I would like to express gratitude to the Jamaica Observer for its publication of many articles on Leonard P Howell, the real “Gong”, and Pinnacle, the first Rastafari community, since circa 2000.

My thankfulness is not just grounded in the fact that I wrote those articles but also that this newspaper helped to unearth and expose one of the most influential Jamaicans of the 20th century. I am sure that anyone that uses the name Gong knew where it came from, but no reference was ever made to the real Gong. In a general sense there is much said about Rastafari without mention of its founding father. I read with enthusiasm and much interest of the Government conferring on Howell the Order of Distinction (OD) posthumously for his pioneering role in advancing the philosophy of Rastafari. I have always maintained that we must never look to politicians to write history.

This OD must be seen as a start because Howell has unleashed not just a new philosophy, and I am glad that this is officially recognised, but he gave the world a new religion.

Both colonial and post-colonial governments in Jamaica have tried to destroy Howell and attempted to bury the early Rastafari movement. The history is there for curious minds to explore. I can’t think of any other black consciousness leader in Jamaica that has been harassed and arrested so many times as Howell. He never saw exile as an alternative. In fact, his last words at his sentencing in 1934 for sedition were: “I will die fighting for the liberation of Africa.”

This OD is not adequate for a man that has challenged cultural imperialism/cultural decolonisation even before the struggles against colonialism were firmly rooted in Jamaica during the 1930s. He creatively targeted the Christian church as a part of the colonial structure as he called for a new thinking in education. He had a great vision because ideas about cultural decolonisation are now popular in Africa as part of a new surge in post-colonial political thinking. His ideas offered the only new world view/philosophy in the country and region.

I do not find it strange that the Government recognises Rastafarian philosophy but refuses to accept, to acknowledge, and to appreciate the religious qualities of the movement as a part of Howell’s great contribution to the world. The movement has spread rapidly in Africa. I hear figures of three million adherents in South Africa, and that it is recognised as a new religious movement in New Zealand and Australia.

Permit me to elaborate on this question of non-recognition of the religious aspects of the Rastafarian religion by looking at the rise of the Ethiopianism church movement in South Africa. The late 19th-century black nationalist church movement in South Africa became known as the Independent Church movement and was the modern resistance movement against white domination in South Africa, land seizure, taxes, and exploitative wages, as well as other forms of injustice. The movement was described by the racist South African State as a political rather than a religious movement. The Ethiopianism church movement gave birth to what became known as the African National Congress (ANC). The Government of Jamaica has ignored the religious aspect of Rastafari in favour of the continued hegemony of Christianity. There is no other God!

The global movement of Rastafari began with its migration to the Eastern Caribbean, and with the help of Rastafarian warriors in reggae music it was transported to the rest of the world in the late 1970s and grew steadily across the globe on every continent.

Pinnacle was the creation of an imaginative mind. It was an industrial mission and not just a centre for the development of black arts and culture, and offered ex-slaves the opportunity to develop a collective spirit towards achieving social and economic development. The late Professor Barry Chavannes conducted trailblazing research on Pinnacle and revealed some of the impact of the early Rastafarian movement on black aesthetics and the arts. His works inspire deeper research on the cultural and political influence of the early Rastafari idea and movement in Jamaica and the world.

The most important issue here is that Howell’s contribution to cultural decolonisation in Jamaica is unmatched. I think that, as times goes by, with continued literary and intellectual agitation, especially in the media, to inform the people of this country and the world on the great contributions of this man from Crooked River, Clarendon, he will receive the respect and honour he deserves.

I applaud the Government for taking this small step in giving recognition to one of the greatest Jamaicans of the 20th century. The buried truth shall rise again.

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