The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism

Lee, Helene

ISBN 10: 1556524668 / ISBN 13: 9781556524660

Published by Chicago Review Press (edition Translation), 2003

About this Item

With dust jacket. The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.

Seller Inventory # 1556524668-7-1-13_29

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (edition Translation)
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1556524668
• ISBN 13: 9781556524660
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Translation.
• Condition: Fair
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.

About the Author

Hélène Lee is a journalist for Libération, specializing in the music of Africa and the Caribbean. An intrepid journalist, she has spent years exploring the dangerous ghettos and mountainous jungles of Jamaica in researching this book. She lives in Clichy, France. Stephen Davis is the author of Walk This Way, Bob Marley, and Hammer of the Gods. He lives in Milton, Massachusetts.