NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At a recent opening of the newest Rastafari place of worship just outside Kenya’s capital, some of the faithful gathered to sing rhythmic songs, read Scripture and exchange teachings on the appropriate way to live.
The rare event — opening a tabernacle made of wooden poles and roofed with iron sheets — illustrated the community’s expanding ranks in a country where until recently Rastafari was not considered a legitimate religion.
Things changed in 2019 with a court ruling in favor of a petitioner who cited discrimination when her school demanded that she cut her dreadlocks, often preferred by those who follow the Rastafari religion.
The student’s refusal to cut her locks had resulted in her expulsion from school, but the High Court ruled Rastafari was a legitimate religion that should be protected, a ruling later affirmed by the Supreme Court.
A history of the religion
Across the world, the faithful are known as Rastafarians, members of the movement launched in 1930 with the coronation in Ethiopia of Ras Tafari Mekonnen as Emperor Haile Selassie I. Rastafarians believe Selassie was the final incarnation of the biblical Jesus, and during his reign many Rastafarians made pilgrimage to the Horn of Africa nation. For Rastafarians, Ethiopia was a symbol of pride for its unbroken resistance to colonizers and Selassie was Jah, the deity.
Selassie …