Society Debate: How has Rastafarianism influenced the youth?

Africa must be proud of the Rasta Many people have a hard time understanding what it means to be a Rasta. Many wonder whether it is a religion or culture. Well, Rastafarianism is not just a religion, but also a culture, a way of life. Regardless of it starting as a purely African movement aimed to restore African dignity, today, awareness of the Rastafarian movement has spread throughout much of the world and can no longer be associated with only Africa.Another perception is that Rastafarians are people that live in Jamaica, spend their days listening to Reggae music, smoke weed, and have dreadlocks. However, that is not what defines a Rasta. A real Rasta comes from any race now and is defined by his character, his intrinsic value defined by love. The youth in Africa, and subsequently in Rwanda, simply love to associate themselves with the Rasta. Many of them behave and speak just like the Rasta… indeed, they also are Rasta. This to me is a very positive influence on them. The Rastafarian movement is one of the most influential pan-African movements. For decades now, Rastafarians have fought for the rights of Africans and demonized discriminatory habits of the West like slavery and racism. Much as people heap a lot of praise on Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) and Bob Marley (1945 – 1981), the Rastafarian movement stems from the teachings of a one, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), the great Jamaican leader and motivator of masses. In his own words, Garvey told Africans all over the world to unite, overcome their feelings of inferiority and build upon their own unique and evolving culture, and ultimately return to Africa to redeem their homeland and to build a future. I have Rastafarian friends in Rwanda; they participate in every African theme with pride, be it the Genocide commemorations, the Walk to Remember and the like. In their free time, they will listen to constructive reggae music talking about “one love” or be absorbed into African art. Don’t be duped into believing that Rastafarians are hooked on drugs and violence because that is not true. The Rasta life style is one of peace, love and unity. An interesting insight is how they try to avoid negativism, even going as far as changing the English language to serve this effect. When the Rasta’s speech is analyzed, it shows how the Rasta’s are always trying to think positively. They will often change word from a negative meaning to a positive meaning. For example, instead of using the word “understand”, they will use “overstand”. To them, “overstand” means to fully and entirely have a grasp of a concept. The reasoning for this is that something that is under is worse than something that is over, so they change “under” to “over. This is a great reflection on how the Rasta always sees things positively. Many African youth who have become Rasta understand these concepts. Although the world keeps judging them by how they look and talk, the Rasta youth in our community are probably even more peaceful and more patriotic than any of us. mugishaivan@yahoo.com