Trench Town hails Prince Selassie

Ermias Sahle Selassie, the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie I, entered Trench Town Culture Yard a prince, but by the time he was leaving, was exalted as king by the Royal Ethiopian Judah Coptic Church of 11 Welcome Avenue, Kingston 11.

"Hail the King!" Priest Wesley Constantine Kelly shouted repeatedly upon the arrival of Prince Ermias, which was heralded by robust drumming from the members of the Binghistra Movement. Prince Ermias is visiting Jamaica as the special guest of the Government during the National Heroes Week celebration.

"We are taking upon ourselves as the royal king priest of the Rastafari church to endorse this young man who has been coming here to this island from he was a child ... in 1966 with his grandfather and his father ... to exalt him as king," Priest Kelly told THE STAR.

He mentioned that Haile Selassie's visit to the island in 1966 fulfilled the prophecy of the Bible that says that "the Lion of Judah shall come to break of chain and set us free".

"His Majesty's grandson [has] come to this island to conquer and not to be conquered. It is time now for us to select our king. We have a King's House. Are we going to put another white, Caucasian king and queen upon that throne? Our church is exalting him now because we are celebrating the heroes and we are looking on him as a hero. It fulfils Isaiah Chapter 9 where it says the grim darkness has passed. Hail the King!"

However, there was one dissenting voice among the many Rastafarians who had gathered to welcome Prince Ermias, that of Sister Zebulon from the 12 Tribes of Israel.

"Right now I am not affiliated with any organisation," Sister Zebulon emphasised. "I am just a Rasta woman who is standing up for the king. What I see going on is Rasta who have been brainwashed and not holding on to their glory. They are denying the king, just as they did with Jesus 2,000 years ago. Prince Ermias, I love him dearly because I love his grandfather dearly, but there is one king and one queen. Give Brother Ermias' grandfather the glory. Other than that ... a judgement pon black people and pon Rasta,"she told THE STAR.

Legendary guitarist, Earl 'Chinna' Smith, sought to be the voice of reason.

"Nobody can equal Haile Selassie, but we have to have a king on the throne in Ethiopia," he stated. "Right now, we have this confusion thing in Rasta where one house seh this and another house a seh that. For years we work under a 'queendom' and Marcus [Garvey] did tell us of our king in Africa. Not just a king but the King of Kings and Lord of Lord. The queen gone now - God bless her soul - so a king going to rise in England and yuh know how the whole Commonwealth ting guh. All we have is an empty throne. We have to have a representative or else dem going to crown a king in Israel. Someone have to be the heir. I don't think the one before was ... but now is the time. Ethiopia not going to be level again until the monarchy is restored."

He added, "This visit means a lot. A couple months ago I was here celebrating western king and queen, so the eastern prince is here and it is a pleasure. I am so honoured to be here. I was at church Sunday and it was a perfect gathering. His presence here today means a lot to us."