An Annotated Bibliography of Rastafarian Speech (Rasta Talk)

• The Origin of Jamaican Creole
• The Origin and Nature of Rasta Talk
• Bibliography
• Web-Based Dictionaries
• Primary Material: Rasta Talk
  • General
  • Velma Pollard
  • Peter Tosh
• Secondary Material
  • Jamaican Speech and Culture
  • Reggae
  • African-American Speech and Culture
  • Slang and Maledicta
  • Millenarianism
  • Other
• Other Books on Rastafarianism

The speech of Jamaican Rastafarians is a variant of Jamaican Creole (JC). JC is an English-based creole that is a product of colonialism. The Spaniards were the first to colonize Jamaica, but had little direct influence upon development of JC. When British colonialists ousted them, the Spaniards’ African slaves escaped into the mountains where they retained much of their African culture and some of their African languages. The British brought more slaves from Africa, but were unable to recapture the escapees, known as Maroons, and so instead maintained a negotiated peace settlement with them. The Maroons reinforced the African influences in JC that the African slaves of the British brought. Maroons also influenced (though not always directly) various Afrocentric political and religious movements, including the Rastafarians. Maroon retention of African culture has generally been seen as positive by these movements despite the Maroons’ agreement with the British to return all newly escaped slaves. Other aspects of the Caribbean milieu (e.g., French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Hindi and Amerindian languages) have also influenced JC. The most recent language additions to JC are primarily from the Rastafarians (Roberts, 1988: 43), who besides adding a few Amharic words, have made many linguistic innovations.

The language of the Rastafarians is known as Rasta Talk or Dread Talk by non-Rastafarians, and as Iyaric (“I” + “Amharic”) or Livalect (“live” + “dialect”) by Rastafarians. In Jamaica, it exists as one of a number of registers of JC that indicate social standing and/or situation. Rasta Talk was initiated by the sect known as the Youth Black Faith, founded in 1949 (Chevannes, 1978: 173, 189-190). Nearly all Jamaicans speak or at least understand several registers of JC (Roberts, 1988: 82). Rasta Talk is not spoken by non-Rastafarians, but many words from Rasta Talk have entered other registers in JC; this is mainly due to the international popularity of reggae music and its linkage with Rastafarianism. Rastafarians had little or no influence upon JC prior to the 1960s.

Rasta Talk was initially intended to be a secret language to counter societal oppression (Chevannes, 1978: 190). Pollard (1986: 157-158) explains, “It seems that the language was intended to be secret.... [ellipsis hers] This particular intention was, however, short-lived: the language of Rasta soon moved into the youth culture of Jamaica.” JC and other creoles have themselves functioned as languages of secrecy.

The linguistic modifications of Rasta Talk are both numerous and dynamic. Linguistic modification is seen as a necessity by Rastafarians because JC is a product of colonialism and because JC is viewed as an inadequate vehicle for their religion.

Rasta Talk has four types of linguistic innovations: 1) Redefinitions of existing words 2) merging of existing words into new words 3) Substitution of “I” for the initial syllable of words (these are inherently benedictive) 4) Substitution of meaning for existing JC words. (Pollard, 1983: 49; 1986: 161).

Web-Based Dictionaries

• Dennison, Richard; Ogata, Michio; & Brown, Kevin (1996). Rasta/Patois Dictionary.
• Pawka, Mike (2001). Rasta/Patois Dictionary.
• A Rasta-Hebrew Dictionary. (You will need to be able to view Hebrew characters to view this.)
• Rasta Patois - Russian Dictionary. (You will need to be able to view Cyrillic characters to view this.)
• Rasta Is Cuss: A Dictionary of Rastafarian Cursing. By Thomas H. Slone (2003, in press). Oakland, CA: Masalai Press, 108 pp.

