White Rastas confused between beliefs & cultur

[Tyehimba]

 

I now have no other reason but to accept ones and ones who have joined up either through the front or back gate.  
We know that Blacks Rastas percieve Caucasion Rastas differently and Caucasion perceive Black Rastas differently.  

This difference or these differences has not been analyzed to see whether it underscore or overscore the movement of Jah people. I welcome Black Rastas all the time and the Black experience is one of the most unique on the face of the Eearth. I am sure Europeans and Western Rastas do and have studies these experiences in a historical perspective.  

Being a Caucasion Rastas can have its benefit. Caucasion Rastas can bring their influence, energy to the movement positively. They can help in economic development and rebuilding of places in Africa. I know that is time that Black Rastas start accepting Caucasion Rastas . And it would best if they could do so without any form of dis-respect to them joining the movement.  

There is one Universal (of one truth) that underlies all creation, so in essence 'One Love' is not a bad thing. However when ' One Love' becomes a smokescreen to ignore history and to take shortcuts along the journey of self development, it becomes necessary for individuals who see it to speak out against this dangerous pattern. When the 'one love' rhetoric upholds the status qou and ignores the injustice and discrimination that Afrikans face on a day to day basis, it becomes necessary to speak up and shatter the illusions.

I have no doubts that there will be white folks who have good intentions, but that doesn't make their inbedded often unconscious manifestations of White Supremacy non existent.
As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It's not easy to overcome a legacy/habit that has reigned supreme for hundreds of years and that has wreaked havoc across the globe. And that is the reality with regards to this WhiteSupremacist/Male Dominated world that we dwell in.

Being a Caucasion Rastas can have its benefit. Caucasion Rastas can bring their influence, energy to the movement positively

Furthermore what influence does a Caucasian Rasta bring to Rastafari? is it the same influence that he is bequeathed with in the normal world because of his color?

[Ayinde]

To Rootswoman:

I agree, groveling is unecessary, though I didn't sight any such behavior.  And I also agree that "silence is golden", though I must admit that this principle is rather inapplicable on a "REASONING forum" isn't it? I mean if we all follow that rule, no need for this board, right?

I said groveling is unnecessary and although you and I do not sight many things the same way I respect your right to your opinion and to sight my statement anyway you choose. I however, deliberately made a general statement more so for the benefit of other (future) readers who MIGHT interpret it that way.

Also, my quote was "silence is 'sometimes' golden" and it was deliberately put that way (with sometimes in between) to signal pause and reflection. I quite deliberately chose NOT TO PUT "silence is golden", as you erroneously quoted me, for the very reason that this is a forum that is supposed to be about reasoning.

Taking timeout to reflect and check emotions is a necessary part of REASONING isn't it? All sides in reasonings could benefit from this.

[Rootsie]

Love people,
    I think it best not to get into debates about bible interpretation! We could go on and on debating what 'north' means! Is it literal or metaphorical blah blah blah...If Rastafari fulfilled the Revelation isn't it done? Can InI choose to say 'it is finished', even against the evidence, and Live ZION now? This is a sincere question I have for my bredren and sistren? How else to manifest it if we don't live the reality of it?
The I's here know I do not suggest that we whitewash history and stop talking about it:that's not what I mean. I mean that there are the tangles of history and then there is the overarching TRUTH of INITY.
Yes sis ROOTS my black Idrens are the Most forgiving ones I have EVER seen: truly a wonder to me. I have been a guest in places where I say to myself, 'If I were black I wouldn't let me in here, to share this treasure and this beauty.' Truly Afrikan people have been an example to the world in this. And yes I do believe in the utter necessity of forgiveness, particularly self-forgiveness, but it's a process, and we can't skip steps. Using ONE LOVE teachment to STOP the conversation we are having here is ABOMINATION! Not LOVE at all.
Dear Sis Iyabinghi when I speak of 'the end of learning' it is hard to say what I mean. It's a thing that has come to me lately that I do not quite overstand even as I say it, being such an intense learner myself. And you are right about 'discovery' being the WRONG word. Re-membering? Un-covering? Embracing the UNKNOWN? Coming to know? What I am trying to get at here is that InI are entering a NEW TIME here, and maybe learning and learning and learning is not the way of it-when the TRUTH is an indwelling principle, what need is there for learning? New things enter, but maybe not through learning, rather through receiving? Forgive I am making it muddier rather than clearer I fear.
Dealing with paradox and allowing complexity is a thing that takes some getting used to!
One Love,
rootsie

