am back

I am back after a long break.....finished school, looking for some more schooling. yesterday was ethiopian election day, unfortunately i feel bad since i didnt contribute anything for the future of ethiopia while my brothers and sisters have died and cried. The whole world sat by and watched the election as if some kind of bollywood movie. after all though, the only man or woman that will liberate ethiopia are ethiopians. I belive meles is a better of the two evils right now, hence why most of the The United Amharas are sitting by as the election is coming to the end. However kiskesa, and information flow to the common ethiopians should start now to get a better fight on the next term.

Demographic Anarchy?

Ask five Ethiopians the religious composition of their country you will most likely get six points of disagreement. Demographic data have become the means for locking others into an inferior position and, conversely, accord oneself a dominant status even when the facts militate against the assertion. Thus is perpetuated a jaundiced view of self and society before the watching world.

Some don’t bother to acknowledge the presence of a sizable Christian population (at least 10 million) outside the mainstream Orthodox Church. “In relation to religion,” says one presenter, “the population constitute 51% Orthodox Christian, 33% Islam and the rest 16% are other religious sects.” [Italics added]

Those who engage in numbers game are in the main educated and harbor a political and cultural agenda. The majority simply echoes figures that suit its taste. Is it any wonder then that we continually fail to comprehend or adequately address our enduring dilemma because we are in permanent denial or choose to live in a world based on illusions?

Expatriates are not immune to bending facts either. Some simply pick information that best support the story line they write on. “Islamic fundamentalists are on the rise” shout the fear mongering; others make similar statements to raise funds or take a simplistic approach to a very complex situation. Few more have not the interest or the time to check their sources; the fact that their careers are not on the line often means they get away with the crime of degrading a nation’s image.

To be taken seriously, cartographic censuses ought to meet basic international standards. Ironically, few bother to access published census data. Here for your perusal are samples of what we mean by demographic anarchy.

. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (does not recognize existence of “evangelical” Christians): Muslim (40-50%); Ethiopian Orthodox Christian (35%-40%); animist (12%)

· CIA World Fact book (perhaps one of the most cited sources, until very recently had, Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%. [It is now corrected to Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census)

· Christian Science Monitor (CSM): “the country's Orthodox Christians, …make up just over half of the population …nearly 50 percent Muslims – and others … share neither faith” [Italics added] (September 11, 2007).

· Library of Congress: [Info supplied by Ethiopian government, April 2005]
"No reliabel statistics exist on religion in Ethiopia... Orthodox Christianity and Islam... each constitute perhaps 40 to 45 percent ... Protestants number perhaps 11 million, constituting perhaps 10 percent of the population..."

. U.S. State Department: “An estimated 40 to 45 percent of the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) …approximately 45 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim. Christian evangelical and Pentecostal groups continue to be the fastest growing groups and constitute an estimated 10 percent of the population.”

. MSN Encarta: "Orthodox Christian (Ethiopian) 36 percent Muslim 30 percent Protestant 14 percent Indigenous beliefs 12 percent Other 8 percent..."

We’ve found the following factors contributed to the persistent confusion.

1. Some simply do not trust information governments put out and prefer rather to quote foreign sources, which often are educated guesses or recycled from similar or even outdated materials.

2. In the case of CSM and others the desire to project fairness appears to have forced them to take “near-half and half” measures.

3. Neighboring countries (Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, and Al Jazeera and Middle Eastern sources) tend to prefer an Islamic majority.

Whether from projections or from actual censuses, it is fair to state that the Christian-Muslim population ratio in Ethiopia is around 2:1.

