The First Rasta: How Leonard Howell Challenged Colonial Power Through Divine African Identity

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Leonard Percival Howell, known as The First Rasta, transformed Jamaican society by proclaiming Haile Selassie I the returned Messiah. His radical message of black supremacy and anti-colonial liberation sparked intense state persecution, leading to the creation of Pinnacle, a self-sustaining commune that became the legendary heart of the Rastafari movement.

Born in 1898, Leonard Howell spent two decades abroad, absorbing the Pan-Africanist ideals of Marcus Garvey’s UNIA in New York. Upon returning to Jamaica in 1932, he began preaching that the 1930 coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia fulfilled biblical prophecy. Howell’s doctrine, detailed in his book The Promised Key, asserted that Ethiopia was the original, uncorrupted land and that the Emperor was the supreme God over humanity. By positioning blackness as morally superior to white colonial ideology, Howell directly challenged the established order, earning him the title of the most persecuted Rastafarian of his era.

The colonial establishment, led by figures like future Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante, viewed Howell’s grassroots movement as a severe threat to their political monopoly. In 1934, Howell was sentenced to two years in prison for sedition. Undeterred, he founded the Ethiopian Salvation Society in 1939 and established Pinnacle in 1940. This self-sufficient commune in St. Catherine Parish served as a model of economic and spiritual independence, where followers practiced a form of socialism and cultivated ganja. However, the state’s hostility intensified, culminating in a destructive 1954 paramilitary raid where authorities burned years of Howell’s manuscripts and demolished the settlement.

Despite the collapse of Pinnacle by 1960 and his own repeated incarcerations—including a stint in a mental asylum—Howell’s influence proved impossible to extinguish. His followers scattered across Jamaica, spreading the Rastafari faith island-wide. While he faced constant state surveillance and violence, including a brutal attack in 1981 that preceded his death at age 83, his legacy has been formally recognized. In 2022, the Jamaican government, which once sought to silence him, awarded Howell the Order of Distinction, cementing his status as a foundational hero of anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism.

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