Primary Material: Rasta Talk

General

• • Ama, Imani Tafari (1988a). “Shock treatment for Rastafarians in Antigua.” Reggae Report 6(1): 32.
  • Barrett Sr., Leonard E. (1988). The Rastafarians: Sounds of Cultural Dissonance. Boston: Beacon Press, 2^nd edition, 302 pp. This is a well-written history of Rastafarianism in the context of Jamaican history. The first edition appeared in 1968 as The Rastafarians: A Study of Messianic Cultism in Jamaica.
  • Bishton, Derek (1986). Black Heart Man: A Journey Into Rasta. London: Chatto & Windus, 135 pp. This is a well-illustrated book that focuses on Jamaican and Rastafarian history, Rastafarians in England, and Rastafarians who migrated to Shashamene in Ethiopia. Out of print.
  • Bones, Jah (1986). “Language and Rastafari.” In: The Language of the Black Experience: Cultural Expression through Word and Sound in the Caribbean and Black Britain. David Sutcliffe & Ansel Wong, eds. New York: Basil Blackwell, pp. 37-51.
  • Campbell, Horace (1987). Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 236 pages. This is a Marxist historical analysis of Rastafarianism.
  • Cashmore, Ernest (1979). Rastaman: The Rastafarian Movement in England. Boston: George Allen & Unwin.
  • Chevannes, Barry (1978). Social Origins of the Rastafari Movement. Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies.
  • Chevannes, Barry (1994). Rastafari: Roots and Ideology. Syracuse University Press, 298 pp. This is well-written book presents a history of Rastafarianism.
  • de Albuquerque, Klaus (1979). “"The future of the Rastafarian movement.” Caribbean Review 8(4): 22-25, 44-46.
  • de Albuquerque, Klaus (1980). “Rastafarianism and cultural identity in the Caribbean.” Revista/Review Interamericana 10(2): 230-247. This is a sociological analysis of Rastafarianism.
  • Edward, Prince Emmanuel Charles (n.d.). Black Supremacy in Rightousness [sic] of Salvation Jesus Negus Christ Emmanuel “I” Selassie “I” Jah Rastafari in Royal Majesty Selassie “I” Jahovah Jah Rastafar “I.” Jamaica: Jerusalem School Room of the Ethiopia Africa International Congress. Out of print.
  • Faristzaddi, Millard [Milhawhdh] (1982). Itations of Jamaica and I Rastafari... the First Itation. Miami, FL: Judah Anbesa. [no pagination] This part one of a beautifully photographed and extensively illustrated trilogy. Poetry and mystical verse are interleaved with photographs. The First Itation contains a 12 glossary of Rasta Talk.
  • Jacobs, Virginia Lee (1985). Roots of Rastafari. San Diego, CA: Slawson Communications, 130 pp. This book includes a glossary of religious terms on pp. 117-130.
  • Johnson-Hill, Jack Anthony (1988). Elements of an Afro-Caribbean Social Ethic: A Disclosure of the World of Rastafari as Liminal Process. Ph.D. Thesis: Vanderbilt University.
  • Kitzinger, Sheila (1969). “Protest and mysticism: The Rastafari Cult of Jamaica.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 8: 240-262. Kitzinger reports on the belief system of the Rastafarians based on her field research in 1965.
  • Kitzinger, Sheila (1971). “The Rastafarian brethren of Jamaica.” In: Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean: An Anthropological Reader. Michael M. Horowitz, ed. Garden City, New York: Natural History Press, pp. 580-588.
  • Littlewood, Roland (1993). Pathology and Identity: The Word of Mother Earth in Trinidad. New York: Cambridge University Press. This book is not about Rastafarians, but is about a similar religious group in Trinidad.
  • Mason, Clifford (1980). “Waiting on the man.” Geo: A New View of our World 2(9): 124-146.
  • Mulvaney, Rebekah Michele (1990). Rastafari and Reggae: A Dictionary and Sourcebook. New York: Greenwood Press.
  • New York City Police Department (1985). “Rasta crime.” Caribbean Review 14(1): 12-15, 39-40. This article is an unauthorized reprint of an NYCPD report on the langauge of the subset of Rastafarians in New York who were involved in criminal activities. A brief glossary is included on pp. 13-14.
  • Nicholas, Tracy (1979). Rastafari: A Way of Life. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 92 pp. & many photographs.
  • Owens, Joseph (1976). Dread: The Rastafarians of Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: Sangster’s Book Stores, 282 pp. Introduction by Rex Nettleford (pp. vii-xix). This is a compassionate introduction to the Rastafarians. Pages 256-280 are a transcription of Rastafarians reasoning [discussing] the then recently reported death of Haile Selassie.

