Leonard Howell
Encyclopedia
Leonard Percival Howell (born June 16, 1898 in Clarendon Parish died 1981), known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh (for Gong Guru), was a Jamaica
n religious
figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born in an Anglican family. He was one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement
(along with Joseph Hibbert
, Archibald Dunkley
, and Robert Hinds), and is sometimes known as The First Rasta.
Born in May Crawle River, Jamaica
, Howell left the country as a youth, traveling amongst other places to New York, and returned in 1932. He began preaching in 1933 about what he considered the symbolic portent for the Africa
n diaspora
—the crowning of Ras
Tafari Makonnen as Emperor
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
. His preaching asserted that Haile Selassie was the "Messiah returned to earth," and he published a book called The Promise Key
. Although this resulted in him being arrested, tried for sedition
and imprisoned for two years, the Rastafari movement grew.
Over the following years, Howell came into conflict with all the establishment authorities in Jamaica: the planters, the trade unions, established churches, police and colonial authorities, and he was allegedly arrested more than 50 times. He formed a town or commune called Pinnacle in Saint Catherine Parish that became famous as a place for Rastafarians. Nevertheless, this movement prospered, and today the Rastafari faith exists worldwide. Unlike many Rastas Howell never wore dreadlocks
.
Leonard Howell died in Kingston, Jamaica
.
under the pen name G.G. Maragh. Some of the themes were later discarded in the movement, but the main ones in this book included:
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born in an Anglican family. He was one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
(along with Joseph Hibbert
Joseph Hibbert
Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert was, along with Leonard Howell, Archibald Dunkley, and Robert Hinds, one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica following the coronation of Ras Tafari as Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia on 2 November 1930.In about 1911, at the age of 17, he moved...
, Archibald Dunkley
Archibald Dunkley
Henry Archibald Dunkley was, along with Leonard Howell, Joseph Hibbert, and Robert Hinds, one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica following the coronation of Ras Tafari as Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia on 2 November 1930....
, and Robert Hinds), and is sometimes known as The First Rasta.
Born in May Crawle River, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Howell left the country as a youth, traveling amongst other places to New York, and returned in 1932. He began preaching in 1933 about what he considered the symbolic portent for the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
—the crowning of Ras
Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles
Until the end of the monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia: the Mesafint or princes, hereditary nobles, formed the upper echelon of the ruling class; while the Mekwanint were the appointed nobles, often of humble birth, who formed the bulk of the nobility...
Tafari Makonnen as Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. His preaching asserted that Haile Selassie was the "Messiah returned to earth," and he published a book called The Promise Key
The Promise Key
The Promise Key is a Rastafari movement tract by Leonard P. Howell, a Jamaican preacher. Published around 1935 under Howell's Hindu pen name G.G...
. Although this resulted in him being arrested, tried for sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
and imprisoned for two years, the Rastafari movement grew.
Over the following years, Howell came into conflict with all the establishment authorities in Jamaica: the planters, the trade unions, established churches, police and colonial authorities, and he was allegedly arrested more than 50 times. He formed a town or commune called Pinnacle in Saint Catherine Parish that became famous as a place for Rastafarians. Nevertheless, this movement prospered, and today the Rastafari faith exists worldwide. Unlike many Rastas Howell never wore dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
.
Leonard Howell died in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
.
Howell's doctrine of Rastafari
Though imprisoned for it, Howell published his doctrine with the title The Promise KeyThe Promise Key
The Promise Key is a Rastafari movement tract by Leonard P. Howell, a Jamaican preacher. Published around 1935 under Howell's Hindu pen name G.G...
under the pen name G.G. Maragh. Some of the themes were later discarded in the movement, but the main ones in this book included:
- Acknowledgment of Emperor Haile Selassie I as the Supreme Being and the only ruler of the Black people.
- The dignity of the Black race
- Opposition to the wickedness
- God's revenge on the wicked for their wickedness
- The negation, persecution and humiliation of the government and legal bodies of wicked world
- Preparation to return to Africa
- Repatriate to Africa
External links
- Trailer for Helene Lee's documentary about Leonard Howell, the first Rasta
- Howell: man of heroic proportions
- Jamaican Observer article on Howell
- Remembering The Founding Father Of Rasta - Leonard Howell