Blessings and Honor Noble Ras:

Please let me expound point by point. I want to say that I honor your perspective, I find you highly insightful, but respectfully take a very different stance then De I.

“I know that InI have to know self first before InI can overstand the divinity withing us or outside of ourselves.”

Ras, just because we have to have a secular knowledge of self BEFORE we create a relationship with the creator, doesn’t mean we cling to that identity FIRST.

“I would also advise him to seek the secular knowledge, FOR THE MORE ONE KNOWS THE MORE HE REALISES THE NEED FOR A PRIME MOVER, THE NEED FOR A CREATOR, A CREATOR WHO IS GOOD, AND THE NEED FOR SALVATION AND ALSO FOR PEACEFUL LIFE UPON EARTH.”

HIM Haile Selassie I

Supreme knowledge comes from the identification of one’s self with their creator, in which ever discipline one sees the creator. You would find it hard pressed to walk up to an Israelite, a Muslim or a Christian and not hear that they deem themselves FIRST to be identified with the creator. Therefore a Christian will be a Christian first, a Israelite will be an Isrealite FIRST. Each one will let you know that unless one FIRST aligns themselves with the Creator, that Jah SIMPLY cannot bless their efforts, hence His Majesty’s words:

“These are crucial times when nations rise against nations, tensions increase and disaster is possible at any moment. Distances are shrinking. Peace and life itself are threatened by misunderstanding and conflict. NOW IS THE TIME WHEN MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD MUST BE THE FOUNDATION for all his efforts toward enlightenment, and learning the basis for understanding cooperation and peace.”
HIM Haile Selassie I

And:

“If I did not have faith in The Almighty and in His Righteousness and that justice inevitable prevails, then I would have lost hope and thus the interests of my country would have been ignored. Because I attempted to maintain my faith in HIM and because all Ethiopians maintained their faith in the ultimate goodness of the world and in the grand design that The Almighty has for all men in the world, we were able to victoriously re-enter our country and rid ourselves of evil forces.”

Your words:
“Did not Ras Tafari Makonnen HIMself acknowledge that He was Afrikan and that InI liberty is meaningless unless all Afrikans are free?”

My beloved bredren, nobody is questioning whether or not HIM identified himself as African. I&I not advising the I to not identify yourself as an African. That is tantamount to self identification, but what I&I saying is that we must cling to our divine self as the true source of our identity and adhere to nationhood titles thereafter. In ur heart of hearts, do you think His Majesty would have put himself as an Ethiopian/African before Christian? As a Christian, he would have adhered to the tenant that “Put Jah first and all things shall follow”. That is the proper order of things. It is through the alignment of one’s divine self that one receives direction and inspiration so they can do that which is right within the world.

your words:
“Whether one is Rasta, Islam, Hebrew Israelite, etc, ones must know who he/she is as an individual because that will shape how he/she sees the Irator.”

I used to fiyah bun individualism because HIM taught collectiveness and the strength in Inity. But we are both, we are individuals and we are collective. We must have confidence in self before contributing properly to the collective. HOWEVER, the strength in self does not come from titles that are limited to physical manifestations. “Ras” is an ancient title, way more ancient then the imposed term “African”. I say imposed because again foreigners came up with that name. Ras Tafari is the name the Creator seeks for us to cling to. We are African through nationhood, but we are Rastafari through a greater anciency and divinity. Even during the time of Khemit and Kush great civilization, ones were saying “Rasta” and “Ras”. I&I do not deem the birth and coronation of HIM as being the beginning of Ras Tafari. Before there were land masses that were named, before we took on any identity, Ras Tafari was dere!!

As Rastas we are declaring our own identity, who Jah is, we are declaring what our iritical order is, our own constitution and culture, what colors we are symbolized by, what our language is, where our Zion (or Mecca) is, what titles we choose to use, etc.. If we do not FIRST identify ourselves with the unlimited Powa of the Almighty, then we will Itinually limit ourselves. We must have faith that we are Rastafari FIRST for in that we identify with a afro-centric culture, livity which includes clean living, afrocentric ways of dressing, afrocentric ways of teaching and every aspect of our livity. Put Jah first and ALL AH DIS shall follow. It is proven that when we rear our children with a strong sense of cultural identity based in divine principles, we produce youths that will have a greater sense of self, as well as sense of responsibility that their great intellectual knowledge is to be used towards that culture in which they are raised in, which in our case is Rastafari objectives which is in itself African nation building.

your words:
“Like the honorable Marcus Garvey said, 'We must see God through our own spectacles'. So I see no contra-diction to my words. But give thanks for the question”

Well, in actuality you proved my point. The Greeks and Romans have taught us that when one can skew ones perception of Jah, one can have ultimate control of the minds and Irits of a people. Regardless of the countless of Africans that deem themselves Africans, once you take away ones ultimate identity with Jah, you have controlled their minds and Irits. So it is imperitive that we cling FIRST to our divine rights so that we don’t get tricked again!! We must take our Jah back and make claim so that we can not be moved……

Glory HalleluJAH I shall not be moved,
Anchored in JAH ALMIGHTY I shall not be moved.
Just like a tree planted by the water
I shall not be moved.

In HIM love abiding, I shall not be moved,
And in Him confiding I shall not be moved.
Just like a tree planted by the water
I shall not be moved.

Give thanx for the response Ras. I&I can only speak from what I&I have been revealed. If De I has not been revealed these things, then it is not up to me to say whether you are right or wrong, only Jah lays claim on that realm. I always find your posts to be highly inspired, insightful and it is only because I have such a high admiration of your mind that I even sought to approach you on this point!!

Bless,