    Velma Pollard

    Velma Pollard has written the most informative and most extensive work on Rasta Talk.

    • Pollard, Velma (1982). “The social history of Dread Talk.” Caribbean Quarterly 28(4): 17-40. This article gives an extensive glossary of Rasta Talk on pp. 29-36, divided into Pollard’s 4 categories. There is also a discussion of the social context of Rasta Talk.
    • Pollard, Velma (1983). “The social history of Dread Talk.” In: Studies in Caribbean Language. Lawrence D. Carrington, ed. St. Augustine, Trinidad: Society for Caribbean Linguistics, pp. 46-62. Out of print. Limited copies are available from the Society for Caribbean Linguistics.
    • Pollard, Velma (1984). “Word sounds: The language of Rastafari in Barbados and St. Lucia.” Jamaica Journal 17(1): 57-62. This article discusses the changes in Rasta Talk on Barbados and St. Lucia to its origin on Jamaica.
    • Pollard, Velma (1985). “Dread Talk -- the speech of the Rastafarian in Jamaica.” Kingston, Jamaica: Caribbean Quarterly. University of the West Indies, pp. 32-41. This article gives a glossary of Rasta Talk with examples of usage, again divided into Pollard’s 4 categories.
    • Pollard, Velma (1986). “Innovation in Jamaican Creole: The speech of Rastafari.” In: Varieties of English Around the World: Focus on the Caribbean. Manfred Görlach & John A. Holm, eds., Vol. 8. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 157-166.
    • Pollard, Velma (1994). Dread Talk: The Language of Rastafari. 1^st edition, Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 84 pp. Out of print.
    • Pollard, Velma (2000). Dread Talk: The Language of Rastafari. 2^nd edition, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 96 pp. This book presents Pollard’s hard-to-find earlier work (including 1983, 1984, 1985) in one publication. Also included in this second edition is a previously unpublished chapter, “Globalization and the language of Rastafari”, which analyzes the Web-based Dread Talk dictionaries.
  • Sanders, Rory (1982). “From the root of King David.” In: Reggae International. Stephen Davis & Peter Simon, eds. New York: Rogner & Bernhard GMBH, pp. 59-68.
  • Simpson, George Eaton (1955). “The Ras Tafari Movement in Jamaica: A Study of race and class conflict.” Social Forces 34: 167-171. This is the earliest study of Rastafarianism.
  • Simpson, George Eaton (1980). Religious Cults of the Caribbean: Trinidad, Jamaica and Haiti. Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico: Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Puerto Rico, 3^rd edition. This book includes a chapter entitled, “The Ras Tafari Movement” on pp. 208-223.
  • Smith, M.G.; Augier, Roy; & Nettleford, Rex (1978 [1960]). Report on the Rastafari Movement in Kingston, Jamaica. Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies. This is one of the earliest study of the Rastafarians. Out of print.
  • Tafari, I. Jabulani (1985). “The Rastafari -- successors of Marcus Garvey.” Rastafari. Kingston, Jamaica: Caribbean Quarterly, University of the West Indies, pp. 1-12. [This is a book reprint of a volume of the Caribbean Quarterly]
  • Waters, Anita M. (1985). Race, Class, and Political Symbols: Rastafari and Reggae in Jamaican Politics. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books.
  • Yawney, Carole D. (1976). “Remnants of all nations: Rastafarian attitudes to race and nationality.” In: Ethnicity in the Americas. Frances Henry, ed. Hague: Mouton, pp. 231-262. Out of print.
  • Yawney, Carole D. (1979a). Lions in Babylon: The Rastafarians of Jamaica as a Visionary Movement. Ph.D. Thesis: McGill University, 365 pp.
  • Yawney, Carole D. (1979b). “Dread wasteland: Rastafarian ritual in West Kingston, Jamaica.” Occasional Publications in Anthropology, Ethnology Series. University of North Colorado, no. 33, pp. 154-178.
  • Yawney, Carole D. (1979c). “Rastafarians in Jamaican perspective.” Rikka 6: 42-56.

