Chanting Down Babylon

This anthology explores Rastafari religion, culture, and politics in Jamaica and other parts of the African diaspora. An Afro-Caribbean religious and cultural movement that sprang from the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1930s, today Rastafari has close to one million adherents. The basic message of Rastafari the dismantling of all oppressive institutions and the liberation of humankind even has strong appeal to non-believers who are captivated by reggae music, the lyrics, and the "immortal spirit" of its enormously popular practitioner, Bob Marley. Probing into Rastafari's still evolving belief system, political goals, and cultural expression, the contributors to this volume emphasize the importance of Africana history and the Caribbean context. Author note: Nathaniel Samuel Murrell is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and Visiting Professor at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica.William David Spencer serves as Pastor of Encouragement at Pilgrim Church in Beverly, MA, and was an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston. He has authored, co-authored, or edited The Prayer of Life of Jesus, Mysterium and Mystery: The Clerical Crime Novel, God through the Looking Glass, Joy through the Night, 2 Corinthians: Bible Study Commentary, and The Global God. Adrian Anthony McFarlane is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. He is author of A Grammar of Fear and Evil A Husserlian-Wittgensteinian Hermeneutic.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction: The Rastafari Phenomenon Nathaniel Samuel Murrell Part I. Ideology and the Cultural Context 1. Dread "I" In-a-Babylon: Ideological Resistance and Cultural Revitalization Ennis B. Edmonds 2. Rastas' Psychology of Blackness, Resistance, and Somebodiness Clinton Hutton and Nathaniel Samuel Murrell 3. Rastafari and the Exorcism of the Ideology of Racism and Classism in Jamaica Barry Chevannes 4. Gender and Family Relations in Rastafari: A Personal Perspective Maureen Rowe 5. Rastawoman as Rebel: Case Studies in Jamaica Imani M. Tafari-Ama 6. The Epistemological Significance of "I-an-I" as a Response to Quashie and Anancyism in Jamaican Culture Adrian Anthony McFarlane Part II. Roots and Historical Impact 7. African Dimensions of the Jamaican Rastafarian Movement Neil J. Savishinsky 8. Marcus Garvey and the Early Rastafarians: Continuity and Discontinuity Rupert Lewis 9. Who Is Haile Selassie? His Imperial Majesty in Rasta Voices Eleanor Wint in consultation with members of the Nyabinghi Order 10. The Rasta-Selassie-Ethiopian Connections Clinton Chisholm 11. Chanting Down Babylon Outernational: The Rise of Rastafari in Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Frank Jan Van Dijk 12. Chanting Down Babylon in the Belly of the Beast: The Rastafarian Movement in the Metropolitan United States Randal L. Hepner 13. Personal Reflections on Rastafari in West Kingston in the Early 1950s George Eaton Simpson Part III. Back-o-Wall to Hollywood: The Rasta Revolution through the Arts 14. From Burru Drums to Reggae Ridims: The Evolution of Rasta Music Verena Reckord 15. Bob Marley: Rasta Warrior Roger Steffens 16. Chanting Change around the World through Rasta Ridim and Art William David Spencer 17. Towering Babble and Glimpses of Zion: Recent Depictions of Rastafari in Cinema Kevin J. Aylmer Part IV. Livity, Hermeneutics, and Theology 18. Discourse on Rastafarian Reality Rex Nettleford 19. The Black Biblical Hermeneutics of Rastafari Nathaniel Samuel Murrell and Lewin WIlliams 20. The Structure and Ethos of Rastafari Ennis B. Edmonds 21. The First Chant: Leonard Howell's The Promised Key with commentary by William David Spencer 22. Rastafari's Messianic Ideology and Caribbean Theology of Liberation Nathaniel Samuel Murrell and Burchell K. Taylor Appendix A. Emissaries of Rastafari: An Interview with Professor Leonard Barrett Indigo Bethea, Michael Bruny, and Adrian Anthony McFarlane Appendix B. Who Is Who in the Rasta Academy: A Literature Review in Honor of Leonard Barrett Nathaniel Samuel Murrell Glossary About the Contributors Index

About the Author :
N. Samuel Murrell is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religions at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and Visiting Professor at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica. William D. Spencer serves as Pastor of Encouragement at Pilgrim Church in Beverly, MA, and was an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston. He has authored, co-authored, or edited The Prayer of Life of Jesus, Mysterium and Mystery: The Clerical Crime Novel, God through the Looking Glass, Joy through the Night, 2 Corinthians: Bible Study Commentary, and The Global God. Adrian Anthony McFarlene is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. He is author of A Grammar of Fear and Evil -- A Husserlian-Wittgensteinian Hermeneutic.

Review :
"Long before the term 'Afrocentricity' came into popular use in the United States, Jamaican Rastafarians had embraced the concept as the most important recipe for naming their reality and reclaiming their black heritage in the African diaspora." --Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, from the Introduction