Give Rastas their due
Sunday, April 26th, 2009by Maria Bradshaw
THERE MUST BE a full and lawful recognition of the Rastafarian faith if there is to be mutual respect between them and the police.
And this recognition must first come from Government, said secretary of the Justice Committee, Ras KudosSage I.
He was responding to coroner Faith Marshall-Harris’ observation that there was a high level of mistrust between Rastafarians and the police and her call for the Royal Barbados Police Force to examine its relationship with members of the Rastafarian community.
“The first tangible way would be to have the state make some official recognition of Rastafari as a legitimate religious body as is being done in the United States, Jamaica, Italy and other countries.
“That is where everything originates because the ones with the authority tend to neglect the rights of Rastafari and how we worship and practise,” KudosSage argued. (more…)