Copied from Ethiopianchurch.org blog

Arcaris woyane....lol

I read a poem today and felt like the disabora community as much as they say they care about thier place of birth, they do not. I see a lot of communities around the US organizing a fund raiser to the poor and the orphaned. this it is merely to feed them for today. it is plausable derget, however I think more could be done. we think we have done so much but i believe we have done the smallest thing we could possible do only. why? a question that bothers most of, eventhough we are the same ppl who do little.

as i was reading this poem on cyberethiopia.com, i felt the pain of the writet. numeropus times he right out insulted me as a reader, and question my manhood? i felt compelled to do something more than the little. I start wondering where all those underground resistance that were goin on during the Italy, invasion, if you want to call it that, and Dergu's regime???? Is Woyane any better for the country? arent they selling a portion of their own country to the enemeis of ethiopia? arent they killing innocent civilians (sidama, oromo, amhara) these were the MAIN reasons for the falling of this dictatorship. Now I want to ask you the reader, how is it possible for us to contribute to the underground resistance that is being carried over at the nose of the enemy? If there is any underground resistance.

the other thing is why do we still do business with the woyane enterprise, dont we know they can not exist any more if we cut off our business with them. Why cant we shop from other ethnic groups for few months and see what thet would do to dismantle this arcaris goverment.

They got to be other options to schooling

Question? does college really matters for the development a person to a higher level in society? I have been going to school since i rember, leaarning this and that, i am expected to learn, how to read, write, read well, write well, write for english, write in amharic.....the list is never ending.If i could pause for oneminute, is life all about learning? can we be part of the productive part of sociey by not going to school and find other ways to learn about the only thing we would like to know? I have been in school for all of my life thus far, I have been doing what I was doing instictivel, like a baby breathing ones it comes out of the uterus. But does liefe necesserly have to be about just going to stupid school all of ones life? all of my life? whatever it is, I think I should find a better way for my children to come than spend half of their best-life going back to forth to this thing they call school. what really sucks is that, even after going to school and then to college, some ppl actually do not use their degree!!!! so you telling me someone is going to spend all their life, money, and time and not use what they worked for? I will definetly choke that person to death.....open for additionional stories

Life is too short, you are now free to have children

As you have read what I wrote before, I do not refrain from speaking what it is, because if do not do that it will be a crime against humanity. If there is one thing that is crucial to a man is continuing his blood line or ancestor line. Especially in the disabora, this is becoming an exticting culture amongest Ethiopians. Americans are know to adhere anything that got to do with marriage. They prefer to live their lives like the ages fo Garyoshe, having babies here and there, which is why more than 50% of US marriage end up with divorce (according to stastics the different ethinic groups might have different percentage of divorce rates). However we are communal beings that do nto bow down to the theory of the four legged monkey that started walking once it chnages its home from the tree to the savanna land. we, Ethiopians and few believers in the US, belive in a higer order of God and his never lasting kingdom. God has given Adam, Hewan to be his dear friend, wife, and to give him children that will follow in his foot steps.

So I ask myself why do I see Ethiopian men of different ethnicities marriage-less. Why have they become loaners. why do they chase after politics but has nobody to go to after hard day of work and long agreements and disagremnts of East african politics. It makes me sick to see these Ethiopian man, wonder around each day aimlessely like they have been hit by the evil. Please, please form humanitc relationship with someone you know and have some babbies becasue God from above has ordered you to do so.

I feel sorry for the women, who are trying to have babbies atleast before they trun 40 and become childless. I dont think it is necessery for Ethiopian women and men to go back to Ethiopia to find their match in less than 3 month when they are so many beautiful women and hard working men in the disabora. I beleive the best couples are the ones that are created here because they know each other longer and they know the US better, and hence they know their enemeies and friends better. Where as if I go and find an Ethiopian women from Ethiopia it will take her atleast a year to adjust.

I am sure there is a slight problem with the women also, who think they are the most beautiful angels, after comparing themeselves with the less fortunate ones here. In addition, a big problem is their inability to watch their weight. I personally prefer a women that weighs less than me and not too wide for the purposes that are clear to most men. It makes me sick to see all of these beautiful Ethiopian women become older and fatter and become less beautiful as they get older.

