Who Can Find A True Rasta Woman?
Most adult women know that clothes that we put on speak
much louder than our voice. This is especially true in societies
where women are consistently debased as sexualized objects
whose existence is only for the titillation of males. As a Rasta
woman I confirm that classic dressing style of the Rasta women
from hair covering to the covering of the body, serves to
protect women. It definitely deflects the eyes of intrusive, under-evolved males from our being. In my twenty year journey
as a Rasta woman, I find that I yearn for greater privacy when I
see my sisters casually walking mostly naked in the streets and
towns of the U.S. If anyone is oppressed it would, in my judgment, be the woman whose body is constantly being evaluated
because it is exposed on daily basis to the eyes of a very critical
public. My covered hair protects me- my thoughts, my dreams
and ideas. Surely, it at least, shuts out the demonic ideas of the
children of our former enslavers.
It is important to know that the Rasta women are one of the
only women criticized for covering their hair. With the exception of women of the Islamic faith, all other covered women
are giving a pass. This includes orthodox Jewish women and
Catholic nuns. I have never seen where writers in women’s
studies have singled out these women out as being part of an
oppressive system. Might it be that because our foremothers
were forced to stand on auction blocks, and the European grew
used to having access to our most sacred state … they now
privately desire that? Are they angry when black women do
not make themselves available that way? Fire pon’ all downpressors.
The author Maureen Rowe in her article, The Women
in Rastafari, states that, “Rastafari doctrine regarding females is
clearly based on the Bible and falls in line with the premise that
Rastafari is a patriarchal [male ruled] movement.” Rowe goes on
to point out that among other things the Rasta woman’s sacred
observation of her menstrual cycle is evidence enough that
Rastafari is male –dominated.
I have had the privilege of spending time studying and living
in Africa in the 1990s. At that point I had heard other sistren
expressing the ideas shared by Rowe, however in my study, I
slowly began to see that much of what Rasta women do has its
antecedents in cultures of Africa. If we accept that intelligence
and memory is not limited to the white race, then we must
accept that African people brought to the Americas will necessarily have brought much of their worldview to whatever new
traditions they form. There is no way that Rastafari could be
strictly a Juedo-Christian, Bible based tradition. The Bible is just
too recent a book to offer a full ‘overstanding’ of the practices of
the Rasta woman.
Africa is the home of the menstrual house- a place where
women retreat to during that cycle. Numerous authors have
established this. One of the most insightful articles was written
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Magazine / September 2012
by Kofi Agyekum, a native Ghanaian and an Akan. Akan people
have been since their beginning a matrilineal and matriarchal
people. He explains that the codes of behavior around menstruation are long-standing traditions and deeply embedded in
the language. Thus, a study of the Akan language offers deep
insight. He states that during her menstrual cycle, a wom an
refrains from all her normal duties. Below are some linguistic
phrases to consider:
Onko gya ho - She does not go to the kitchen
Onko nkonnwafie so – She does not go the stool room (room
of ancestral remembrance)
Onwe bosom so nam – She does not eat food from the shrine
(place of worship)
Onko mpanin mu – She does not go in the presence of elders
Oabu ne nsa- She has broken her hands (she does not do any
work. And she is not available for intimate relations with her
spouse.)
Agyekum explains that menstruating women are to be left
alone as she is seen to be serving the spirit world. My point is
that this particular Rasta tradition is of African origin. It represents memory and retention of a much older way of seeing the
world.
My advice as a researcher is that we study Africa with an
open mind to find out why our ancient mothers instituted
these cultural practices. In 2009, I met priestesses of the Akan
tradition who are based in New York and Ghana, West Africa.
They immediately told me that they were aware that Rasta
women retained the menstrual codes of the Akans. And they
praised Rasta women for being obedient to the Bosom (spirits
of nature). Rasta Women live up! Do not let others define you in
a derogatory manner! As a researcher who has looked at this
subject for years I can now better see the wisdom in the teachings. I would love to share what I have learned if readers would
like to learn more than can be shared in this article.
The Rasta woman cannot be trivialized. She is a storm
sent to purify humanity. She is one who remembers the ancient
ways and practices them for purposes of harnessing power.
When I meet a real Rasta woman, I immediately resonate with
her because she is open-hearted, she is multi-talented, she is
beautiful, she is resourceful, she is a “long-memoried” woman,
and she stands in defense of the black family. Who can find a
true Rasta woman? Her worth is far above Diamonds.
