Emperor Haile Selassie's visit in 1966 electrified Jamaica. As far back as the 1920s, before he became emperor, the Regent Ras Makonnen called on Africans of the diaspora to move to Ethiopia and help to build up the country. That became the inspiration for the 'back to Africa' movement. In 1966 Rastafarians reported that in private meetings, the Emperor told them to seek liberation before repatriation, postponing the day of reckoning, but likely frightening the daylights out of Jamaica's establishment - who, like all Jamaicans, were astonished to see thousands of Rastafarians showing up at the airport to welcome the Emperor. After years of brutal repression, many had simply retreated into the bush - but the lure of the Emperor brought them back into the open.
This is the essence of what Bunny Wailer is singing about on his classic album Blackheart Man:
He lives in the gullies of the city
He's the Blackheart Man
Even in the lonely parts of the country
He's the Blackheart Man, Blackheart Man
