Rastafari’s PINNACLE
By Sista Irie
August 25, 2023
Pinnacle Temple
(This is a repost with editing from a FB note written in 2013)
"I've Been to the Mountaintop" was embedded in Martin Luther King's final speech delivered shortly before his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. In this emotionally charged moment, King reflects on the overwhelming greatness of the civil rights struggle, stating that once he reached the mountaintop, he saw the Promised Land. (April 3, 1968)
As a teen, I was fortunate to observe and hear Martin Luther King speak at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. the Sunday before his death. (March 31, 1968) His words, still burned into memory, came immediately to mind in 2013 when I climbed the heights of a spectacular panorama in the hillside outside of Kingston in Sligoville, Jamaica. This area, PINNACLE, was the first RASTAFARI settlement, founded by Leonard Percival Howell, known as the First Rasta (1893- 1981). Rastafari built a self sufficient community living peacefully among themselves before the government came in 1954 after years of seige and burned the village down. Leonard Howell and many of the inhabitants were displaced.
As a Reggae radio host of forty years and a committed reggae music photographer, I have long been influenced and educated about the importance of PINNACLE as the birthplace of the Rastafarian movement. The association of Rastafari culture with Jamaican art and music acknowledges the influential roots of a displaced African society that resulted in one of the world's most intensely rich subcultures. Nyabinghi drumming originated from a female warrior tribe in Uganda led by Queen Nyahbinghi and was later adopted by Rastafari. Nyahbinghi maintains the link between Rastafari ideology and African heritage. Groups such as Mystic Revelation of Rastafari and Chinna Smith’s Binghistra Movement continues to bring the heartbeat sound of the drums to the masses. Nyabinghi is said to mean “Death to all black and white oppressors.”
The idea that a Maroon-like society, so powerful and unique could be discredited, ignored and purposely erased by the government should be intolerable. Intellectuals, educators and preservationists of world cultures MUST activate and speak up on cultural degradation before it is too late. The eviction of RASTAFARI people from Pinnacle land to create a new housing development in recent years is nothing less than horrific disregard of the very belief system that motivated Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer whose international fame took the critical spiritual messages of Rastafari globally. Many of the ancient graves from Pinnacle were crudely dynamited out of the earth including the wife of Leonard Howell.
The view from Pinnacle. One of the few residents hanging on.
The misguided act of eviction reflects a lack of consciousness by an uninspired government spiraling in ignorance while disregarding the value of the country’s globally treasured heritage. Bob, Peter and Bunny (among others) introduced Rastafari to the world resulting in global recognition and philosophical influence. Why would the Jamaican government not protect this historical site and promote an updated home for Rastafari?
Rastafari is a belief system reflecting roots of African ancestry while simultaneously implementing a unique society reflected in the artistic documentation of Jamaican history. The government and people of Jamaica must therefore seek to adhere to the aims and objectives of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in its treatment of Rastafari culture and the countries resources and treasures.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) describes world heritage as ‘our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.' UNESCO's role globally supports the preservation of cultural heritage through universally applied grants and programs. The UNESCO World Heritage Convention, to which Jamaica is a signatory, recognizes that deterioration or disappearance of any item of cultural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all nations of the world. The Convention also clearly states that parts of the cultural or natural heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole.
It should further be noted that the Smithsonian Institute created an exhibit “Discovering Rastafari in 2007. "Featuring rare photographs, artifacts, and ephemera, this exhibition moves beyond the popular Jamaican music known as reggae to explore the origins and practice of the Rastafari religion in Jamaica and the movement's subsequent spread across the Caribbean and around the world." Smithsonian Magazine, January 2008.
Entry to the Smithsonian Institute Discovering Rastafari Exhibit
Ten years later, now 2023, there remains unclear information regarding the future of what was the Pinnacle. An investigation was launched by the Government years ago, but from what I read in the Gleaner, as of 2022, no report has been tendered. According to reliable online resources, parts of the land have been purchased by the JNHT (Jamaican National Heritage Trust) and final solutions that can help remedy the issues are still unclear.
More information can be found in this 2022 article from the Jamaican Gleaner.
PINNACLE story 2022 Jamaican Gleaner
An earlier report Jamaican Gleaner (2014) with more history can be found here:
New housing being built in 2013 on Pinnacle grounds