Title: "I want my kids to be righteous and Rasta"

source:mail and guardian

Excerpt: Outside the house -- which is dotted with red, green and yellow balloons, the colours of the Rastafari -- the adults are swaying to the upbeat sounds of reggae. Jabulisile Mofolo, like many of the women who have come to celebrate her daughter's birthday, is dressed conservatively. She wears a long floral dress and her long sleeved shirt is buttoned to the top, her dreadlocks tied up under a black turban.

Excerpt: He says that dreadlocks are a sign of the Rasta faith, the length of their hair representing their wisdom and the years they have been loyal to their religion, acting like "antennae" to connect them to their ancestors, God and Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 and considered by the Rastas to be a living God.

Excerpt: Rastas are strongly tied to Pan-Africanism, the belief that all black people of the world should join in brotherhood and work to decolonise Africa. They also believe in the repatriation of all black people of the diaspora. Smoking marijuana, for them, is a form of religious practice.

Excerpt: One of their religious practices is known as "reasoning", which is an opportunity to discuss their spiritual and philosophical views while burning marijuana as a sacrament. One person is honoured by being allowed to light the herb and say a short prayer.