Trapped in a Dualistic Cycle

Emily Baldauf-Wagner

April 25, 2002

Rhetoric of Reggae Final Research Paper

               Until the philosophy which hold one race

                Superior and another inferior

                Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned

                Everywhere is war, me say war"

                                      - Bob Marley “War”, quoting from Haile Selassie I

Introduction

From the beginning of the African’s departure from Ethiopia to the current laws restricting the community today, Rastafarians have been exploited by a dualistic mindset sparked by the Western explorer. This dualistic mindset is manifested in a dichotomy, separation of two concepts or objects, between white men and the rest of the world. One interpretation is that the dichotomy results from Western religions and their understanding that the earth was create for them to conquer, as it is written in Genesis, “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over…every living that moveth upon the earth”. As a result, the Western explorer was able to justify the abuse they subjected on both the natural resources of Jamaica and the slaves from Africa, by believing that they exist purely as resources for the Westerner’s exploitation. Witnessing the harm to the environment and enduring the inhumane treatment on the British plantations, the Rastafarian faith renders close ties to the environment as symbolized through their appearance, diet and communal living. Rastafarians traditions fundamentally reflect those of an environmentalist; however, because Western powers have continued to subject Jamaica to a dualistic mindset, which seeks to increase capital at the expense of any available resources, Rastafarian’s capacity to initiate social change has been harshly reduced.

In this paper, I will explore the extent to which Rastafarian have been unable to instigate a global social change as a result of the dualistic system that dominate society, by first evaluating the history of Jamaica as shaped by the Western world. Then, by describing the basic beliefs of the Rastafarian faith, I will assess to what extent they formed in rebellion of the dualistic ways of the British plantation owner. Next, I will describe the current situation in Jamaica as a continued manifestation of dualism that enables successful social change. Then, I will display the way in which the Rastafarians continue to attempts to educate and influence communities to reject Western influences. Subsequently, I will consider the Rastafarian belief that change is unachievable due to a form of metal slavery which captives the majority of society. In combination, I will present the Rastafarian solution to escape the mental slavery. Finally, I will offer my opinion of the situation and to what extent I believe society has brainwashed and trapped in a system of mental slavery.

Jamaica’s History as shaped by the Western World

The traditional Westerner, in his dualistic account of Jamaica’s history, would mark its beginning during Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1494. During his explorations, Columbus landed on Jamaica and interpreted that the land belonged to him. The received history continues with the transfer of control from the hands of the Spanish, to the hands of the British through the Treaty of Madrid, with out any mention of the aboriginal population. No mention of the aboriginal population exists because although they preceded the Spanish by at least 800 years, the aboriginal population of 60,000 was

immediately wiped by the Spanish^[1]. With the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, Jamaica was transferred to the control of the British who governed the land in a manifestation of their dualistic thinking. The change in control was largely seen in the change of agricultural practices. Under Spanish control Jamaica’s agriculture consisted of small-scale farms, as opposed to the large-scale mono-crop plantations that existed under British control. Furthermore, in order to maintain the new large-scale farms, the British initiated new agricultural methods that included large amounts of slave labor. In addition, the new slave methods differed from the Spanish’s use because under Spanish control blacks and whites worked sided by side as opposed to the British system that consisted of solely black labor. These new agricultural methods brought by the British reflected their goal to produce as much of a single luxury as possible while spending as little money as possible. As determined by their goal, British control exhausted Jamaica’s natural resources and slave community.

The two most devastating agriculture practices of the early British plantations were monoculture and large-scale deforestation. Monoculture is the system of growing only one crop at a time, which harms the environment by interrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem. By disturbing the natural ecosystem, nutrients in the soil are used up more quickly causing the land to become infertile^[2]. Infertile land, then led the plantation owner to cut down a large area of trees in order to create a new field for their crop. By destroying large amounts of forest, the habitats of kinds of life forms are destroyed, which destroys the biodiversity of life. By destroying the biodiversity, the natural

balance of the ecosystem is interrupted. In a similar manner, the British disrupted the natural balance by treating other the African slaves on the plantation inhumanely.

