Too Much Commercialization

“The best people have left and the old people have retired, and commercialization has taken hold.” 

Xu Tian

It has been some time since my last official post.  My hiatus was self-imposed and much needed in the scope of things.  However much has occurred in the time since we last connected and I will be attempting to cover as much as I can, of that which is relevant to our interests and pursuits as Rastafari.

That said, I stumbled across something quite disturbing the other day.  As a matter of fact, it was downright deplorable.  But first let me explain how I reached that moment in my day.

While watching a television broadcast of which one segment had to deal with the way our brain approaches shopping, or rather how supermarkets layout their stores to optimize or maximize profits based on the way the brain works, I decided to see how much validity there was in the study.  It seems that if we are to approach supermarkets in a clockwise manner we end up spending less.  As I generally have a natural inclination to counter-clockwise shopping, as I assume many others do, I made the deliberate effort to change that for sake of the exercise.

Well to my surprise after 15 minutes in the market my cart was still empty.  So maybe there is something to that theory.  What troubled me happened quite possibly because of my change in pattern.

As Good Friday quickly approaches, I am invariably salivating for a good piece of Easter Bun.  It is a tradition growing up in a household that most recently came from Jamaica.  While in the markets beer section, looking for the all important stout, and racking my brain for a new name that denotes the Resurrection yet implies not adherence to traditional pagan rituals and festivals, I happened across a find that might offend many of Rastafari heritage.

Towards the bottom of the display case, but not nearly low enough to miss my gaze, I noticed the image of a LocksMan on a bottle and almost immediately after, noticed the all to familiar Red, Gold and Green colour scheme generally indicative of Rastafari inspired or owned products.

Now I cannot begin to assume that we in the Rastafari community hold any trademark, copyright or patent on the colours Red, Gold and Green.  If so we would be suing the entire world of people for products and artwork in one form or another.  Nor can I say that we alone hold claim to the image of the BeardMan or Locksman.

We certainly promoted enough through the years that Locks were a way for African universally to reclaim a bit of their cultural identity.  And though it is almost a necessity for Rastafari adherents and nationals to wear and maintain locks, our covenant, that we also realize that not all who do so adhere to the principles or livity of Rastafari.

So if it was simply on those grounds I may have overlooked the obviously insulting reference on a beer bottle, out of an understanding of capitalism and not indifference.  But when I picked up the bottle, having also sighted the name, and read the description, disgust overtook me.  On the shelves of a Whole Foods Market in South Florida, in the beer section of that market, is a alcoholic beverage named RastafaRye Ale, produced and bottled by the Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue, NY.

Not only in name, but the bottle goes further in describing how "Rastafarians" see Haile Selassie as God incarnate and that the brew is a way of showing respect to the culture.  Really?  That is how you show respect to peoples faith, culture and nationhood?  I suppose it would likewise be acceptable for me to go ahead and produce Allah-ger, Buddha Beer, Jesus Holy Spirits, and/or Yahweh-gnon Blanc.  If you sit and think about it honestly you will say that the latter cases would never be allowed to happen.

This is by no means an endorsement or any sort of advertising for the company or brand.  I am writing because the words of my brother, the one and only, Jacob "Killer" Miller, rang in my head loudly that day.  Commercializing our faith, nation and culture has become the order of the day.  We, the Rastafari nation have allowed far too much Marley-ization of our image and spirituality.  Yes indeed.  We have allowed too much exploitation of the Crown and Imperial Family.

This time in particular is truly deplorable.  Because not only has our imagery been exploited, these people, white European alcohol producers, have gone so far as to actually offer a brief description of a peoples faith as cause for the offense.  I am inspired now as never before by people across these United States to take it upon myself to start a petition, of this and any other such mockery of Rastafari.

I don't yet know what will come of my petition, but I refuse to do nothing any longer.  So please sign this if you are Rastafari.  If you are not Rastafari but know that this is truly an offense to a people already maliciously maligned, please sign.  Honestly, we can move mountains if we join hands and work together.  Nothing is too big or too much to handle.

I leave you with seven words of peace and love as spoken by my Father, "GOD is LOVE, so let us Love."  Most High God Selassie I JAH Rastafari

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