RELIGION AS PROTEST
1. Establishing the Caribbean Socio-Historical Context 2. Rastafari as Black Self-Definition 3. Nation of Islam and the African American Experience
JAMAICAN RELIGIOUS CONTINUUM
Myalism Revivalism Rasta
Baptist
Pentecostalism
Ethiopianism
RASTAFARI
Acceptance of Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) as living God and black Messiah; Commitment to African cultures and traditions; Commitment to liberation of blacks globally; Socio-economic and political response to oppression—rejection of Babylon; Belief in the empowerment of black family and community through black men.
NATION OF ISLAM
Founded in 1930s by Farad Muhammad; God is a black man, not an invisible spirit; African Americans are “original men”; Challenges racism in the United States: whites are bereft of divinity/inherently evil; Powerful, organized economic force; Wide American appeal—global movement; Counter-narrative to discourse of slavery; Male-centered religious tradition.
NOI’s Ten Point Program
1.
2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9.
10.
Full and complete freedom; Equal justice under the law; Equality of opportunity; Separate state for descendants of slaves; Release of all NOI believers in prison and all blacks under death sentence; End of police brutality; Equal employment opportunities; Exemption from taxation; Equal but separate education; and Prevention of intermarriage or “race mixing.”