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Progress Report

Since submitting my proposal, I have spent most of my research time obtaining and reading sources. It became evident to me that the number of primary sources available outweighs that of secondary sources (so far).

I have decided to focus my research topic (“The Rastafarian Movement in the Caribbean”) on four main areas:

  • Short Biography on Dominica
  • The History of the Rastafarians
  • The Dread Act
  • Culture of the Rastafarians

 

Outline:

 

  1. Short Biography on Dominica
    1. Physical and Geographic description
    2. Political structure
    3. Population
  2. History of Rastafarians
    1. Beginning of the movement
      1. When it began?
      2. Why it began?
      3. Who were involved?
    2. Events which occurred during the movement
      1. The Political and sociological events that took place in Dominica in the 70s and 80s.
      2. Evolution of the word ‘Dread’ in Dominica to describe radical youth.
      3. Passage of the Dread Act.
      4. Description of the mind set and values of the Dreads and problems with the police/higher authority.
      5. Desmond Trotter’s case
      6. The involvement of Eric Joseph in the murder of Ted Honychurch.
  3. (Clauses Under) the Dread Act
  4. Culture of the Rastafarians
    1. Subsistent lifestyle
      1. Diet/Nutrition
      2. Settlement
      3. Practices
    2. Use of medicinal herbs
    3. Language
    4. Dread Locks
    5. Music

 

Thus far, I have managed to collect a substantial amount of information on my topic. Most of my primary sources were extracted from the Dominica National Archives (DNA) and my experience there was superb. Upon requesting information for my topic at the DNA, I was given a batch of newspapers and other important documents to search through. The workers were of great help since they managed to narrow down my search to the relevant time period that Rastafarianism was eminent. After obtaining the required documents, I gave them to the employees to electronically scan, and everything was emailed to me.

I have also acquired interviews (in transcript and video formats), online books, e-books, pictures, and articles over the internet.

But with all of these sources of information, how do I analyse the information itself? This was the most difficult question to answer during the entire analysis phase. I have many newspaper articles giving accounts of several events which occurred, but how do I form an analysis from them? More importantly, how do I make a connection with them to my topic? What do I want to highlight for my audience? What elements of the movement would they be interested in during that time period?

Some important characters I have decided to focus on are:

Desmond Trotter

Eric Williams

Ted Honychurch

Ras Albert Williams

Oliver E. Leblanc

Patrick Roland John