23.11.2021
- FILM - EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE I.
HIS BURIAL AND THE RASTAFARIANS IN SHASHAMANE, ETHIOPIA
A two-part Documentary
"Jah Jah Live,
Children Yeah!"
The video documentary on the Haile Selassie Burial in Addis Ababa and
the Voices of Rastafari in Shashamane – a Review
“
Werner Zips
Although the assassination of Haile Selassie I
by Marxist coup plotters was reported as early as 1975, the burial
ceremony did not take place until November 2000 in Addis Ababa. Twenty
more years later, the Max Planck Institute's ethnology department has
released a two-part film about it. The first part documents the
ceremony itself, the second deals with the Rastafari views of the
event, which for them stands in stark contradiction to their concept of
divinity.
Part I: The
Burial of Emperor Haile Selassie I
A film by Verena Böll, Georg Haneke and Günther
Schlee
Introduction
The film about Haile Selassie's funeral is a historical document of
inestimable value. More than a quarter of a century after Haile
Selassie's reported “death”, announced by the Derg military
council, an agreement on a ceremonial funeral of Haile Selassie I. was
reached. It brought a long tug-of-war with the royal family to an end,
by allowing the Haile
Selassie Memorial Association and all remaining family
members, who survived the wave of extra-judicial killings of the
aristocracy by the Derg, to pay their last respects to Ethiopia's last
King of Kings in a dignified ritual.
For his Ethiopian and Rastafari followers Haile Selassie is seen as the
"Father of Peace". A portrait of Haile Selassie, specially crafted for
this occasion, bore this honorary title with an Amharic inscription. It
depicted the Emperor, topped with a crown carved from wood, in the
contours of the African continent, painted on animal skin.
Portrait of
Haile Selassie in the contours of the African continent at The Holy
Trinity
Cathedral
The camera of Günther Schlee and Georg Haneke was far from
being the only one during the ceremonies on November 5th,
2000, as the pictures clearly show. But the resulting 45-minutes film
probably provides a unique comprehensive documentation of the event. It
is therefore also suitable as a contemporary document that can counter
any possible future creation of a myth with a realistic picture.
Links: The
Film-Team, Ambaye Ogato and Verena Böll, together with the
Rastafarians Ras
Gyone and Wubshet in front their hut in Shashamane, Ethiopia,
October 2018. Rechts: Cover of the
booklet from the Haile Selassie I Documentation
Its completion by members of the Max-Planck-Institute for Ethnological
Research in Halle took almost twenty years. One of the most important
reasons for this long production time was probably the awareness that
such a document should not be published without the voices of those who
upheld the memory of Haile Selassie over many decades and ultimately
made the King of Kings immortal, namely Rastafari in Jamaica, Ethiopia
and the rest of the world. First and foremost, Bob Marley and The
Wailers, who recorded the song Jah
Live (1975)i just days after the
news of his death at the hands of Ethiopian coup plotters on August 27th,
1975:
“Fools
say in their hearts Rasta, your
God is dead But I and I
know, Jah Jah Dread it
shall be dreaded and dread (…) Jah Jah
live, children, yeah Let Jah
arise Now that the
enemies are scattered”
Prehistory
and context
The actual burial on 5.11.2000 was preceded by a memorial mass on 2nd
November 2000 in the Entoto
Mariam Church – exactly 70 years to the day
after Haile Selassie's coronation. It has deep meaning that this
commemorative service took place at a highly symbolic location. It was
here that the welcome ceremony for the returned King of Kings took
place on May 5th, 1941, after the victory over
fascist Italy. Haile Selassie writes about this occasion extensively in
his autobiography (Part II, p. 160) and expresses his feelings freely:
"We could not control our tears and heartfelt emotions."ii
Extracts
from the official Funeral Invitation for November 5th,
2000 (pages 5, 7, 2, 4)
The Emperor
Haile Selassie I Memorial Association
(EHSIMA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
collects the written and visual material about
Haile Selassie. Together with the family and
the association of the patriots it organized the
burial of Haile Selassie in the year 2000.
