"The ends you serve that are selfish will carry you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common will take you into eternity."
Hon. Marcus Garvey
AFRICAN HEROES SERIES VOL.1..HON.KING EMMANUEL CHARLES EDWARDS THE FORMATIVE YEARS
By: Hon Priest Jaja
Among the countless number of immortalized heroes, who have selflessly fought for the upliftment of our race, the Rt. Hon. King Emmanuel Charles Edwards' name will be forever etched into the annuls of history. Founder of the Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress Church of True Divine Salvation, King Emmanuel struggled relentlessly for the rights of African people the world over. Undeniably, it was the Rt. Hon. King Emmanuel who coined the slogan, "Freedom, Redemption and International Repatriation," that for which the Rastaman and Woman so longed desired, the right to return home. King Emmanuel ever since the late 40’s has pursued the Right of Repatriation for the African slave children scattered throughout the west as a result of slavery. Noted for being one of the earliest agitators for Reparations, King Emmanuel and his Congress has for decades been on the forefront in the Repatriation struggle.
In this article I would like to examine the formative years of the EABIC and its Founder, Leader, President God and King. Prince Emmanuel or Brother Eddie as he is also called was said to have appeared in the Parish of St. Elizabeth (Jamaica) in 1915. Many speculations has been made as to how He actually appeared, but as He taught 'reincarnation brings back everyone through a Mother's womb and Father's lineage.' The Prince said that He was found has a child in an area called Treasure's Beach in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica by a family who thereby took Him in. Little is known of his childhood yet there is a recurring account I've heard from a few elders of how he earned the title "Prince." 
It is said that the family who took in the Hon. Prince Emmanuel made a living by selling milk from cows. The young Prince Edwards became popular in the community, because of his tendency to give the customers more milk than they paid for. It is said the people in the community began calling him prince because of his generosity. As Prince Edwards grew into adulthood he eventually migrated into the capital city. A migration pattern which was trending during the early 20th century. No exact age is known as to when Prince Edwards migrated into Kingston, yet we know it was during the early 30's. (Further research can be done to discover the actual age of his migration). The Hon. Marcus Garvey also followed said migration pattern, leaving his native St. Anne Bay to the island's capital in his late teens.While in Kingston the Hon. Prince Edwards was a witness of the Cultural Revolution that was taking place in Jamaica during the early thirties. Jamaica was at the time the operation base of the Hon. Marcus Garvey and his organization the UNIA which was in part instrumental for the shaping of the consciousness of the African people of Jamaica. The newly formed Rastafari Movement as well was gaining influence in the island and was gaining the attention of many of the inner city youths. I have heard of accounts of the Hon. Prince Emmanuel meeting the Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey while passing Calvary Cemetery in the community of Trenchtown. I have also heard of other accounts of the Prince participating in some of Garvey's meetings. Yet as history records by the year 1935, after facing stark opposition in Jamaica, Marcus Garvey decided to migrate to London and continue his works from there. With Garvey abroad, the newly found 'doctrine of Rastafari' took its rank heralding the banner of race pride for generations to follow.
Figures like Leonard Howell, Joseph Hibbert and Robert Hinds began forming organizations centered around the Ethiopian Monarch Emperor Haile Selassie I the newly crowned 'Blackman God and King.' Though some may claim that Prince Emmanuel was at one point apart of the Howelite sect, in my research I have yet to find any evidence proving that to be true. However, I would accept the idea that Leonard Howell may have indirectly had an impact on the Hon. Prince Emmanuel. The Father would argue that the Movement rose out of the heart of the city and rather than St. Catherine which was the location of Leonard Howell's Pinnacle. Leonard Howell, however was influential in shaping a lot of the ideologies and allegorical traditions of the Rastafari culture primarily through his books and street corner preaching. Terminologies such as 'King Alpha and Queen Omega' and 'World's money mint and all Bibles owner' that are still widely used amongst the Rastafari, are all terms coined by the Hon. Leonard Howell.During the late 30's or so Prince Edwards began working at Up Park Camp which was the headquarters of the British Army in Jamaica performing odd jobs. While Prince Emmanuel was working at Up Park Camp in 1940, Alexander Bustamante was imprisoned for subversive activities and served his time there 3 years. Alexander Bustamante was eventually released on one condition, the Hon. Prince Emmanuel revealed,that he (Bustamante) was to form a political party opposing his first cousin Norman Manley. Upon his release from prison Bustamante did just so and formed the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The forming of the PNP and JLP would later prove to be a socio-political construct strategically engineered to derail the unifying works of the Hon. Marcus Garvey and to manipulate the Africans of Jamaica to remain divided along violently defended political lines for generations to come.
