Barbados In Need Of Ganja Rally. Nyahbinghi Chanting For Justice.

Sunday the 14^th October saw the gathering of all mansions (denominations) of Rastafari along with pro cannabis activist at Woodford Square in the capital of the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago, Port-Of-Spain, to protest the continued prohibition of cannabis.

It was reported in the Guardian Newspaper that, “For ap­prox­i­mate­ly 10 hours, the il­le­gal drug ap­peared to be tem­porar­i­ly “de­crim­i­nalized” with­in the con­fines of the park, as gan­ja smok­ers from across T&T openly lit up in the shadows of the un­der-ren­o­va­tion Red House and Hall of Jus­tice.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s first ever National Ganja Rally was hailed a success. That being said, the ultimate success of current cannabis advocacy action’s for legalization across the region would be the total legalization of the plant. I was told this national ganja rally lasted some 10 hours. I was also informed that an unofficial amnesty on the arrest of people for using the plant was in effect for that activity.  It would seem, based on reports given that GANJA ap­peared to be tem­porar­i­ly “de­crim­i­nalized” with­in the con­fines of the park, as gan­ja smok­ers from across T&T open­ly lit up in the shad­ows of the un­der-ren­o­va­tion Red House and Hall of Jus­tice.

 

 

The Guardian Newspaper reported that “ Around mid­day, how­ev­er, se­nior po­lice of­fi­cers were seen check­ing whether the or­gan­is­ers had per­mis­sion to host the ral­ly and to re­mind them that pos­ses­sion of mar­i­jua­na is still il­le­gal. They said, “we just want to make sure that no­body has a mar­i­jua­na plant ex­hi­bi­tion. It has not been de­crim­i­nalized yet,” one of­fi­cer was heard say­ing be­fore they left.

Although a hand­ful of po­lice of­fi­cers re­mained for the remainder of the event, the day proceeded without incident as the officers chose to secure the perimeter of Woodford Square in­stead of nav­i­gat­ing through the crowd looking for Ganja smokers to arrest.

The first ever National Ganja Rally was adorned with Rasta­far­i­ prayers and chants, reggae mu­sic and speech­es by lo­cal and in­ter­na­tion­al cannabis ac­tivists and pro­po­nents.

 

 

Many took this opportunity to have a puff of the cannabis as they meditated on the days proceedings, oth­ers drank home­made gan­ja wine, while others con­sumed ed­i­ble prod­ucts. It was a day of sharing filled with intent and the conviction that Rastafari in Trinidad and Tobago be decriminalized through the legalization of the cannabis plant. Cannabis business was booming on the day as some peo­ple sold trin­kets and jew­ellery, while oth­ers had merchandise that included T-shirts, grinders, bongs, smok­ing pa­per and oth­er cannabis para­pher­na­lia for sale.

Although those gathered for the most part were mem­bers of the dif­fer­ent Rasta­far­i­an sects, there were al­so a lot of oth­ers from a wide cross-sec­tion of T&T’s so­ci­ety. At­ten­dees were treat­ed to per­for­mances from a cadre of up-and-com­ing and vet­er­an lo­cal reg­gae mu­si­cians and singers as the event dragged on late in­to yes­ter­day evening.

 

 

Most interestingly, the Min­is­ter in the Min­istry of the At­tor­ney Gen­er­al and Le­gal Af­fairs and Laven­tille West MP Fitzger­ald Hinds, him­self a Rasta­far­i­an, was al­so present at the event. In a brief in­ter­view with the “ Guardian” Hinds not­ed that yes­ter­day was not his first at­ten­dance at an event host­ed by the Rastafari move­ment. Hinds is cur­rent­ly a mem­ber of a Cab­i­net com­mit­tee tasked with con­sid­er­ing a re­cent re­port from Cari­com’s Mar­i­jua­na Com­mis­sion call­ing for decriminalization of mar­i­jua­na for recre­ation­al and med­ical pur­pos­es. It must be noted that this is the same report that Barbadian politicians are totally ignoring.

“I am here to lis­ten and learn so I can bet­ter in­form the com­mit­tee to which I am a part as we go for­ward with this im­por­tant is­sue,” Hinds said.

 

 

Meanwhile here in Barbados the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Bill 2019 is being debated. This is a bill that ignores the indigenous traditional use of the plant and give’s the Rastafari community no special consideration for participation.  Added to this the Rastafari community continues to be denied its human right to practice their faith which includes the use of cannabis, without fear of persecution, prosecution or perishing.

 

 

Reliable sources had informed me that the Order Of The Nyahbinghi Theocracy Reign is in the process of drafting a document stating their position as it pertains to the government’s consistent ignoring of their human rights. This document will be sent to the office of the Attorney General and that of the Prime Minister, stating, unless a reform of the prohibition of cannabis is not implemented the Nyahbinghi will be taking the government to court. Attorney- At- Law Mr. Douglas Trotman has indicated that in his estimation, the government would lose this case just as that of St. Kitts earlier this year.

 

 

All mansions of Rastafari need to host cannabis rallies through their respective islands. It is “HIGH” time the Rastafari through the region challenge their respective governments for their human rights to be respected. Courts need to be flooded with legal cases against the government in respect to the use of cannabis for sacrament and traditional home use.

The African Heritage Foundation will be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Ivine Order Of The Nyahbinghi Theocracy Reign in the fight for the liberation of the cannabis plant and all the people that use it.

 

 

Please note that you are invited to a reggae house lime “Red Light Congo Night” that will be hosted by the AHF and Nyahbinghi House. This is a fund raising activity that will assist with the repairs to the Nyahbinghi tabernacle and assist with future developmental plans to national cannabis advocacy for the legalization of the plant. The lime starts at 7pm and ends at midnight. The venue is the AHF’s headquarters “Liberty House” that is located on Upper Two Mile Hill. St. Michael. You can call or whatsapp 260-4795 for more info on this activity.

Apart from some homemade wine, this activity is alcohol and flesh free. Donations – $10

Join the FB event page https://www.facebook.com/events/2603124386397114/

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Ras Simba

President and Founder African Heritage Foundation