Empress of Zion giving voice to Rastafarian women Launches an anthology of the sisters in the faith

THE Empress of Zion Incorporated, created to, among other things, give voice to women within the Rastafari community, recently published an anthology of its members titled Empress of Zion: She hands Us her rule book from the poles of Supreme Authority.

This marks another transitional phase of the Rastafari movement, as traditional Rastafarian women did not play a dominant role in the movement.

“This is an anthology, selected voices of Daughters of Zion, the Rastafari Sisters in Faith,” explains Queen Mother Moses, president of Empress of Zion and International Ambassador for the ARK (Almighty Rastafari Kingdom).

“In 2001 we started doing presentations at town-hall gatherings, but we came together because the Rastafari sisters said there were no voices of the Rasta woman and they wanted to learn about the trod (experiences) of the Rasta woman and what some Rasta woman have gone through. So the book was the impetus for the founding of the organisation.”

A non-profit organisation of Rastafari women, Empress of Zion was registered with the mandate of carrying out the Rastafari Creed – Let the hungry be fed, the naked be clothed, the sick be nourished, the aged be protected, the infants cared and the homeless sheltered. The book was launched during the fifth annual Empress of Zion Conference held at the Old Library, UWI, Mona. The four-day conference started on March 22, coinciding with Empress Menen’s 117th birthday on March 25, when it ended. Also witnessed was the historic crowning of Zahra Redwood as the first Rastafari beauty queen and Miss Jamaica Universe.

Empress Menen, the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie, was born on March 25, 1890, and was also crowned with Haile Selassie on November 2, 1930, the birth of the Rastafari Movement. This is why Empress Menen, is esteemly revered as the divine Holy Mother of the Rastafari Faith by its members.

All proceeds from the book will be donoted to charitable works. “We carried out all different kinds of works and the book itself was first published at the first annual Empress of Zion Conference in Washington DC at Howard University 2003. Every year we hold the conference in a different location. The conference has been held in Washington DC, at Howard University in 2003, then 2004, in Brooklyn, New York, at the Marcus Garvey Centre; the third was held in Miami, Florida, the fourth was held at Spelman’s College in Atlanta, Georgia. And this year we brought it to Jamaica for the fifth annual and it was done collaboratively with the Institute of Caribbean Studies and the Reggae Studies Unit headed by Dr Carolyn Cooper,” Queen Mother Moses explained.

“We’ve been working collaboratively in different countries. We founded the Empress Menen’s Learning Centre in Cape Town Soweto. We also work collaboratively to deliver life skills training to girls that are in the Miriam Makeba’s Girls Home in South Africa. We are currently working on starting a collaboration with an ophanage in Botswana,” she said.

How active is the Empress of Zion in Jamaica?

“We just brought it to Jamaica, so we’re going to be launching the Jamaica Chapter. We met with the Emperor Haile Selassie I High School, because we’re going to be working collaboratively with that school. We met with the assistant principal and we’re going to be working with the PTA. We’re going to do a need assessment and see whats the needs of the school are and then see how the Empress of Zion can help,” Queen Mother Moses added. A noted contributor to this anthology is well known female reggae artiste, Sister Carol, who performed at the launch.

“Emphasising the reality of our feministic side and how important it is in terms of the whole creation of civilisation and motherhood and all that comes with it … again asking for that respect, or to rectify or remind or reeducate the society that all man came through the womb…

“But if you continue to suppress the female side, then we’re heading for chaos. Because [there’s] too much imbalance right now. There has to be balance. The female have to be represented. They have to be acknowledged. They have to be loved and cherished and honoured and respected and given a chance so that they can contribute to society. As it was back in the days of even Egypt and before.

“So I try to bring about a renaissance or a rebirth for the respect of woman. Because if you disrespect me, and you keep on disrespecting Mother Africa, Mother Nature, the mother of the universe, then we’re heading for extinction…,” Sister Carol wrote.

Other essays include The Role of The Rasta Wombman In The 21st Century by Mama Fekerte; Drums Between Her Legs by Queen Mother Moses; a nd The Destruction Of The Great Mother of Creation As Seen Through The Eyes Of Religion (Judeo/Christianity) Its (Per)Versions Of Nubian Sacred Texts and Its Effect On The Sons and Dawtas of Negus Negast Rastafari by Empress Tsahai.