Rastafarianism is a religion that was created in the early 1900's. It is a product of the poor social and economic conditions of blacks in Jamaica. Many people think Rastafarians are bad people. They are thought to be very violent.
             It is said that Marcus Garvey is the one who started the ideas of Rastafarianism. Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican man who believed in black self-empowerment. He is the founder of the Back to Africa Movement. This movement called for all blacks to return to their ancestral home, specifically Ethiopia. He spoke of the redemption of black people through a future black African king. Garvey called the white religion a rejection of black culture. He insisted that blacks leave Babylon (the western world) and return to their homeland of Africa.
             In 1930, Ras Tafari was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. He was given the name Haile Selassie. He claimed to be the direct descendant of King David. Haile Selassie and his followers were proud to be black. They tried to restore the black heritage that was lost by loosing faith and straying from holy ways. Blacks looked at him as God.
             Rastafarians believe that all people of the world are equal and are brought together by one god, Jah. To them blacks are still suppressed through poverty and illiteracy. They also believed that blacks are deceived by the white man's system, which is Babylon.
             Rastas Believe that Selassie is the same Jesus that Christians believe in. Also that the white man tricked the world into believing he was not a black man. Leonard Howell taught the early Rastafarians to hate the white race and that whites are inferior. He also taught the idea that the devil is actually the god of the white man and that the black race was superior. Emperor Haile Selassie was known as the Supreme Being and the only ruler of black people.
             Selassie made a trip to Jamaica on April 21, 1966. This trip became an important event in Jamaican hi...