Rastafari began in Jamaica in the 1930s as a religious movement linking Black Power and pan-Africanism. Combining theology with perspectives on history from the Black underclass, its early leaders went on trial for promoting sedition and were branded mentally insane. The movement expanded through spreading its key messages, such as the benefits of self-sufficiency, separatism from the state and loyalty to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian World Federation helped the movement to attract international support, and Rastafari increasingly saw returning to Africa as a necessity. Rastafari became a political force due to the racism encountered by Jamaicans in Britain.
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