A chapter in our history, referred to by some as “The Rastafarian Rebellion”, has returned to the spotlight with the 50th anniversary of an event which took place at Coral Gardens on the outskirts of Montego Bay, April 11, 1963. At that time, a group of Rastafarians clashed with the Jamaica Constabulary Force at a gas station, which is alleged to have been set on fire by Rastas. It is reported that eight persons were killed and others injured.

It was an apocalyptic moment for the Rastafarian Movement, which was regarded with distrust and animosity by the wider public. The leader of a group in St James had been at odds with the society on a matter of squatting and was sent to prison. It is said that, on his return, he vented his anger with the gas station attack. The tension spread throughout the community, setting the stage for violence in which policemen and civilians lost their lives.

To this day, it is the belief of keepers of Rastafarian history that they were the victims of violence by the State — a brand-new nation, which had come into being not even a full year before.

Alexander Bustamante, the first prime minister of Jamaica, was seen as chief villain who, it is said, had publicly expressed the wish to see all Rastas sent to the cemetery. Anti-Rasta sentiments were widespread. Bearded men (Rasta or no Rasta), were subject to vigilante justice, hounded by other citizens, beaten then turned over to the police who continued the abuse. Fifty years later, the name Coral Gardens evokes bitterness on the part of Rastafarians who continue to call for justice.

In April 2011, the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at UWI, Mona, in collaboration with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, presented a public lecture by Queen’s Counsel Hugh Small on “Coral Gardens 1963: A legal analysis and implications for the Jamaican justice system”. The event was also in recognition of the International Year for People of African Descent. The audience included a number of Rastafarian elders and survivors of the tragedy.

Detective Silburn Reid of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, who was stationed in Montego Bay in 1963, was among those sent to police Coral Gardens when the fire broke out at the gas station. Now retired, his account of the events of April 11, 1963 are the focus of a book which he has authored. He tells the story as he saw it. Not surprisingly, it is not accepted by today’s Rastafarians, who declared their disbelief after he gave an interview on RJR’s Hotline programme a week ago.

The retired detective says he can understand the differences of opinion, but he has recorded a true account of what he saw and experienced. Despite opposition, he has stuck to his story of how the police were attacked that April morning by men armed mostly with machetes, and how the police responded in the interest of law and order.

In those times, as Rastas bred fear in the Montego Bay community, many citizens joined vigilante groups to protect life and property. Reid admitted that he was fearful of Rastas, like many Jamaicans then. Other citizens saw nothing wrong with the police taking them to jail and humiliating them by shaving their beards and trimming their locks.

He said that, as he matured, his views towards Rastas changed, especially when he became a Christian and began to see things from a different perspective. He maintains, however, that “the Coral Gardens Rebellion/Uprising came from unlawful acts”. In his words, “the Rastafarians had not asked permission to settle on the Kerr-Jarrett property. They had trespassed, in defiance of the law, ignoring the provisions provided for the settlement of disputes. They were prepared for confrontation from the beginning”, he writes.

It might be difficult for some to imagine a time when one section of the Jamaican people could have been treated as aliens. I still recall my first contact on the street with two dreadlocked young men, clad in crocus-bag (burlap) garments with squares of cardboard on their chests, like shields, bearing the message “Boanerges, sons of thunder”. They were dressed to scare the daylights out of anyone who dared to cross their path. I obliged by hastily crossing to the other side, leaving the sidewalk to their dominance.

The community continued to struggle with the Rasta image for a long time. An Air Jamaica pilot became the subject of a big dispute when he insisted on wearing a beard and locks. The airline gave him an ultimatum — trim or face dismissal. People took sides and, as usual, everybody had an opinion.

It was actually said that he would endanger his passengers because the beard and locks could get tangled up in the delicate instruments in the cockpit! More urbane voices dismissed the nonsense. Despite that, in the end, the pilot lost his job. hirsute threat to cockpit operations, Air Jamaica came to an end. “A nuh Rasta mek it!”

WORLD NEWS: On Tuesday morning this week, the BBC devoted 40 or so minutes to stream live and direct across the world, the inauguration speech of the newly elected Prime Minister of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of a man revered as one of the fathers of modern Africa, the indomitable Jomo Kenyatta, the original “Burning Spear”.

As his son laid out his hopes and dreams for his country, the memory arose of another man who was tightly bound to the history of Kenya. He was Jamaica’s own “Burning Spear”, Dudley Thompson, QC, whose legendary defence of the elder Kenyatta, in the anti-colonialism struggle, is still respected. Imagine what he would have said on Tuesday, with his eloquent flow of language, to remind sons and daughters of Africa how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

The Western political concept of the “first 100 days” of a leader’s tenure is not unknown in Africa. A commentator at the Kenyatta inauguration reminded the worldwide audience that a former winner at the polls promised milk to all Kenyan schoolchildren within his “first-100”. It took longer. The new promise, from the younger Kenyatta, is free laptops for his country’s primary school children within the magical 100. Dream or reality, like our hopes for a “happily ever after” as we consummate our union with the IMF?

Another farewell, as one more cultural icon departs. The contribution of the Honourable Olive Lewin now enters the archives of those who cared enough to help us recognise where we came from. Tek time gwaan, Miss Olive.

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