The early ears of the Rastafar Movement Saw a range of individuals who are now considered the core framework from which the movement was to spring. To a great extent the ideas and philosophies did not coalesce as a Rastafari Movement until later on - some 15 to 20 years after its earliest expressions in 1933/34. These key figures discussed here laid the spiritual, political, philosophical foundations of the Rastafari Movement and within this framework represent a pantheon of personalities ranging from the Godhead. to priests, prophets, patriarchs and highly respected elders. Some of the early key figures did not identify themselves as Rastafari. Many of them would not be identifiable with some of the later symbols of the movement, such as dreadlocks, the ritual smoking of herb and the ital lifestyle. However, their contributions are significant to the Rastafari movement's development.

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H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I

 

Haile Selassie is the most important figure within the Rastafari movement. The full title of Emperor Haile Selassie is very important to Rastafari as it is the means by which the identity and character of the godhead is revealed. He is ‘Negus Negast' or 'King of the Kings' This title, together with the traditions of imperial lions and ceremonial umbrellas, may be traced to ancient Aksum (also Axum). Another title, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah, proclaims the legendary descent of the Ethiopian kings from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and his divine right to rule is further confirmed in his title Elect of God: The name Haile Selassie is Amharic for Power of the Trinity, interpreted as fulfillment of the promise of God; the word becoming the flesh John 1:14), and revelation of God on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7). As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end so the revelation in the Book of Revelations is the revelation of Haile Selassie I:

 

'And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof' (Revelation 5:1-5).

 

The Emperor's lineage can be traced back a thousand years before Christ to Menelik I, the son born of the union between the legendary King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Three thousand years later on July 23, 1892, Tafari - (Emperor Haile Selassie's boyhood name), son of Ras Makonnen and Wayzero Yashimabet, was born into a noble family in the city of Harar, Ethiopia. He was destined to become the 225th sovereign on the oldest known throne on Earth. He was his mother's only child after eight miscarriages. His birth in 1892 was viewed as special, akin to the coming of an African messiah and the fulfillment of biblical prophecies related to the establishment of a new heaven and earth. From an early age Lid; (child) Tafari, distinguished himself as having exceptional qualities with languages, art, fighting and above all being very mature and capable administratively. He assumed governorship of his father's province at the age of thirteen. His succession to the Davidic throne came after decades of leadership within the Ethiopian society and he was recognized internationally for his outstanding contribution to Ethiopia's development. At the age of 32, the University of Cambridge awarded him his first honorary Doctorate acclaiming his achievements towards Ethiopia's progress and future achievement.

 

It should be noted that even with this long family history, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie, when asked by the British researcher

C. Rey for a listing of his ancestors, provided a genealogy tracing his family origins before the Floods of Noah, encapsulating some seven thousand years of history. His ascension to the Throne on November 2, 1930 declared to the world that the seed or son/descendant of the Biblical King David had been preserved in Ethiopia. At the time of the Coronation the Emperor chose to establish his reign under the name given him by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Haile Selassie "power of the Holy Trinity".

 

The Emperor also chose to break with centuries of Ethiopian tradition to have his Empress Menen crowned at the same time as Himself. Thus the King Alpha Queen Omega balance is of critical importance to the nation-building work of the Rastafari Movement and Empress Menen is recognized as the Mother of Creation in the Holy Trinity of Family as the foundation of life and community. This occurrence, however, does not mean that the Rastafari Movement is devoid of gendered challenges. One Rastafari woman writing on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the coronation of Haile Selassie I and Empress Menen is unequivocal, 'There can be no denying the fact that Rastafari is a patriarchal movement' (Rowe 1980:13). In a later piece however, the writer acknowledges that 'The Sistren, for their part, are now secure enough in their persons to take a stand against what outrages them' (Rowe 1998:85).

 

In 1922, eight years before becoming Emperor, Ras Tafari sent a message to Marcus Garvey telling him to tell the people gathered in New York at the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) convention, to come home to Africa. The Emperor had developed a following among Africans in the Diaspora who were interested in this message of returning home. Garvey's prophecy of the coming of a Black King whose crowning would foreshadow the liberation of Black Peoples solidified H.I.M's divinity for many in the Diaspora. Heads of State and representatives from all over the world attended his coronation. His leadership during Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, and his prophetic speech to the League of Nations, warning that its failure to uphold the laws of the League by protecting Ethiopia against Italy would lead to the Second World War, provided further evidence of his stature among those who revered him. In the mid-1950's the Emperor backed his 1922 invitation by the provision of a Land Grant called Shashamene, a town in the southern Province of Shoa, Ethiopia. He also visited Jamaica in 1966, an event that once again solidified his divine status in the minds of Rastafari. Rastafari often use Revelations 5:5 as evidence that H.I.M. Is the Messiah.