Bobo Shanti Video

In the video I noticed a few things that we have been talking about in class and also a few things that I didn't expect to see. First I'll talk about the things that have already been reoccurring themes in our talks about Rastafari. The first thing that stood out to me was the first image that is shown on the screen, the lion holding the cross draped in Rasta colored banners. This image gave a good segue into the remote Bobo Shanti Sect of Rastafari. To me, the Bobo Shanti are a really good representation of the characteristics of Rastafari hat we have talked about. This group of people are definitely very spiritual and it is shown in all aspects of their lives. Most of the houses that the people were living in were painted red, green, and yellow. The area was also littered with banners sporting the sacred colors. The people live a very simple life away from the system, avoiding influence by other groups of people. The only participation that these people had in area trade was selling hand made brooms at the market. Most, if not all, of the people in the video had dreadlocks, which varied in length from person to person; what was different from what I've seen so far is the wearing of turbans over the top of their dreads.

There were a couple of things that surprised me a little though. One thing that stood out for me was the frequency of their worship. These people got up at three AM and prayed, then they played at 9 AM and then again at 3. They take every day as a holy day, while we would be, sleeping they are getting things done "spiritually, mentally, and physically" as the man in the video said. Another thing that surprised me was the blatant signs that spoke negatively about whites. There were signs that said "Black" written in black and "white" written in white positioned below "black". This is meant to imply that white is bad and black is good. Also there was a sign with the "R" of righteousness in black and the "X" of evil in white, associating white with evil and Black with righteousness. Ironically there is another sign that says "Equality and justice for all people", which makes a statement quite contrary to the other two signs.