King Haile Sellassie's Kevo

Bob Marley, not Haile Sellassie, is generally the first name that comes to mind when Rastafarianism is mentioned. When you think of reggae music singer Bob Marley, or his religion, , the name Haile Sellassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, is not the first thing that comes to mind. Well, it should be. Because you see the Rastafarians believe that Sellassie was divine. Rastafarians believe that according to the prophecy of Marcus Garvey, the original ""Black Moses,"" a mighty king would arise in Africa. Garvey further prophesied that this, ""mighty king,"" would bring justice to the oppressed. Haile Sellassie's divinity is one of the few things common to the belief of all Rastafarians. The other is that he would restore New World Blacks to Africa. An African Messiah, if you will, with just as much controversy surrounding his ministry as surrounding the Christian Messiah, Jesus. Born to Ethiopian royalty, Tafari Makonnen, was in line to become king if the right set of circumstances came about, and in September 1916, at the age of 24, he was appointed Regent and Heir to the Throne and given the title Ras, or Duke. Ras Tafari, hence, Rastafarian. He took the name Haile Sellassie I, meaning, ""Power of the Trinity,"" when he finally ascended the throne in 1928. Ras Tafari was tutored by a French Catholic priest, Father Andre Jarosseau, and one of the things he studied was the old story of the Queen of Sheba's trip to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem. The Queen was so taken with Solomon they had an affair and out of that affair a son was born. She named him Menelik, and he became the first Emperor of Ethiopia. Tafari Makonnen could trace his ancestry directly back to Menelik, and thus to King Solomon of biblical renown, who was the son of King David. The Old Testament gives us a brief account of the Queen of Sheba traveling to Jerusalem to visit Solomon and their meeting and subsequent affair have historical support. Haile Sellassie's political career is no less interesting. Defeated by an invading Italian army in 1936, he went into exile. During his exile he gave a prophetical speech to the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzeraland, stating flatly, ""It is us today. It will be you tomorrow."" This frail man, whose striking, chiseled features and light brown skin, with deep set, penetrating eyes, who spoke so passionately, and dramatically, denouncing the threat that was to lead to World War II, was no longer the obscure ruler of some kingdom in a corner of northeast Africa, he was now an international figure. He became a well recognized world leader and a symbol of resistance to the facism that was sweeping the world at that time. With much help from the British, Ethiopia was liberated and Sellassie returned to absolute power for more than 30 years, in 1941. Holding court much like a medieval king, using a golden cashbox to dispense gifts, and on his frequent trips throughout his empire, throwing coins to the throngs of gathered peasants lining the route. Outside of Ethiopia, especially, but not only, in Jamaica, he is still considered by many to be the spiritual leader of black repatriation. Sellassie was instrumental in helping to establish the Organization of African Unity, an organization that once had it's headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. The rise of socialist ideas that found fertile ground in the minds and hearts of the poverty stricken and famine weary students that Sellassie had helped to educate with his own social reforms, led to a leftist coup in September 1974. In August 1975, it was reported that Emperor Haile Sellassie was dead. The exact circumstances surrounding his death have never been revealed and his body was never officially recovered for a proper burial. Just the same as Jesus. U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjoeld said of Sellassie in 1954, ""(His) Majesty stands in the perspective of the history of our time as a symbolic landmark, a prophetic figure on the path of man's struggle to achieve international peace and secuity through concerted international action."""