Editing Haile Selassie (section)

== Rastafari messiah ==

Selassie is worshipped as God [[incarnate]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/beliefs/beliefs_1.shtml|title=Rastafarian beliefs|publisher=BBC|date=9 October 2009|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-date=14 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014070700/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/beliefs/beliefs_1.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=27 July 2017|title=Ethiopia to give ID cards to Rastafarians long stateless|url=https://apnews.com/general-news-2899e019355d45f889f382a1185bdc58#:~:text=ADDIS%20ABABA%2C%20Ethiopia%20%28AP%29%20%E2%80%94%20Ethiopia%20will%20issue,enter%20without%20visas%20and%20live%20without%20residence%20permits.|agency=Associated Press|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324164446/https://apnews.com/general-news-2899e019355d45f889f382a1185bdc58#:~:text=ADDIS%20ABABA%2C%20Ethiopia%20%28AP%29%20%E2%80%94%20Ethiopia%20will%20issue,enter%20without%20visas%20and%20live%20without%20residence%20permits.|url-status=live}}</ref> among some followers of the [[Rastafari movement]] (taken from Selassie's pre-imperial name ''Ras''{{snd}}meaning ''Head'', a title equivalent to Duke{{snd}}Tafari Makonnen), which emerged in Jamaica during the 1930s. He is viewed as the messiah who will lead the peoples of Africa and the [[African diaspora]] to freedom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/rasta/rasessay.html|title=The African Diaspora, Ethiopianism, and Rastafari|publisher=Smithsonian education|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-date=22 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822091117/http://smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/rasta/rasessay.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His official titles are ''Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah'' and ''King of Kings of Ethiopia, Lord of Lords and Elect of God'', and his lineage is thought to be from Solomon and Sheba.<ref>Vadala, Alexander Atillio (2011). "Elite Distinction and Regime Change: The Ethiopian Case". ''Comparative Sociology''. '''10''' (4): 641. {{doi|10.1163/156913311X590664}}.</ref> These notions are perceived by Rastafari as confirmation of the return of the messiah in the [[Book of Revelation]]. Rastafari faith in the [[divinity]] of Selassie{{sfn|Clarke|1986|p=67}}{{sfnm|1a1=Clarke|1y=1986|1pp=15–16, 66|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=876|3a1=Bedasse|3y=2010|3p=966|4a1=Edmonds|4y=2012|4pp=32–33}} began after news reports of his coronation reached Jamaica,<ref name="Dread">[[Joseph Owens (Jesuit)|Owens, Joseph]] (1974), ''Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica''. {{ISBN|0-435-98650-3}}.</ref> particularly via the two ''Time'' magazine articles on the coronation before and after the event. Selassie's own perspectives permeate the philosophy of the movement.<ref name="Dread"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/articles/The_Re-evolution_of_Rastafari.html|title=The Re-evolution of Rastafari|publisher=Rastafari speaks|date=20 January 2003|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-date=10 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810015214/http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/articles/The_Re-evolution_of_Rastafari.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1961, the Jamaican government sent a delegation of both Rastafari and non-Rastafari leaders to Ethiopia to discuss repatriation with the Emperor. He told the Rastafari delegation "Tell the Brethren to be not dismayed, I personally will give my assistance in the matter of repatriation."<ref>{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=Leonard E.|title=The Rastafarians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swdaI6DfDkEC&pg=PA118|year=1988|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=978-0-8070-1039-6|page=118}}</ref>
[[File:Haile Selassie 1935.jpg|thumb|253x253px|Haile Selassie pictured in 1935, during the same period where [[Rastafari]]an worship emerged ]]
Selassie visited Jamaica on 21 April 1966, and approximately one hundred thousand Rastafari went to [[Palisadoes Airport]] in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]] to greet him.<ref name="Dread"/> [[Spliffs]]<ref>Christopher John Farley, ''Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley'', p. 145.</ref> and [[Chalice (pipe)|chalices]]<ref>[[David Katz (author)|David Katz]], ''People Funny Boy'' ([[Lee "Scratch" Perry|Lee Perry]] biography), p. 41.</ref> were openly<ref>[[#CITEREFMurrell|Murrell]], p. 64.</ref> smoked, causing "a haze of [[ganja]] smoke" to drift through the air.<ref>David Howard, ''Kingston: A Cultural and Literary History'', p. 176.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0022.html|title=The State Visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I|publisher=Jamaica-gleaner.com|access-date=12 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209091215/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0022.html|archive-date=9 December 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.anguillian.com/article/articleview/2358/1/133/ "Commemorating The Royal Visit by Ijahnya Christian"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002043840/http://www.anguillian.com/article/articleview/2358/1/133/ |date=2 October 2011 }}, ''The Anguillian Newspaper'', 22 April 2005.</ref> Selassie arrived at the airport but was unable to come down the airplane's steps, as the crowd rushed the tarmac. He returned into the plane. The Jamaican authorities were obliged to request Ras [[Mortimer Planno]], a well-known Rasta leader, to climb the steps, enter the plane, and negotiate the Emperor's descent.<ref>[[#CITEREFPrice|White]], pp. 15, 210, 211.</ref><ref>Bogues, Anthony (2003), ''Black Heretics, Black Prophets: Radical Political Intellectuals''. Psychology Press. {{ISBN|0-415-94325-6}}, p. 189.</ref> This day is held by scholars to be a turning point for the movement,<ref>Bradley, Lloyd (2001), ''This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music''. Grove Press. {{ISBN|0-8021-3828-4}}, pp. 192–193.</ref><ref name="Edmonds86">Edmonds, Ennis Barrington (2002), ''Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture Bearers''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-803060-6}}. p. 86.</ref><ref name="Habekost">Habekost, Christian (1993), ''Verbal Riddim: The Politics and Aesthetics of African-Caribbean Dub Poetry''. Rodopi. {{ISBN|90-5183-549-3}}, p. 83.</ref> and it is commemorated by Rastafari as [[Grounation Day]]. From then on, the Jamaican authorities were asked to ensure that Rastafari representatives were present at all state functions attended by the Emperor,<ref name=Edmonds86 /><ref name=Habekost /> and Rastafari elders also ensured that they obtained a private audience with the Emperor,<ref name=Edmonds86 /> where he told them that they should not emigrate to Ethiopia until they had first liberated the people of Jamaica. This dictum came to be known as "[[Liberty|liberation]] before [[repatriation]]".<ref>{{Harvnb|White||pp=211}}</ref>

