I'll Always Be Your Brother Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan Bülbül

“First Spliff” provides vital context into who Alan was before he stepped foot onto the island of Jamaica. From early childhood in 50s Detroit to his first spliff in 60s rural Iowa, we follow Alan’s journey of draft dodging and Berkeley hippie politics. The episode culminates with his pinnacle sojourn across the country, hitchhiking from Berkeley to Miami with $120 to his name and one goal in mind: get to Jamaica.

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e1CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay BatchPhoto in the cover art by Mark Susina
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Touching down in Kingston, Jamaica, on a warm 1972 night, the twenty-something-year-old Alan encounters a world foreign to him. Making his way to Brother Louv’s Rasta Camp, Alan is met with the revelation that his arrival was expected. Believing this is a great adventure, Alan decides to stay and learn more about this fledgling movement - the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. Despite sickness, police raids and even deportation, he finds himself enthralled. The longer he stays, the more his thinking changes. Brother Niah Keith - the Jamaican leader of the Church - explains that their mission, inspired by the prophecies of Marcus Garvey, is to build a Black Kingdom. But how are these impoverished Rastas supposed to build such a kingdom? Well, see the title.

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e2CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay BatchPhoto in the cover art by Paul Von Baich - The old Kingston Road, Oxford University Press 1980
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How can a poor Rasta community, based in the most rural and mountainous parish of Jamaica, ever dream to build a "Kingdom"? Weaving together intense action and spiritual insight into the will of the human mind, Alan recounts the humble beginnings of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church's mighty operation. Filled with ingenious solutions and strikingly frank honesty, Episode 3 explores the bold growth of the Church. Concluding with a profile of the warm and wise figure that was Brother Niah Keith, we aim to show how he inspired people with the actualisations of his teachings.

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e3CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay Batch
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When Jamaican Prime Minister and leader of the People's National Party, Michael Manley, came to power in 1972, he instituted a series of socialist socio-economic reforms. His domestic policy sent Jamaica’s middle and upper classes, whose wealth was widely accumulated during a Colonial age where the poor were exploited, into a panic. The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, sensing an opportunity to transfer the elite’s wealth into the poor’s hands, embarked on a campaign that would help the wealthy move their fortunes outside of the country whilst simultaneously investing that capital into the hands of farmers and workers. With the wealth of the Jamaican elite at their disposal, the church could support local businesses and promote self-reliance, in accordance with Marcus Garvey's principles.

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e4CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay Batch
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With supplies of Ganja running low in Jamaica and a fruitful harvest months away, the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church journeyed to Colombia to bridge the gap in production. Despite the operation's success, the Church's elders soon realized that the Colombians' methods and motives did not align with their doctrine, and that the spreading of Rasta Doctrine was more important than a physical kingdom. Returning to Jamaica and cutting business ties with the Colombians, we follow the immense growth of the Church in this short 10-month window. Episode 5 rises to climax with the construction and subsequent opening celebration of the Church's new central temple headquarters in St. Thomas, Jamaica, the "Coptic Heights."

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e5CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay BatchCoptic Heights photo from Egypt MigrationsNotting Hill Recordings by Iben Ton
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When the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church's "embassy" in Miami is swamped by American media, one would be forgiven for believing the overzealous Jamaican church had finally flown too close to the sun. However, never inclined to conservatism or small thinking, the leadership of the church, under Brother Niah Keith, decide to be honest with the world. Designating the white brother, Thomas Riley, known to the media as Brother Louv, as the Church's PR man, Episode 6 follows the group's foray into the public lens. Detailing unfortunate busts, American law enforcement actions, American media bias and the church's open defence of Ganja as good and proper, the stakes rise ever higher in the latter half of this mini-series.

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Check out our complimentary content for this episode on our websiteyourbrothercast.com/e6CreditsProduction & post-production: Alan, Benji Anstey, Taylan BulbulTheme Songs: Benji Anstey (guitar), Dan Boshoff (guitar), Dawud Petersen (bass), Nkanyezi Ngwenya (percussion), Conor Hugo (sound engineer), Joshua Riley (mixing and mastering)Visuals and website: Taylan BulbulReggae song: Lawd a Massi by Lou RicardFont (ChemyRetro) by Jay Batch
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.