Lencho Leta, one of the leading founders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), revealed that the Eritrean government was the most powerful force that opposed a coalition Ethiopian government in 1991 that would have created democracy for the first time. Mr. Lencho Leta was one of the OLF leaders who participated in the transitional developments in Ethiopia after Mengistu was overthrown. According to the OLF founder, the Eritrean government rejected the proposal by OLF and other groups in 1991 to transform the EPRDF partisan army into a coalition Ethiopian army, which would have set up the transition to a democracy for the first time in Ethiopian history. (Audio and translation). In an interview, Mr. Lencho Leta also described Eritrean leader Isayas Afewerki’s fear of allowing a united Ethiopia under democracy and how much influence Isayas had on Meles Zenawi & foreign diplomats in 1991.
It is important that all Ethiopians understand what Mr. Lencho Leta and other OLF leaders are saying. As long is the army is partisan and under the order of Meles Zenawi's party only, there will never be democracy in Ethiopia. Demilitarization of warring political forces in one country is one of the most important factors to build democracy in a country, which also helps speed up development. Today, 17 years after Meles Zenawi and Isayas Afewerki overthrew the one-party Mengistu leadership, they have replaced our country with more one-party dictatorship, which has closed political and economic freedoms and starved more millions of people. Ethiopia under Meles has over 6 million people in malnutrition and suffering in drought, according to the UN. Meanwhile, according to the Global Hunger Index, Eritrea under Isayas Afewerki has the highest proportion of undernourished and starving people in the whole world at 75%. All of this agony of our people imposed by the two dictatorship “governments” will not end until our people are free and democracy is established.
In 2005, CUD/Kinijit became the most democratic and the most popular political party in Ethiopian history during the national election. The main reason why it was popular was its democratic principles including the separation of the military from the Meles ruling party. Kinijit party and its leader Birtukan Mideksa asked dictator Meles Zenawi to accept her 8 points proposal and principles. These 8 points Judge Birtukan Mideksa asked were diverse in nature, including freedom of press, independence of judiciary and independence of the military. But the most important out of these 8 points were the separation of military from Meles Zenawi’s grip. Separation of the military from the ruling party leads to a coalition administration where the military is governed by the constitution and is responsible to the constitution. This in effect, creates the foundation toward peaceful and democratic governance where independent institutions are established.
Even though our people still have a chance to bring democracy to Ethiopia with the leadership of Birtukan Mideksa, it is important that all Ethiopians understand WHO are our friends and WHO are our enemies. It is important that all Ethiopians understand WHO supports democracy and who supports and practices dictatorship. Meles Zenawi and Isayas Afewerki have already showed us their dictatorial rules. But some confused Ethiopians are insulting Kinijit/UDJ and insulting Judge Birtukan Mideksa because she chose a patient and peaceful way to achieve democracy. These CONFUSED Ethiopians think we should work with the one-party dictatorship of Eritrea to bring a multi-party democracy to Ethiopia. These severely confused Ethiopians are telling our people in Ethiopia that we will regain and take back Assab port in Eritrea with the help the Eritrean government itself. These confused Ethiopians are not only out-of-touch from reality, but they are also ignoring history. The OLF founder himself has revealed to the world for the first time what happened during the 1991 transition period. The OLF founder Lencho Leta and other Oromo leaders who support him have risked their reputation many times when they supported peace and Ethiopian unity thru diversity and democracy because they believed in the potential greatness of a democratic & prosperous Ethiopia. Even though we know Dictator Meles Zenawi is a major obstacle to democracy in Ethiopia, Mr. Lencho Leta has told us ONCE AND FOR ALL that the Eritrean government was the first to block our historical opportunity to demilitarize politics and achieve democracy in Ethiopia. These historical anti-Ethiopia actions by president Isayas Afewerki around 17 years ago has made the road to democracy that much longer, that much harder for us. And this… we will never forget!
But now, it is time to stand MORE united behind Birtukan Mideksa and her Kinijit/Andenet opposition party. Let us not miss another historic opportunity to remove tyranny and establish democracy in Ethiopia.

After reading this paper on Nazreth.com, I had a discusting, disturbing feeling for the author and Mr. Lencho. The whole OLF, has to be a stupid joke. Because these bandits are nothing but bunch of worthless bandits who cant stand alone. if you take one boy at a time and tell him to carry out his sick plan for United ethiopia he will shit on his legs. The OLF, as my dear friend at the bottom has said it at the bottom, is power hungry sons of bitches lurching around for the next opportunity to get their ass wipped.

