Haile Selassie
The Rastafarian Movement itself, was founded on November 2, 1930, when Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned as Emperor of Ethiopia. The movement was named after him, his first name being 'Ras Tafari Makonnen'. When he took the throne as king he became Emperor Haile Selassie I, as well as the traditional titles “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” People seem to believe that Rastafarians refer to Ras Tafari Makonnen as Christ, and belittle his role and influence just on that basis. Many have even pronounced his faults and deeds as an attempt to show that he was not.
Around the time of Haile Selassie's coronation, Jamaica was under political pressure for an independence movement. A Jamaican statesman at the time, coincidentally appealed to the masses and made referance to the coming of a black king. The culmination of these events provided evidence to a great amount of people that these were the biblical times which were becoming a reality. References were made to many biblical portions such as Revelations 19:16, “he has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords”, Rev. 5:2-5, “And I saw an angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much…. and one of the elders said unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David had prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof.”(“Rastafari – Way of Life | JahWorks.Org | The Intelligent Online Caribbean Music, Culture, and Travel Magazine”) The movement as a whole used many biblical references and this ideology to free themselves.
For many Jamaicans it was impossible to trace where exactly they had come from thus followers of this ideal adopted Selassie’s pre-coronation name and called themselves Ras (which means head) Tafarians (which means peace). Ethiopia was, and is still seen as Zion, the repatriating home for Rastas when the time comes for them to return. It was a culminating range of ideas, consciousness and economic realities that shaped this new and emerging sub culture of Jamaica(“Rastafari – Way of Life | JahWorks.Org | The Intelligent Online Caribbean Music, Culture, and Travel Magazine”).