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Sects Of RastafariThere are 3 main sects of Rastafari. The Bobo Ashanti, the Nyabinghi and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Bobo Ashanti Bobo Ashanti, also called the Ethiopian International Congress, is a Rastafarian organization founded by Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards in the 1950s. Most of its members, called "Bobos" or "Bobo dreads", live nine miles from Kingston, Jamaica in Bull Bay, in a small utopian community called Bobo Hill. Prince Emmanuel is called "Dada" by his followers, who see him as part of a holy trinity, together with Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie I, in which Selassie is seen as King/God (Jah), Garvey as prophet, and Emmanuel as high priest. Additionally, some Bobos see Idi Amin, the former military dictator of Uganda during the 1970s, as a second coming of Garvey. Bobos say that "Africa" is the name that the white man gave to Ethiopia or Jerusalem. Many see Black supremacy as essential to the faith; in the Bobo conception, the true Israelite is a black man. Twice each week and on the first Sunday of every month the Bobos fast. Almost all songs and tributes within the community end with the phrase "Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I Jah Rastafari". Bobos can usually be distinguished from other Rastafarians by their wearing of turbans and robes. Bobos men make and carry brooms to signify cleanliness. The brooms are also sold in Kingston as a way to provide funds for the community. Almost all men within the community are seen as prophets or priests. The funcion of a prophet is to "reason" and the priests to conduct the services. Women and children are considered subordinate to men. Women must cover their legs and arms. A woman may serve food to a guest, but never to a Bobo male. All children attend a basic school called Jerusalem School Room. After this they can go to Kingston to school, but that is seldom. The Bobos have built a strong relationship with the local community outside of Bobo Hill and they often invite people to their services. From the mid 1990s many reggae artists have emerged from the Bobo Ashanti. Most well-known among them are Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B, Turbulence and Ras Shiloh. Twelve tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel is a Rastafarian group based in Kingston, Jamaica. Its founder Vernon Carrington is known as Prophet Gad. The twelve tribes are based on the twelve astrological zodiacal signs. Thus Bob Marley, an Aquarian, came from the Tribe of Joseph, the 11th of Jacob's 12 biblical children. Ijahman Levi is a Gemini, and Levi was the 3rd child. Another well known reggae group known to be adherents of this sect are Israel Vibration. Bob Marley, by quoting a biblical text about Joseph on the album cover of Rastaman Vibration, was acknowledging his own support for this sect. Nyabinghi Nyabinghi is a legendary Amazon queen, who was said to have possesed a Ugandan woman named Muhumusa in the 19th century. Muhumusa inspired a movement, rebelling against African colonial authorities. Though she was captured in 1913, alleged possessions by Nyabinghi continued (mostly afflicting women). The Nyabinghi resistance inspired a number of Jamaican Rastafarians, who incorporated what are known as nyabinghi chants (also binghi) into their celebrations (grounations). The rhythms of these chants were eventually an influence of popular ska, rocksteady and reggae music. Three kinds of drums are used in nyabinghi: bass, funde and akete. The aketa plays an improvised syncopation, the funde plays a regular one-two beat and the bass drum strikes loudly on the first beat, and softly on the third (of four) beat. Count Ossie was the first record nyabinghi, and he helped to establish and maintain Rasta culture. One of the sects of Rastafarianism is called the Nyabinghi. These Rastafarians are the strictest out of the six or so major groups. They pledge "death to black and white oppressors", though they do not believe in violence, because they believe that only Jah has the right to destroy. They make this pledge because of the power of words, believing that only when all of Jah's children make the pledge together, the oppressors will be destroyed. External links *Interview with Prophet Gad
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