t h e b l a c k o p p r e s s i o n o p p o s i t i o n m o v e m e n t
Mutabaruka
In the late 1960's and early 1970's there was an upsurge of Black Awareness in Jamaica, in the wake of a similar phenomenon in
the United States. Muta, then in his late teens, was drawn into that movement. Illicitly, in school he read many "progressive books"
including Eldrige Cleaver's Soul on Ice and some that were then illegal in Jamaica, such as The Autobiography of Malcom X. Muta
saw himself as a young revolutionary. But when he deepened his investigation of Rastafarianism, which he had once regarded as
essentially passive, he came to find its thinking more radical than that of the non-Rastafarian group with which he had associated.
While still employed at the Telephone Company, he stopped combing his hair, started growing locks, altered his diet, and declared
himself Rastafarian. A number of his friends thought he was going mad. After leaving the Telephone Company, Muta found life in
Kingston increasingly unsatisfactory. He and his friend Yvonne left Kingston in 1971 in search of a more congenial environment.
They have settled in Potosi District, in St. James. They have two children and the house that Muta built. Muta has had periods of
close contact with the Negril Beach Village, where he has explained to guests certain aspects of Jamaican culture. He has talked at
great length with many foreigners, and has found the experience broadening. To Muta now, Rastafarianism is part of a universal
quest which may also be pursued by other routes, such as Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity. He disapproves, however, of
institutionalized religion: the priest "has used your mind/to make love/with the/dead."
In the late 1960's and early 1970's there was an upsurge of Black Awareness in Jamaica, in the wake of a similar phenomenon in
the United States. Muta, then in his late teens, was drawn into that movement. Illicitly, in school he read many "progressive books"
including Eldrige Cleaver's Soul on Ice and some that were then illegal in Jamaica, such as The Autobiography of Malcom X. Muta
saw himself as a young revolutionary. But when he deepened his investigation of Rastafarianism, which he had once regarded as
essentially passive, he came to find its thinking more radical than that of the non-Rastafarian group with which he had associated.
While still employed at the Telephone Company, he stopped combing his hair, started growing locks, altered his diet, and declared
himself Rastafarian. A number of his friends thought he was going mad. After leaving the Telephone Company, Muta found life in
Kingston increasingly unsatisfactory. He and his friend Yvonne left Kingston in 1971 in search of a more congenial environment.
They have settled in Potosi District, in St. James. They have two children and the house that Muta built. Muta has had periods of
close contact with the Negril Beach Village, where he has explained to guests certain aspects of Jamaican culture. He has talked at
great length with many foreigners, and has found the experience broadening. To Muta now, Rastafarianism is part of a universal
quest which may also be pursued by other routes, such as Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity. He disapproves, however, of
institutionalized religion: the priest "has used your mind/to make love/with the/dead."
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