Question for the Rastafarians and Reggae Aficionados
 

I have a bit of a thing for reggae and listen to it regularly, but I don't always understand the language used or common references.

For instance 'I & I', or 'InI', I think it can mean God and I, or the God in me, or the unity of all mankind with God, or maybe that all mankind are One. Am I on the right track?

Secondly, I always thought the word 'Babylon' was used to signify paradise, but it seems in reggae it's used to refer to government or oppression, even salvery. Is this correct?

Thirdly, what's with all the revered and joyous references to Haile Selassie? I know Ethiopia is considered the homeland for Rastafarians and that Haile Selassie was the emperor there, but history tells us he was as oppressive and totalitarian leader who commited human rights crimes; in other words Haile Selassie was responsible for the kind of things that Reggae music regulalry tackles and speaks out against. So why is he so revered? I don't get it. It seems hypocritical?

I&I just refers to me , myself and I. It's kind of like saying that you are only going to rely on yourself. It doesn't have anything to do with God.


Babylon isn't paradise, Zion is their paradise. Babylon is related to oppression. Whenever cops roll through they don't say 5-0 is coming. They say Babylon is coming.

For the third question I got this from wiki:

Cheers, appreciate it. :)

No problem. My uncle is heavy into the Rastafarian movement.

I do find it strange that they've adopted a repressive and totalitarian figure as their messiah, but maybe it's no stranger than the Christian, Jewish and Muslim God depicted in the holy texts and some of the things He gets up to/threatens to do.

Rastafari movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This section goes into detail about it.

I don't personally know why they picked him though only based off of what I skimmed through that section.

Good link, very interesting.

I & I is a confirmation of one's self and consciousness.

Babylon is a religious reference- the city of Babylon in the Bible was known as a wicked, evil, Godless place. Babylon in Rastafarian culture is used in reference to the wicked system of rule and government and basically refers to anything not originating from Jah who is the Supreme Being. When you here the word "God" it is actually referencing Gad. Gad is a prophet in Rastafarian religion. The religious text used in conjunction with the Bible is the Kebra Negast.

Haile Selassie is revered because it says in the Bible that the faithful's Savior will come through the line of David. Haile Selassie claimed to be a descendent of King David.

I'm no Rasta, but Babylon was indeed an evil place in the bible. Babylon was also a place of exile for the Isralites/ Hebrews. the theme of exile is how I have understood the use of "Babylon" in reggae music- in their case exile from Africa.

Babylon was located in Iraq on a stretch of desert just south of Baghdad. At the time he was deposed Sadam Hussein was attempting to rebuild the ruins of ancient Babylon as a historical restoration project. (see photo below).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...s_Marines.jpeg

Babylon was a highly evolved civilization under the rule of Hammurabi but devolved into decadence as gangsta tribes like the Assyrians, the Sumerians, the Amorites, the Hittites, and the Kassites overran the city state of Babylon and used it a a party town to rape, pillage, plunder and kill. Babylon was surrounded by militaristic city states and nearly every ambitious mercenary nomadic tribe was hell bent on plundering for profit and then burning it down to the ground. Babylon turned into a the ancient equivalent of Tombstone Arizona where every badass went to raise hell.

By the way the original location of the Garden of Eden is just up the road where the Tigris and Euprates Rivers converge. You'd never know it was a garden of eden because climate change has turned Eden into a barren desert wasteland.

A lot of Rastafarian teaching is based on the Old Testament. In fact many Rastafarians claim lineage to the Lemba tribe the legendary lost African tribe of Israel. This Bantu-speaking group claims Jewish ancestry and observes many Semitic traditions such as kosher-like dietary restrictions and slaughter practices, male circumcision rites, strict rules against intermarriage, and Semitic-sounding clan names.

A few years back some British scientists collected DNA samples from the Bantu tribles of Lemba descent and one out of every 10 Lemba tribe members had a particular Y chromosomal type that appears to be a signature of Jewish ancestry. It's a significant percentage considering that Lemba tribe members moved to Africa around 2000 B.C., and have been removed from that particular Jewish Y chromosomal gene pool for at least 3000 years.

Interesting.

There is also a Rastafarian commune in Israel. They claim to be Jewish, have gained Israeli citizenship, even serve in the army.
The Magen David, or star of David, is often used in Rastafarian imagery, I presume this is because they claim ancestry from the tribe of david?

Yeah, that's right. I lived on a kibbutz (which is a kind of commune) in Israel in the Negev desert and there were Rastafraians there who had gained Israeli citizenship and had served in the Israeli Army. It's largely thanks to them that I love reggae music so much, they lived next door to us and all they ever did was play reggae music, smoke grass and play football. They often shared their weed with us and invited us to play football, and they were a really happy and chilled out lot. Good memories.

actually you're pretty close ;)

cab someone explain why some people call cops Babylon?

With thanks to Wikipedia:

Babylon is an important Rastafari term, referring to human government and institutions that are seen as in rebellion against the rule of Jah (God), beginning with the Tower of Babel. It is further used by some to mean specifically the 'politricksters' who have been oppressing the black race for centuries through economic and physical slavery. In a more general sense, Babylon refers to any system that oppresses or discriminates against all peoples. Rastafari is defiance of Babylon, sometimes also called Rome — in part because of the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia, then ruled by Rastafari's 'Living God,' Haile Selassie I, and partly because as the head of the Roman Catholic church (the Pope) is considered an opponent of Selassie I and Rastafari. Babylon the Great and Whore of Babylon are apocalyptic terms from the book of Revelation that may have been used to describe the pagan Roman Empire, which often persecuted Christianity. Babylon is also sometimes used by some Rastas with the more specific meaning of "police", insofar as they are seen as executive agents of Babylon's will. Most specifically however, "Babylon" is the corruption and perversion of the Word of God. The amalgamation of Pagan holidays and days of the week is but one example of "Mystery Babylon". Major Church feasts were adopted from pagan holidays, e.g. Christmas from Saturnalia. The perversion of truths is "Babylon". Anything that is a lie regarding the truth of Jah, is the actual root of what is considered "Babylon" by Rastafari.

Y'know , In Alan White's biog of Marley ..' Catch a fire '
( best music biog I ever read and much recommended for any Bob fans ) I'm sure he says ' I and I' means ' Me and my people'
Or Me and my brethren ?
Just something I remember.
Mind you I'm not saying anyone is wrong or right . I think the only people who fully understand Jamaican patois are Jamaicans.....who speak Jamaican patois ..
I bought an LP a long time ago in Spain entitled "Talkin blues"
This is an album of Wailers classics and in between each track a snippet of a Bob interview.
I'll play it next week because I'm sure he says something similar.
Does anyone know if I can record audio on a samsung tab and put it on here ?.

.Oh Mr Charlie and Gav B......
Marvelous posts ! Spot on as far as I can see !
I'll add though that the "Back to Africa " movement under Garvey also believed that Jamaica was still a modern day 'Babylon" hence the wish to return to Africa.
However when Bob played in Africa I personally believe it stunned him when he saw the repression there . I even think it led to him giving in to his illness. My opinion only of course.