The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism [Hardcover]

Helene Lee (Author), Stephen Davis (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta-ganja, reggae, dreadlocks -- this book offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots, and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s a handful of Jamaicans had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, and founded the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century. This is the astonishing tale of Leonard Percival Howell and the first Rastas. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae was ready to explode.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Powerful historical and social forces come together in Lib‚ration journalist Lee's extraordinarily useful book, which appeared in 1999 to acclaim. Jamaican prophet Leonard Howell's revelations in the 1920s about the symbolic portent for the African diaspora of Ras Tafari's crowning as Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia led to the birth of one of the 20th century's most enduring and influential religious awakenings. The colonial forces that ruthlessly suppressed Howell and Rastafarianism in his lifetime have also hidden much of his biography, which Lee has reconstructed through impeccable research and dogged sleuthing. Partly a record of its author's journey in search of those who knew and followed Howell, The First Rasta moves with a truth seeker's determination through the slums of Trenchtown and Jamaica's back country, revealing a dauntingly complex landscape and history in which oral history is often more reliable than the written record. Between his part in the intellectual ferment of the Harlem of Langston Hughes and Marcus Garvey, and the destruction of his religious compound in the late '50s, Howell endured lengthy stays in both prisons and mental hospitals, but emerges in these pages as confident and vindicated. Lee's passionate biography, which includes 11 b&w photos, should draw in not only for students of religion, reggae or Jamaican history but has something to offer to anyone interested in the people and ideas that continue to shape the postcolonial world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Lee, a French journalist, draws on extensive knowledge about the Rastafarian movement made famous by Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley. Considerably less famous is Leonard Howell, the man who developed the movement, cobbling together African culture, divine adoration of Ethiopian ruler Haile Selassie, and the aspirations of African diaspora of the Americas. Lee visited the remains of the Pinnacle, the Rasta compound maintained by Howell in Jamaica in the 1940s with more than 4,000 members and an independent agricultural enterprise that produced and exported marijuana. She recaptures the history of the religion and culture, spawned from the grinding poverty and a people hungry for a god and a place of their own. Howell lived for a while in New York, crossed paths with Marcus Garvey, and eventually returned to the turbulent Jamaican political and economic environment that influenced the spread of Rastafarianism with its trademark dreadlocks, ganja, and reggae. Readers interested in Jamaican culture and the Rasta movement will appreciate this insightful look at one of the most influential mystical movements of the twentieth century. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books; Tra edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556524668
• ISBN-13: 978-1556524660
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,387,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Rastafari

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly Informative, August 26, 2003

By 

Achis (Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism (Hardcover)

I absolutely love this book. Never really one for reading, this book has kind of enthused me to go back and actually READ some of the dozens of books I had purchased over the years but never really set down with.
As a descendant of Rastafarians (and a person whose family majority consists of Rastas, I found it very interesting, and answered some of the questions more distinctly than any of my family had in the past. Its mainly about Leonard Percival Howell, "The First Rasta", and talks mainly about his life and times, but the parts of this book that i find most interesting are the parts that deal with other figures in Rastafari culture i.e. Selassie and Marley.
As I said, I was never one for reading too much, so if this book got me re-interested in reading then there is definitely something to it. Written by the ex-wife of legend Alpha Blondy. If you're interested in the topic, not a bad place at all to start.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some good information, hidden under rambling prose, October 27, 2010

By 

Pantheos (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism (Paperback)

While this book contains some good information about Rastafari and Leonard Howell, most of it is hidden under a mass of rambling nonsense, where the author writes about her personal experience in Jamaica as if it has anything to do with the life of Howell. It doesn't. And she gets many of her facts wrong, such as her claim that ganja was still legal in Jamaica in the mid-30s.

If you're interested in the life of Leonard P. Howell, read Dread History instead. If you're generally interested in Rastafari, check out Catch a Fire.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HAILE BLESS!!!, January 19, 2004

By 

Raphael Black (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism (Hardcover)

This book was very informative and the research done was astounding!!! I would like to thank the author for her taking the time to research such a delicate and profound subject matter as most of Howell's origins are obscure. This book answered many questions for InI on this topic of InI "calling" to Rastafari. Blessed thanks!!!