Coordinates
Patricia Marie Scarlett, Executive Producer & Producer, In Search of Rastafari Inc.
647.505.0791 | pscarlett@rastajourney.com
Marilyn Gray, Producer, Consultant, Instructor | ajanient@gmail.com
Stuart Samuels, Director & Producer | stusamuels@aol.com
Big it Up Celebrates 15 years!
Big it Up — the expression defines the company: to show respect, to give support, to take pride, to value quality. Big It Up, is about all these things, about bringing you an attitude and a philosophy, along with the slamminest hats and accessories. Cause if you don’t have the right attitude, then what you wear isn’t going to get you where you gotta go.
Big It Up grew out of the streets of Toronto, Canada and came into being in the summer of 1996, the result of a unique collaboration. A group of friends got together. Tired of the same old same old, they were fed up with the mediocrity of so much of what was on the market. Just too many second-rate goods that reflected second-rate thinking and a lack of respect for a public that deserves better. They recognized in themselves a yearning for quality and we knew that if we felt that way, then others must too. They knew that if people saw quality, they’d respond to it, they’d respect it, be proud of it, they’d “big it up.”
And that is just what happened. Their company has been growing rapidly, but no amount of growth will allow them to lose their commitment to the principles that made them popular in the first place. At Big It Up, the quality of their products speaks for itself, and that quality — the finest fabrics, painstaking attention to details of design, material, color and fit — is matched by the quality of service and the quality of environment they share with you, in their stores, at their kiosks and on their website.
When you see the Big It Up team, you see the face of Toronto, the world’s most multicultural city. They are people from every corner of the globe — Africa, Asia, India, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Europe — all working under the same roof, working the way people are supposed to; namely, together. Black, white, young and old, male and female, the differences make all the difference and no difference at all. And out of this great mix comes the Big It Up style.
Big It Up provides financial and other support to various literacy and educational programs in Canada. What goes around comes around, and we’d like to see you around.
Check them out at bigitup.com
Entrance to the Smithsonian Institute's "Discovering Rastafari exhibit | photo: Patricia Scarlett
Donisha’s film odyssey, therefore, is both personal and historical, as she balances revelations about Rastafari with her own self-discovery.
The vision of the film is to look at Rastafari from a global perspective—moving out from the more familiar images of Jamaica to the various ways in which this religion and this movement has moved beyond the tiny Caribbean Island, how the ways in which the message of Rastafarianism has manifested itself in diverse cultures, how the tenants of the religion are rooted in history and made relevant by contemporary issues. The film’s narrative will unfold as a voyage of discovery driven by an intense desire on the part of Donisha to both understand the past and make clear a meaning for the present.
The film stays focused on Donisha—as a Rasta woman, as a young convert—as she personally discusses and experiences first hand the ways in which this movement has spread around the world. Her questions, her knowledge informs the narrative, and her vibrant and inquisitive personality drives the fast-paced and youthful nature of the film.
Through Donisha we learn the history, the core values, the cultural impact of a religion that was inspired by history and propagated through the music of her grandfather, helping us find new spiritual meaning in a fast changing, chaotic world.
The aim of the film is bring the issues and message of Rastafari into a contemporary context, illustrating how the acceptance of Rasta in Canada is in mark contrast to other cultures.
The Canadian Rasta story is a message for the 21st century, of how prejudice is formed from misinformation and myths, and how the acceptance of cultural harmony is both the model of Canadian culture and the triumph of multiculturalism.
Mixing rare archive footage, driven by the infectious rhythm of the music, told through interviews and interactions of Donisha with elders, with young converts, looking for connections and traditions rooted in the past, and the beliefs of a movement dedicated to living in the present.
RasTa is filled with archival history, and brought to life through Donisha’s passion for knowledge and charismatic personality, as she takes us up close and personal with people and places that will help unlock the mysteries of this movement, pull back the veil of misunderstanding and allow all of us to share the journey and the knowledge of a young women in pursuit of personal truth and contemporary relevance.
RasTa converges music and meaning in new ways, making a religious and spiritual movement more accessible to young people, and more understandable to all of us.
Stuart Samuels, director/producer
These films were produced with young people at the JRDC School in Shashemene – Ethiopia during Cafesociety.org digital workshops.
The JRDC School began with private lessons given to the children of the pioneers in Shashemene by Karl Hamilton and Bro. Donald Leach (Bro. Flippins) in their home during the 1970’s. Bro Karl Hamilton taught basic English, Math and Bible studies. This supplementary education continued at this level until 1997 when Bro. Teach Issachar arrived with plans to establish an official school. He started his operation in a zinc shed on the premises of the The Twelve Tribes of Israel headquarters in Shashemene.
The school soon outgrew the limited facilities there and was transferred to a building renovated through the initiative of Teach Issachar. There an Ethiopian Amharic teacher was added to the staff and with Sister Janet McLaughlin from Manchester, England and Brother Joseph Leach born on the Land to pioneer parents, coordinated a school program with Chemistry, Physics, Geography, Math and Biology.
With the support of the Shashemene Foundation, Inc. U.S.A. and other concerned individuals, a new building was added and the school rapidly grew to over 150 children and eight teachers by 2002. The school was soon incorporated under the Jamaican Rastafarian Development Community, as the first phase of its larger Shashemene Community Education Skills Training and Recreation Center project. A Board of Directors was created for this school consisting of all members of the Rastafarian community in Shashemene including: The Nyahbinghi Order, Bobo Shanti, Ethiopia World Federation (EWF), and Twelve Tribes of Israel (TTI) and other individual Rastafarians. The school has been appraised and certified by the Education Ministry of the Federal Democratic Government of Ethiopia as an indigenous NGO project. The operational budget of the school is approximately $25,000 US dollars annually. The school receives no government funding and relies totally on public support to finance its budget.
Become a RasTa STAR, support the JRDC School in Shashemene, Ethiopia. RasTa support will go toward helping the school meet its current mandate which includes: continuing to provide subsidized healthy meals, introducing a health program to investigate and improve the health status of its students, increasing sponsorships for the students’ education and implementing a planned expansion of staff and facilities to include Grades 9 and 10. The most important REWARD is that you cared enough to help advance someone’s potential by giving them an education – a gift that keeps on giving. Contact the production to help. … Continue →
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