While it had little to do with him being venerated as God by Rastafari—a position he always refused—his speech strengthened the Rastafarian belief in Pan-Africanism and African redemption.

It is a few minutes past 9am and he has just woken up. “A Rasta must sleep till fill…,” he says, justifying why he slept late. He grabs a lighter, balances a stick of rolled up weed and ...