#RASTAFARIAN WAYS OF LIFE PROFESSIONAL#
So they made their way into professional positions. But the important thing that happened was that they allowed some level of acceptance in Jamaican society because most of those guys were privileged to go to university and, even though their parents weren't happy with they're coming on with dreads and stuff like that, they were happy with them having a degree so that was acceptable. The Twelve Tribes were basically formed by what we call middle-class Jamaican youths, privileged, so they were not from the ghetto, so it was a difference. K: Yes, the basic principles are the same. ED: In terms of doctrine, with the Bobo Ashantis and Twelve Tribes, do you all believe in the same god? Yes, the militancy is there through the music, through the spoken word. With the Bobo Ashanti, we see ourselves as trying to portray this visual image of the positiveness of Rastafari and I think that's what we do.
To me, they're easier to assimilate or to allow assimilation. K: Well, first we drop the dread thing! I think that, apart from the visual representation, I think that the Twelve Tribes are a bit more subtle and a bit more tolerant to certain behaviour or certain systems. ED: If you had to sum up the differences between a Twelve Tribes dread and a Bobo Dread, what would these differences be? The ways of the Jamaican élite are still there so therefore accepting Rastafari, I don't think Jamaica is ready for that. The problem is accepting the system, the Babylonian system. That still is a big problem, a major problem. There is still this continuous struggle with authority and one of the main problems for that is the use of the holy sacrament - the herb or marijuana. K: I think they are tolerated accepted? No. ED: Are the Bobo Ashanti accepted by the authorities in Jamaica? The Nyabinghis were more of a militant sect but I think now the Bobo Ashanti feel that. So it has created a kind of surge within the young Rastafarians to become a part of what is seen as militant even though I don't think Bobo Ashanti was seen as the most militant of all. I think it's probably because of the popularity of people like Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B who've embraced that particular sect. But I think there has been a kind of surge of the movement. It wasn't certainly in the 1980s and the 1990s coming up, it wasn't. ED: Is it the most popular branch of Rastafarianism in Jamaica now? K: And his staff as well! It is a very important part of the grounding as well. So you can easily identify a Bobo Ashanti by his turban and so on. Well, as you can see, the visual representation of wearing a turban, that is one of the main connotations. There are various Rastafarian sects: the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Ethiopian World Federation, the Bobo Dreads. Eric Doumerc: The last time we met, you told me your Rastafarian way of life and beliefs were important to you. Here he interviews Birmingham-based poet Kokumo. Dr Eric Doumerc is studying Black British performance poetry and looks at poets in Birmingham who have Caribbean heritage.
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