Exactly 70 years after Haile Selassie's coronation, the Max-Planck
footage documents the same feelings among members of the Arbegnoch (Amharic
for patriots) during the burial ceremonies. Their tears flow at the
liturgical climax of the solemn ritual surrounding the laying out of
the sarcophagus in front of the Holy
Trinity Cathedral. Some of those present may have served
in that famous elite unit. It became known by the code name Gideon Force (and
included soldiers from England and other partner countries rallied
under the Ethiopian flag through Haile Selassie’s brilliant
diplomacy).
In the essential Part II, representatives of these patriot associations
and family members express their deep satisfaction with the solemn
ceremony. For more than a quarter of a century, they fought against the
secular Ethiopian rulers for the "last honor" for the Emperor. This
included having the sarcophagus wrapped in an Ethiopian flag with Haile
Selassie on his beloved white horse depicted in its center. It was
carried by nobles and Ethiopian commanders (Dejazmatches) with
royal headdresses made of lions’ manes.
The
Procession floats during the festivities on the Meskel
Square
With their long multi-colored robes – immortalized by Dennis
Brown as "Joseph's Coat of many Colors" – and their
ceremonial shoulder capes bearing the emblem of the Victorious Lion of
Judah, they recalled the glorious days of the Empire. At the time of
the burial event, Ethiopia's political elite wanted to hear nothing of
this. Rather, they were conspicuous by their demonstrative absence.
But the passive acquiescence of the government allowed the organizers
to arrange the paying of "last respects" entirely according to their
own ideas. The funeral ceremony began in front of St. George's Cathedral
in Addis Ababa. There, Haile Selassie I had been crowned together with
Empress Menen Asfaw in a full-day ritual on November 2nd,
1930. This act marked the global charisma of the Negusa Nagast by
attracting unprecedented media attention for a non-European monarch and
high-ranking representation from all major European nations.
On the eve of the coronation celebrations, Haile Selassie had the
equestrian statue of Menelik II, the victorious King of Kings in the
Battle of Adwa against the Italians (1896), unveiled near the St. George’s Cathedral.
Haile Selassie’s diplomatic genius and internationalism
expressed itself by giving the assignment for the design to the German
architect Curtin Specingler. Additionally, he bestowed the honor of
unveiling the monument to the third son of the British monarch George
V, Prince Henry William Frederick Albert I, Duke of Gloucester. By
these symbolic gestures, he sought to gather British support and send
out a warning to the Italian representatives. It may seem significant
in the light of the joint liberation of Ethiopia in 1941 by a united
British-Ethiopian army, the so-called Gideon Force (as he
describes in great personal detail in his autobiography; Pt. I, p. 175).iii
It was probably one reason that the St. George’s Cathedral,
where the day-long coronation had taken place, was burned (in 1937) by
the Italian fascists during World War II, like so many other places of
worship (during the occupation). After the disgrace of Adwa (in 1892),
they saw in this monument, which was unveiled in the presence of the
royal Italian representative, the Prince of Udine, on the eve of the
coronation of Haile Selassie I and Menen II (in 1930) yet another
humiliation.
After the liberation of Ethiopia in 1941, Haile Selassie had the St. George's Cathedral
immediately restored. It had been built in 1896 by order of Emperor
Menelik II, to commemorate the victorious Battle of Adwa in the first
war against the Italian invaders. This historically rare victory of a
David against the Goliath of the technologically superior Italian army
gave strength to Haile Selassie’s belief in the Ethiopian
chances of yet another victorious throwback of the same national
invader.
The St. George's
Cathedral’s founding myth is based on its tabot.
