Rastafarian Children of Solomon: The Legacy of the Kebra Nagast and the Path to Peace and Understanding
“Day by day, the elders who formed the foundation of Rasta in the 1920s and ’30s are passing. Within these pages you will meet a man who knew Marcus Garvey and an elder who met Haile Selassie I when he came to Jamaica. You will also meet younger rootsmen whose faith is constant and true. This book goes straight to the heart with truths that are seldom written but often said in my home country.” (Cedella Marley, author of the bestselling children’s books One Love and Every Little Thing)“Folklorist Gerald Hausman takes us deep into the modern dreamtime of Jamaica’s backwaters, enthralled by the company of living prophets and conmen, killers and saints, obeah workers and ethereal half-real creatures of the sea. They are all, as his eloquent mythlike prose reveals, the voices of the cherubim and seraphim of old.” (Roger Steffens, founding editor of The Beat magazine and coauthor of The Reggae Scrapbook and One Lo)“Hausman skillfully connects the lives and beliefs of these peaceful and resourceful people—fishermen, wicker weavers, Rasta preachers, respected elders, and wise men and women—through heartfelt conversations that arise spontaneously while sitting under the shade of a pimento tree, in a dusty yard, or by firelight in the cool evening ocean breeze. Rastafarian spiritual wisdom, recounted here in authentic Jamaican patois, emphasizes equality: an unwavering faith and hope in the holy spirit that lives in each human being.” (Publishers Weekly, February 2013)“Highly recommended, especially for any reader looking to better understand the Rastafarian way of life through the words of the people who practice it.” (Midwest Book Review, April 2013)