The Sunday Mail
Ibo Foroma
Rastafarian Perspectives
HAILE SELASSIE’S election by other African leaders as honorary President of the first Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Conference is evidence that he enjoyed recognition from his African peers as one of the foremost leaders in the Pan-African movement.
The impressive turnout at these conferences is testimony of the tangible unity Selassie created among African nations. His willingness to make financial sacrifices for that movement on behalf of his country is further confirmation of the priority to which he held this movement.
Due to the recognition, Selassie effectively communicated and supported Pan-African ideals around the globe for himself and Ethiopia on the international stage. Selassie was not afraid to attack this issue in the most direct manner possible – by writing letters to heads of state of the colonial powers and beseeching for their granting of independence to the African colonies under their jurisdiction.
For example, in a letter dated June 17, 1963; Selassie wrote to the Prime Minister of Portugal, Dr Oliveira Salazar saying, “We cannot acquiesce in the fact that other fellow Africans should remain oppressed in exchange for the freedom we enjoy. We believe that they too are fully entitled to enjoy freedom.”
Once again, Selassie backed up his rhetoric with potential action when he threatened, “… if the Portuguese government does not respond favourably to this request, all the African independent countries should break their diplomatic relations and discontinue all trade transaction with Portugal.”
Selassie would continue to promote the cause of African decolonisation on the international stage as the Ethiopian representative to the UN.
On June 27, 1965; he implored the UN to unify in order to threaten economic sanctions to Portugal and South Africa. Although South Africa was a free state, apartheid was still viewed as a manifestation of colonialism in that the White settlers there severely limited the freedom of the native African population.
Haile Selassie was well recognized in the United States for his efforts to promote African decolonisation. The late President John F. Kennedy said of him, “Perhaps the most celebrated of all is his leadership in Africa”.
He went on to reflect on the progress that had been made in the Emperor’s cause by pointing out that since his last visit to the United States in 1954, the world had seen “one of the most extraordinary revolutions in history.”
On October 1, 1963; President Kennedy and Emperor Selassie met in Washington D.C and discussed issues such as Portuguese colonialism in Africa, apartheid in South Africa, the civil war in Yemen, and the Cold War.
Perhaps as a symbolic gesture of his independence from colonial entities, the Emperor spoke in his native Amharic throughout these talks, despite the fact that he could speak fluent English.
Selassie would continue to promote Ethiopian-American relations throughout his reign, and he was the only African leader to spare the considerable expense it took to fly to Washington D.C to attend President Kennedy’s funeral.
His sixth and final state visit took place on May 15, 1973; when at the age of 80 he met with President Nixon at the White House. Selassie made more state visits to the United States than any other foreign head of state in the 20th century.
It was clear that he was able to command the attention of the world, and he used that attention to further the cause of African decolonisation and the Pan-African movement. Selassie’s legacy, although complicated in Ethiopian history as a result of the Emperor’s deposition in1974 and subsequent installation of a communist government, endured in many ways through the work of other subscribers to the Pan-African movement.
One way that this occurred was through the establishment of the Ras Tafari religious movement. This movement “draws strength and sustenance from the truth of a golden age in the past; in this case, a united continent called ‘Ethiopia’ untouched by European colonizers”. It also furthers Selassie’s reputation as champion of these movements through the worship of HIM as God incarnate.
Considering his Crown titles Lion of Judah, King of Kings, coinciding with numerous Biblical and Scriptural prophecies, including doctrines that emphasize “the Black Man is God”, this ‘assumption’ is not far from the truth. It is the truth!
By the late 1970s, the Rasta movement had spread to England, Holland, France, Australia, New Zealand, Caribbean Islands, Canada, the United States, and various corners of Africa. With this growth in the Rasta movement, Selassie’s reputation as an African leader became globally popularised.
Perhaps most enduring of all the vehicles for perpetuation of Selassie’s legacy as an African icon was the music of Bob Marley, wherein Selassie is frequently referenced. Marley’s song “War” contains lyrics that are nearly quoted verbatim from a speech Selassie made to the United Nations General Assembly on October 6, 1963.
The speech (and invariably, the song) emphasises various overarching goals of the African decolonisation and Pan-African movements, such as African Unity, freedom, and human equality. Marley’s music remains popular today, and serves as a symbol of the Rastafari movement and thus, also as a symbol of Selassie, Pan-Africanism, and African decolonisation struggle.
Selassie I utilised the formal and informal power that came with his position as head of state of Ethiopia in various ways to promote African decolonisation and the Pan-African movement. His message was clear: Africans will be better able to progress their respective nations and status in the 20th century through independence from imperial powers, increased unity with each other, and skillful diplomacy within and outside of Africa.
Selassie’s speeches and actions are all resolutely and consistently in line with these goals. If Haile Selassie had not greatly contributed to these movements, parts of the African continent could very well still be under European colonial jurisdiction today.
The Emperor of Ethiopia performed an enormous amount of groundbreaking work.
In light of this, perhaps we should have a street, highway, or institution named after Haile Selassie and other Pan-African legends including Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley, just to name a few.
References
1. Geiss, Imanuel. “Pan Africanism.” Journal of Contemporary History. 1969
2. Vestal, Theodore M. “The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans’ Attitudes toward Africa.” Santa Barbara: ABC – CLIO, LLC, 2011.
3. Haskins, James. “African Heroes”. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2005.
4. Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty, 1918-1967. Addis Ababa: Imperial Ethiopian Ministry of Information, Publications and Foreign Languages Press Department, 1967.
5. Selassie, Haile and Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. Diplomatic Relations between Portugal and Ethiopia: texts of the letters exchanged between Emperor Hail’e Selassi’e and the Prime Minister of Portugal Doctor Oliveira Salazar. Lisbon: S.N.I., 1963.
6. Marley, Bob. Rastaman Vibration, “War” Tuff Gong Records, CD, 1976
7. Cashmore, E.E. “The Rastafarians: Minority Rights Group Report No. 64. London: Expedite Graphic Limited, 1984.