I have known Judge Birtukan since I was in addis in the mid 90' s(EC). She is nothing but a pure Ethiopian. Once my uncle was courting her for marriage. She is indeed beautiful inside and out. A very polite, smart, hardworking Ethiopian women. The Ormos in the diabora are trying very hard, very shameful I must say, to associate her with the OLF camaign for power because her last name I guess resebels oromoic. But what they dont know is she might be at the most only 50% oromo. And i promise you if she is the same women I knew 8 years ago, she will send a bounty head on each of these sons of bitches and get them hanged for what they did in Assossa hospital during the transition period of 91. I must say these OLF maggots are nothing like the good and real oromos that live, eat and inter-marry amongest us, however they were sent to remind us that there might be few of them amonges us. The birth of OLF, TPLF, ELF are the true hinderance for the development of Ethiopian democracy and they must be crashed to allow the birth of UNITED ETHIOPIA.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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Comment from: Mesganaw [Visitor]
I’m really laughing hard and non-stop. OLF made Ethiopians sad, cry, desperate, migrate and dead many times for long time. Who forgets the Assosa massacre in hospital Against the Amharas and Tigres that were lying in hospital beds? They Brutally massacred including pregnant women who were there giving birth and the just born babies. All is with us, recorded. Who was the OLF leader at the time? He was called Lencho Leta (a good and trusted ally to Issayas at the time). What OLF did before 1991 is known and lets move after their hate marriage relationship with TPLF(after 1991). As lencho said here that issayas was always against Ethiopia including during 1991 when OLF was the active member of the so called Ethiopian Transitional govt. During this time, OLF has committed the worst crime against Ethiopia and humanity in the Ethiopian soil since the Invasion of Islam (1529-1543) and since the mass and cruel Galla Migration through the corner of balie to the rest of Ethiopia including the highlands (1550-1850). The Ethnic cleansing, the massacre and taking away all right the people living in the south and other part of the country where OLF was controlling against non Oromos such as the Amharas, Tigres, Gurages and others was/is the crime against humanity Lencho and his entire OLF responsible for. They used the Issayas influence against Ethiopia/meles as an opportunity to destroy Ethiopia as much as they could. Many millions of non Oromo Ethiopians forced to leave the south while escaping the OLF massacre and ethnic cleansing. The crime what OLF has done since 1991 is all there and known by Ethiopians. Why Lencho is exposing himself this way at this time? Because OLF is no longer in a position to affect Ethiopia the way it has done in the past under his leadership. Because the split in the OLF and those in the south are became the driving force to use OLF for their secret/main agenda, which is Islamic ideology. As we know OLF was created by handful protestants after converted by Missionaries in wellega. 95% wellegas are Christians while 99% balie, harar and other places in the south are Islam oromos. Because of being oromo is no longer a reason to unite them but being one of the 3 Oromo groups, or the 28 oromo clans or one of the thousands sub-clans becomes more and more an identity expression and association to the oromos. Somalia has one group, 5 clans and hundreds sub-clans. Almost all of them are Muslim. But, they are fighting based on Clan and sub clans. The oromo present and future will be even worst because of many religion, custom, tradition and other differences that what is going on in Somalia. Group-clan-sub clan. Because of the Split in the OLF and Lencho and his crime groups is no longer relevant. His is now someone from the street has no influence at all. His is doing this because of to get back to the EPRDF. But EPRDF is not stupid as he thinks of. He and his entire OLF must be in jail for the rest of their life with the crime they did against innocent Ethiopians. By the way” The one who did write this piece is a foolish and biased one. This shows how low is the level of some Ethiopians political maturity laying about in a primitive way. Look for instance: “Kinijit party and its leader Birtukan Mideksa asked dictator Meles Zenawi to accept her 8 points proposal and principles.” When was Birtukan Mideksa a leader to Kinijit? When was the 8 point proposal presented and who was at the discussion? “Even though our people still have a chance to bring democracy to Ethiopia with the leadership of Birtukan Mideksa” Birtukan is less relevant to Ethiopia than Sarah plain To America. Mirtukan was an EPRDF child; got education by EPRDF and served EPRDF. I’m not saying she is bad but what is behind the story associating her with an OLF criminal leader lencho Leta? Is because her father name sounds like an Oromo name? She is the innocent and trusted Ethiopian child. And Criminal OLF and others in the name of Oromo need to leave her alone. She knows only Ethiopia. ´The OLF founder himself has revealed to the world for the first time what happened during the 1991 transition period.” Why now? Because he has lost from OLF. He is a street old man no one wants him to be around. He is looking to make a living again with the Ethiopian cost. He is a well known and tested anti Ethiopian and a criminal. “The OLF founder Lencho Leta and other Oromo leaders who support him have risked their reputation many times when they supported peace and Ethiopian unity thru diversity and democracy” hahahah and hahaha the crime they have committed during that time is still there and will be part of the Ethiopian history. “But now, it is time to stand MORE united behind Birtukan Mideksa and her Kinijit/Andenet opposition party. Let us not miss another historic opportunity to remove tyranny and establish democracy in Ethiopia.” Laughable. Ethiopia was saved when EPRDF wiped out the Entire OLF headed by Lencho after years of direct crime against Ethiopians. Ethiopia was saved the second time when EPRDF kicked issayas’s influence out of Ethiopia and put him like a dong knows nothing what to do. If somebody forces me to choose from the two Evils I will choose with no regret Shabia than OLF. Their members are like savage animals giving an impression they are the blood family with the Hutus in Rwanda. The writer to this shit pieces is a silly and ignorant individual. We have to thank nazret for bringing this to us showing how many and what kind ignorant are around us.
Permalink 10/23/08 @ 04:20

