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The Growth of Rastafarianism Despite Oppression .
By the mid 1930s Jamaican peasants were living in terrible conditions and many were forced to leave their land for wage labor in the factories. In Kingston the Rastas began to form their own communities. The first of these communities was called Addis Ababa but was more commonly known as Dung Hill, where a group of bearded men who claimed to be waiting for the return of Haile Selassie to the throne (which he lost in 1935 during the fascist invasion of Ethiopia) resided. They were looked down upon by the middle and upper classes who laughed at the claims and beliefs of the Rastas. Due to the fact that past religious movements had created some trouble, Jamaican officials began to arrest the most prominent Rasta leaders for disturbance of the peace. Rastafarians were at odds with society because of their refusal to conform to the role the establishment had set for them. People believed the Rasta teachings were misguided and blamed the Rasta leaders, such as Howell, for stirring up ill will for the King and other government officials (Lewis, 7).
However, by 1936 there were 3,000 Rastas in Jamaica, still standing firm despite the arrests and convictions of their prominent leaders. They maintained the belief that Selassie was the Jesus of which Christianity speaks, and as Rasta leader Altamount Reid declared, looked to him for "the spiritual deliverance of the world, not only among colored races but white as well" (Lewis, 7). Although Reid called for mankind to become united, the 1940s was a time of Rasta alienation from society.
During the second world war, Howell set up a commune as a refuge from the Nazis. He believed that the Rastas would be targeted by the Nazis if and when they moved into the Americas. The general public, however, was suspicious of this alternative community called Pinnacle. The Rastas there lived differently, sharing property, wearing dreadlocks, and farming to sustain themselves.