Week 8 Free Blog: Rasta vid.

I have really enjoyed the use of video and music to learn about Rastafarian culture. Each new piece of media seems to paint a slightly different picture of Rastafarianiam, resulting in a complexly interwoven culture and system of beliefs. I found another video on youtube.com (it’s actually two parts) that features a lone Rastafarian’s ideas on several issues that concern Rastas, primarily repatriation.

The speaker introduces the video by discussing the noticeable cultural and theological sides to Rastafarianism. How he separates the two ideas is reflective of separation we observed earlier, in which Jamaica borrowed some aspects of Rasta culture, while denying the theological principles.

The speaker preceded his talk about repatriation by explaining several of the cultural ties Rastas have to Africa, including the performance of many similar ceremonies including deification. He also notes how people like him are judged much more kindly in Africa than in America, in his words “comfortable and loved for who he us.”

The speaker explains how repatriation of family back to Africa costs about $30,000. After taking the opportunity to crack a ganja joke, the speaker gets serious about the need to break from Babylon culture in America and save money for repatriation. I find it particular how he describes the fancy cars and big houses that often typify the American dream, and make them a negative temptation of Babylon. The speaker goes so far as to suggest that the families and banks which benefited off slavery need to create a fund to pay for repatriation.

The speaker concludes by describing how Africa is a different kind of world, and after repatriation Africa needs to build itself up and modernize in order to be able to defend itself against enemies.

This video shows a much more serious and concerned kind of Rasta than we were able to observe on the secluded commune. Former Rastas-in-America, like the speaker, show a side of Rasta that is active, passionate, and most important, urgent for movement and a change of the homeland itself.

The link for this video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZPNMAy0HI