Rastafari Conference turns spotlight on music - Papers on Buju, Marley as businessman included

With Rastafari heavily involved in Jamaican popular music, naturally, music will be part of the discussion at the 2013 Rastafari Studies Conference and General Assembly. 

The conference is under way at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, with the presentations centred around the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

The academic presentations started on Tuesday and will end on Thursday, before the conference moves to Montego Bay, St James, for its closing day on Friday.

Today, Dr Sonjah Stanley Niaah will present a paper, 'Buju's Alpha and Omega: Revisiting 'Boom Bye Bye' and Reggae's Human Rights Agenda'.

The presentation is part of a panel, 'Rastafari and Human Rights and Religious Rights', which will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in N1, Neville Hall Lecture Theatre.

'Rastafari and Reggae'

On Thursday, August 15, there will be an entire panel on 'Rastafari and Reggae' 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., also in N1. The presentations are diverse, as Rita Keresztesi will present 'Songs of Freedom: African Reggae and Hip-Hop' and Blaine Thomas' paper is 'Youth Agency, Contributions of Sons and Daughters'.

Dr Donna Hope will analyse 'New Name? Conceptualising the Second Wave of Post-millenial 'Rastafari Resistance' in Jamaican Popular Music'.

The final presentation is by Asante Amen, on 'Give the Teachings of HIM, the Journey of one Rasta Bredren to Find Self'.

Also on Thursday in N1, in the 3 to 4:30 p.m. session, Dr Kadamawe K'nife will present his paper 'Bob Marley - The Social Entrepreneur - a Rebel With a Cause - a Business Model'.

Music is not the only form of artistic expression which will be analysed during the 2013 Rastafari Studies Conference.

In one of the final panels on Thursday, Dr Imani Tafari-Ama will present on 'Rastafari Matrarchy: The Omega Principle and the Contribution of the Lioness Through Film Making'. Also, Nicole Jean Baptiste will analyse 'Rastafarian Art and Craftwork: A Present Day Livelihood and a Bridge to the Past via African Cultural Retention'.

Both papers will be presented at N4 during the panel on Rastafari, Gender and Development.

A number of films are interspersed throughout the conference. On Wednesday evening, the Andy Capper directed 'Reincarnated' will be shown in N1, starting at 8 p.m. There will be three films in a row on Thursday evening, also in N1, starting at 8 p.m. They are Jah Lives, directed by Franklyn 'Chappie' St Juste, Deborah Thomas' Bad Friday and Peeta Uppa Pan Top, directed by Kereen Karim.

(from Jamaica Gleaner)