Week 8 blog

I think that this video is very fitting to what we have read about Rastafaris already. The people seem to not have strayed that much from the focus of Ethiopia and its greatness and their desire to return. They also seem to maintain many of the ideas and living styles that came from the ideas of Howell and the original commune he started. The people from the video kept alive the idea of black being superior to white. This could be seen in the sings that were hand made that were around the commune. It had symbols of a black "R" for right over a white "X" for wrong. Also, the word "black" in black letters appears directly over the top of the word "white" in white letters. These two signs clearly show how the Rastas in the video still adhere to the ideal of black being superior to white. Also, they keep up the lifestyle that was created by Howell in the original commune. They live on their own, outside of the rest of society and survive by farming on the land. They live based on what they grow and they still live in the same commune style that Howell had created. They even seemed to still grow marijuana as seen by the one image of the man smoking on the Sabbath. They seemed to maintain the old ways of living and wanted to keep old traditions that connected them to Ethiopia also. The turbans and dreadlocks were described by the man as being connected to Ethiopia as traditional attire. I think that these aspects of commune living and beliefs are, for the most part, consistant with what we have read so far.