Evidence of the inhumane way the slaves were treated is apparent in both the conditions the slaves endured on the ships of the transatlantic slave trade, and in the situations the slaves faced once on the plantation. During the voyage (the middle passage), slaves were crammed into ships with little or no food. As described by one slave, “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself”^[3]. A combination of the crowded unsanitary holdings that bred diseases, and the brutal beatings that existed on the ship, the mortality rate during the voyage for a slave was of 25%^[4]. If an individual was able to survive the ship despite the high mortality rate, they only faced additional brutality once they reached land and were bought by a plantation owner. Convinced that the slave’s life only existed for the capital it could produce, the slave owners often inflicted such merciless treatment on the slaves that they were often worked to death. The death of slaves did not bother the plantation owner because it was more economic to work a slave to death and buy a new one, then it was to spend money feeding the slave. However, if the slave did survive the day, they then would have to go cultivate the small piece of land they were given as there only source for food. The small piece of land did not hold much agricultural ability, because in their dualistic mind set the land that promised the best crop and agricultural resources were held by the plantation owners, therefore forcing the slaves onto the surrounding hills were it was seemingly impossible to cultivate the land^[5]. Acknowledging the inequality that the Western colonizer subjected both upon the slaves and the environment, the African-Jamaican slave fashioned a religion that in its foundation exist in opposition of the dualistic mindset of the Western explorer, and instead values a natural balance in life.

The Basic Beliefs of the Rastafarian Faith

The Rastafarian faith build the foundation lay by the concept of I-n-I, which collapses the dichotomy of the Western and instead establishes a personal relationship with the environment^[6]. Through I-n-I, the Rastafarians illustrates their rejection of second and third person terms and their interpretation that these terms describe a system of inequality. Therefore, I-n-I seeks to represent the collapse in any dualistic understandings of life, and instead the beginning of a balanced and global expectance of all life including nature. Stemming from the concept of I-n-I forms the traditions of I-Tal living. I-Tal is defined by Rastafarians an entity that is pure, without pollution, and natural^[7]. Therefore I-Tal living, also known as livity, governs the Rasta’s appearance, diet and involvement with the capitalist world in order to ensure an I-Tal life. In the words of one Rasta, livity represents a way of life “in which one’s actions are expressive of one’s essential nature as…opposed to the ethos associated with radical individualism and domination of the environment which was taught by colonial authorities.”^[8]

The distinct style of the Rastafarian dreadlocks, represent their disproval of the colonizers treatment of the environment and their pursuit in establishing an unnatural order in life. As a result of witnessing the desecrating affects that sharp objects had on the natural environment during their plantation life and the torture they were capable of during the voyage, the Rastafarians refrain from use of sharp objects on their body. Using evidence form the Torah, the Rastafarians do not cut their hair because as it is written, “No razor shall pass over his head until the day be fulfilled of his consecration to the Lord. He shall be holy, and shall let the hair on his head grow” (numbers6: 5). Additionally, the Rasta cites the proverb, which states that “A man who cuts his hair is like a tree with out leaves”^[9] Furthermore In addition to not cutting their hair, the Rastafarians refrain from combing their hair. The Rastafarian views the comb as a human by-product because as in the words of the Rasta Jimmy McGhan, “When father created man, he didn’t create the comb. Man created the comb. To create a different beauty…” and therefore reject its use^[10]. By abstaining from cutting and combing their hair, the Rastafarian’s hair naturally knots to form dreadlocks and a prominent symbol of I-Tal living.

The symbolic meaning the dreadlocks may also be defined in the words of the Rastafarian’s that wear them. As Rasta Jimmy McGhan reflects,” I wear my hair in locks because I love and live Jah Rastafarian. It is a natural way of life…”^[11] In addition, Vidal Angal, a Jamaican artist, explains, “Dreadlocks are nature speaking through

humans. When humans are unbalanced, nature will exert herself. All we are is nature…”^[12] In continuing the theme of a pursuit for a natural order, I-Tal living dictates a specific diet which continues to reject the colonizers practices of exploiting nature by tipping its natural balance.