Selassie defied expectations of the Jamaican authorities<ref name=ReggaeRoutes243>{{cite book|author1=O'Brien Chang, Kevin|author2=Chen, Wayne|title=Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music|url=https://archive.org/details/reggaeroutesstor00chan|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=978-1-56639-629-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/reggaeroutesstor00chan/page/n254 243]}}</ref> and never rebuked the Rastafari for their belief in him as God. Instead, he presented the movement's faithful elders with gold medallions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/328181536343408.php |title=African Crossroads – Spiritual Kinsmen|access-date=1 January 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115000944/http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/328181536343408.php|archive-date=15 January 2008}} Dr. Ikael Tafari, ''[[The Daily Nation (Barbados)|The Daily Nation]]'', 24 December 2007.</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFPrice|White]], p. 211.</ref> During [[People's National Party|PNP]] leader (later Jamaican prime minister) [[Michael Manley]]'s visit to Ethiopia in October 1969, the Emperor recalled his 1966 reception with amazement, and stated that he felt that he had to be respectful of their beliefs.<ref>Funk, Jerry (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=k2nAaYYgPoEC&pg=PA149 ''Life Is an Excellent Adventure'']. Trafford Publishing. {{ISBN|1-4122-1500-5}}, p. 149.</ref> This was the visit when Manley received the Rod of Correction or Rod of Joshua as a present from the Emperor, thought to have helped him to win the 1972 election in Jamaica.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burke|first=Michael|date=1 March 2017|title=PNP strategies in the 1972 campaign|work=[[Jamaica Observer]]|url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/pnp-strategies-in-the-1972-campaign/|access-date=30 December 2023|archive-date=30 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230033449/https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/pnp-strategies-in-the-1972-campaign/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Norris|first=Gregory|date=13 October 2014|title=Rod of Correction|work=[[Addis Standard]]|url=https://addisstandard.com/rod-of-correction/|access-date=30 December 2023|archive-date=30 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230033450/https://addisstandard.com/rod-of-correction/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rita Marley converted to the Rastafari faith after seeing Selassie on his Jamaican trip. She claimed that she saw a ''[[stigmata]]'' print on the palm of Selassie's hand as he waved to the crowd.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marley, Rita|title=No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley|url=https://archive.org/details/nowomannocrymyli00marle|url-access=registration|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/nowomannocrymyli00marle/page/43 43]|publisher=Hyperion|isbn=978-0-7868-6867-4}}</ref> Rastafari became much better known throughout much of the world due to the popularity of Bob Marley.<ref>{{cite web|date=21 October 2009|title=Rastafari: Bob Marley|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/people/bobmarley.shtml#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20few%20major%20faces%20of%20minority,impact%20on%20the%20religious%20movement%20as%20a%20whole.|access-date=12 September 2010|publisher=BBC|archive-date=28 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028101151/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/people/bobmarley.shtml#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20few%20major%20faces%20of%20minority,impact%20on%20the%20religious%20movement%20as%20a%20whole.|url-status=live}}</ref> Marley's posthumously released song "[[Iron Lion Zion]]" may refer to Selassie.<ref>{{Cite news|date=9 December 2022|title=The rasta to Zion|work=The Navhind Times|url=https://www.navhindtimes.in/2022/09/11/magazines/panorama/the-rasta-to-zion/|publisher=[[The Navhind Times]]|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324164447/https://www.navhindtimes.in/2022/09/11/magazines/panorama/the-rasta-to-zion/|url-status=live|last1=Times|first1=Navhind}}</ref>