After working at Up Park Camp for some period of time the Hon. Prince Emmanuel said He was called upon by his Father JahRastafari to redeem his people from out of Egypt/Jamaica and the western world(the house of bondage). One day while painting a building Prince Edwards fell off a ladder, though he was able to walk away uninjured, it was that incident which he says led him to leave Up Park Camp to pursue His Father's mission. In 1944, Prince Edwards moved to an area called Ackee Walk which was a part of the famous or rather, imfamous area then known as Bac-O-Wall, which is one of the major cultivating grounds of the Rastafari culture.
Some years following his move to Ackee Walk, in 1948 the Hon. Prince Edwards visited Up Park Camp ''to seek out the rights of his people." Upon Prince Emmanuel's arrival to the office of the Brigadier General, the Brigadier ran out of his office leaving the Prince standing there alone. Thus according to Prince Emmanuel by the Brigadier leaving him alone in his office he befell Britain's crown head. Since that visit to Up Park Camp in 1948, the Hon. Prince Emmanuel or Brother Eddie as he was then called has continued to lobby the heads of the Jamaican government, as well as the Britishcrown head for free transportation to repatriate the African slave children in Jamaica and the western world.
On August 1st 1951 Prince Emmanuel handed a letter to Governor Hugh Foote demanding the rights of the people in Jamaica desirous to return to Africa. Though no was action was taken by the colonial government to resettle the Ethiopian subjects exiled in the diaspora, Bongo Eddie struggled relentlessly nevertheless. In 1953 on the day of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd coronation he cabled her a telegram demanding the release of his people. By the 1950's Brother Eddie was becoming a prominent figure in the Rastafari movement edifying the people of their true heritage and nationality. A few elders I have met testify of their earlier days gathering with 'Brother Eddie' underneath the Ackee Tree. The Ackee Tree bearing the symbolic colors of the red gold and green and red black and green our Creational banners.
Following a decree issued late 1957 by Governor Hugh Foote, which declared that self-governance will be given to the people of Jamaica, Prince Emmanuel organized and convened a 21 day seminar on the topic of repatriation. The Convention which was held March 1st 1958 is historicized as the 'First Groundation' of the Rastafari Brethren. Prince Edwards was the chairman and Bongo Watto the ceremonial High Priest of the occasion as 3,000 Rastaman, Woman and Children, sung and chanted to the Nyabinghi drums. Sir Kenneth Blackburn, then governor, also paid a visit to hear the opening remarks of those present at the Convention. The Convention was held at the former residence of the Hon. Prince Emmanuel, 54b Spanishtown Rd. Kingston, Jamaica. The Convention was highly publicized and people from all over the island came with the hope of embarking for Africa.Note: During this March 1st Convention the Ethiopia Africa National Congress was formed, now Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress.
Following the week’s long seminar the Prince led a march from his headquarters to Victoria Park downtown Kingston. The masses of Rastafari brethren and sisters, not to mention onlookers, began pouring into Victoria Park that early morning. The march was peaceful until a group of Rasses decided to climb and brake off a piece of Queen Victoria statue. That action caused the Jamaica constabulary force to disrupt the gathering. When the police arrived many of the brethren and sisters fled but the Prince decided He wasn't going to run for 'only the guilty run.' Prince Emmanuel took up a child in his hand as the police approached him; the constables snatched the crying baby out of Emmanuel's hand and viciously attacked him with batons. Smoke bombs were also used to disperse the crowd; those who weren't able to escape the Jamaican police force were all viciously attacked as well.
Following the brutal assault Prince Emmanuel returned to his residence at 54b Spanishtown Rd. Kingston, Jamaica undeterred and continued to agitate for the rights of the people. Most of the Rasses who were apart of the Convention went their separate ways, leaving only a handful of souls remaining faithful members of the Congress. The same year of the Convention the Congress was raided by the police who once again attacked Prince Emmanuel who was also unjustiably imprisoned. The case was highly publicized and drew public criticism of the people directed at the actions of the JCF. A number of people wrote to the Jamaica gleaner and expressed their disappointment with the Jamaica government.
According to Leonard Barrett in his book 'The Rastafarians' a sociologist among the many who wrote the gleaner predicted "in the long run the type of Prince Emmanuel may have more to do with West Indian future than the type of Lord Hailes" former Governor General of the West Indian Federation. A statement which is believed to have been somewhat reiterated by Queen Elizabeth the 2nd on her state visit to Jamaica March 1966, which I will get to later. The Trial of September 1958 with Prince Emmanuel caught the attention of Barrister Evans a famous lawyer who was said to have defended some of the Mau Mau fighters in Kenya.
