The First Rasta

LONG BEFORE Bob Marley sang about the divinity of Haile Selassie and the sacredness of ganja, Leonard Percival “Gong” Howell preached that heady gospel. This documentary tells the story of the man whom some claim as the founding father of Rastafarianism, from his days in Harlem as a Marcus Garvey disciple, to the time he spent leading the self-reliant Pinnacle community in Jamaica’s Maroon country. Music by the Abyssinians and others round out this revealing film.