Black Sonic Resistance: The Function and Meaning of Nyabinghi 268 views

This dissertation traces the shifting meanings of Nyabinghi from its East African genesis as an ancient spiritual system to its reappearance in the Rastafari movement in Jamaica—a demonstration of the resilience of African spirituality and the transoceanic circulation of anticolonial thought. In 1935, Jamaican Rastafari encountered the word Nyabinghi in a newspaper article and recognized its potential as a tool for their own anticolonial struggle, reinterpreting Nyabinghi as a liberation cry against both “Black and White downpressors.” In so doing, I point out that Rastafari men actually obscured the memory of Queen Muhumusa’s manifestation of Nyabinghi, through a process that I call excarnation. In other words, a legendary flesh-and-blood warrior queen was separated from her spiritual aspect, making it possible to evoke the spirit of a goddess within a patriarchal movement. Yet, Rastafari’s adoption of Nyabinghi as a heartbeat rhythm was an instinctive acknowledgment of the female spiritual authority that had been elided. Practiced within the three major mansions (denominations) of the movement—the Twelve Tribes of Israel, the Bobo Ashanti, and the Theocracy Reign Order of Nyabinghi—Nyabinghi serves as a cohesive force within the Rastafari community writ large. By centering questions of gender, I explain how Rastawomen have negotiated the contradictions that inevitably arise when a patriarchal liberation movement adopts the name of a fertility goddess. This dissertation also explains how between the 1930s and the 1950s in Jamaica, a new overstanding of the word Nyabinghi was fused with indigenous Burru, Kumina, and Hosay drumming traditions to form what is now known as Nyabinghi drumming. This paper represents the first ethnomusicological study to explore the evolution of Nyabinghi from its origins in East Africa to its 20th century reappearance in Jamaica. Using historical and literary analysis, participant observation and ethnography, I examine how successive generations of Rastafari elaborated Nyabinghi as both a philosophy and a liturgy. This process brought forth a new consciousness rooted in the heartbeat of the mighty Mother of Abundance.

PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)

Nyabinghi ; Jamaica; Black liberation ; Drumming; Uganda; Reggae

English

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2026-08-05