Terry Gross has been an excellent interviewer for decades, so when my dad shared a link to her interview of the poet Safiya Sinclair, listening to it was a must.
Sinclair traces the origins of the Rastafari movement to one of the last speeches of Marcus Garvey, and a street preacher named Leonard Percival Howell. Howell believed Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari Makonnen) was the king foretold of by Garvey. Her description of Jamaica as deeply Christian definitely reminded me of times of visits to Jamaica when my sister and I were kids and spending more than one Sabbath (we were and are Seventh-day Adventists) there in this church back when our grandma was alive and still in Kingston (dressed in usual church attire despite the heat).
It was surprising and saddening to learn how strict Rastafarianism was, particularly in their treatment (perhaps more accurately subjugation) of women. This makes it all the more impressive how much Sinclair's mother accomplished in teaching not just her and her siblings at home, but other children as well. The love of poetry Sinclair's mother passed on to her reminds me of my own mother and her similar fondness for that genre of writing.
How To Say Babylon: A Memoir
Terry Gross has been an excellent interviewer for decades, so when my dad shared a link to her interview of the poet Safiya Sinclair, listening to it was a must.
Sinclair traces the origins of the Rastafari movement to one of the last speeches of Marcus Garvey, and a street preacher named Leonard Percival Howell. Howell believed Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari Makonnen) was the king foretold of by Garvey. Her description of Jamaica as deeply Christian definitely reminded me of times of visits to Jamaica when my sister and I were kids and spending more than one Sabbath (we were and are Seventh-day Adventists) there in this church back when our grandma was alive and still in Kingston (dressed in usual church attire despite the heat).
It was surprising and saddening to learn how strict Rastafarianism was, particularly in their treatment (perhaps more accurately subjugation) of women. This makes it all the more impressive how much Sinclair's mother accomplished in teaching not just her and her siblings at home, but other children as well. The love of poetry Sinclair's mother passed on to her reminds me of my own mother and her similar fondness for that genre of writing.