  Peter Tosh

  Besides being a renowned and seminal reggae musician, the late Peter Tosh was a sharp-tongued wit in a Rasta style. These references give an idea of his verbal style and linguistic creativity.

  • Ama, Imani Tafari (1988b). “Peter Tosh speaks.” Reggae Report 6(2): 19, 25.
  • Aylmer, Kevin J. (1992). “In touch with Tosh.” Reggae Report 10(8): 20-23.
  • Campbell, Nicholas, director (1992). Stepping Razor - Red X (The Peter Tosh Story). Great Britain: SC Entertainment International [film].
  • Sheridan, Maureen (1987). “Peter Tosh: The last words and violent death of a reggae hero.” Musician 100: 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 40, 121. This is an article on Tosh’s final days.
  • Tafari, I. Jabulani (1988). “Reggae radix... Peter Tosh.” Reggae Report 6(1): 18-19, 30, 33, 35-36.
  • Wolynski, Mara; Schine, Cathleen; Mayo, Anna; Moroz, Josh; Trilling, Roger; Weston, Bradford; & Whitcraft, Teri. (1978). “Illegalize It.” The Village Voice 23(42): 28. This is a report of Tosh’s arrest in Kingston following the famous Peace Concert.

Secondary Material

Jamaican Speech and Culture

• • Cassidy, Frederic Gomes (1982). Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of the English Language in Jamaica. London: Macmillan Education.
  • Cassidy, Frederic Gomes & Le Page, Robert Black (2003). Dictionary of Jamaican English. Kingston: University Press of the West Indies, 2^nd edition, 500 pp. This is the definitive dictionary of Jamaican English. It shows the basis upon which Rasta Talk is based.
  • Cooper, Carolyn (1995). Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender, and the “Vulgar” Body of Jamaican Popular Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 214 pp. This book briefly discusses Rasta Talk in the context of Jamaican speech.).
  • Hogg, Donald (1960). “The Convince Cult in Jamaica.” Yale University Publications in Anthropology vol. 58, 24 pp. & photos. This monograph describes an indigenous Jamaican religion, the Convince Cult, and some comparison is made to Rastafarianism.
  • Nettleford, Rex M. (1970). Mirror Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: William Collins and Sangster. One of the earliest studies of the Rastafarians.
  • Roberts, Peter A. (1988). West Indians and Their Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 215. This book discusses the varieties of English in the Caribbean, including a contextualization of Rasta Talk in Jamaican English. Out of print:
  • Sobo, Elisa Janine (1993). One Blood: The Jamaican Body. Albany: State University of New York, 329 pp., illustrated. This book briefly mentions Rastafarianism, but is useful for putting Rastafarian beliefs about the body into context with respect to Jamaica (e.g., there is an extensive discussion on the social aspects of menstruation).

  Reggae

  • Boyle, Chris (1987). “Words, sound and power.” The Reggae & African Beat 6(5): 24-26.
  • Davis, Stephen & Simon, Peter, eds. (1982). Reggae International. New York: Rogner & Bernhard GMBH.
  • Davis, Stephen (1992). Reggae Bloodlines: In Search of the Music and Culture of Jamaica. Garden City, New York: Da Capo Press, 2^nd edition.
  • Grass, Randall (1982). “Do the reggay.” In: Reggae International., Davis & Simon, pp. 45-47.
  • Jones, Simon (1988). Black Culture, White Youth: The Reggae Tradition from JA to UK. London: Macmillan Education.
  • Manley, Michael (1982). “Introduction: Reggae, a revolutionary impulse.” In: Reggae International. Stephen Davis & Peter Simon, eds. New York: Rogner & Bernhard GMBH, pp. 11-13.
  • White, Timothy (1989). Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley. New York: Henry Holt, 464 pp., illustrated. This is an exhaustively researched and definitive biography of Bob Marley.

