Tuesday, May 19, 2009
A difference of direction.
When looking at the Rastafarian culture present in Boboshanti, as compared to the Rastafarian culture displayed by rastas like Bob Marley, I find a large difference to be the direction or orientation of their faith. The version of Rastafari exhibited by Bob Marley, the version most are familiar with, is very public and out-reaching. While it has the core ideals of Rastafari--ital living, anti-colonialism, ties to Ethiopia/pro-African heritage--it also has strong ties to social change. Rastas like Bob Marley would promote their views of life through public demonstration, music and in some cases militant action (both theoretical and physical). Their symbols were as much as a tool to further their agenda as they were a means of identification (this being visible throughout all aspects of reggae music and clothing/accessories). The Rastas of Boboshanti were much more introverted than the "classic" form of rastafari. Though they still maintain many of the ideals I listed above (and especially the association to Ethiopia/African roots), they do not seek to use these pillars of faith as an agent for social change. As a natural consequence of their relative seclusion, the symbols they use to identify themselves differ from other versions of Rastafari. Dreadlocks were first used as a method to signify a breaking away from accepted colonialist culture, whereas the turbans of the Boboshanti are worn as a way to connect to their ethiopian roots. Another difference between these two versions of Rastafari, is the organization of their daily lives. There appears to be a lot of weight placed on organization, structure, work and worship in the Boboshanti community which differs from the more unorganized and organicly-structured lifestyle of the "classic" Rastafari.
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You have aq very clear explaination to the difference between Rastas and Boboshantis. But in my opinion,all what you stated are very true but i think the differece between these two groups is the level of commitment as was said in the video.
ReplyDeleteJust like any other religious group, the level of commitment determines how a person or a member of this group would behave.For instance, some religious groups forbide women from wearing trousers because it was meant to be worn by men and not women. But as the world around us changes, it eventually affect religious systems as well but those who are deeply rooted into these religious believes would still hold on and would never change their way of dressing.Such is how i see the Boboshantis like a devoted christian, muslim, jewish, budhis etc their commitment is what make them practice their believe differently forcusing on the religious aspect the the rastas the social aspect or what you call "classic" or church goer.