Sam Brown, a temporary leader of the Rastafarian movement, wrote a Rastafarian Code which declared, “We are vegetarians, making scant use of certain animal flesh yet outlawing the use of swine’s flesh in any form, shell fishes, scale-less fishes, snails, ect…”^[13] By refraining form eating meat the Rastafarian is rejecting the colonizers symbolic role as a predator towards the Jamaican slave and the environment and the manner in which this behavior jeopardized the natural order of life. While the consumption of fish is allowed, there are regulations in order to avoid acknowledging it as a predatorily practice. Therefore while the Rastafarian’s prime staple if fish, they do not consume fish that is larger than twelve inches long because “all larger fish are predators and represent the establishment.”^[14]

The specific diet of the Rastafarian also reflects their understanding of I-n-I by including a large variety of vegetables, fruits and spices because the food of the greatest worth to the Rasta are vegetables of almost every kind as opposed to the plantation owners who were concern about the existence of a single produce. Furthermore by including as many different produce in their diet as possible, the Rastafarian rejects the British’s discriminatory agricultural practices and instead seeks to value every product of the earth because “the earth brings forth all good things”^[15]. As exemplified in traditional Rastafarian dishes, such as I-Tal stew, as many as twenty different vegetables are included. Among the vegetables might be yams, cassava, pumpkins and plantains^[16]. Furthermore, as the agricultural techniques of the plantation “advanced” to include pesticides that would seep into the water and poison the slaves and in continuing to seek food which is “pure, whole and unprocessed” the Rasta choose to eat only food which was organic and pesticide free^[17].

Moreover, in total rejection of the dualist and discriminatory systems of the Western explorer, the Rastafarians refrain from living and working in Western established enterprises. As a result, the Rastafarian “can and do survive in the hills and countryside of Jamaica- they can and do survive in nature” because “It is one of their basic beliefs that natural survival is the only healthy and correct way of existence”^[18]. In their secluded small communities, the Rastafarian lives sustainability. Within the community, the Rasta conducts self-reliant enterprises such as small-scale farming, fishing, painting, woodworking, knitting and ganja growing. While there does exist a small percentage of Rastafarians who do work as taxi drivers or auto repair employees, as soon as they earn enough money to buy land, they leave their jobs to grow vegetables, herbs and live self-sufficiently practicing their ethos of livity.

The concept of I-Tal living which outlines the basic beliefs of the Rastafarian, reflects the current pursuits of the environmental movement; however, the Rastafarian has not been able to successfully initiate social change because even after declared freedom as individuals and independence as a country, the Western powers have continued to exploit the natural environment and the of former slave community of Jamaica with inequalities.

Modern Conditions of Jamaica

While prior to independence, Jamaican inequalities where distinct as they where controlled by another nation, Britain; however, even with their independence in1944 the inequalities did not disappear, rather they only shifted. Initially the majority of the land continued to be owned by the plantation owners, leaving little land for the rest of the residents to sustain themselves. For example, approximately 113,000 of the Jamaican farms exist on only five acres each because of the inequality in social status between the rich and poor. As a result, Jamaica was faced with dire poverty affecting a large part of they nation; however, because they are trapped between the lines of an unfair system, Jamaica in stuck in a cycle of poverty.