  African-American Speech and Culture

  • Clarke, Colin G. (1975). Kingston, Jamaica: Urban Development and Social Change, 1692-1962. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Dance, Daryl C. (1985). Folklore from Contemporary Jamaicans. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 229 pp. This is an excellent collection of Jamaican folklore. It contains a chapter of folklore that satirizes Rastafarians (pp. 86-94) and has a few other references to Rastafarians.
  • Dillard, Joey Lee (1976). “Black names.” In: Contributions to the Sociology of Language, Joshua A. Fishman, ed. No. 13. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton. Out of print.
  • Lourde, Audre (1990). “Is your hair still political?” Essence 21(5): 40, 110. This article describes the persecution of dreadlocks in the British Virgin Islands.
  • Luntta, Karl (1996). Jamaica Handbook. Chico, CA: Moon Publishers, 3^rd edition. This is an excellent tour guide of Jamaica, perhaps the best tour guide of Jamaica.
  • Major, Clarence, ed. (1994). Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. New York: Penguin Books. This is an excellent survey of African-American slang, some of which corresponds with Jamaican English. Out of print:
  • Sims Holt, Grace (1972). “‘Inversion’ in Black communication.” In: Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out: Communication in Urban Black America. Thomas Kochman, ed. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, pp. 152-159. This chapter describes the technique of linguistic inversion, which is used both by African-Americans and by Rastafarians.
  • Thomas, Polly (2000). The Rough Guide to Jamaica. New York: Rough Guides, 384 pp., illustrated. An excellent tour guide to Jamaica.

  Slang and Maledicta

  Rasta Talk has many bad words (maledicta). These references will give you some context and comparison.

  • Arango, Ariel C. (1989). Dirty Words: Psychoanalytic Insights. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson. Reprinted as Dirty Words: The Expressive Power of Taboo in 1996.
  • Dundes, Alan (1987). Cracking Jokes: Studies of Sick Humor Cycles and Stereotypes. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press.
  • Eisiminger, Sterling (1979). “A glossary of ethnic slurs in American English.” Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression 3(2): 153-174.
  • Clifton, Merritt (1978). “How to hate thy neighbor: A guide to racist maledicta.” Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression< 2: 149-174.
  • Hughes, Geoffrey (1991). Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.
  • Johnson, Ken (1972). “The vocabulary of race.” In: Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out: Communication in Urban Black America. Thomas Kochman, ed. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, pp. 140-151. This chapter discusses the negative, neutral and positive racial terms used by African-Americans. This is a useful comparison to racial terms in Rasta Talk.
  • Legman, Gershon (1964). The Horn Book: Studies in Erotic Folklore and Bibliography. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books.
  • Legman, Gershon (1975). Rationale of the Dirty Joke: An Analysis of Sexual Humor. Second Series. New York: Breaking Point.
  • Levine, Robert M. (1980). Race and Ethnic Relations in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Historical Dictionary and Bibliography. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press. Levine has a dim view of Rastafarianism, but he defines 3 terms used by or about indigenous Jamaican religions: bombo, bongo, and Nya-binghi.
  • Mills, Jane (1989). Womanwords: A Dictionary of Words about Women. New York: Free Press.
  • Paros, Lawrence (1984). The Erotic Tongue: A Sexual Lexicon. New York: Henry Holt.
  • Partridge, Eric (1984). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: Colloquialisms and Catch-phrases Solecisms and Catachreses Nicknames and Vulgarisms. Paul Beal, ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
  • Partridge, Eric (1989 [1950]). A Dictionary of the Underworld. Hertfordshire, Great Britain: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Patterson, H. Orlando (1964). The Children of Sisyphus. Harlow, England: Longman.
  • Wentworth, Harold & Flexner, Stuart Berg (1975). Dictionary of American Slang, 2^nd edition. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. The current edition is by Chapman et al.

