Meaning
Africa — for many Jamaicans, and centrally in Rastafari, not just a continent but the ancestral homeland and spiritual home ('Zion'), the place the foreparents were taken from during slavery. It carries deep meaning of roots, identity, and, in Rasta thought, repatriation. Ethiopia holds special weight as the seat of Haile Selassie I.
Examples
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Wi foreparents come from Africa.
Our forefathers came from Africa.
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Rasta look to Africa as Zion.
Rastafari looks to Africa as Zion.
Origin
Ancestral homeland; central to Rastafari repatriation thought. See [[foreparents]], [[zion]].
How it’s used
The ancestral/spiritual homeland; weighty in Rastafari and Black identity.