American supported organization such as the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) sustain an unfair system, which traps Jamaica and many other nations. Currently, while a forth of the population in Jamaica is struggling to survive on an average of 1.2lb a day, the middle income of the country of is a great deal higher^[19]. The inaccurate mean, is a result of the large difference between the incomes of the rich, white population and the poor, black population. Applied, the average income of a Jamaican is £962, which approximately equals the burden of around £1,000 that each Jamaican carries due to the national debt. Furthermore, the total amount of Jamaica's external debt is about equal to its yearly export earnings. As a result, the WB claims that Jamaica’s debt ratio is sustainable and therefore does not qualify for debt relief as stated by the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPCI)^[20]. Because Jamaica’s does not qualify for relief help, the government is forced to use seven times the amount of money towards relinquishing their debt as they use towards health care and other public services^[21]. While a lack of public health care does not effect the rich minority, 250,000 Jamaicans of the 2.5 million inhabitants, one in ten, do not have access to health service and many hospital wards and health centers lack even the most basic items such as aspirin and bed linens^[22]. During his leadership Prime Minister Michael Manley, acknowledged the poor community of Jamaica was in desperate need of help and that Jamaica as a whole was stuck in vicious cycle. In desperation, Prime Minister Michael Manley decided to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in reality only intensified the cycle and further clarified the discrimination of Jamaica by the western World.

The IMF is a sister organization of the WB whose provide debt relief according to poverty reduction strategies outlined by the WB. While the IMF does succeed in bring some amount of immediate in the short-term, in the long run the IMF’s policies result in low in come countries becoming dependent on International authorities, which supports the existing inequalities. In “Life and Debt” by a documentary by Stephanie Black, Stephanie comment on IMF’s relationship with Jamaica by stating, “At best the IMF policies helped get some cheap food into the country;” however, "At worst, they destroyed local productivity and a country can't exist without being productive unto itself"^[23]. The IMF creates a system of independence through a series of initiatives.

As one scheme, the IMF increases interests to encourage international investment. In turn, the farmers who are practice self-sustained farming are unable to afford loans to buy land themselves forcing them to turn the American run factories for their income. In addition, the IMF helps to finance large-scale infrastructures such as, roads, buildings, big dams, and power plants, which are also the infrastructures need for International companies to support their factories. The combination of these initiatives encourage export production as a method to reduce a county’s debt even though the capital gained in the exports are not benefiting the poverty stricken employees of the factory. In trying to understand IMF’s blindness in helping Jamaica out of debt, Ronald Nathan of The Weekly Journal comments, “Now I know that in the interest of creating a work economy these institutions main aim is to facilitate the Western economics”^[24]. While the IMF and the WB hold the black population of Jamaica in a situation of little economic power, which results in little political power, the natural resources of Jamaica also continue to be exploited. Furthermore, it is not the black community who is exploited the environment, but by the American and International authorities who run the factories.

As Jamaica is forced to spend money to compensate for its national debt as opposed to spending money to enforce agricultural regulation, the environment is suffering considerably. Environmentalists are alarmed by Jamaica’s high deforestation rate of seven-percent, which is highest rate in the Western hemisphere.^[25] In addition, pollution of the land and water has occurred by industrial and non-sustainable agricultural development. In particular, Bauxite mining is responsible for the stripping of 5,099 hectares of trees in the last fifty years. ^[26] In addition, the Bauxite mining is guilty of ruining 62,735 acres of land, which forced the relocation of thousands of families and the transformation of the natural ecology.^[27] As the Rastafarians witness the continuation of the destruction of their environment and community by Western powers, they boldly continue their religious practices in their communities.

Evidence of the continuation of Rastafarians to seek self-sufficiency with in their own community, is outlined in the song “Pick up a tool” by Rastafarian dub poet Jean Breeze, and in the report from the recent International Rastafarian Convention. In Jean Breeze’s poem “Pick up a tool” she speaks to the poor communities of Jamaica and encourages them to farm for themselves. The first verse opens by questioning the integrity of those who choose not to live self-sufficiently by planting for themselves in the lines:

To plant

Or not to plant

Is the question of a fool

Better not stop an’ ask, Ah she,

Jus’ take up your tool^[28]

Then, in her next verse, the dub poet list the affects of the current inequalities that result for Western powers

For di hungry getting rampant

An’ di food it growing scarce

An’ di prices getting steeper

An she di lan’ space jus’ cyaan waste

After establishing the problem, in a subsequent verse, Jean Breeze ensures the community that a solution does exist. She explains that the land is capable of yielding enough produce to live off of, by using the example that once the land support all of England.

