“Sister Nanny”很容易被认出来：她穿着红色、金色和绿色的连衣裙，头戴与之相配的头饰，积极推广拉斯特法里教的理念。她认为这些举措能够帮助那些被社会边缘化的拉斯特法里教信徒。她指出，牙买加利用国际社会对拉斯特法里教的关注来吸引游客，但那些信徒仍然面临着种种歧视和偏见。她建议：每当牙买加从拉斯特法里文化中获利时，政府应该将收益与相关社区分享。
SISTER NANNY is easy to spot. Sporting a red, gold and green dress—with a matching headpiece—the Rastafari campaigner is outlining an idea she thinks will help marginalised members of her faith. Jamaica takes advantage of the world’s interest in Rastas to “attract visitors” to the country, she notes. Yet those same people continue to suffer stigma. She thinks the Jamaican government should share proceeds with the community, whenever it profits from their culture.
一提到牙买加，人们往往会想到脏辫、大麻和雷鬼音乐等与拉斯特法里文化相关的元素。然而，在这个岛上，拉斯特法里教常常遭到误解和攻击。这一宗教运动起源于20世纪30年代的牙买加贫困社区，其核心信仰是“Jah”（上帝）存在于每个人的内心。1930年加冕的埃塞俄比亚皇帝海尔·塞拉西一世被一些人视为基督的再世（不过塞拉西本人并不认同这一观点）。
Dreadlocks, cannabis, reggae: think of Jamaica and aspects of Rastafari culture commonly leap to mind. On the island, however, the religious movement has often been maligned. Rastafari beliefs originated in poor Jamaican neighbourhoods in the 1930s. They revolve around a single God, Jah, said to reside within each person. Haile Selassie I, the Ethiopian emperor crowned in 1930, is seen by some as the second coming of Christ (Selassie politely discouraged the idea).
从一开始，牙买加当局就采取了强硬的态度：许多拉斯特法里教信徒因持有大麻（他们将其视为神圣的圣物）而被逮捕；学校和监狱强迫他们剃掉脏辫（这违背了他们的宗教誓言）。1963年，蒙特哥贝市的一家加油站发生冲突后，暴力事件爆发，牙买加安全部队逮捕了大量拉斯特法里教信徒，其中一些人甚至丧生。
From the beginning, authorities took a tough line. Many Rastafari were arrested for possessing cannabis, which they view as a sacrament. Schools and prisons forced them to shave their dreadlocks, which violates a vow. Violence erupted in 1963, following an altercation at a petrol station in the city of Montego Bay. Security forces detained Rastas all across Jamaica; some were killed.
2017年，牙买加政府正式为这起事件道歉，并将蒙特哥贝市的一块土地交给了由“Sister Nanny”领导的组织作为赔偿。这块土地将被用于建立一座拉斯特法里教信徒的养老院。
In 2017 the Jamaican government formally apologised for the “Coral Gardens incident”, as it became known. This year it has gone further, formally handing the deeds to land in Montego Bay to a campaign group that Sister Nanny helps organise, as restitution. The land will be used for a Rastafari care home.
这一举动符合加勒比地区亲拉斯特法里政策制定的更广泛趋势。2015年，牙买加在一定程度上放宽了毒品法律，明确允许拉斯特法里信徒为宗教目的种植和使用大麻。圣文森特和格林纳丁斯于2018年通过了类似规定；巴巴多斯则在次年跟进。2023年，安提瓜和巴布达加入他们，该国总理加斯顿·布朗承认，该国曾试图“摧毁”这一信仰。今年，圣基茨和尼维斯正式承认拉斯特法里教为一种宗教，这使其获得更强的法律保护。
The move fits into a broader trend of pro-Rastafari policymaking in the Caribbean. In 2015 Jamaica somewhat liberalised its drug laws, explicitly permitting Rastas to grow and use cannabis for religious purposes. St Vincent & the Grenadines passed a similar rule in 2018; Barbados the following year. When Antigua & Barbuda joined them in 2023, the prime minister, Gaston Browne, acknowledged that his country had once tried to “destroy” the faith. This year St Kitts & Nevis formally recognised Rastafarianism as a religion, which grants it stronger legal protections.
牙买加的拉斯特法里信徒表示，歧视有所减少，但并未消失。“警察仍然骚扰拉斯特法里信徒……因为他们持有大麻，”韦斯特摩兰大麻和大麻农民协会主席拉斯·亚·V说。该运动对进展感到满意，但仍在争取更多。西斯特·南妮的团体已开始倡导，让拉斯特法里信徒获得知识产权，以保护“颜色、语言、食物……任何想要挪用我们文化的人，都应该付费”。承诺是，通过这种方式筹集的资金将用于建设学校和更多养老院。
Rastafari in Jamaica say discrimination has decreased, but not disappeared. “The police still harass Rastafari…for having herb,” says Ras Iyah V, chairman of the Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers’ Association. The movement is pleased with the progress, but it is pushing for more. Sister Nanny’s group has begun advocating for Rastas to get intellectual property rights that might protect “the colours, the language, the food...Anyone who wants to appropriate our culture, then they should pay”. The promise is that funds raised in this way would be used to build schools and more care homes.
与牙买加政府的谈判仍在继续。缺乏团结阻碍了斗争。2023年，几个不同的团体成立了拉斯特法里宅邸与组织，这是一个伞形组织，旨在帮助协调倡导工作。西斯特·南妮表示，连贯性仍然是一个挑战。“还没有统一的声音。” ■
Talks with Jamaica’s government continue. A lack of unity hampers the fight. In 2023 several distinct groups formed Rastafari Mansions and Organisations, an umbrella body, to help co-ordinate advocacy. Coherence remains a challenge, says Sister Nanny. “There is no one voice yet.” ■