The story behind the day
On 23 July Rastafari keep the birthday of Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, whom they honour as God made flesh. It is one of the main days of the Rastafari year and is marked with nyabinghi gatherings, with large crowds in Jamaica and at Shashemene in Ethiopia.[1–4]
Origins
Haile Selassie was born Tafari Makonnen on 23 July 1892. He was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Many in the African diaspora, and in Jamaica above all, saw the coronation as the fulfilment of a prophecy of Marcus Garvey, who was widely remembered for telling Black people to watch Africa for the crowning of a king that would herald their redemption. Rastafari, a movement that began in Jamaica in the 1930s, took the emperor's pre-coronation name, Ras Tafari, as its own name.[1, 5, 7–9]
What it marks
Rastafari hold that Haile Selassie is the living God, Jah, who took human form, and the messiah who redeems Black people. The historical record is less certain: the emperor publicly declared that he was not divine, Rastafari report that he affirmed it in private, and a dictionary of millenarian movements says it is unclear whether he ever backed the belief. He was deposed in 1974 and died in 1975, in unclear circumstances. The dictionary calls his death a potential problem for Rastafari, who answered that he was not really dead, that he had taken another form, or that the spirit of Jah remained eternal, while an encyclopedia entry says the death had little effect on the movement and that many Rastafari deny the possibility of his death.[3, 10–13]
How it is kept
The birthday is one of the main days of the Rastafari year. Nyabinghi gatherings celebrate it, and Rastafari from outside Jamaica travel to the island to attend such ceremonies. Nyabinghi is a worship ceremony built around music, dance, prayer and prophecy, and it is the larger of the two Rastafari drumming rituals. Rastafari also hold binghis, celebrations lasting several days, to commemorate the emperor's birthday. At Shashemene the date, together with the coronation day on 2 November, draws both local and international crowds.[2, 4, 6]
Across traditions
Rastafari remember other figures too. Nyabinghi observances mark the birthday of Marcus Garvey, 17 August, and the Shashemene calendar lists that date. Garvey himself was no fan of Haile Selassie and rejected Rastafari.[14–15]
Sources
Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.
- CorrectedPodesta, Contemporary Black Biography, Encyclopedia.com; Smithsonian Education, Dread History.
- VerifiedSmithsonian Education; Bonacci, WRSP, Shashemene.
- Verifiedscielo.org.za, Scielo; Allen Williams, Encyclopedia.com; cdamm.org, Rastafari.
- CorrectedSmithsonian Education; Bonacci, WRSP.
- CorrectedPodesta, Encyclopedia.com; Smithsonian Education.
- CorrectedSmithsonian Education; cdamm.org, Rastafari; Salter, Encyclopedia.com; Chevannes in Edmonds page, Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedPodesta, Encyclopedia.com; cdamm.org, Rastafari.
- Correctedcdamm.org, Rastafari; Chevannes, Encyclopedia.com.
- Verifiedcdamm.org, Rastafari; Edmonds, Encyclopedia.com.
- Correctedcdamm.org, Rastafari; Allen Williams, Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedEdmonds, Encyclopedia.com; cdamm.org, Rastafari.
- CorrectedPodesta, Encyclopedia.com; cdamm.org, Rastafari; Edmonds, Encyclopedia.com.
- Correctedcdamm.org, Rastafari; Edmonds, Encyclopedia.com.
- CorrectedChevannes, Encyclopedia.com; Bonacci, WRSP.
- Correctedcdamm.org, Rastafari; Allen Williams, Encyclopedia.com.