a dangerous weed; it has been pronounced so by responsible authorities. The smoking of it does a great deal of harm or injury to the smoker; we understand it has the same effect on the subject as opium has. Every day we hear of cases of ganja sellers, being brought before the Court.
Fines, small and heavy, have been inflicted with the object of destroying the trade, but
yet it grows. The other day a man was found in possession of ninety pounds of
Ganja, this was enough deadly weed to destroy a thousand men. That our people are being destroyed by the use of ganja there is absolutely no doubt. We have come in contact with young men and middle aged men who have become a menace to society through the smoking of ganja. Sometimes they perform in such a crazy manner as to frighten us. Aren't we playing with the danger by not more severely putting it down? Most of the people who smoke ganja do so as a means of getting themselves in such a state or condition as to forget their troubles and worries -- troubles and worries brought upon them by the bad conditions that exist in the country.... It would be good that more serious steps be taken to suppress this ganja habit. Between ganja and fanatical religion, we are developing a large population of half-crazy people who may not only injure themselves but injure us. Some will do it in the name of the "Lord" and others may do it under the influence of the evil weed”.
This position brought Garvey into conflict with those who advocated and practiced the ritual, sacramental use of ganja, as well as with those who traded in it. And who were those that practiced the ritual use of Marijuana in Jamaica at that time but Rastafari? Those who traded in Cannabis on a huge “commercial”, scale at that time in Jamaica were the wealthy, merchant and some in the planter class, there is evidence that persons in the highest echelons of government, including the police force and the army were all engaged in the trafficking of Cannabis.
The historical record with a view to what was written in newspaper periodicals by Marcus Garvey concerning Rastafari is nothing short of scathing denounciations and the like. That Rastafari today hail him as their prophet is their prerogative my duty is to present the facts with that thought in mind I will present a few more. Another article in the New Jamaican (Marcus Garvey’s newspaper), written by Garvey reported the following; “There is good and there is bad in religion. Some religions are foolish, and we have a
lot of them in Jamaica. We have religion here that is running the people crazy.
In different sections of our city, and for that matter, on the island, scheming and
wicked persons are promoting all kinds of fanatical religions, and they are finding fertile fields among the unfortunate and ignorant people.” Garvey referenced the Revivalist’s in the article, the Pocamaniacs and the Rastafari. Lewis in his analyses cites Barry Chevannes which is instructive to reiterate herein; “These elements, as Chevannes and others have pointed out, were all present in early Rastafari. That was a different phase of the movement, and as such, it is necessary to distinguish among the Howellites, the old
supporters of Bedward, the revivalists who became Rasta and initiated a campaign to recognize Haile Selassie as God, and the latter-day Rastafarian movement that
gained international currency with the music of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Garvey knew the Howellites, the Bedwardites, and the anticolonial milieu,
and with these Jamaicans he dialogued. It is the latter-day Rastafarians, however, who, through reggae, have canonized Garvey and become the most active force in Jamaica for perpetuating aspects of Garvey’s philosophy.
Burning Spear was one of the earliest and still is the most persistent of the “Garveyite” Reggae-Rasta lyricists”. I have not included some of the more scathing quotes from Garveyites concerning Leonard Howell , as some of them can be deemed as slander and libel particularly his alledged “Obeah”, practices, in their defence though and this was referenced in Robert Hill’s book (Dread History), Howell did claim to be a student of Hindu occultism.
The bible was held in high esteem, anyone familiar with scripture was honored by poor blacks of the time. Garvey was no exception he was shrewd, he knew how to, collectively mobilize people for mass action. Garvey never prophesied of the coronation of Haile Sellassie, a scriptural quote is not a prophesy.
The Rastafari took Garveys scriptural quotation of psalms 68: 31; “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God,” as direct prophetic fulfilment in the crowning of Haile Sellassie.
I will now deal with a very troubling development, in a certain type of literature that has been developed, but which will not remain unchallenged.
The type of literature Iam alluding to is that which has been created by white writers and journalists, pandering to what they consider to be their humanist side, what it truly is; is
Arrogance and an economic niche that they have created for themselves, wherein they have been able to generate exorbitant sums of money pandering to the type of readership that they cater to.
