Greetings Ones and Ones.
I am currently working on a report that will address issues faced by RastafarI people in I area. Though this particular report is concentrating on the South-West of England, many of the issues I and I in the local community have identified are not isolated to Ones and Ones in this area, and I mean to demonstrate that these issues feed into eachother and are part of a wider struggle to achieve I and I goals and aspirations. To help with this, could Ones and Ones here give feedback on whether these issues are present in their area, and whether there are any issues I and I might have missed out?
The universal issues that I and I have identified are:
1. Distorted/ignorant perceptions of RastafarI among the wider population - Caused by a variety of things from wolves in sheeps clothing saying RastafarI but not living the Livity, to commercial misappropriation of RastafarI symbols, distorted media representations and simple ignorance.
2. Economic disenfranchisement - Strongly linked to the first issue. Many RastafarI people find it difficult if not impossible to find conventional employment, and so become self employed, where negative perceptions of RastafarI still hinder progress. The only avenues of employment I and I could identify locally where a person's faith in RastafarI would not be an issue were the music/creative business and the ganja trade. This leads to a situation where I and I have little in the form of infrastructure or the means for development. To give an example locally in I area; the Nyahbinghi headquarters is a squat. If the Elder who maintains it was made to pay rent, he wouldn't be able to afford it and so I and I would lose it. When that is the situation, how can I and I go about developing?
3. Friction with law enforcement - Although I and I face little compared with what the Elders who set the foundation went through so that I and I could trod this path, police are still an ever present threat. Because of I and I associations with ganja and the fact that police are statitistically more likely to target Black people, RastafarI people still often fall foul of the police. This adds more aspects to the first two issues, since a police or criminal record puts even more of a damper on employment prospects and feeds into the perception that RastafarI people are criminals.
4. Lack of unity within RastafarI - This is an issue that lies solely with I and I. As a Rasta youth, I am sometimes dismayed at the lack of unity displayed by some Elders who allow things such as mansions or geographic location or even ego to get in the way of I and I progress. I and I still argue over the bible. I and I argue over who's organisation gets to lead the way. I and I argue over this and I and I argue over that. More than anything this has to end. His Majesty called on I and I to organise and centralise back in 1966, and now in 2012 it is more urgent than ever.
Please give any impressions the I them have about the issues I and I have identified. I and I can Reason on any of them, and anything Ones and Ones have to say will be useful in writing this report.
Blessed love
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