Title: Pinnacle — The Lost Paradise of Rasta
By: Billy “Blade” Howell with Helene Lee
Reviewed by: Barbara Blake Hannah

Leonard Howell’s history as the first Rasta is uncontested, though the myths surrounding what he said and did to create the Rastafari philosophy and religion grow unchecked with the passage of time and the continued growth of the now-world-famous movement.
Despite Howell’s fame, there is precious little information about Pinnacle, the village community he built in St Catherine, where the first outlines of the Rastafari philosophy and culture were developed and lived by his followers: What it was like to live there, what the residents did, what economy sustained them, and what religious teachings were the principles with which Howell ran the community.
But this lack of information is now over, thanks to this book by one of his sons, Billy “Blade” Howell, who was born at Pinnacle in 1942, which gives us a unique look inside Pinnacle where he lived for 14 years. It’s a book that every person calling themselves ‘Rasta’ must read to learn the full story of what Howell stood for and therefore the legacy they must live up to. Many reading this book and comparing themselves to the principles set by founder of their religion may see that they have failed to practice what Howell preached. Billy Howell states:
“The story of my father, the founder of the Rasta movement, is still a mystery, even to the millions across the globe who claim his heritage. Researchers have started showing interest in Pinnacle, the first Rasta commune, but there are no first-hand accounts of our life there, no basic information which could contribute to a serious discussion of the nature of the movement. It seems that it is left to me, a son of Leonard P Howell, born and raised at Pinnacle, to tell the true story.”
And tell the story he does, giving readers a view of his life till he was 14, when his precious home was taken away from him and burnt to the ground, as his family’s belongings were loaded into in a trailer and dumped by the roadside. It’s a fascinating story, well told — with help from co-author Helene Lee, well-known from her film The First Rasta – giving a verbal video tour with maps and photos of a village where 1,000 followers of Jamaica’s most controversial man presided over a model community and taught that sharing what they produced and living according to godly principles, was the best way of life.
For Billy, Pinnacle was a child’s paradise, where children’s daytime games of hopscotch and catch were replaced at night by the sound of drums beating celebrations in songs and chants. “When I had to leave a celebration early, I would go home and lie in my bed late at night listening to the chanting, singing, drumming, guitars, mouth organs (harmonicas), and fifes. I could listen to all of it forever,” Billy writes.
Howell’s vision was one of self-reliance — poor people working together to build a society of their own — and this is what he preached.
“My father told his new followers to give all of their allegiance, love, respect, and faith to this young king, Ras Tafari Makonnen, who had been crowned in Ethiopia in 1930, saying he was the true sign of change for black people, who had been exploited and abused for the last 400 years. Dada advised poor people to start working together to build their own society right here on the island and he told them: ‘Jamaica is as much yours as any English person’s. We paid for it with the blood of our ancestors. Arise and shine, for the light has come and the glory of the Living God is upon you!’
False information was deliberately spread to sustain the idea that Howell was fighting for foolish, dangerous goals. Howell’s teaching that a black man was God in the flesh was not something authorities were willing to accept. His anti-colonial message led to his arrest and eventual incarceration in the mental hospital, as it was felt that only a madman would speak against British monarchical rule. Released, the continuous aggression Howell and his followers were receiving from the colonial Government, the local authorities, the police, the unions, and even sectors of the Jamaican public, made Howell decide it was time to find a haven where they could live according to the philosophy he preached.
Pinnacle was the strategic location where Howell could house his followers and preach his dream for Jamaica. Billy writes that being born and raised in Pinnacle gave him an unparalleled insight into the true paradise that his father envisaged: 2,000 acres of hills, valleys, cliffs and caves, a wilderness with narrow trails, fruit trees of every kind and land for cultivating crops for personal consumption to create a model community. The over 1,000 settlers cleared the land and over time hundreds of houses with wattle and daub walls, dirt floors and thatch roofs were built with pride.
So why did Billy’s father choose Ras Tafari Makonnen — Emperor Haile Selassie I — as his black African inspiration, and eventually declare him a “Living God”?
Billy replies that “Ethiopia once cast, and in some ways still casts, a powerful image. My father’s idea was to add a religious element to Marcus Garvey’s basic message of African independence. ‘This Christian god that you are worshipping is not your god,’ my father would say. Although Christian values were part of his belief system, Dada decided to make a break from the Christian interpretation of the Bible and extend the idea of divinity to this new king. He not only told the people, he showed them. He knew all the relevant Bible verses.”
