(1).
Haile Selassie I did many things for the blacks in Africa. When Ethiopia was being attacked by Italy, he helped organize the Ethiopian World Federation in the United States ("Rastafarianism" 1). The Ethiopian World Federation guided the Africans to America to stay while the war was going on in Ethiopia (1). After Italy was defeated, the Emperor Haile Selassie I wanted to show his appreciation, so he donated land at Shashamone to any African who lived in to the West and wanted to return to their homeland (1). Haile Selassie I wasn't donating the land just to the Rastas; in fact Haile Selessie I wasn't even a Rastafarian. He was a devoted Christian, and he donated the land to the people of Africa (1). Most people don't even know what Emperor Haile Selessie I thought of the whole Rastafarian movement ("The Rastafarian Religion" 1). When a group of Rastas went to Ethiopia to honor him, he told his soldiers to tell them to go away (1). This didn't make them question their faith; it only made it stronger.
Haile Selassie I was the emperor of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is now considered Rastas Heaven on Earth ("Rastafarianism" 6). In Ethiopia there is no afterlife or heaven or hell as Christians believe (6). Ethiopia is also referred to as Zion (6). "Rasta believes that Jah will send a signal and help finance the black exodus back to Ethiopia" (6). Any news from Ethiopia is taken very seriously by the Rastafarians as a warning to get ready to leave.
Rastafarians believe that their ancestors did something to offend Jah (God), which brought them into the exile of slavery in Jamaica. This exile is called Babylon (Hartman 2). Babylon is the Rastafarian term for white political power that has been holding the black race down (2). In the past, the Rastafarians believed that they were being held down by slavery, by being made to work for poor wages and live in small shacks (2).