As Leonard Howell walked out of prison in 1940, he knew Jamaica’s British colonizers had a target on his back because he was “anti-government.” So he helped build Pinnacle, a mountain community where our people could govern themselves and avoid government all together.
Howell, known as the first Rastafarian, established Pinnacle in 1940. Self-government and self-reliance for Black people were the bedrock of this Rastafari lifestyle. Jamaicans from all over the island trekked up to Pinnacle, looking for elevation in their own lives.
Pinnacle soon had some 4500 residents who produced their own food and medicine. They also established craft workshops and healthcare facilities. But as Pinnacle rose to the top of Black self determination, forces from below were looking to bring it down.
Viewing Rastafarian culture as anti-government, the colonial government sent its military to destroy the village in 1954. However, they couldn’t destroy its Rastafari culture, and it spread throughout towns of Jamaica that still exist today.
Pinnacle was built upon the foundation of rejecting Eurocentrism and building a safe thriving space for our people. That community showed how we can unify and equip each other with skills that free us from dependence on systems that continue to deprioritize Black life.