  Millenarianism

  • Fell, G. S. (1989). “Explorations into linguistic practice as a source of religious polarities, or the inevitability of ineffability.” In: Language in Religion. Humphrey Tonkin & Allison Armstrong Keef, eds. New York: University Press of America, pp. 7-15.
  • Fox, George, Stubs, John, & Furly, Benjamin (1968 [1660]). A Battle-Door for Teachers & Professors to Learn Singular and Plural. Menston, England: The Scolar Press. [pagination irregular] Out of print.
  • La Barre, Weston (1970). The Ghost Dance: The Origins of Religion. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
  • Thrupp, Sylvia L., ed. (1970). Millennial Dreams in Action: Studies in Revolutionary Religious Movements. New York: Shocken Books.

  Other

  • Fiddes, Nick (1991). Meat: A Natural Symbol. New York: Routledge, 261 pp. The Rastafarian taboo against pork can be seen in perspective after reading this book.
  • Pauwels, Marcel (1951). “Le culte de Nyabingi (Ruanda).” Anthropos 46: 337-357. This article explains the origin of the Nyabingi Religion.
  • Redfern, Walter (1984). Puns. New York: Basil Blackwell. This book provides a good background into the word play that is present in Rasta Talk.
  • Todd, Loreto (1974). Pidgins and Creoles. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. This is an excellent general introduction to pidgin and creole languages. Rasta Talk is based upon Jamaican Creole.

Other Publications on Rastafarianism (unreviewed)