This is because, according to tradition, the tabot of Saint George, to
whom the Cathedral is dedicated, was brought to the battlefield of Adwa
to ensure victory and thus the preservation of Ethiopia's freedom. It
is one of the most important tabots of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church,
generally referring to The
Ten Commandments and the biblical Ark of the Covenant.
The
Historical Event for the "Father of Peace"
The document, respectfully filmed (visibly from the second row), proves
that it was not a state or secular event, with a strong political and
military presence, but a family celebration with closest confidants and
sympathizers, gathering under the "canopy" of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church. Haile Selassie I was considered as its Guardian. Not least
because in 1959 he had achieved the independence of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church from the Coptic
Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Egypt), under its first
Patriarch Abuna Basilios.
The official organizers were the Emperor
Haile Selassie I Memorial Foundation, the Crown Council in Exile,
the War Veterans
Association, and that part of the royal family that had
survived the Marxist-Leninist military rule in exile (1974 until at
least 1991). Between 1975 und 1977 tens of thousands of Ethiopians in
presumed opposition to the new regime were arrested, tortured and
murdered by the Derg
including the former aristocratic ruling class. Asfa-Wossen Asserate
gives account of 500.000 so-called anti-socialist class enemies in
Ethiopia from 1979 to 1989.iv
Although it was anything but a “Babylonian set-up”
in the Rastafarian understanding, only relatively few Rastas might have
taken part in it. In any case, neither Rita Marley nor the hundreds of
Rastas of whom Asfa-Wossen Asserate writes are to be seen on the
pictures of November 5th, 2000. Perhaps they
were present at the commemoration ceremonies in the Entoto Mariam Church
on 2.11.2000. After all, that would be the sacred day celebrated by
Rasta communities worldwide as Coronation
Day with Nyahbinghis.
The
Procession arrives at Holy Trinity Cathedral
The actual burial in the northern transept of the Holy Trinity Cathedral
followed a procession from Meskel Square in the city center and a
dignified memorial Service in front of the Cathedral. It involved the
highest spiritual dignitaries, orthodox priests, monks, church
musicians, as well as a large choir and dance group (called Dabtara). The
latter, in their white robes and turbans, remind one at first glance of
Bobo Shanti in Jamaica – an important Rasta house with a
“churchical” and governmental organization (as Bobo
Shanti refer to it).v
Even their swaying dance to the sounds of a large bass drum is strongly
reminiscent of the weekly Sabbath ceremonies in the Tabernacle or "New
Jerusalem School Room" of the Bobo Headquarters of Bull Bay (Jamaica).
With Old Testament reference, this headquarters is called the "Royal
Ethiopian Embassy in Egypt," Egypt standing for Jamaica as modern-day
Babylon. Even the full name of the Bobos indicates identification with
Ethiopia: Ethiopian
Black International Congress Church of Salvation.
Music and
dance to receive the sarcophagus at Holy Trinity Cathedral
After the tribute by the Dejazmatches
(Warriors) and the church musicians (singers and players of
instruments), it was incumbent upon the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church, Patriarch Abuna Paulos, to pay tribute to the King of Kings or
– as Rastas would call it in many Reggae songs –
“hail the King”. His oration hailed the "Power of
the Trinity" (Amharic for the coronation name of Haile Selassie I),
emblematically in front of the Holy
Trinity Cathedral, as the final resting place. For this
reason alone, the film would already be an extremely important
historical document.
In his speech, Abuna Paulos recalled once again the "great lesson" that
Haile Selassie had taught the world (albeit unsuccessfully at the time)
through his League of Nations address in 1936. At this historic
occasion Haile Selassie had warned the world in vain of the dramatic
consequences of sanctioning, if only tacitly, the Italian invasion of
Ethiopia in 1935. He predicted the collapse of collective security and,
indeed, the League of Nations (as it happened). Moreover, Abuna Paulos
emphasized Haile Selassie’s importance for the liberation of
Africa from the yoke of colonialism. And finally, the Patriarch reveals
that Haile Selassie himself wanted to be buried in this sacred place,
next to Empress Menen.