[isisrastafari]

LoveFull Ites I's!
I am a bit slow in responding to this reasoning, I have been reading and Iditating on it...
I would like to reply to one of the first reasonings on the thread by the Iloved Rootswoman...the I brings foward some crucial points.
The first point being defining culture, I find the I's definition very accurate...
"Culture: The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning."
Within this definition I sight there is an intrinsic design, I feel that there is also many aspects to this in which a ones culture is formed, like culture from heritage, faith, skin color, nationality, sex, music, profession, and this could go on and on, I look at all these things having their own mini culture, contributing to the persons whole culture. I find the key word is "shared", which says that there is giving and recieving, thus a choice in if ones want to share or partake in this belief, value, custom or behavior. Also within all the aspects that make a persons whole culture I sight that not one persons whole culture is exactly the same as the next, even though many aspects (heritage, faith, skin color, nationality, sex, music, profession, etc..) may be identical.
Yes they are transmitted, and usually at a young age at that, but as one grows and learns, what has been transmitted may also be no longer recieved as it is deemed as false.
The second point the I bring foward "How can a white Rasta really FEEL (he who feels it KNOWS it) Afrikan/Rasta culture when they do not experience the daily experiences or ancestral experience born out of RESISTANCE to Europeans? " We cant feel the experience of being black, never! But I do feel in searching and checking Iself that Rasta gave birth within I a resistance to white culture, though not the same path, RESISTANCE, resistance still. In being true to Iself there is no proverbial fence I walk, I cant, I wont...as Him say till such time, WAR...and within the war there is a side ones choose, and I choose resistance to all the benefits white gives I,  How could I accept something that is false and an illusion if I am being true to Iself. And I know the privlege is there regardless,  a sign the war is not over. Resistance Still.  Still I know what I see and feel in this battle toward Truth and Right is miniscule in the price paid by InI Black Bredren and Sistren, I COULD NEVER COMPARE AND AM NOT TRYING TO, words cant express the intenseness of this, but still the questions are put out there, and I am answering as through I experience.
Ancestral experience, no I dont feel it in terms of black and white, but oppresion by supremacy to an extent yes, no comparison I am trying to make, just being real and I cant deny what some of I ancestors went through (gypies in europe) and also through sighting that in I family history, I sight also how very crucial it is for ones to know their history, but also acknowledge and RASpect it, as in I family its like pulling teeth so to speak to get them to talk about our family history, they just come to america and get homogenized, not embrassing the family history, but sweeping it under a rug, like a dirty secret, buying into the feeling of inferiority, and so called "curing it"  with false placed white superiority. Which in turn affects other cultures, which I see as an ongoing debate...ones say we dont want to hear about your little oppresion, but in the end doesnt it just fuel the bigger white supremacy problem? This I am still iditating on, and like all things apprecialove more input...
...Daily experience of resistance to white, in a different way yes. Does the I sight resistance to this is,  as a choice for all, black and white?  Although whites are the ones who started this Ism?
Yes I do overstand and apprecialove the I's suspicion naturally, history does speak for its self. And if there was no suspicion I personally would be totally blinded.
"Im reminded of Malcom X words in regards to white people of good will and sincere hearts who wished to help or join Black People. He said they could work in LIASON with us, but that they would be best suited to teach THEIR OWN, as ultimately and NATURALLY, only a Black Man can really teach a next Black Man about manhood." Truth I agree.
"Also, how does one adopt RasTafari yet not overstand or pay homage to RAS TAFARI HIMSELF? "
Right on! Rasta from Iration...Itinual Ises! And on the Iritual this is how I first come to sight Rasta, through the Divinity of HIM, which leads I down this road of knowing Iself. Which started with I rejecting the religiousity aspect of culture that was transmitted to I as a youth, once again a belief, not a truth.
"I think it is very difficult for non-Afrikans to overstand the difference between CULTURE and Beleifs in regards to a movement which is born out of resistance to their very own culture. " Maybe yes difficult, but not impossible, in truth and right there is only one goal, and that is that within itself, truth and right....I resist also white culture. Because that culture is just that, a be-lie-f, not a truth.
"Thats why Rastas say we KNOW, we dont believe."
Blessed True Word Sound Power!
Much Love and RASpect Queen!
I-sis

