28-Day Celebrations will also feature Emancipation Day March and highlight the Proficiencies of Rastafari.
In celebration of life and towards the advancement of peoples of African descent the Ubuntu Movement has planned a comprehensive 28-Day Justice, Healing, and Rejuvenation set of Activities geared to stimulate humanitarian awareness and upliftment within a wider global context.
The UBUNTU Justice and Healing/Judgement and Heaping Nyahbinghi Initiative (JAH JAH N I) disclosed that the upcoming 28-Day programme is replete with the inclusion of cultural, spiritual and socio-economic events.
According to a spokesperson, the UBUNTU Movement Inc. is collaborating with the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) to host 28 days of events, which will include celebrations of “the 13th decade in the life of Haile Selassie I, Emancipation Day, and the 135th “Earthday’ celebration of the Rt. Honourable Marcus Garvey.”
The Ubuntu membership testify that upon reflection of the
13 decades in the life of Haile Selassie I and 188 years since the emancipation of enslaved Africans “it is now prudent to call ourselves to account to the systems of injustice who continue to commit atrocities against Ras Tafari people and other indigenous peoples across the region”.
“We are really honouring the works of Rastafari …and as well the respective contributions from different entities into uplifting our lives and our livelihood as a people,” the Rt. Hon Empress Itopia Archer , Chair of the Ubuntu Movement and CEO – Mount Kallasah Rejuvenation Centre told reporters at a press briefing , on Wednesday.
She explained that the Jah Jah N I initiative transcends under the auspices of the Ubuntu Movement Inc., whose primary purpose is to “ensure the humble be fed, the sick nourished, the aged protected and the infants cared for …in a sense, to strengthen those who are not in a position to strengthen themselves by providing them with the opportunity to improve their way of living by rallying community effort.”
Empress Archer noted that Haile Selassie is an influential figurehead in the Rastafari movement, as he “symbolizes the belief in humanity and what we can accomplish as a people and just that love for who we are.”
She said the Jah Jah N I has collaborated with the CDF and other houses/mansions of Rastafari “because that is what we have in common and again it speaks to that whole necessity of us being able to work together in unity.”
The 28 Days celebration, she added, will seek to “celebrate ourselves, celebrate Emperor Haile Selassie, celebrate our relationship, celebrate our capabilities and to look forward and plan out what we can accomplish in the near future as a people.”
The celebrations began yesterday at the Mount Kailash Rejuvenation Centre in Marc, where persons from various parts of the world and throughout the region congregated to participate in the activities.
The activities will also include ‘seven nights of Nyabinghy” service, in “the way that we worship and the way in which we align ourselves spiritually, celebrating Emperor Selassie’s birth and our contribution.”
Archer added, “There will also be an Emancipation Day March, in collaboration with the CDF. It’s a ‘Black over White’ march where we reflect on our experience …and to bring forward that full awareness in terms of what the Rastafari experience has been in this part of the world.”
The Ubuntu Movement spokesperson says this ‘calling to account’ will manifest in the upcoming Justice and Healing rituals at Mount Kailash Rejuvenation Centre, Marc, from July, 21 to August, 17. Mt. Kailash will be the central point for the opening rituals, but other locations, including Roots Farm and the St. Lucia National Cultural Center will also host activities.
Participants and contributors, including regional Ras Tafari Ambassadors, Pan African Elders, International students and lecturers from prestigious universities such as the John Hopkins University and University of the West Indies, will be present, demonstrating their willingness to be part of this cultural and spiritual awakening.
Events will include the 130th Earthday celebration of Emperor Haile Selassie I – July 22-27, Emancipation Day – Aug 1; and a Maritime Economic symposium – August 2 to (with specific focus on maritime opportunities, trade, and interregional/continental commerce). The establishment of a Maritime economic symposium is seen as consistent with the vision of The Right Honorable Marcus Garvey who established the Black Starline Shipping Co-operation in the 1920s.
The Rt. Hon. Marcus Garvey will be honoured – from August 14 to 17, during the 28 days of Justice and Healing activities. Also on the calendar of events, will be a featured Documentary Screening – July 28 to August 3 and August 25 of “Revelation, Revealing the truth: Cases for Ras Tafari Restorative Justice”.
Other notable speakers at Wednesday’s press briefing , included, Bongo Wisely – President Caribbean Rastafari Organisation, Empress Dannie James – President Iyanola Council for the Advancement of Rastafari (ICAR), and Ras Dr. Wayne Rose – JAH JAH N I General Secretary.
Wisely described the initiative as “an opportunity for I and I to really show the unity which exists among us as black people. His Majesty- our divine ‘Irator’ indicated to us that unity is the accented goal.”
“And so, we know the history where we are coming from as Rastafari people …we have been divided and even as black people we have been divided and scattered all around the world. Now is the time for us to regather, the regrouping of the people through such initiatives.”
He mentioned that the whole Caribbean in now involved in the Reparatory Justice process, as it pertains to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery. And as well, “Rastafari has been calling for reparatory justice as it pertains to cannabis …as all the leaders are in the mode to leagalise (marijuana) and go into business.”
Dr. Rose asserted that the Rastafarian family “embodies the experience of individuals within the region who have been marginalized by our own people.”
He added, “So in the call for justice and healing, we are asking ourselves to look into the depth of our experiences… and we have injured ourselves and members of our family.
“We are saying it’s a moment to reconcile with each other, so we can assert the healing processes that are necessary and when we find fault with ourselves, then we say let us have a process of reparatory justice.”