For Further Reading See:
•
Agyekum, Kofi. “Menstruation as Verbal Taboo among Akan
of Ghana.” Journal of Anthropological Research, vol. 58, No.3,
Autumn 2002.
•
Rowe, Maureen. “Women in Rastafari.” Jahug, vol. 5.
•
Yawney, Carol. “Rastafari Sistren by the Rivers of Babylon.” Canadian Women’s Studies, vol. 5, No.2, 1983
Does Knowledge of Self
Truly Make A Difference?
Why Black History Must Not Be
Restricted to Slavery Alone
A Commentary by Wolette Selassie Haile Selassie:
Edited by Nathaniel Mayes, III
When the Old Testament was first translated
from ancient Ethiopian
sacred texts (called hieroglyphs today), Greek
scribes and translators
suppressed over 6,000
years of ancient Ethiopian
history (“Cush” in Genesis
2:13) by one stroke of the
pen, by failing to include,
though known, a faithful
account of the origins of
KUSH (Ethiopia), thereby
diminishing the black
presence in the bible from
the beginning of time as
we know it.
Classical scholars were
familiar with the history of
KUSH hundreds of years
before the Old Testament
was written. These include
Homer, Herodotus, Strabo,
Diodorus, and Josephus,
to name a tiny few-- a drop
in the bucket when counting the number of Greeks,
Romans, Syrians, Jews, etc.
who studied at the feet of
ancient Kushite Masters
(ancient Ethiopians) in the
Nile Valley.
It is only with the advent
of Western colonialism
within the last 400 years
that the suppression of
the historical origins and
contributions made by
Africans to civilization was
made complete. Today,
the vast majority of our
formal, and informal,
education about African
history has primarily been
restricted to a story of slavery in the western hemi-
sphere.
It is a
tragic story of the
destruction of a people
and their struggles to
move forward, to reassemble the broken pieces of
their story in order to see
the whole picture about
who they are and where
we really came from.
But a people cannot
grow from the vision of
a shattered past. There
is nothing mentally and
spiritually enriching to be
found for a people whose
story is restricted to one of
deprivation and survival.
Because the past affects
the present and the present is in the past.
Therefore, our vision of
history must be cultivated
from one which extends
beyond the depressing
legacy of victimhood and
dependence to the profound legacy of a people
whose contributions to
humanity once illuminated the whole world. We
must go back to KUSH,
the birthplace of modern man, the world’s first
civilization, and home of
the world’s first theocratic
civilization
Why Knowledge of Self
Really Makes a Difference
Self-knowledge is the
purest form of knowledge.
We all have a spiritual right
and responsibility to learn
who we are and where we
came
from. In
the mystery
school system of our ancestors in the Nile Valley,
guidance of the student
toward knowledge of self
was the highest purpose
which always produced
high character, right
action and good will for
all humanity worthy of
instruction.
However, Africans worldwide have inherited the
legacy of slavery (western
colonialism). Most of
our brothers and sisters,
young and old, suffer
from a profound lapse
in our historical memory
because this history has
been suppressed. We
have no understanding of
our historical and spiritual history as creators of
world civilizations (arts,
sciences, religion, etc.).
Most of us still suffer from
amnesia and are clueless
on what to do about it.
We preach the importance
of a good education, but
what lasting benefit is
there if it doesn’t include
instruction on acquiring
self-knowledge?
Our people must be able
to articulate our ancient
history and share it with
each other, especially the
youth, in order to create a
better vision of we are and
where we came from. We
all need to become aware
of the bloodline of our
ancient ancestors beyond
slavery,
extending
all the way back to
creation, to the beginning
of our ancient historical
and spiritual heritage from
the land of KUSH (ancient
Ethiopia. With the advent
of western colonization,
this knowledge (about
ancient KUSH) was hidden
from us, until now.
Knowledge is to be shared
and never hidden or suppressed. And it is prima rily
because of our brothers
and sisters in Jamaica and
others in the Caribbean
and Americas that the
flame of conscious memory continues to shine on
Ethiopia’s historical and
spiritual legacies.
I was quite fortunate to
have a father who kept
the flame burning while
I was a very young child
growing up in Mississippi
-- through my travels to
Jamaica some thirty-years
later, I discovered the mystical brothers and sisters of
Rastafari who confirmed
my father’s teachings and
I felt blessed to be around
them. I returned to America seven years later greatly
inspired with a mission to
research and learn more.
And I did.
As we welcome the new
year, it grants us all another opportunity to perfect
ourselves for the good of
our community worldwide to the waiting world.
Magazine / September 2012
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