Rastafarians Want Meeting With Queen
By Associated Press

February 17, 2002, 4:49 PM EST

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Leaders of Jamaica's Rastafarian community said Sunday
that they want to meet with Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the
former British colony to persuade her to pay for Rastafarians to be
repatriated to Africa.

"Colonialization has disfigured us and we deserve some response to what we
have been through," said Sam Clayton, head of the cultural group Mystic
Revelation of Rastafari. "We think the queen can make a significant
contribution."

The queen arrives Monday for a three-day visit to the Caribbean island.

Most Jamaicans are black descendants of the African slaves brought to the
island by British colonizers. Rastafarians in Jamaica have been asking for
repatriation costs from the British Crown since the 1960s, when a delegation
from the community presented a petition to the United Nations.

Clayton said he met with the queen during her last visit to Jamaica nearly a
decade ago, but he said the topic of repatriation never came up. He said he
plans to deliver a letter to her on the issue.

"We have faith that she will listen; she is a gracious queen," Clayton said.

Other Rastafarians are planning peaceful demonstrations at places the queen
is scheduled to visit.

Rastafarianism's many sects worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile
Selassie, and many Rastas advocate a return to Africa.

The religion emerged in Jamaica and spread throughout the Caribbean in the
1930s. Adherents are often noted for their dreadlocks and use of marijuana,
which followers believe aids meditation.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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