Haile
Selassie's grandchildren and great-grandchildren take over the
sarcophagus and carry it to the church.
In this sense, perhaps the burial at the side of his beloved spouse,
Empress Menen, has something comforting even for those Rastas who
consider the idea of Haile Selassie's bodily transience incompatible
with God's immortality. A starting point for this may be found in the
words of the patriarch: "His name will remain immortal".
The grandson
of Emperor Haile Selassie, Beede-Mariam Mekonen, is watching
the first part of the documentary, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 2018.
Here Part I
of the film before we come to the review of Part II:
Film:
Part
I - The
Burial of Emperor Haile Selassie I
Part II:
Emperor Haile Selassie I and his ‘Burial’
Perspectives of the Rastafarians in Shashamane, Ethiopia
A film by Verena Böll, Ambaye Ogato and Robert Dobslaw
Introduction
The fact that this film project took almost two decades to complete is
perhaps primarily due to its ethical dimension. Rastafari never
accepted and ferociously resisted the report of the
“revolutionary council” Derg that Haile
Selassie died on 27th August 1975. It was them
who kept Haile Selassie alive throughout the period since then through
countless reggae songs, books, speech acts, frequent ceremonies such as
Nyahbinghis, performances in film, theater, dance and so forth. The
very idea of "funeral" or "burial" contradicts their concept of
divinity. A film about the emperor's burial can therefore only be
understood as infringing and offending provocation.
The filmmakers were highly aware of this dilemma. Therefore, they
wanted to publish the historical document only with a second part,
which is predominantly dedicated (or rather
“livicated” in Rasta speech or
“Iyah-logue”) to the Rasta perspective. In this
sense, Part II represents the necessary and indispensable counterpart
to the Ethiopian goals of and sentiments on the "Burial" ceremony,
included in this part with the voices of the Emperor Haile Selassie Memorial
Foundation. The Rasta overstanding
was filmed exclusively in Shashamane, Ethiopia. This decision may have
had practical and contextual reasons leaving the scope of the film to
Ethiopia.
Shashamane
– Rastafari in Ethiopia
Shashamane is key for the global Rastafari claim for repatriation. It
consists of a 500-ha land grant reserved by Haile Selassie himself in
1948 for the return migration of Diasporan Africans, particularly
Rastas. Following the Mission
to Africa-delegation of 1961 (referred to above) and the
subsequent return visit of Haile Selassie in Jamaica in April 1966, it
was predominantly Rastas who remigrated after 400 years of enslavement.vi
However, most Rastafari will not recognize it as official
“repatriation”. For this would require the
financial and material obligation of contemporary successor states to
the slavery regimes under international law.vii
A junction
on the main road in Shashamane, Ethiopia, October 20 18.
The directors Verena Böll, Ambaye Ogato and Robert Dobslaw
cannot be thanked enough for their commitment to the project, which
demanded several film shootings in consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2017,
2018, 2019) for adequate feedback from the Shashamane community. Above
all, their approach to participatory filmmaking ensured that the voices
of Rastafari got the attention they deserve. This is more than a
semantic difference from the paternalistic approach of "giving someone
a voice." Rastafari do have voices, they are just not heard
accordingly, at least not outside the "Reggaeverse".
This standard of cooperative filmmaking has become established for
ethnographic film projects in general. Thus, members of the Shashamane
community have been actively involved in the various stages. The
multiple trips to Shashamane served as feedback loops and
allowed for
participant Rastafari control of the final content before publication.
In the end, this resulted in a much more substantial film treatise,
than a mere query of opinions. Rather, Part II tells tales of Rastafari
(rejectionist) conceptions of death. It opens up for their
philosophical and spiritual worldviews on eternal life (life everliving).
