Boboshanti

Here is a short video explaining some customs and beliefs of the boboshanti in a Rastafarian village. In this video, there are many things that are in keeping with the Rastafarian traditions explained in our text, Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture Bearers. Their entire lives are focused on getting back to the homeland that is Ethiopia. They consider themselves children of Africa and they believe that they must return to there. They desire equality and justice for all, which is a Rastafarian ideal stemming from the inequality and injustice they have faced for decades in Jamaica. Something that was striking about this group of, what the narrator calls the "most spiritually committed Rastafarians," is the fact that they wear turbans to cover their traditional dreadlocks.

The text explains that the dreadlocks have multiple levels of significance. Firstly, dreadlocks go against the social norms of beauty in Jamaica. It rejects the notion of skin bleaching or hair straightening and actually accentuates the nature of African hair. Also, dreadlocks go against the social norms of cleanliness and bathing because they appear matted, which in turn are thought to be dirty. The dreadlocks also emphasize the Rastafarian believe in all natural and organic living, because the hair is not being pulled or combed in unnatural ways.  The dreadlocks also signify fearsomeness and fearlessness because of their visual association with the Lion. Dreadlocks are seen as a spiritual and "mystical link between the Rastas and Jah... In this context locks are a kind of receptor or psychic antenna."  And finally, the dreadlocks are symbolic of the Babylonic Jamaicas unavoidable doom (Edmonds 59-60).

So why do these Rastas wear turbans to cover their distinguishing dreadlocks? Well, the answer is explained in the video. It is explained that turbans are worn because it is an ancient dressing that is worn by the people of Ethiopia. In the text, the dreadlocks were never explicitly linked to Ethiopia, except for the fact that they could be a "psychic antenna" between the Rastas and Jah or Selassie. I think that wearing these turbans are another way to connect to Ethiopia explicitly that is not accomplished through dreadlocks alone. Obviously these people are still following the dreadlocks tradition under their turbans, but this means that they value the physical connection with Ethiopia over the implications of wearing dreadlocks alone. Though the strength and defying of social norms is still present in their appearances, they value the idea of upholding an ancient Ethiopian tradition as well. They call themselves Rastas, so they have the dreadlocks like all other Rastas. But they also call themselves children of Africa, which is not what all the Rastas call themselves, so they use their appearance to reflect their strong connection to Africa by adorning themselves with turbans as crowns in the ancient Ethiopian tradition.