Eventually Prince Emmanuel and his apostles were freed and returned to his headquarters at 54b Spanishtown Rd. Western Kingston. Though allowed to return Prince Emmanuel would later still encounter countless confrontations with the brutal Jamaican police force.The resilience of Prince Emmanuel in the midst of such violent opposition must be noted, he, withstanding the countless attacks, imprisonments and injustices was able to pursue adamantly the basic human rights which are to be guaranteed to all. By the 1960's Brother Eddie who by this time was becoming to be more widely known as Prince Emmanuel intensified his agitation and began laying the legal framework of the EABIC.Following the dispersal of the Howellites at Pinnacle in 1954 coupled with the growing number of migrants from the countryside’s of Jamaica, to the city of Kingston, areas such as Bac-O-Wall quickly became the target of the government namely due to the spread of the "Rude Boy culture" as well as Rastafari . By 1963 the government began the "urban renewal" process which included bulldozing the of homes of 3,000 people in back-o-wall and downtown Kingston. Prince Emmanuel however remained at his former residence at 54b Spanishtown Road up until July 1966 when the entire Bac-O-Wall area was destroyed by the JLP government in order to erect their political stronghold 'Tivoli Gardens.'
The bulldozing of the bac-o-wall community displaced thousands of people, many of whom were left homeless, many of whom were forced to sleep in the bordering May Pen Cemetery. Jamaican Sociologists all agree the bulldozing of back-o-wall in 1966 was 'to counter the positive and radicalizing influence of the Rastafari.' It could be assumed that the government intent was to frustrate the efforts of the Rastafari movement in asserting their Basic Human rights. The year 1966 saw the turning point of the Rastafari movement following the visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I to the shores of Jamaica. Prior to the Emperor's visit to Jamaica, Queen Elizabeth also visited the island on the 3rd of March 1966.
While visiting King's House the Hon. Prince Emmanuel delivered a red, white and blue pouch to the queen. When the queen recieved the pouch she unveiled the three banners which were contained inside, the Red Gold and Green, the Red Black and Green as well as an all-Black flag. When the queen raised the three banners the red white and blue pouch fell to the ground, symbolically representing the union jack being subdued by the black nation creational banners. It was told to the Hon. Prince Emmanuel that the queen bowed to the flags He presented and she declared, ' there is an individual in Jamaica who no one is to molest for that individual would be lord over her lords.' Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I JahRastafari
The following month marked the most memorable day in Jamaica and Rastafari history. The visit of the King of Kings to the pit of Jehosephat, the island of Jamaica. It was April 21, 1966 the day celebrated by the EABIC has the moment Abraham met Melchizedek. Prince Emmanuel was among the 31 leaders who met His Majesty at King's House and were presented with gold medals.Documents were said to have been left with the Jamaican government stating that whosoever desires to return to Ethiopia should be directed towards the Ethiopia Africa National Congress and its Leader the Rt. Hon. Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards.
Hector Wynter editor of the gleaner was to publish such document to make known publically the open invitation of the Emperor, yet said documents were destroyed and such right of the people held down. Jamaica was also invited to have an observer seat in the Organization of African Unity, an offer which Jamaica has never taken up. It could be speculated that the Emperor's endorsement of the repatriation agenda and his embrace of the Rastafari Movement led to the final bulldozing of bac-o-wall in July 1966.
The bulldozing of Prince Emmanuel's compound on Spanishtown Road, left the Prince and his apostles homeless not to mention the over 3,000 poor and have not’s forced out of a home. Prince Emmanuel then moved to Harris Street then onto a number of locations as he was constantly bulldozed, fire torched and assaulted by Jamaican police and soldiers.The various locations of Prince Emmanuel campgrounds were in time given biblical names. Ackee Walk became known to be (Nazareth) Harris Street (Galilee) Eight (Capernaum) and Ninth Street (Bethlehem).
Prince Emmanuel's following mainly consisted of inner city youths many of whom were previously involved with gang and other criminal activities. By the late 1960's West Kingston was becoming a hotbed of political violence and many of the Kingstonian youths were being engulfed into the rude boy culture that was sweeping the capital city. The Hon. Prince Emmanuel opened his compound for many of the displaced youths who were turned from home toil and kindred leaving all for Rastafari dear sake. The young were driven from their parents’ home for the name of Rastafari, and many would come to Prince Emmanuel to live and subsequently build themselves within the Order of the Priesthood office. The EABIC has long been admired for its principle of self-reliance and has created a broom industry which is universally recognized as one of the trademarks of the 'Boboshanti'.
