RASTAFARI profiling is real!

So say members of the Rastafarian community.

But it goes beyond the police force, they said in an interview with the SUNDAY SUN last Friday. Such profiling, they say, extends to the main social institutions and it is a problem that will not go away easily, unless the movement is endorsed fully by the Government.

“This has not now started and it will not finish anytime soon. Outside of the police force, there is profiling within the education and health system and even our own families.

“This is and has been a reality for us,” said Sister Asheba Trotman, chairperson of ICAR and co-chair of the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO).

Trotman recently returned from St Vincent representing CRO in talks with Vincentain Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on the advancement of Rastafari in that country.

Similar communication with the Government here, is her solution to the “scourge” currently faced by members in Barbados, she said.

“Across the region it happens, unwarranted searches, brutality, breaking into homes and no accountability. It is necessary for us to sit and discuss these issues. We spoke at length with Mr Gonsalves about a range of issues especially in relation to trade and culture and that is the way to progress,” she said.

In Temple Yard, the City, a “safe haven” for Rastafarians in Barbados, artist David McClean echoed similar sentiments regarding profiling outside of the Police Force.

He says however, that without Rastafari, culture would have been lost in Barbados and for that reason alone, the relationship must be mended and “ultimate respect given to the community for its contribution over the years”.

“I would like the Prime Minister, with all the emphasis currently generated towards culture, get together and mend this relationship.

“We are the bosom of culture in Barbados and he needs to sit down with the law enforcement agencies, not in a cosmetic way, but informal and have genuine dialogue about this issue,” McClean said.

Pointing to his bald head, McClean said: “Rasta is a fruition of the spirit . . . my allegiance to black nationalism, I see through the eyes of Rastafari and maybe that is where people go wrong.

“It is not about a hairstyle and this social ostracism does not start with the police, because fathers and mothers reject their children when they proclaim this faith.”

Ras ILex, an elder of the community and award-winning sculptor, was critical of the Police Force.

The code of the institution is wrong, he said, and does not promote professionalism, especially among new recruits entering the force.

“It is sad, some of these guys are not very intelligent, and if you as a Rasta man can exhibit a high level of intellect, it offends them.

“They often want you to show fear or submit to their authority, although you are not breaking the law. The educational requirements for admission to the force has to be upgraded. Three CXCs should not be the minimum requirement for a police officer, with the authority that is bestowed on them; it can be dangerous,” he said.

For many Rastafarians, the death of I’Akobi Maloney was one of many sparks in the fire.

Since then, they say they are even more concerned about their safety. Apart from that, some are upset that the police are intent on investigating the family’s behaviour following the verdict delivered on April 24.

“This death has brought Rasta together and I don’t think they [police] like seeing that. It has caused us to think seriously about our safety and the rights we observe to explore Mother Nature in peace.

“It took me back to the late 1970s and early 1980s when your locks were cut in the street for just being Rasta,” businessman and movie director Bongo Lights said.

“The police could have adopted a more humble approach to this Maloney case because you can understand the pain his mother is feeling, having raised such a brilliant young man and then lose him like that,” Lights said.