• Ahkell, Jah (1999). Rasta: Emperor Haile Sellassie and the Rastafarians. Research Associates School Times, 60 pp.
• Atiba, Jahson I Alemu (1999). The Rastafari Ible. The Rastafarian Bible. Research Associates School Times, 71 pp.
• Bowen, W. Errol (1971). “Ras Tafarism and the new society.” Savacou 5: 41-50.
• Brown, Samuel Elisha (1966). “Treatise on the Rastafarian Movement.” Carribbean Studies 6: 1-2.
• Bryan, Maurice (1997). Roots, Resistance and Redemption -- The Rise of Rastafari. Africanstory Publisher, 127 pp.
• Cariou, Patrick & Henzell, Perry (2000). Yes Rasta. powerHouse Books, 160 pp.
• Cashmore, Ernest (date?). The Rastafarians. The Minority Rights Group, No. 64.
• Chevannes, Barry (1998). Rastafari and Other African-Caribbean Worldviews. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
• Clarke, Peter B. (date?). Black Paradise: The Rastafarian Movement. Black Political Studies, No. 5.
• Dizzy, Ras (1969). The Human Guide Line. Out of print.
• Dizzy, Ras (1971). Rastafarians Society Watchman. Out of print.
• Forsythe, Dennis (1996). Rastafari: For the Healing of the Nation. One Drop Books, 268 pp.
• Garrick, Neville (1999). A Rasta’s Pilgrimage: Ethiopian Faces and Places Pomegranate, 128 pp.
• Garrison, Len (date?). Black Youth, Rastafarianism, and the Identity Crisis in Britain.
• Hannah, Barbara Blake (1997). Rastafari -- The New Creation. Jamaican Media Productions, 102 pp.
• Hausman, Gerald, ed. (1997). The Kebra Negast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith from Ethiopia and Jamaica. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 203 pp. Introduction by Ziggy Marley.
• Hoenisch, Michael (1988). “Symbolic politics: Perceptions of the early Rastafari movement.” Massachusetts Review 29: 432-449.
• Isaacs, Karl & Jacobs, Everett (1995). Dred. Winter Park, FL: Four G, 78 pp.
• Johnson-Hill, Jack A. (1995). I-Sight: The World of the Rastafari. Scarecrow Press, 421 pp.
• Kelly, Ras Carlisle A. (n.d.). Revelation of Jah Throne. Out of print.
• Lewis, William F. & Gregg, Joan Young, eds. (1993). Soul Rebels: The Rastafari. Waveland Press.
• Lanternari, Vittorio (1965). The Religions of the Oppressed. New York. Page 136 mentions the Rastafarians.
• Loth, Heinz-Jèurgen (date?). Rastafari: Bibel und afrikanische Spiritualitèat.
• Mack Douglas R. A. (1999). From Babylon to Rastafari: Origin and History of the Rastafarian Movement. Research Associates School Times Publications, 157 pp.
• Maragh, G. G. (1933). The Promise Key.
• McPherson, E. S. P. (date?). Rastafari and Politics: Sixty Years of a Developing Cultural Ideology: A Sociology of development perspective.
• McPherson, E. S. P. (date?). My Generation Will Make the Change: Proceedings of the Launching of Rastafari and Politics, Sixty Years of a Development Perspective by E.S.P. McPherson Held at the Creative Arts Center, Mona Campus, U.W.I., Kingston, Jamaica on Monday, September 2, 1991.
• Michels, Peter M. (date?). Rastafari.
• Moodie, Horace (1999). Hath... The Lion Prevailed...? Frontline Distribution International, 40 pp.
• Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel & McFarlane, Adrian Anthony, eds. (1998). Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 416 pp.
• Myers, Trevor C. (date?). Essence of Rastafari Nationalism and Black Economic Development.
• Norris, Katrin (1962). Jamaica, a Search for Identity. London. Chapter 5 contains a chapter titled, “The Call of Africa” on pp. 43-60 on Rastafarianism. Out of print.
• Nyah, Imani (1991). He Came and You Missed H.I.M.: Rastafarian Theology, the Afrocentric Religion of the Future. Chicago, IL: Association of Rastafarian Theologians, 79 pp. Out of print.
• Oosthuizen, G. C. (date?). Rastafarianism.
• Osborne, Laura (1993). The Rasta Cookbook: Vegetarian Cuisine Eaten With the Salt of the Earth: Recipes. Africa World Press, 132 pp.
• Owens, J. [Joseph] V. (1975). “Literature of the Rastafari: 1955-1974, a review.” Savacou 11(12): 86-105. This article reviews the work of non-Rastafarians: Simpson, The University Report (Smith et al.), Norris, Patterson, Lanternari, Barrett, Kitzinger, Nettleford, Post, Bowen, Yawney, as well as Rastafarians: Brown, Kelly, Ras Dizzy and 3 periodicals.
• Post, Ken (1970). “The Bible as Ideology: Ethopianism in Jamaica, 1930-38.” In: African Perspectives, Allen, Christopher & Johnson, R. W., eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 185-207.
• Rogers, Robert Athtyi; Tafari, Ras Sekou; & Lorne, Miguel (2000). The Holy Piby. Frontline Books/Research Associates, pp 103 pp. Originally published in 1924 by Robert Aththyi Rogers, this book was highly influential upon the development of Rastafarianism.
• Sandford, Christine (1999). The Lion of Judah Hath Prevailed. Resarch Associates School Times Pubications, 192 pp.
• Scott, Ricardo A. (1996). With Jah Rastafari As My Witness: Traitors in Babylon -- I’ll Never Betray My People. Cornerston Productions.
• Sellassie I, Haile (2000). The Third Testament the Ilect Verses of Jah Rastafari. Frontline Distribution & Headstart Publishing, 693 pp.
• Shangu, Baku, ed. (1997). Haile Sellassie and the Opening of the Seven Seals. Frontline Distribution International, 110 pp.
• Stuart, Jane (1999). I Am a Rastafarian. Religions of the World Series. Rosen Publishing Group/Powerkids Press. For children.
• Thomas, Michael (date?). Jah Revenge.
• Turner, Terisa E. & Ferguson, Bryan J. (1994). Arise Ye Mighty People! Gender, Class and Race in Popular Struggles. Africa World Press.
• White, Edgar (1983). Lament for the Rastafari and Other Plays. New York: Rizzoli.

© 2005 by Thomas H. Slone.

Last modified April 26, 2005.