Within this type of literature, there exists much hypocrisy, I will touch lightly on the subject, and it is with indignation that I write when I deal with their outright blatant attempt, to minimize, and diminish the accomplishments and contributions, that Marcus Garvey made to the Black man globally. I am aware of quite a few people, whose lives changedfor the better after reading Garveys work; the statements made by, this white Journalist will not go unchallenged in this work. An even worse type of literature perporting to be “christian”, is being written on Rastafari by certain mainly North American evangelical’s and charismatics, that shows the ignorance and lack of investigation that went into preparing the material. I will examine here one such writer Paula A. Price, Ph.D. her book is entitled: “The Prophet’s Dictionary: The ultimate Guide to Supernatural Wisdom”.On page 181 she perports to be writing on Rastafari, quotes from her book will reveal the absolute lack of knowledge that this writer a Ph.D. holder no less, has pertinent to Rastafari. The writer does not cite any sources when writing about a subject, presumably she believes her own hype, that she is the “ultimate”, authority on supernatural wisdom. The following are her own words quoted from page 181 414: “dreadlocks – A long shaggy hairstyle worn by followers of Prince Ras Tafari of Jamaica. He was the foundation of the Rastafarian religion founded by Marcus Garvey. The hairstyle is worn in obeisance to his belief in himself as the incarnate messiah and as such his being the lion of the tribe of Judah. The loose, flowing hair is to emulate the mane of a lion who is venerated for its power, prowess, and hunting skill. The lion as the king of the jungle is the means by which this religion celebrates their cult”. When I read this woman’s elucidation on Rastafari I was eager to include it herein as an example that the readers could themselves compare with the account given by me in this book of the coronation of Haile Sellassie his titles and their spiritual and historical context, here is a perfect example of exactly the type of writer this work opposes and exposes as fraudulent pseudo-scholars. I went to the section in her book entitled: About The Author on page 601 of her book, I will briefly quote from her book what she is about. “Paula A. Price is vastly becoming the international voice on the subject of apostolic and prophetic ministry she is widely recognized as a modern day (apostle) with a potent anointing”. Rarely have I seen such ignorance and arrogance displayed in one setting as with this pseudo-apostle. Now I will begin to deconstruct her falacous presentation of Rastafari. Tafari as this book has shown from documented evidence was the pre-coronation familial name of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Sellassie; Ras was a title designating him as a prince or a ruler of one or more provinces. Price claims that Sellassie was a Jamaican, (her lack of respect for the subject she claims to be writing about is glaringly illuminated in her referring to Haile Sellassie an Ethiopian emperor, as a Jamaican since when did the colonial system of Jamaica ever had an emperor?), who viewed himself as messiah. Nothing could be farther from the truth, when Price claims in her book that Haile Sellassie viewed himself as a messiah, that is not only outright ignorance it is a boldfaced lie! “The lion as king of the jungle”, these are the ranting’s of a barely concealed racist mentality, couched as “Christian”, writing of the type of garbage exposed above, gives any writing that is truly Apostolic a bad name, notwithstanding the god ordained precept that no woman can attain to the “office” of an Apostle, in the Full Body Ministry of Jesus The Messiah of the Ages, exposing Price as a fraud. Price and her ilk are part of the Christian Industrial Complex forged in charismaticism, with their pseudo-Christian belief in the “Trinity”, which is a concept that this book has shown, was born in witchcraft. I have taken pains to deconstruct lies and misperceptions pertaining to Caribbean people in general in this book and Rastafari in particular, as a means of presenting as balanced and objective a picture, as I possibly could. I know it is impossible to satisfy everyone, yet still I have attempted to present as much factually verifiable data, on all the subjects handled in this book including Rastafari. If a “writer”, is not possessed of even the most fundamental respect, for his or her subject then why bother to write about it. If one must descend to lies and subterfuge, why bother? Any honest writer with the barest of dignity will do well, to afford their subject with the same dignity that they would prefer for themselves had the roles been reversed. The so called West Indies have produced many great leaders with Marcus Mosiah Garvey not being the least of them, Caribbean people have been clamouring for true independence since, they learnt what ‘nation building” truly entail The term independence in this work does not only refer to political autonomy or a semi-independent political status, as is the case regionally. The term independence here refers to the ability of a nation to perpetuate its civilization throughout millennia using the means of the political process, the educational, as well as the religious institutions, cultural and technological wealth of its people. Independence herein also encompasses national identity as well as a constitution which guarantees the rights of all citizens by law, within said constitution the rights of the citizens and the sovereignty of their nation is sacrosanct, the democratic system being the one system in said constitution that will be utilized to safeguard and protect said rights. If the reality of true independence in the Caribbean context were to be examined however briefly and minutely in this work I will like to make mention of the ideological fathers of said movement in the region.
Marcus Garvey was influenced by his own admission by one Edward Wilmot Blyden.