Change in your pocket is what matters

Congratulations everybody Barack Obama of Illinois, born from a Kansas women adn a Kenyan Man has won the presidential election. It is my hope and dream that this man will not only impact the socio-economic of this land but also the other around the globe. I hope US will finally stand for justice and freedom, unlike the one in Iraq. The real enemey now is time. How fast can we show the injustice to those who have the power and how fast the meles cadres are getting in the pockets of washington staffers. If anybody in the us does anything after the cadres have their share, then it will be too late and meaningless to try anything.

Who is it?

as i was studying i kept wondering about the book introduction i read yesterday which was writeen in the 30's by an austrian about Ethiopia. i wondered about what he said and the slow but powerfuly way of dividing a country is by putting one ethnic group on top, weather literarly or by simpel words and the others down. he is an anti-semetic and and of course anti-ethiopian estabilishment and writes in the most negative way about the inhabitatnts. my question is how do you hate your enemey even if it is snifing your nose everyday and stabing you in the back if you dont know anything about it??? How could you alo differentiate your enemey from your dear friends? refering to countries and societies instead of an individual.
Because of the slow ethiopoian development, the society is unable to get vital information that could ultimately shown it the realistic world of love, hate, crime, innocence and everything else. however because the society is far behind from gettign this finformation, it will get misinformed and lead a life of blindness about the outside world.

UNITED ethiopia?

was thinking of the idea of the derivation behinfd the names unites dtates, united kingdom, united russia, and said to myself, why is it necessery to say united infront of their names? i thought it might be to remind the speaker that the country is a UNITED land and there is no division amongest the ppl who live there. these might serve as a two edge knife where it reminds the citizzen everyday, every minute and every second he/she spoke of theri country that they are living in a UNITED land, society. that will psychologically prepare them against any sort of divisions and hence force them to stand up against DIVISION, because its the direct opposte of their land.
on the other side of the knife, it protects the land from outsiders negativity. since outsiders are in continuous, non sleeping mode to divide the other country having a name as UNITED will force them to look for someting better to do than trying to divide a UNITED entity.
hence maybe having a UNITED ETHIOPIA, might stop outsiders and insiders continued urge to divide the land. one thing is true no society can speak of being clean from benefiting from another society while in the process of civilization because after all human beings are selfish beings and like to capitalize. I must add that the degree of capitalization some humans have taklen it do differ greatly from slavery, ashker, serf and etc. however these three lower class society have different meanings in different society hence comparing and contrasting each other with other different societies must be done with the out most re-considerations, other wise all the civilized societies we see today will be at each others neck and we will go back to the ice-age.