=== Selassie's position ===

In a 1967 interview with the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]'s Bill McNeil, Selassie denied his alleged divinity.<ref name="Spencer">{{cite book|last=Spencer|first=William David|title=Dread Jesus|date=1998|publisher=SPCK Publishing|isbn=978-0-281-05101-4|page=44}}</ref> For many Rastafari, the CBC interview is not interpreted as a denial. According to Robert Earl Hood, Selassie neither denied nor affirmed his divinity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hood|first=Robert Earl|title=Must God Remain Greek?: Afro Cultures and God-talk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ceFU75KyYQC&pg=PA93+|date=1990|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-8006-2449-1|page=93}}</ref><ref name="ReggaeRoutes2432">{{cite book|author1=O'Brien Chang, Kevin|url=https://archive.org/details/reggaeroutesstor00chan|title=Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music|author2=Chen, Wayne|publisher=Temple University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-1-56639-629-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/reggaeroutesstor00chan/page/n254 243]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Touch the Happy Isles p. 286">{{cite book|last1=Crewe|first1=Quentin|title=Touch the Happy Isles: A Journey through the Caribbean|date=1987|publisher=Michael Joseph Ltd.|isbn=0-7181-2822-2|location=London|page=286}}</ref>{{listen
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After his return to Ethiopia, Selassie dispatched Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro to the [[Caribbean]]. According to Yesehaq, this was to help draw Rastafari and other West Indians to the Ethiopian church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Interview|via=YouTube|date=27 December 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXiPllReCBI|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/WXiPllReCBI|archive-date=28 October 2021|access-date=2 January 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/12/AR2006011201952.html|title=Ethiopians in D.C. Region Mourn Archbishop's Death|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=13 January 2006}}</ref> Some sources suggest that certain islanders and their leaders were resenting the services of their former colonial churches, and vocalised their interest of establishing the Ethiopian church in the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Subin|first=Anne Della|title=Occupy Godhead|url=https://www.bidoun.org/articles/occupy-godhead#:~:text=For%20his%20part%2C%20Haile%20Selassie,them%20find%20the%20True%20God.|work=[[Bidoun]]|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=24 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324164446/https://www.bidoun.org/articles/occupy-godhead#:~:text=For%20his%20part%2C%20Haile%20Selassie,them%20find%20the%20True%20God.|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1969, Manley visited the Emperor at his palace in [[Addis Ababa]] before his election as prime minister of Jamaica in 1972. Selassie spoke about his 1966 visit to Jamaica and told Manley that, though he was confused by the Rastafarians' beliefs, he respected them.<ref name="Jerry Funk">{{cite book|last1=Funk|first1=Jerry|title=Life Is an Excellent Adventure: An Irreverent Personal Odyssey|date=2003|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|location=Victoria, Canada|isbn=1-4120-0848-4|pages=148–150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4FqDsPH5_oC&pg=PA148|access-date=14 March 2022|archive-date=6 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706031348/https://books.google.com/books?id=R4FqDsPH5_oC&pg=PA148#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1948, Selassie donated 500 hectares of land at [[Shashamane]], {{convert|250|km|mi}} south of Addis Ababa, to the [[Ethiopian World Federation|Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated]] for the use of people of African descent who supported Ethiopia during the war.<ref name="PrunierFicquet2015">{{cite book|author1=Gérard Prunier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnxeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT148|title=Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia: Monarchy, Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi|author2=Éloi Ficquet|year=2015|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-618-3|page=148}}</ref> Numerous Rastafari families settled there and still live as a community to this day.<ref>{{cite web|last=Page|first=Thomas|date=13 November 2015|title=Meet the Rastafarians who returned to the Promised Land|url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/africa/ethiopia-rasta-town-shashamene/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816230538/https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/28/africa/ethiopia-rasta-town-shashamene/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Freston|first=Tom|date=14 February 2014|title=The Promised Land|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2014/02/shashemane-ethiopia-rastafarian-utopia|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=24 March 2024|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327115323/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2014/02/shashemane-ethiopia-rastafarian-utopia|url-status=live}}</ref> This was controversial among the locals, as the Rastas settled on traditionally Oromo land.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Price|first1=Charles|title=Review: Erin C. Macleod Visions of Zion: Ethiopians and Rastafari in the Search for the Promised Land|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=223|doi=10.1086/683071|jstor=10.1086/683071|s2cid=162427664|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/683071|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=15 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315013937/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/683071|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Summers|first1=Chris|title=The Rastafarians' flawed African 'promised land'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28059303|publisher=BBC News|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=11 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411160940/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28059303|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gomes|first1=Shelene|title=Counter-Narratives of Belonging: Rastafari in the Promised Land|journal=The Global South|year=2018|volume=12|issue=1|publisher=Indiana University Press|page=115|doi=10.2979/globalsouth.12.1.07|jstor=10.2979/globalsouth.12.1.07|s2cid=164637705|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/globalsouth.12.1.07|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=15 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315013939/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/globalsouth.12.1.07|url-status=live}}</ref>