For once upon a time

Dis-ya likkle lan

It use to feed di whole Englan’

An a portion a next man

Finally, in her concluding verse, Jean Breeze instills the Rastafarian belief that one who lives a pure I-Tal life understands that a reward exist in living self-sufficiently and in harmony with the earth.

When job cyaan find

We have to understand dat di sweetest reward

In di whola earth

Come from planting up di lan

Continuing in the same theme as Jean Breeze’s, the International Rastafarian Convention sought to educate and influence individuals to pursue sustainable lives that support a natural environment.

The international Rastafarian Convention took place in Bridgetown, Barbados. Throughout the ten day conference, which lasted form August 17-27, 1998, a series of conferences took place as a demonstration of the ongoing effort to identify and clarify problems facing the Rastafarian community at large, to determine feasible solutions, and to seek out ways and means of implementing the resolutions^[29]. One meeting during the series took a trip took a field trip to the Future Centre Trust where the Rastas evaluated their role of protectors of the environment. At the Future Centre Trust, Dr. Colin Hudson who had “created model organic, self-sustaining farm environment which produces food, inhibits pests, produces fertilizer, and keeps the chemistry of the air we breathe in balance” met them^[30]. While educating the individuals in his practices, Dr. Hudson also offered his personal beliefs concerning the Westerner’s methods of agriculture. According to Dr. Colin, his words, "We must face up to what seems like an impossible problem…” we currently take “…more from the land than most of the land can give up and we are not replacing things." Furthermore, Dr. Hudson comments that the reason why agriculture has not been able to be changed drastically enough to address the problem we have create, is because society only sees natural resources for their potential capital. As a result, the free market economy, which thrives off of capital regardless of its environmental effects, supports the current agricultural methods. In addition, Dr. Hudson subjects the Western world has brainwashed society in the way fruits and vegetables should appear through genetic engineering, who’s practice also supports unsustainable form of agriculture because^[31]. Therefore while the Rastas may have succeeded in educating a handful of the community through the visit with Dr. Hudson, the Rastafarians are unable to successfully influencing a large community their communities to initiate global social change. The frustration of the Rastafarian’s inability to escape poverty, and the system that they are slaves to, often dominates reggae lyrics.

Mental Slavery

Reggae Music is a genre of music that developed in the 1960s among Kingston's poor blacks and often proclaims the tenets of the Rastafarian religious movement.^[32] In addition, the music also serves as an outlet to express pain and frustration. Bob Marley, a true Rastafarian legend and Reggae star, did display potential towards successfully educating a large community in the beliefs of the Rastafarians; however, because of his early death his potential was cut short. In one his more popular songs, “Slave Driver”, Bob sings:

Ev'ry time I hear the crack of the whip

My blood runs cold

             I remember on the slave ship

             How they brutalised our very souls

             Today they say that we are free

             Only to be chained in poverty

             Good god, I think it's all illiteracy

              It's only a machine that make money

Through the lyrics, he attempts to educate his listeners of the destructive cycle, in which the Rastafarians and environment are trapped. By first commenting on the brutality which the slave endured on the voyage, then by stating that even in freedom the slave was not truly free as they continued to exist “chained in poverty”, Bob Marley display that freedoms still does not exist.  Then, in the final line, Bob seeks to educate the community that “It’s only a machine that make money”, there by warning the individuals not to fall in to the trap of the Capitalist Free Market Economy and their dualistic view of life. Furthermore, in Bob Marley’s song “Concrete Jungle”, he also mentions the black mans continued slavery through the lyrics, “No chains around my feet, but I'm not free/ I know I am bound here in captivity”.  While Bob Marley is reflecting on the laws and governmental structures, which continue to trap the poor in an inescapable system of physical slavery, he is also exposing the mental captivity that inflicts society. Also as suggested by Dr.Hudson, Rastafarians believe that the majority of society has been brainwashed into supporting the current systems, which are all together degrading. As Leonard Barrett reflects in his book The Rastafarian, “to the Rastafarian the average Jamaican is so brainwashed by colonialism that his entire system is programmed in the wrong way” and therefore only through free one’s mind can an individual truly be opened to the relevance of the Rastafarian faith.^[33]

