Haile Selassie I cries as pandemonium erupts at Palisadoes Airport

ON WEDNESDAY, April 20, 1966, people started to gather at the Palisadoes Airport, near Port Royal. They were anticipating the arrival of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, the following day.

They were mainly Rastafarians and other Afrocentric people, who had travelled from all over the country by every possible means to see the arrival of the ‘King of Kings’.

“People had gathered at the Palisadoes from all parts of Jamaica coming on foot, in cars, in drays, in carts, in trucks, in hired buses (including JOS buses), by bicycles, and by every means of transport that can be imagined,” The Daily Gleaner of Friday, April 22 reports.

The excitement reached fever pitch on Thursday, the 21st, a public holiday, the day His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I would set foot on the land where he was much venerated, and where a movement that he had indirectly inspired was growing steadily, despite continuous persecution.

Under overcast conditions on a sweltering tarmac, the jubilant crowd waved palm fronds, and red, green and gold flags, while singing, chanting, drumming and blowing abengs (cattle horns). They exploded firecrackers and ‘thunderbolts’. It was a moment like no other; the ‘Lord of Lords’ was about to descend from the skies.

About an hour before the descent, it had started to rain, but the water from above could not dampen their spirits. In the showers they stood and stared at the dark clouds from which the vessel transporting His Imperial Majesty would appear.

Then, it was glory divine, for the rain had stopped, and from the heavens the Conquering Lion of Judah’s winged chariot with the insignia of a roaring lion on the front burst into view. The throng shouted thunderously, and then all hell broke loose.

The overly excited people broke down barriers and barricades, and trampled on all protocol as they rushed to see Emperor Haile Selassie I on his first state visit to the country.

When the plane rested, they surrounded it, ignoring all calls for order. It was a stampede, led by Rastafarians, a pandemonium never before seen at the airport. But, for 45 minutes nobody exited the plane. The wait was painful for the eager welcomers.

“There has never been such a vast crowd at the Palisadoes airport at any time, and there never has been in the whole history of Jamaica such a spontaneous, heartwarming, and sincere welcome to any person, whether visiting monarch, visiting VIP or returning leader of any Jamaican party,” The Daily Gleaners says.

When the Emperor of Ethiopia finally emerged, there was another massive uproar, and the jostling began again. Negus Negast himself was surprised at the unbridled expression of adoration. He waved.

Things really got out of control now, and the police were swamped. On the advice of officials, Mortimo ‘Kumi’ Planno, a respected Rasta spokesman, was asked to restore calm. This he did after greeting and nodding to the King of Kings.

“His Imperial Majesty, Halie Selassie 1, emperor of Ethiopia, King of Kings, Conquering Lion of Judah, arrived in Jamaica yesterday afternoon to a welcome of superlatives. And he wept. He cried as he stood on the steps of an aircraft of Ethiopian airliner which had brought him from Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica and surveyed the vast and uncontrollable crowd which had gathered at the Palisadoes Airport to greet him,” The Daily Gleaner reports.

“The tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his face. It will perhaps never be known whether he cried in sorrow at the uncontrollableness (sic) of the vast throng of Jamaicans who had gathered to meet him, or out of pure joy; but whatever it was, it was an emotional reaction to a highly emotional welcome.”

Then soldiers with bayonetted rifles helped to clear the path for Negus and his entourage to pass. They were taken through the crowd to the governor general’s car. The people, some frothing at the mouth, watched as the man they waited for in the rain was whisked away to the National Stadium, where another large crowd was gathered, for a civic reception. The airport arrival programme was abandoned.

“All the pre-arranged ceremony went by the way. People were not present, the red carpet was ignored, anthems were not played. The emperor was in fact hurried away in nervous haste to the governor general’s car to make his triumphant entry into Kingston, the capital city of Jamaica, and to start what must have been the biggest traffic snarl in the history of this city,” The Daily Gleaner says.

“And while this was being done, fire-crackers were cracked, thunderbolts thundered, the abeng sounded, and thousands of people shouted, ‘Hail the man!’ Everything was unprecedented. Apparently, no one in charge of the arrangements knew what would have happened.” And at the National Stadium, the chaos continued to reign, in a different way.

“Of the welcome, His Imperial Majesty said later that he was overwhelmed and deeply moved. It demonstrated, he said, the close ties and affections which bind the people of Jamaica to Africa and Ethiopia,” The Daily Gleaner says.

Selassie’s exit from Jamaica was not as tumultuous, The Daily Gleaner of Monday, April 25 reports. It says, “But unlike the thousands who gathered to see him arrive, only several hundred persons were at the Montego Bay airport yesterday morning to see the Ethiopian Airline plane carrying the emperor and his party take off for Haiti where he was scheduled to spend a one-day visit and to leave that country late last night for his journey back to his lion-guarded palace in Addis Ababa.”