UNITED WHAT?

I was thinking of the idea of the derivation behinfd the names unites dtates, united kingdom, united russia, and said to myself, why is it necessery to say united infront of their names? i thought it might be to remind the speaker that the country is a UNITED land and there is no division amongest the ppl who live there. these might serve as a two edge knife where it reminds the citizzen everyday, every minute and every second he/she spoke of theri country that they are living in a UNITED land, society. that will psychologically prepare them against any sort of divisions and hence force them to stand up against DIVISION, because its the direct opposte of their land.
on the other side of the knife, it protects the land from outsiders negativity. since outsiders are in continuous, non sleeping mode to divide the other country having a name as UNITED will force them to look for someting better to do than trying to divide a UNITED entity.
hence maybe having a UNITED ETHIOPIA, might stop outsiders and insiders continued urge to divide the land. one thing is true no society can speak of being clean from benefiting from another society while in the process of civilization because after all human beings are selfish beings and like to capitalize. I must add that the degree of capitalization some humans have taklen it do differ greatly from slavery, ashker, serf and etc. however these three lower class society have different meanings in different society hence comparing and contrasting each other with other different societies must be done with the out most re-considerations, other wise all the civilized societies we see today will be at each others neck and we will go back to the ice-age.

Pussy picking you

North america is one of the most unique place one can live, I must say after being here almost a decade, with out knowing it. life is good, there are good ppl, there are nasty ppl and there are those who dont give a fuck about anything but themselves. the latter are the direct decedndents of capitalism and imperialism, i think. they have come to learn to live with the system and obey it without judging it so they could get by better.
I laugh when guys my age act as if the are "pimps"..or ladys man...funny, because what they dont really know is the true meaning of it. I was also a misguided person before a couple of sound raising arguments with my higher educated friend. In our small world dictionary, a pimp is someone who got skills picking up a chick he likes, atleast that is how it used to be in the old days. now to the conterary women pick the guys. women eventhogh they seem innocent and submissive in the old days, now it has changed.
hence if the women is picking the guy, as my friend put it, "pussy picking you" you should not be too happy and call yourself a pimp. you were actually pimped by the women.
As an Ethiopina man, have to be honest that girls liking me is one thing, girls trying to talk to me is little too much and kind of turn me off. I let go so many opportunities where i could have got easy pussy but my diginity has let me down and said no. I, personally am more inclined to date a girl more of old fashioned, and conservative.

Note for me

I met a girl today, i must say kind of cute. i ask her if she is ethiopian and she replied she is eritrean! quickly i said you are abesha right? she said yes. i think it is better for us to still use the word abesha despite the negative connetaion it has, which i have written extensively about in my earlier posts. unfortunately, i might have runined our first impression of each other and maybe in the future i will rember to say "are you abesha? before I specify country......yemekatele hasab

Dont be everyhting

This is mostly written for the Disabora community who feel the need to represent the all dimensions of the society and forget to represent what they truely want....coming to the US most want to be a student, others just want to make money, and others just want to see how this part of th world is. however this goals evaporate when they arrive in the new land, in the hope of becoming everyting, so as to show the rest of the world the "better ethiopian". now, we only live ones, can we afford to live it by representing or by truly living our own life, becoming and doing what we like? I take the latter.

