RASTAFARI CELEBRATE ROOTS, RELIGION

Candacee Rakem grooms her dreadlocks with her hands. She doesn't use
combs and brushes and hasn't cut her hair in 22 years.

The 40-year-old Jamaican native is the founder of Real Afrikan
Cultural Expressions International, an organization that caters to the
needs of the Rastafari -- vegetarians who wear dreadlocks as sacred
hair, reject white Western culture, believe humans are one with nature
and in the repatriation of blacks to Africa, and smoke marijuana as a
religious offering to God.

On July 22, RACE, which is based in Miramar, hosted its first Royal
Ethiophile Banquet in honor of the 108th birth anniversary of the late
Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, whom they worship as God. Some
400 Rastas and guests attended the event in the Jefferson Room of El
Palacio Banquet Centre in North Dade. They included Winston Barnes, a
popular radio personality who hosts Open Line, a daily morning show on
WAVS-1170 AM that deals with current events in the black community.

"I was totally impressed with the presentation and their message,"
Barnes said. "The fact that there wasn't any marijuana used and the
fact that they conducted themselves so well is something to admire."

Barnes said he particularly enjoyed watching youth serve the meal,
which consisted of tofu, peas, corn meal and nonalcoholic beverages.
Rakem, who grew up in the ghettos of Kingston before moving at age 12
to Miami with her mother Lucille Garvis , said Rastafari face all
kinds of misconceptions because "most people think all we do is smoke,
bathe and breathe weed."

"We're aware it's illegal but some states have legalized it for
medical purposes," she said. "Sometimes when you smoke marijuana, you
are chanting down the negativity of the Earth and holding a spiritual
meditation to a higher level. What we do behind closed doors is not
anyone's business. That's a risk we take because we believe in it."

The July 22 celebration was a grand gala for the group because it took
place on the eve of the anniversary of Selassie's birth. "That was
when he revealed himself to the world, and that's why this was a huge
affair for all Rastafarians," Rakem said.

Selassie was the 225th descendant of King David from the Bible, she
said.

However, the beliefs of Rastafarians are often compared to a cult and
are not accepted in religious circles. Barnes said he is intolerant of
people who look down on them.

"Organized religion has always dismissed the beliefs of the
Rastafarian," he said. "It's pure hypocrisy because preachers and
pastors are not supposed to judge anyone, yet they say Rastas are bad
people. I have a problem with that contradiction."

The Rev. Craig Hammond of First United Methodist Church of Coral
Gables has his own take on the Rasta movement.

"They are a religion but I would make a distinction between them and
the Christian faith because we follow the teachings of Jesus," Hammond
said. "They are more of a sect or a culturally based faith and are
kind of exclusionary.

"It's not part of the Christian faith [to smoke marijuana]. It's
interesting that they have to use a drug to be brought to this higher
level. Why can't they just worship like everyone else does? The monks
have been practicing meditation for a long time and we don't use a
drug to get us in touch with God."

Not so, said Michael Barnett, a sociology professor at Florida
International University, who teaches social change and social
movement. A Rastafari, Barnett says there are millions of Rastas
around the world.

"The most contentious thing in American society is the smoking of
marijuana but, within their religion, is a sacrament," he said.
"Native Americans smoke peyote. It's part of the religious doctrine.
It's taken really seriously within the movement for our rituals. It's
not to get high. It's to get to a spiritual level where one would
worship and get in touch more with God more effectively."

Barnett said the movement owes a great deal to the late Jamaican
reggae superstar Bob Marley. Thanks to Marley, the Rastafari movement
has become globalized, he said.

"Here in Miami, there's a large movement because we have a large
Caribbean community. However, the stereotype in America is that people
see Rastas as criminal types who smoke weed," Barnett said.

In 1997, the United Nations passed a resolution acknowledging the
movement as a religion, Barnett said.

The movement was started in Jamaica when word spread that a black king
would be crowned in the eastern side of the world; it turned out to be
Selassie. He was crowned king of Ethiopia in 1930 and ruled until his
death in 1975.

For the gala, red, gold, and green adorned each table with traditional
African statuettes as center pieces. Souvenir booklets were placed on
each chair with a description of the event and advertisements from
sponsors such as Earth Angel Hair and Nail Gallery and Links Pub.

Brenda Solomon, who owns Affinity Insurance Group in Miramar, was one
of the sponsors. She was pleased with how the night turned out.

"I'm not a Rasta but I support what they do," she said. "It was a
family affair that unites the community. A lot of people look at
`dreads' and have a negative attitude about it. These types of events
can really complement businesses."

Keisha Morris, 25, also was at the gala. And, although she doesn't
have the dreadlocks to show she's a Rasta, she said she's as dedicated
a follower as any other.

"I'm a Rasta in my heart," she said. "I eat vegetarian food and try to
be as caring and loving as I can be to my community. What we seek are
unity and peace at all times and to follow the concept of our African
traditions and culture."

And, following that concept also means belief in repatriation to
Africa as a way to be more in touch with nature.

"We are not racist," Rakem said. "We just want to go back to our
roots. Our ultimate goal is to return to Africa at some point in life
because we feel a more spiritually based life that we can't fulfill
here."