                 In Bob Marley’s “Redemption song”, he encourages society to “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery” because “None but ourselves can free our minds” form the current systems.  Furthermore, Rastafarian believes only the holy herb can free one’s mind.  The holy herb, which is the Rastafarians term for Cannabis sativa is an herb that the Rastafarians have religiously smoked for its psychic effects and it continuation of their concept of I-n-I, which values all that comes from the earth equally.  Therefore with proof from the bible, Rastafarians use Cannabis sativa because it is an herb form the earth:  “eat every herb of the land” (exodus 10:12).  By slowing down one’s action and sharpening one’s mind, the holy herb forces one’s head to “loosen up” and “enables one to see one’s true self” and “the true nature of the world”^[34].  Therefore through the use of the holy herb, individuals are able to see passed the system that traps all of society, and understand it injustice; however, Cannabis sativa is illegal, in nations such as America were the brainwashing is based.  As a result, the message of the Rastafarians has been unable to be clearly understood by the majority of society.  Therefore as society continues to be brainwashed into ignoring the destruction our current system has on the environment and the human population, the Rastafarians believe that legalizing Cannabis sativa is “…the best thing you can do” as stated by Rastafarian singer, Peter Tosh in his song “Legalize it”.

My Opinion

Personally, I am outraged by the amount of research I found while preparing for this paper. If the evidence is clear and documented, why are social changes not occurring to fix the situation? Maybe it is the Rastafarians’ fault, because they could actually escape the system that seems to trap them by voting and taking control of the political power. Unfortunately, I think it is more likely that America has brainwashed society to support the free market economy and trap low in come countries. There is a statistic, which declares, that the average person encounters 1000 advertisements a day. By definition, brainwashing is the act of completely convincing through coercion.^[35] Therefore repetitive advertisements, which coerce individuals to buy their product, would seem to be a type of brainwashing. The resulting behavior is the consumerism behavior, in which an individual feel he exists only to buy more things, which captivate most American minds. As a result, the companies, which are able to afford the most advertisements, can also afford the most brainwashing time. Consider the Super Bowl, which attracts such a large viewing crowd that commercial time during the game is shocking. Then, the companies go all out to spend the most money to make the best commercial because if it is good, it could result in a large increase in sales. While smoking Ganja during the Super Bowl may cause an individual to realize that the theory behind the commercials one is viewing maybe ridiculous and wrong, it will most likely not cause all of society to realize the wrongness of the concept. Thereby, I believe the only way to initiate a global social change is by riding minds of the American consumerism behavior through reeducation. Most Americans do not even know what the institutions such as the WB and the IMF do for the world, let alone the true history of Jamaica or their own country, America. By requiring revision history classes, such as the “Rhetoric of Reggae”, students would learn history from all different voices allowing them to gain a more global opinion of the world. In addition by learning the different way in which humans communicate, such as music, through a revision history, globally society would understand one another better. Therefore when individuals hear the lyrics of artist such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, they will truly understand what the message is they are trying to convey. Therefore, I do not feel society is destined to be trapped in the vicious brainwashing of the free market economy until the end of time, but rather I have hope that through global education individuals globally will voluntarily create a revolution for social change.

Works Cited

Admas, L. Emilie. Understanding Jamaican Patois: An introduction to Afro-Jamaican Gramma. Kingston Publishers Limited: Kingston, Jamaica, 1991.

Barrett Sr., Leonard E. The Rastafarians. Beacon Press: Boston, 1997.

Harrison, Michelle. King Sugar: Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the World Sugar Industry. New York University Press: New York 2001.

Johnson-Hill, Jack A. I-Sight the Word of the Rastafari: An Interpretative Sociological Account of Rastafarian Ethics. The Scarecrow Press: New Jersey, 1995.

