By Jolly Green

CanSaint Vincent’s Rastafarians trust a man that states such things as“we will hunt them down until they exist no more” “those ragamuffins in the hills” while we all know when venomously said he was referring to Rastafarian marijuana farmers?

He is also well known in the East Caribbean group of islands as stating“I am here to finish the work of Maurice Bishop.”

See: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/the-unfinished-work-of-maurice-bishop-by-peter-binose/

 According to history, https://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com,and the writings of Peter Binose, when Maurice Bishop conducted the‘coup d’état’ in Grenada, he could never have done so without the intricate and premier help of the Rastafarians. They were the leading force, without them. Bishops coup would have been a lost cause. They came from several islands to take part including from Saint Vincent.

 From the beginning and particularly on March 15th, 1979, several advisors to Maurice Bishop arrived in Grenada. Among them was Dr. Ralph E.Gonsalves of St.Vincent who met with Maurice Bishop and other revolutionary leaders. According to Gonsalves himself, Maurice Bishop invited him to help with political work. Gonsalves says he joined Bishop, riding in his car to rallies and speeches. According to Gonsalves, he had a hand in writing Bishops political speeches. So we must assume he knew what Bishop had in store for the Rastafarians,that he confided in Gonsalves and discussed strategy in dealing with the Rastafarians.

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPFeuQLwBs

Bishop made a series of promises to the Rastafarians, none of which he kept.Previously the Rastafarians had been treated as second-class citizens by PM Eric Gairy and also by other governments throughout the Eastern Caribbean. Bishop promised them equal respect for the first time, anew horizon; he promised that they would never again be persecuted in Grenada as they had been under the Gairy regime. He promised them if they were arrested under his rule they would never again have their heads forcibly shaven in prisons. They were told that their children would be allowed to go to school like other children and not be forced to have their hair cut. They were told they would have equal opportunity in government employment, without the need for chopping off their hair before getting a job. They were promised that the exotic weed would be legalized for their rituals, that they would be able to visit Ethiopia at the State expense. They were led to believe that at last their futures as Rastafari was ensured and guaranteed under Bishop. This was their dream come true and was worth fighting for, and that’s what they did, they sold their souls to Bishop on a series of what later proved to be false promises, believing their future was written in stone.

Bishop,his masters, and advisers, which included Cuba and Russia and others,decided that the Rastafarians could become counterrevolutionary. The Rastafarians simply did not like the Cubans, Russians, and communism. From the very day of the coup, the island became saturated with Cubans and some Russians. The Rasta’s did not like the Cubans, andt hey liked the Russians even less. Neither the Cubans nor the Russians liked the Rasta’s. They did not want a free-thinking people who were warriors with free minds; they wanted passive peasants who they could set in the communist mould. The Rasta’s voiced their concerns about the Cubans and Russians, and Bishop decided after being ordered to deal with them, to subdue them, remove them and if necessary destroy them. Maurice Bishop carried out a campaign of spite and malice against the Rasta’s that lasted over four years, a kind of politico-ethnic cleansing.

 Bishop ensured there was brutal oppression of the Rastafari during the four years of the ‘Revo’ including beatings, imprisonment, torture,and executions by the PRG. (From the microfiche records of seized Grenadian Revolution records, held at Maryland Record Office, USA.

See: https://soualigayouth.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/rastafari-in-the-grenada-revolution/

The Rastafarians in Grenada mainly lived in the mountains, in theinterior. Some also lived in the towns, but the most significant concentration was in the hills. Maurice Bishop ensured they were run out of the hills. Their children were not allowed to attend school unless they had their hair cut short. Rasta men and women who were lucky enough not to be imprisoned were required to have their haircut short and faces clean shaved before they were considered for a government job. They were not allowed to smoke weed for ritual purposes and were imprisoned if they did. Not just a few but the majority of Rasta’s were detained by Bishop, in doing so, their hair was not only cut, their heads were shaved, their manhood attacked and their religion and beliefs desecrated.

This was contrary to the original promises given by Maurice Bishop to the Rastafarians and began within the first three months of the Revolution. Was Ralph Gonsalves involved in this procedure against the Rastafari? That I cannot tell you, but he brags about being an influence in what Bishop did. Even if he was, unless someone else comes forward and confirms he was involved, I doubt he would ever admit it.

But can the Vincentian Rastafarians now trust him over the marijuana law she is now enacting in SVG’s parliament? We must keep in mind that Gonsalves is a self-confirmed liar, and therefore I suggest his word,therefore, cannot be trusted. Gonsalves has been accused and also charged with sex crimes against women, but never answered in a court on the matter.

Those who are weed farmers in Saint Vincent just do not know about the deviousness of the Bishop regime who managed to divide Rasta’s in Grenada, setting Rasta’s against Rasta’s. Just like that what happened in Grenada, the Gonsalves regime has managed to divide Vincentian Rasta’s against each other over the marijuana legalization for medical use and divided they will fall, divided they will fall.

That is all the work against Rastafarians’ by a dishonourable Vincentian leadership, who go into parliament and demand being addressed as honourable, they are not honourable they have dishonoured, insulted and their administered and owned police force have hunted and killed Rastafarians in the hills for years. Hunting them down in the hills until they exist no more, hunting down those scallywags, hunting down those ragamuffins. Scallywag, an insulting word or name, a word applied to undersized or ill-formed cattle, or to some disreputable person. Adopted from the word Scallywog a word to describe ignorant or unsuitable slaves in the US and Caribbean. Ragamuffin, an insulting word or name, a muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags, a ragged, disreputable person. Remember it’s you the Rastafarians who have been called these names and in doing so disrespected as a nation.

 The man in the Caribbean who Rasta’s should pay honour to is Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a real man of honour, the Honourable Gaston Browne. Gaston recently said

“In the Caribbean, the Rastafari Community has championed the many uses of Cannabis, and have asserted that the herb is utilized as a sacrament in their rituals, in their celebrations and worship. The prohibition and demonization have led to Rastafari being brutalized and castigated by Police and other Government authorities, because of the utilization of the plant Cannabis Sativa.

 “It is in this context, and now that my Government has liberalized the Legislation regarding Cannabis, and is moving towards the medicinal &other uses of this natural substance, that I have issued a ‘genuine’ apology to the Rastafarian Community, and have asserted that Rastafari sacramental or spiritual use be acknowledged and that Rastafari be given a stake in production and benefits to be derived from the medicinal and other uses going forward.

 “Let us regard this as reparations for Rastafarians, for the wrongs inflicted on this significant minority group in our Countries,through the so-called ‘war on drugs’ which evidently was prompted by pernicious prohibition.

 Bless up!” [The Honourable, Gaston Browne]

Time for the Vincentian Rasta’s to help by [peacefully] removing the dishonourable from our society, don’t associate with them, do notvote for them. Ralph Gonsalves in my view has declared himself the enemy of the Rastafarian nation in SVG. He reconfirmed this by not passing appropriate law for Rasta’s to use the holy herb. Thank goodness that the use is blessed and approved by Jah.

Those Rastafarians’ who have aligned themselves and sold out the principles of Jah to this nasty collection of Rasta haters should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, it’s time to repent and ask fellow brethren for forgiveness.

This is a must for every Rasta to read:

See: https://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com/nnaspeaks.html

So,which label or badge belongs or applies to you? Rastafarian, Rastamuffin, or Scallywog, ask Ralph.

Praise Jah

END

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