Their perspectives focus – unsurprisingly for reggae fans
– on all-encompassing “livity”. This
Rasta notion refers to an idea of a way of life and living that
transcends generations. Accordingly, Rasta life does not end with
death, but means living on in the community of all living and future
generations – in other words: I and I. Of course,
this applies to Haile Selassie I in an unrestricted and thus "absolute"
sense. According to my own experiences in this regard, the Shashamane
interviews are quite representative for Rasta conceptions in general,
although a broader empirical perspective including the various Rasta
houses in Jamaica would certainly prove rewarding.
When asked in the film whether Emperor Haile Selassie is dead, Sister
Ijahnya Christian answers that this is a question based on the
assumption that he has passed away and can therefore only be
remembered. At the same time, she insists emphatically, he would never
leave Rastafari. In her own wording: "I'm not in the business of
remembering. I am in the business of living and learning from the
example set by His Majesty. So that he will never go. He will never,
actually never ever, leave us."
The
Rastafarians, who venerate Emperor Haile
Selassie I as God and Messiah, deny his death
on the 27th of August 1975. The documentary
about the burial ceremony started a vivid exchange
among the Rastafarians Ras Kawintseb,
Jaden and Alemtsega.
The film clarifies the differences in the conceptions of God
betweenRastafari and Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. One could write
thousand-page treatises about this, but condensed to one sentence, they
consist in the Rastafari perception of God being embodied in all living
beings. In this respect, according to Rasta overstanding, God lives in
the everlasting creation, in its human and social manifestations, i.e.,
in I and I.
“Creation
is ever living!”
Ras Kabinda expresses it in the film in this way: "Yeah, we
don’t consider this death. This “death
thing” is a different meditation on man. We come to live as
man. Selassie I will live to eternity. Tomorrow, he is a star in the
sky. But this death thing, no. That is not. That is what they say, they
try to beat in your head. Yeah, so you will not respect creation.
Creation have no death. Creation is ever living. Yeah!"
Ras Kabinda
(second from left) and Ras Fwè
Jah Jah (second from right) are sitting in their
living room, together with other Rastafarians.
They are amused about the dancing of Ras Fwè
Jah Jah in the second part of the documentary.
Ras
Kawintseb, a Rastafarian musician is wellknown
for his bare feet. The Rastafarians are
living a sustainable way of life, using natural
materials of the area and cultivating their garden
with nutritional food. Living in Ethiopia
means living in the promised land, which requires
a mindful approach towards nature.
Sitting at
their table in the Zion Train Lodge the
Rastafarians Sandrine, Alex and their son are
watching the rough draft of the second part of
the documentary. Their reactions and comments
were included in the final version. The Rastafarians
appreciate to participate in the making
of the documentary.
Not least in Jamaica and Ethiopia, Rastas are asked the ironic question
ad nauseam, where Haile Selassie is today, if he is still alive. Sister
Ijahnya Christian answers with a winning smile in the film: "But
you’re talking to Rastafari as a living I. H.I.M. Haile
Selassie I and Her Majesty Empress Menen, they not only live, but they
re-live in I and I hearts!"
Some of the apparent contradictions between Ethiopians and Rastafari
can be relatively easily resolved. If the differences are resolved in
actual reasonings, in my opinion. Ultimately, the funeral ritual was
about honoring the accomplishments and personalities of Emperor Haile
Selassie and Empress Menen as a legacy directed toward the future of
Africa, the African Diaspora and the entire globe – in this
sequence of priority.
The Bobo Shanti wrote in one of their publications that, “On
May 31st, 1994, King Emmanuel Charles Edwards
went on a celestial unfathomable journey (divine mystical tradition),
leaving his faithful servants to use and increase their God given
talents” (EABIC 1998: 5). King Emmanuel Charles Edwards, the
founder of the Bobo Shanti house, is seen by Bobo adherents as the High
Priest within the Holy Trinity of Haile Selassie as King, and Marcus
Garvey as Prophet. On emphatic examination, both the official speeches
at the "funeral" and most Rastafarian conceptions, such as the Bobo
Shanti framing of King Emmanuel’s “ascension to
Zion”, seem to boil down to quite similar commonalities
rooted in traditional African views of ancestral
“life”.
