HOW TO SAY BABYLON by Safiya Sinclair

This book definitely provided a learning experience, especially with regard to the origins and beliefs of Rastafari.  I did not previously know that the Rasta revered Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia, who staved off Mussolini’s invasion and ruled the only African country never colonized.  In fact, the word Rastafari comes from Haile Selassie’s name prior to becoming emperor, which was Ras Tafari Makonnen.  I also did not know that Rastafari is very paternalistic, and women are definitely second-class citizens whose main function is to serve men.  The author grew up in a Rasta household in Jamaica where, fortunately, education was encouraged.  She, along with her brother and two sisters, were very bright and excelled in school, largely due to their mother’s love of books and learning.  Safiya’s father was a musician whose extreme distaste for all things foreign still did not prevent him from regularly performing covers of Bob Marley songs in the tourist hotels.  He, however, did not extend acceptance of non-Rasta influences to the rest of his family.  At one point, Safiya opted to forego an opportunity for a modeling contract in the U.S., because she feared her father’s ire if she cut her dreadlocks.  And well she should, because his temper tantrums were horrific.  Plus, the scoundrel shamelessly flaunted his girlfriends in front of his family.  I was very frustrated that Safiya continued to return to Jamaica following several trips to the U.S. where she went to college on scholarship and achieved recognition for her poetry.  Her need for her father’s approval, which seemed to be unattainable, made me think of a battered wife who finds it impossible to leave her tormentor.  As in many of those cases, Safiya also needed his financial support.  This bleak memoir was painful to read, not only because of what Safiya and her siblings went through, but also because their father never suffered any consequences for his actions.