In 1967 the Hon. Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards registered the Ethiopia Africa National Congress with the United Nations and began to direct his petitions through the office of Human Rights. The following year Marc Shreiber of the Human Rights Office met with a delegation sent by the Hon. Prince Emmanuel and witnesses declare that he said that Mr. Edwards was to be recognized as the only 'Champion of Human Rights' in the island of Jamaica. Prince Emmanuel was never officially awarded the title for he was continuously barred from many of the communication from the UN and there began to be rumors spread that he was dead following a bulldozing and fire torching of his residence. The false report of Prince Emmanuel's death was printed in the Jamaica gleaner, was just another frivolous attempt to silence the Hon. Prince Emmanuel and to discourage him from his work.
Nevertheless in September 1969 Hugh Shearer then Prime Minister visited Ethiopia to have dialogue with the Emperor. In the meeting between Haile Selassie I and Hugh Shearer, Shearer requested of the Emperor an ambassador from Ethiopia be sent to Jamaica. The King was said to have replied that He already has his Ambassador in Jamaica whom He will shortly pay a visit. Indeed the Emperor paid the Hon. Prince Emmanuel a private visit circa Jan.1 1970. It was an Empress of the Congress name Empress Menen who was said to have seen a representative of the King looking for the Hon. Prince Emmanuel at his former residence at 54b Spanishtown Road. She informed the representative that the Congress has moved and offered to escort him to the location at Davis Lane.
During this visit further documents were left with the Prince and the Jamaica government, yet shortly after the private visit, the Jamaica government once again bulldozed the dwellings and church grounds of the Hon. Prince Emmanuel now King Emmanuel Charles Edwards. Once again left to sleep on the streets Prince Emmanuel and the members of his Congress began heading 10 miles east of the bloody city of Kingston. Fulfilling the prophecy that 'man must go 10 miles east on the mountain top watching Babylon running red hot.' The location of the Congress has since been at 10 Miles Bull Bay St. Andrew Jamaica on Mt. Teman widely known as 'Bobo Hill.' Away from the constricted confides of western Kingstonthe Hon. Prince Emmanuel spent the remaining years at Bull Bay rebuilding the networks that were destroyed during the bulldozings at Bac-O-Wall and continued to lobby the heads of government.
Much can be written and plenty can be said of such a Mighty hero such as the Hon. King Emmanuel, who Prince Dawit in the late 80's bestowed the title Emperor Emmanuel concluding that the Priest reminded him of his grandfather King Selassie I JahRastafari.Give thanks for the Mighty Redeemer the Black Christ in Flesh King Emmanuel the 7th Adonai I God JahRastafari. ‘I hear the voice of Negus say I am this dark world's Light look unto me and thy morn shall arise and thy days be bright. I looked to Negus and Lo I found in him my star and my sun and in this Light of Life I will walk until my travelling days are done.’ Our Redeemer Is Strong Lord Of Host Is His Name Selassie I JahRastafari!
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims this
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of
society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive
by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and
freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international,
to secure their universal and effective recognition and
observance, both among the peoples of Member States
themselves and among the peoples of territories under their
jurisdiction.
Article 1.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should
act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the
political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or
territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of
sovereignty.
Article 3.Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of
person.
Article 4.No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and
the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a
person before the law.
Article 7.All are equal before the law and are entitled without
any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled
to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the
competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental
rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention
or exile.
Article 10.Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public
hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal
charge against him.
Article 11.(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the
right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to
law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees
necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any
penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not
constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at
the time when it was committed Nor shall a heavier penalty be
imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal
offence was committed.
Article 12.No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks
upon his honour and reputation Everyone has the right to the
protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement
and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has
the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to
his country.
Article 14.(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in
other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one
shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right
to change his nationality.
Article 16.(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation
due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to
found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage,
during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be
entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending
spouses. (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit
of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as
well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his property.
Article 18.Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his
religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with
others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to
belong to an association.
Article 21.(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives. (2) Everyone has the right to equal access to
public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be
the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed
in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and
equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures.
Article 22.Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to
social security and is entitled to realization, through national
effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the
organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social
and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free
development of his personality.
Article 23.(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of
employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any
discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3)
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence
worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to
form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with
pay.
Article 25.(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of
unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other
lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and
assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall
enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education
shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and
professional education shall be made generally available and
higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of
merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of
the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial
or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United
Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior
right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their
children.
Article 27.(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in
scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right
to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting
from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is
the author.
Article 28.Everyone is entitled to a social and international order
in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can
be fully realized.
Article 29.(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which
alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be
subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely
for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just
requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in
a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no
case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the
United Nations.
Article 30.Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as
implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any
activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of
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