Blyden was a native of the B.V.I.A who travelled to Africa as a missionary (Timothy White erroneously claimed that Blyden was a Liberian).
Many people will try to falsify history and reduce Garvey to a narrow paradigm , exclusive to Jamaica his significance transcends geographic boundaries, he was truly a world citizen, his teaching was universal the aspects of “Garveyism” that are separatist and racist his concept of race “purity”, is rank racism and “nationalism”, I reject outright and condemn that aspect of his teaching the other aspects of Garveyism that are conducive to my wholesome development I can consume the rest I discard as unacceptable for my “consumption”.
Garvey was a product of the type of thinking being developed amongst African descendants in the West at that time.
The global universe of education produced Garvey, Blyden, George Padmore, C.L.R. James and later Malcolm X and Martin Luther King J.R.
I will now resume my examination of the Pinnacle settlement and the lifestyle of its leader and his followers.The Pinnacle settlement was associated with Indian plantation workers with locked hair; this was before any African descendants in Jamaica ever grew locks.
Certain Rastafari elders called locks Zagavi; the etymology of the word, Zagavi is in the Hindi language.
Many Rastafari cite bible passages in order to support their way of life, the bible does not condone the smoking of any substance as a means of spiritual upliftment, nor enlightenment.
The word of God clearly condemns the use of any substance excessively, and it clearly makes a distinction between the clean and the unclean.
The Holy Ghost makes it possible for a child of God to touch Gods throne through the means of prayer praise and worship.
Sadhu’s socialized with Jamaicans of African descent therefore, the Rastafari assertion that locks came to their movement because of seeing pictures of Ethiopian warriors with locked hair is not completely accurate.
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Figure: Jomo Kenyatta with a dreadlocked Mau Mau warrior.
The photo above is of the Pinnacle Settlement on the exact date of the raid described above.
Without a permanent home Howell’s followers fled into the West Kingston area.
The Rastafari idea of a god is more Hinduistic in its outlook than Christian more shamanistic, and accepting of various forms of esotericism.
Though Rastafari use the bible as a reference the bible is not their only point of reference.
Moreover, it is not seen as the authority on anything by the Rastafari the only group that can be deemed even closely, “Christian” in their ideology and dogma are the twelve tribes of Israel.
Figure: Flyer and Photos of Leonard Percival Howell a.k.a The Founder and Father of the Rastafari Movement. As I indicated previously in this book the Rastafari movement does not have one central founder, Rastafari came about as a result of a Caribbean wide mass acceptance of Ethiopianism,Garveyism et al, the movement had various “forerunners” in its formative years Howell happens to be one of the more famous of them.
All Rastafari believe in the divinity of Haile Selassie the Kebra Nagast is the main source used, in proving that Haile Selassie is a direct descendant of the house of David through the union of King Solomon and the queen of Sheba. Here ends this post.
The following is an example of a person who has absolutely no clue, as to who Leonard Percival Howell, aka Gong aka Dada was. Many persons Blog, simply as a hobby, or just because they can spell. I write as Iam an author, who is honing my craft and at the same time establishing my business and my credentials. Having said that, nothing that I write is without research. On Sint Maarten as far as Rastafari is concerned I started out with the “Conscious Block”, a young well known Rastafari collective on Backstreet Phillipsburg a key member of our collective at that time went on to attain superstardom as the Reggae singer Nasio Fontaine. What I write about as pertains to crime, Rastafari, Shamanism etc et al, are from my own lived experiences and not internet chatter. Give thanks!
This is a comment from someone on the link shown below on this Blog.
Mr. Howell is not a Rastafarian by any means, nor his kin. Your mistake is to accept the claim of his kin.
Secondly to set the record straight Marcus could very well have been in prison when he said these hatfull things. Understood. Third i-rudder is just a man. Like The other two.
the clown actually said secondly to set the record straight Marcus could very well have been in prison when he said these hatfull (didn’t even bother to spell hateful correctly) things. I wrote in the post that when Garvey uttered his disparaging remarks pertinent to Haile Sellassie, that he was giving a speech, that same speech is one of many preserved for posterity and is available on CD’s, MP3 format etc.
This link is when Jasmine Rand, (Rand was the lawyer of the family of Trayvon Martin who was senselessly murdered by George Zimmerman)was in Rotterdam at the house of Bernardo Bailey my brother being interviewed by Roland Van Reenen of InI Books . Bailey is a foundation member of Lalibela Commonunity.
This is Donisha Prendergast in Rotterdam promoting the Occupy Pinnacle Movement.
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