[c-spot_rasta]

thats not what i was trying to say i was saying that i was mad at the fact that i was doubting myself ,i was mad at the fact that i was not sure of myself and i was giving the reason that i was not sure, the fact that the people who new nothing of what they were talking about were saying the exact things as people who do know what they are talking about, that if even other rastas were against me what cud i do. Secondly i was not comparing what discrimination i faced with the discrimination of africans i ws however comparing it to the individual, i was not saying that my classmates making fun of me was like hundreds of years of opression, i have not been whipped bcuz i was a rasta just as a slave would b whipped for being black, but i also am sure most people on this message board have either mabey you've been assualted or abused but the majority of you when it comes down to the individual pain you have felt personally the majority is probably verbal discrimination wich is what i was comparing to

[c-spot_rasta]

siskelani all i ask is for reasurance from other rastas i cannot b told that white rastas dont belong in rasta and then the reason you give is bcuz we are not confident, how can we be confident when u r telling us we dont belong if we r to crush racist babylon u r corect 1 luv is bullsh*t but unity is not we must recognize each others differences and also accept and know that rasta is 4 all who will accept Jah not to prejudge the whites and make us outcasts give me reaasurance and i will do more than my part i need to find a rasta community around me but i will still try 2 act alone

[kristine]

c-spot...your posts say you are a white canadian 9th grade youth...The fact that you are able to attend school is a blessing..Use the time wisely to obtain knowledge...Do you know about HIS MAJESTY..Have you checked the command of HIM regarding education?There are many excellent recommendations all over the place on this board regarding books to gain OVERstanding... Stop following fashion and worrying about who is trying to "fight you down" realize RASTAFARI LIVITY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS..MANY WHITE PEOPLE ARE HEARING THE CALL FEW CAN HANDLE THE PRESSURE

[Sis_Iyabinghi]

"Dear Sis Iyabinghi when I speak of 'the end of learning' it is hard to say what I mean."

Sis Rootsie, you have to say what you mean and mean what you say at all times. It maintains your credibility. Feel I?

"It's a thing that has come to me lately that I do not quite overstand even as I say it, being such an intense learner myself."

You must first have the fullness of the thought before it can be effectively given a word sound.

"And you are right about 'discovery' being the WRONG word. Re-membering? Un-covering? Embracing the UNKNOWN? Coming to know?"

I just chalk it up to learning and learning and more learning. The wellspring of I ancestors wisdom and knowledge is wide and deep. Check the size of Afrika the numerous tribes and villages and towns and countries. Not to mention the 400yrs of interruption and miseducation. It is our duty as Afrikans to bridge this great divide.

"What I am trying to get at here is that InI are entering a NEW TIME here, and maybe learning and learning and learning is not the way of it-when the TRUTH is an indwelling principle, what need is there for learning?"

Nothing is NEW under the sun Sis and even this 'NEW TIME' will become the past. Yuh see me?

"New things enter, but maybe not through learning, rather through receiving?"

It is always better to give than to receive. In the ancient wisdom of I ancestor and the Truth of Ma'at I will give this to you: "Sweeter is the water of one who has given than the wine of one who has received."

"Forgive I am making it muddier rather than clearer I fear."

As Rootswoman always say, "out of the mud comes the lotus." And the jewel lies in the heart of the lotus. Never fear there is always room for clarity.

"Dealing with paradox and allowing complexity is a thing that takes some getting used to!"

The Sankofa bird presents a paradox by it flying in one direction while looking the opposite way but the message and sybolism is unmistakably simple.

