For the fifth summer institute, ten students from the USA grounded with the Rastafari family in Jamaica between 23rd and 30th May. The faculty for this year’s Institute included Ras Sekou Tafari, Ras Kaimoh, Mama Wolete, Ras Jahlani Niaah, Sister Coleen, Ras Robbie and Ras Dominik.
This year, the students took a semester-long course on Rastafari prior to the trip. During that time, they undertook research on an i-loved elder who resided in DC, Ras Irice Clarke. The students brought their research with them to Jamaica and presented it to the community.
First stop: Ras Earthquake’s Nyahbinghi grounds in Malvern, St Elizabeth.
Students prepared themselves for the African Liberation Day Nyahbinghi on the coast, near Treasure Beach. And then it was up to the hills for an all night binghi!
Students witnessed the Fire Key being lit with appropriate prayers and chants.
It’s gonna be fiyah, hotta fiyah, Nyahbinghi fiyah!
Come daylight, students reasoned to the congregation on their research journey.
And the congregation responded.
The group then undertook a pilgrimage to Pinnacle, the original Rastafari commune, set up in the hills above Spanish Town.
There, the group came across Ras Freddie, taking care of the sacred grounds. InI reasoned with the bredrin on the trials and tribulations of looking after Pinnacle.
Ras Sekou gave an impromptu reasoning on the importance of the Pinnacle commune.
The group headed to the Blue Mountains to ground with Priest Dermot Fagan at the School of Vision. A visit to the School, with its bracing trek, is one of the highlights of the Summer Institute.
This year, Priest Fagan reasoned on cosmic dispensations – from Priest Melchizedek to the Lamb to the Lion of Judah, on microchipping, social control, and the rapture.
At the Bob Marley Museum, students took time to replicate a famous photo!
Indeed, it’s not all work. Students always get time for rest and relaxation. And this year, they were able to visit two beaches: one, near Treasure Beach:
The other, at Billy Mystic’s Jamnesia, near Bull Bay:
Our summer institutes seek to connect peoples and institutions. This year, we drew together students from Hopkins, students from the Erna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, the Iniversal Development of Rastafari (IDOR) Inc. in Baltimore/DC, faculty from the University of West Indies, Frontline Book Publishing, House of Dread, Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Nyahbinghi house at Malvern, the School of Vision, the Bob Marley Museum, and even the US Embassy – where, at the end of the trip, students presented their documentary on Ras Irice.