In conclusion, the Ethiopian and Rastafari perspectives are united by
the important agreement on the need for unity. This synopsis is offered
by visions expressed on camera. In the words of Rastaman Jaden, it
sounds like this: "Haile Selassie, he worked to bring this continent
together. And that’s the best thing he do, because he created
some place where African people can meet and … see the
solution to make ourselves to unite, you know. And Haile Selassie do
that. No one do it before him, no one do after him. The colour of Rasta
is unity." In the words of Haile Selassie’s great-nephew
Asfa-Wossen Asserate: "We need in Ethiopia the motto: "Unity in
diversity and diversity in unity."viii
Here Part II
of the film:
Film: Part II: Emperor Haile Selassie
I and his ‘Burial’
On the start screen you see: Ras Iron Gad, Sister Ijahnya Christian and
ElderZion Gad (from left to right) comment on
the raw cut of the second part of the documentary.
They are from the Twelve Tribes of Israel
and the Nyabinghi Tabernacle Centre. Spontaneously
they sang a song for the film team,
which was incorporated into the final version.
i
Bob Marley & The Wailers: Jah
Live (Single, Tuff Gong/Island Records 1975). ii
Haile Sellassie: My
Life and Ethiopia’s Progress Volume 2: Addis Ababa 1966. An
Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I, King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah. Volume II. (English
translation and annotations: Harold G. Marcus and Ezekiel Gebissa),
Frontline: Chicago 1999. iii
Haile Sellassie: My
Life and Ethiopia’s Progress, Autobiography of Emperor Haile
Sellassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah.
Volume I: 1892 – 1937. (English translation and annotations:
Edward Ullendorff, Frontline: Chicago 1997 (Orig. 1976). iv
Asfa-Wossen Asserate: King
of Kings. The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of
Ehtiopia (London: Haus Publishing, 2015). v
See Werner Zips: „Repatriation
is a Must!“ The Rastafari Struggle to Utterly Downstroy
Slavery. In: Werner Zips (ed.), Rastafari. A Universal
Philosophy in the Third Millennium. Kingston/Jamaica and Miami: Ian
Randle Publishers. vi
The 23 pages-strong booklet of the “Report of Mission to
Africa” including the voices of Rasta participants Filmore
Alvaranga, Douglas Mack and Mortimer Planno represents a conclusive
document on the Rastafari conception of repatriation, particularly in
its (Rastafari) Minority Report (Government Printer, Kingston 1961). vii
See in more detail: Werner Zips: „Repatriation is a
Must!“ The Rastafari Struggle to Utterly Downstroy Slavery.
In: Werner Zips (ed.), Rastafari. A Universal Philosophy in the Third
Millennium. Kingston/Jamaica and Miami: Ian Randle Publishers (2006). viii
It appears adequate to leave the final words to Asfa-Wossen Asserate
who wrote the most comprehensive and informed biography of Haile
Selassie to date: King of Kings. The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor
Haile Selassie I of Ehtiopia (London: Haus Publishing, 2015).
On the Author:
Werner Zips is Editor of the book „ Rastafari. A Universal
Philosophy in the Third Millennium” (Ian Randle Publishers,
2006) and Author of „Hail di Riddim – Reportagen
aus dem Reggaeversum JamaicAfrica“ (Promedia, 2015).
These works are only a selection from numerous publications, as they
fit the topic.
Further
information on the film project:
Booklet for DVD, postcard collection with film motifs and even the
downloads for the film can be found here.
Copyright:
www.reggaestory.de
All photos and videos included here were published with the approval of
the project team and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology,
Halle (Saale), Germany.