Bless up yuhself Sistah Rootsie an' no worry yuhself cause this Rastafari livity yah well simple but the trod/road can be very rocky. ONE BLACK LOVE!


Siskelani, give thanks for such a Royal Afrikan spirit of Akwaaba to I. It is always a pleasure to be in the middle of the Afrikan village/circle. Rastafari guidance.

[Rootsie]

Give thanks Sis Iyahbinghi for spirit of LOVE and compassion.
Giving and receiving are one in truth, for giver and receiver are One.
When I read ancient wisdom I see it comes to the same conclusion as modern physics...Creation is ever-unfolding.
Nothing new under the sun? Another paradox, for in truth every moment is new, and yet leads us back back to the changeless and eternal SOURCE.
I see Rasta as the 'mystic twist' both back to the garden and forward to Zion, which are one in identity.
ZION is a LIVED REALITY. if one is willing.
I am not as confused as I sounded in that last post, and the words were failing me because words do that in the face of eternal truth.
Also because I was bending over backward to be kind, because the only way for healing is to keep this conversation going, and if we cannot do this here, who can? ROOTS sister is right, it's about works now. And this is a work right here.
I said it unsuccessfully before, so I try again here, because that's how humans do:  I and I got to see our way through this miasma of  'history' and its rotten fruits to the garden we were all created to be singin in TOGETHER. And the voice of Rastafari, of ONE LOVE and ONE UNITY is what calls us here.
Ones and ones sneer at LOVE to their own harm. Most of what us human think of as 'love' is fear, and not love at all.  Living LOVE is not for weakhearts or jokers. Sometimes its is the fire that purifies, and sometimes it is the gentlest wind...sometimes it come in the voice of ones like JAH LIGHTNIN, speaking with the force of all the living earth, lighting up all the dark places. Prophecy. Reality.
Sis I know I am not saying anything the I does not already know.
I feel the I's great spirit and intelligence. Give thanks for all kindness!
rootsie

[c-spot_rasta]

thank you kristine
ur words give me confidence and yes i have researched H.I.M alot and have printed most articles i have found and i have a copy of the kebra negast but that is as far as as much literature that i havei do no places where to get them on the internet i always forget and get sidetracked about somthing else though like when i first joined this message board it was to learn about things like that but then all this black white arguments started up and that sidetract me but now with this new confidence i can pick up where i left off. (all this fightingabout white rastas was more of a step back for me in gaining knowledge.)

[Bantu_Kelani]

So much injustice is due to white supremacy and western Brainwhashing why denying that? Why refusing to confront grim Reality for what it is. Ducking one's head in the sand will not save the problem but make it WORSE. Rastafari is about Resistance to OPPRESSION, to Unequal DOMINATION to RACISM. It's  about lifting one's Spirit to the Divine Realm of JAH Ma'at  TRUTH, STRENGTH and JUSTICE. White 'Rastarians' should not ignore the problem of RACISM source of  the AFRIKAN DOWNPRESSION. Their cowardice and naivety must cease for the sake of the collective SUCCESS of the RASTAFARIAN STRUGGLE.  

[Princess Tracey]

"You must first have the fullness of the thought before it can be effectively given a word sound."  
                                     ~
yes

Greetings in the name of the Almighty to ALL who respond on this thread with truth, wisdom, respect, and love)))))))))))

Iya listen, learn, and grow....smile

much fruit is ripening on the tree... when it is fully ripened I will pick it...and share it's sweetness with ALL of thee))))))

each blessed one of you fertilize I soil

give thanks

[Sis_Iyabinghi]

Haile Sistah Rootsie,

Bless, love and Rastafari guidance ever, seen.

Love reign Supreme always and that is the true way of Rasta but when it is rewarded with unkindness it stretches the limits of ones patience. So sometime the warrioress vibes have to rise up in I'n'I to get the point across. Even in resistance to external dangers we still do so with a blessed heart of Love.

Big yuhself still, I feel your eternal and divine Love. Again ONE BLACK LOVE!

[c-spot_rasta]

ok n e cowardness and naivety i had (if n e) ill cease it starting NOW

i promise