Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
From dKosopedia
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was the Emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974, but is now far better known as the God of the Rastafari movement. Studying his life and career from a Rastafarian point of view draws different conclusions about his role in history than those of conventional historians. His coronation on November 2, 1930 was given publicity all over the world, especially through 2 consecutive Time magazine articles. Poor Jamaicans living under the colonial rule of the British Empire saw him as a great African king for themselves. They began to dream of going back to Africa to live under his rule, and in 1934 an early rasta preacher called Leonard Howell was charged with sedition for declaring his loyalty to Selassie I, instead of to King George V of England.
Italy invaded Ethiopia, which along with Liberia was one of the last 2 free African countries at that time of european colonialism. Selassie was determined that rather than being treated as a second class country ripe for colonialisation, Ethiopia should be treated as the full member of the League of Nations that it was. He pleaded in front of this organisation, but in possibly the final act of international support for African colonialism, they turned their back on him and his country, giving the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini impunity for his destruction of Ethiopia, including using mustard gas against the civilian population, a crime that even Hitler never indulged in. After 5 years in exile in the UK he returned to Ethiopia with the help of the British. Thus for the first time, in 1941, the British rejected the colonialist model for Africa, paving the way for African self determination. As a strong supporter of African rule and African unity he presideded over the foundation of the Organisation for African Unity, whose headquarters is in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Undoubtedly the person who has done most to promote Selassie I as a religious icon is the musician Bob Marley. Every time he went on stage to perform the firsat thing he said was Hail Jah Rastafari. Jah is the Rasta word for God, Ras is the Amharic word for Prince and Tafari was Selassie's name before he was crowned. Selassie I was a great opponent of rascism, and Marley immortalised his classic UN speech that began "until the colour of a man's skin makes no more significance than the colour of his eyes, there shall never be peace".
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