Lundy, Patrica. Debt and Adjustment: Social and Environmental Consequences in Jamaica. Ashgate Publishing Company: Vermont, 1999.

Mastalia, Francesco and Alfonse Pagno. Dreads. Artisan: New York, 1999.

Middleton, Nick. The global Casino: and introduction to environmental issue. 2^nd ed. Oxford University Press: New York, 1999.

Moss, Susanne. “Organization and Centralization: A report from the Rastafarian Convention in Bridgetown, Barbados”. Everybody’s : the Caribbean-American Magazine. October, 31, 1998, V.22 N.9 p12.

Nathan, Ronald. “Spirit Level”. The Weekly Journal. Jan. 19, 1995, N.142, p.19

Neufville, Zadie. “Environment-Jamaica: Bauxite Mining Blamed for Deforestation”. 2001 Global Information Network. April 6, 2001, ptITEM01099001, p.1

Nicholas, Tracy. Rastafari: A Way of Life. p.45

Robinson Jr., Alonford Jamers. “Jamaica”. The African Encyclopedia.

Sackett, Lou. “Jamaican Vegetarian Cuisine”. Health Quest: The Publication of black Wellness, Dec 31, 2001, N.43, p.41

Snow, Tony. “Under the Shadow of Debt: Jamaica is being crippled by a new and sinister from on colonization”. The Voice Nov 5, 2001, N.985, p.20

Teasley, Marie. “You cannot escape the true meaning of Dreads” Michigan Chronicle. (7/20/1999). V.62 N.42 pB1

www.encyclopeida.com. “Reggae”. April 23, 2002.

^[1] Robinson Jr., Alonford Jamers. “Jamaica”. The African Encyclopedia p.1032

^[2] Middleton, Nick. The global Casino: and introduction to environmental issue. 2^nd ed. Oxford University Press: New York, 1999. p.202

^[3] Johnson-Hill, Jack A. I-Sight the Word of the Rastafari: An Interpretative Sociological Account of Rastafarian Ethics. The Scarecrow Press: New Jersey, 1995. p.99

⁴ Harrison, Michelle. King Sugar: Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the World Sugar Industry. New York University Press: New York 2001. p.8

^[6] Barrett Sr., Leonard E. The Rastafarians. Beacon Press: Boston, 1997. p.23

^[7] Admas, L. Emilie. Understanding Jamaican Patois: An introduction to Afro-Jamaican Gramma. Kingston Publishers Limited: Kingston, Jamaica, 1991. p.56

^[9] Teasley, Marie. “You cannot escape the true meaning of Dreads” Michigan Chronicle. (7/20/1999). V.62 N.42 pB1

^[10] Mastalia, Francesco and Alfonse Pagno. Dreads. Artisan: New York, 1999. p.38

^[16] Sackett, Lou. “Jamaican Vegetarian Cuisine”. Health Quest: The Publication of black Wellness, Dec 31, 2001, N.43, p.41

^[18] Nicholas, Tracy. Rastafari: A Way of Life. p.45

^[19] Snow, Tony. “Under the Shadow of Debt: Jamaica is being crippled by a new and sinister from on colonization”. The Voice Nov 5, 2001, N.985, p.20

^[24] Nathan, Ronald. “Spirit Level”. The Weekly Journal. Jan. 19, 1995, N.142, p.19

^[25] Lundy, Patrica. Debt and Adjustment: Social and Environmental Consequences in Jamaica. Ashgate Publishing Company: Vermont, 1999. p.53

^[26] Neufville, Zadie. “Environment-Jamaica: Bauxite Mining Blamed for Deforestation”. 2001 Global Information Network. April 6, 2001, ptITEM01099001, p.1

^[29] Moss, Susanne. “Organization and Centralization: A report from the Rastafarian Convention in Bridgetown, Barbados”. Everybody’s : the Caribbean-American Magazine. October, 31, 1998, V.22 N.9 p12.

^[32] www.encyclopeida.com. “Reggae”. April 23, 2002.