Billy resents people saying that Rasta was Garvey’s brainchild and their claiming that his father had jumped on Garvey’s ideas. “My father told me that he and Garvey had basically the same message: Fighting against injustice. But feeling the need to broaden the appeal of that message, Dada contended that the Emperor was the Living God — and this definitely drew people in.
“Pinnacle was the embodiment of my father’s philosophy and the blueprint for a Rasta society and way of life. It was my father’s personality, his aura, his knowledge, and his dedication to the uplifting of the small man and woman that gave rise to a global movement. The Pinnacle experience could be a model for many tiny communities around the world trying to survive within a hostile system.”
Pinnacle was Howell’s example of how working together to build a community could work. The communal philosophy united the residents, and they worked together and shared whatever they produced. Billy writes that Pinnacle was proof that when people live on their own, without outside intrusion, they could govern themselves very well.
Howell’s intention for Pinnacle was not a preparation for moving to Africa, writes Billy. “Going back to Africa was not a main goal for Pinnacle people. They wanted to go to Africa eventually as visitors, bringing back presents, but not as migrants. My father never imagined that the Jamaican government was going to pay for people’s passage to Africa. Dada knew there were people — such as Marcus Garvey — trying to get the government to do just that, but it was not part of Pinnacle’s mission. My father had travelled and observed that the system of oppression — Babylon — was worldwide. So his priority was to secure a place within Jamaica where people could rebuild themselves.”
Billy reveals the spiritual teachings Howell, who came from a Christian background, asked residents to live by. “My father would quote the Bible but also other religious books, because he liked to study all kinds of philosophies. He preached “peace and love” long before the American hippies in the 1960s claimed that phrase. My father would say: “Come alive and be a forward-thinking person. If you do it right, and I do it right, then everything will be all right. Rasta is supposed to be a mind-expanding perspective, not just some idea of ‘God.’ You’re a special entity in the universe, with a solid set of values: get up, be independent, don’t believe that someone else is going to do anything for you — do it for yourself.” That, says Billy Howell, is what his father believed and preached.
Not every Howellite smoked or planted ganja, though some did. But after Hurricane Charley in 1951, the ganja planters on Pinnacle had a very good crop, which led to not only an end to a short-lived ganja trade and, more importantly, life at Pinnacle. In 1954 Pinnacle was raided and over 400 people were arrested for growing ganja. At the trial the judge sentenced more than 300 Pinnacle people to prison for one year, and Pinnacle never fully recovered.
In 1955 Howell declared bankruptcy, then a year later the villages and the house Billy was born and raised in were set on fire and burned to the ground to pressure Howell to move out. Considering how much press Howell and the Rastas had received over the years, it was surprising that there was no media coverage of the destruction and end of Pinnacle.
Billy remembers: “No sympathy was sought, and no empathy was given. The media silence could have only come from the top down. Authorities no longer wanted Rastas to receive any attention. The day I left in 1956, I felt as if my life was over. I was 14 years old and the paradise that was my birthplace and home had been stolen right from under me.”
Howell’s son is bitter that in subsequent years, there have been no calls for reparations for those who were forced to flee from Pinnacle. “The number of lies and cover-ups related to the land title for Pinnacle is astounding, and if someone with significant financial resources and influence is ever able to uncover the truth, I have faith that reparations will follow. The Howell family is united in the dream of one day being able to restore that big house and its surrounding areas to their former glory. Until that day, the legacy of Pinnacle lives on in our hearts.”
There is a lot of information in this book that will change much of what has already been written about Leonard Howell. Billy Howell mentions some famous names associated with his father’s movement, including some who it is claimed were associated with developing Pinnacle and Rasta, but refutes many of these claims. The book will make many historians challenge Billy’s account and others will have to revise their published work on Howell.
Summing up his father’s life and work, Billy describes Leonard Howell as “[a] man who in his own country had been persecuted, imprisoned, sent to a psychiatric hospital, financially and socially ruined, and even now continues to be cheated of his legacy. A man who gave a gift to the world and was tormented for the rest of his life.”
It’s a fitting eulogy for a life that is well-described in this book that every Rasta must read.