Beautiful Beautiful Zion

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile.

The V&A held a Rastafari event on 20th August, which tied in with the museum's exhibition of Sacred Art from Ethiopia.

Beautiful Beautiful Zion within the Heart of the Lion featured dub poetry from Levi Tafari, and a sound system from Mikey Dread and MC Ras Kayleb of Channel One Sound Systems.

The musical and verbal stylings of the Ras Messengers resounded through the building. A line of brothas beat 'pon dem drum like a heartbeat pulsing through all of us assembled there.

The community had truly turned out to bless and be blessed by them. All ages were represented, from the eldest to the youngest.

We often speak of peace, love and unity and that night, we truly expressed and experienced these qualities.

As was correctly stated, the sacred objects were stolen from Africa and need to be returned to their home.

Having said that, we, who were also stolen from Africa, were given the opportunity to draw on some of their energy, which had built up through sacred rituals over many years. So the museum has done us some service.

Waiting at the bus stop afterwards, I had a lively discussion with half a dozen people who had attended the event. Not my usual bus stop experience.

Make sure you are at the next one.