Born in Anguilla, ROBERT ATHLYI ROGERS (d. 1931) spent a significant part of his youth traveling throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States, preaching an Afrocentric gospel. Passionately and spiritually committed to the chosen status of the sons of Ethiopia, Rogers wrote The Holy Piby to call together all Africans in praise and prayer. In it, Rogers also pays tribute to civil rights crusader and advocate for African pride Marcus Garvey, and the work would go on to become one of the primary foundational works for the Rastafarian movement.

Written by Robert Athlyi Rogers during a time of sweeping racial change in the United States, The Holy Piby, or 'The Black Man's Bible, ' speaks directly to the Pan-African community at large. Capturing hearts and minds with its message of self-reliance and self-determination, it is a theology that sees all Africans as the chosen people of God and Ethiopia (i.e. Africa) as the promised land. It also recognises His Excellency, The Right Honorable Marcus Mosia Garvey, as an apostle.The Holy Piby is the most important proto-Rastafari text and a predominant source of influence for the birth of the religion. On November 2, 1930, Prince Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. Upon his coronation, he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Might of the Trinity" and the title "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God and King of the Kings of Ethiopia."For the Rastafari, the coronation of Ras Tafari is seen as the fulfilment of one of the key prophecies contained within The Holy Piby. They regarded the emperor as the physical presence of God (Jah) on Earth and as the second coming of Christ the messiah.Banned in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean during the 1920's for its controversial proclamations, original editions of the work are extremely rare. Copies are not listed in either the Library of Congress or the University of California catalogs.This book is a beautifully re-typeset edition of that most important work, and stands as the definitive version to own and cherish.

The Holy Piby is a very rare, pre-Rastafarian book, which was banned in the 1920's by Jamaica for it's controversial proclamations; despite the ban, the book and it's followers suceeded in planting the seeds which would become Rastafarianism. The Holy Piby is the text of a religion called the Afro-Athlican Constructive Gaathly, which viewed the Ethiopians as the Chosen People of the Bible. This controversial text and religion made liberation inroads into the diamond mines of South Africa, Panama, and many other places were oppression labored.

Born in Anguilla, ROBERT ATHLYI ROGERS (d. 1931) spent a significant part of his youth traveling throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States, preaching an Afrocentric gospel. Passionately and spiritually committed to the chosen status of the sons of Ethiopia, Rogers wrote The Holy Piby to call together all Africans in praise and prayer. In it, Rogers also pays tribute to civil rights crusader and advocate for African pride Marcus Garvey, and the work would go on to become one of the primary foundational works for the Rastafarian movement.