The N... word

When speaking about this issue, the word Nigger and its perplexing menaing always comes to mind. Blacks, especially lower class blacks have decided not to let go off the word while the NAACP (the strongest black association in the US) has actually, literarly, buried the word, as if some one will burry a dead person in Ethiopia or any part of the world. They are dividded over the issue. The lower class sticking to the word eventhough the so called American whites has called balks the word for over 300 years. And the upper class society has decied not even to mention the word, even amongest themselves. The upper class soceiety, who are actually the enlightened ones should be the ones holding the banner of Choice for the majority, and I beleieve they shlould be heard and repsected. They have buried the word for reasons, the primary one being, that noting good/poistitive comes otu of a negative word so why still use it when you have the choice not to. Back in the days you have no choice to be called a nigger or a negro now a days blacks call them elves Nigga (with out the r at the end) as if it will bring some kind of positive outcome. But I truly belive if blacks decide to use it then they should not be mindful other use it also....because after all language is a universal and also individual property, no body should or will have sole power to own it. If you say it then everybody have the right to use it when or wherever they want. Some say the word balck is the new Nigger!....I do not know.

The word Habesha/ Abesha

Recently I have been dumbfounded by the speech I received from a person I admired who lives in the neighborhood. He questioned my belief and told me what you see or hear specially regarding names has far more meaning than we think it does. He spoke to me about the word Habesha or Abesha and its meaning we and others have for it.

The word habesha is widely used every where in the US and around in the world. I am not so sure how much usage it has in Ethiopia. It basically stands for the word Ethiopian. My friends basic question was why use the word habesha when we have a far greater, more beautiful word lik Ethiopian? If somebody is going to call you by the word habesha or Ethiopian for the rest of your life, instead of your name, which do you prefer?

As I heard from some, Telke sawoch talk, the word habesha is actually Arabic in origin and it means Kiyete, or mix of white and black? Are Ethiopians mix of what and black? I know that all Ethiopians know that, they are not a mix of some sort, however after long time of using dealing with Arabs and living along side we have taken the word as our own, with out even fully understanding the meaning.

So now you know what it means does it has any negative connotation with you? It does with me. Before I know what it means i cared less what it meant, now if an Arab person called me habesha, I wont be offended but I will ask him politely what it means and once he tells me what it means I will tell him the meaning doesn't represent who I am....because I pure bloooooded Ethiopian.....you could count back my generation. And politely request to be called Ethiopian.

I have been wondering a lot of times about the different ethnic groups that live in Ethiopia, how they have been coexisting with each other or in some cases spying on each others back. The tigres are the most interesting because they have been, in my personal opinion from what I read and heard so far, they have been disloyal to the whole Ethiopian establishment.

some Actually say Menlik II would have been able to chase away the Italian little men off the whole Ethiopia if he wanted to. However a very strategic and wise man he is that has no parallel in the Ethiopian history, he decided to cut off part of the tigre region. This is not hundred percent true, it something next to afe-tarek, no body wrote down what his plan was, because he never spoke about it. Lot of Ethiopians and the whole world believe that he decided to stop where stopped because of his fear his army will be heavily injured if he continues, because the Italians are being forced to the edge of the world, Red sea.

However, if we say his decision was heavily impacted by the dis-loyal Tigras or todays eritreans, my next question will be was that wise decision? for whom? This question has been eating me away because I alway wonder what Ethiopia would have been able to do with red sea. But at the same time, i always wonder if we are having problem containing the Tigres we have at home, how hard would have been to contain 3 million more people on top of what we have today.

People it is my sincerity hope that you wont be offended by what i wrote or implies in my writing, if you do, fuck you, because you cant do what I do.

Emperor Tewodros II., Husband of Ethiopia, fiancé of Jerusalem

n the early 1800, a man by the name of Hailu Kaas was born in a poor province of Ethiopian. During that time Ethiopia was ruled by many kings, having kingship in their own perspective provinces; because of that the time was named zemene mesafenet. Because of various reasons he came to power with the help of his wife, the daughter of one of the kings.
After he came to power, he began his brutal raid, to once again unite Ethiopia and put her under one king as it was for the previous 3,000 years. After fighting several battles in 1855 he united Ethiopia and became Emperor Tewdros, King of kings of Ethiopia. His main vision was not just to unify this Christian empire but it was also to industrialize her.
Throughout his emperorship he began to fight the Ethiopian Orthodox Church because of their continuous obstacle to industrialize Ethiopia. However he was also a devoted orthodox Christian. His hatred and suspicion was also on foreign missionaries of catholic whom he despised the most and Protestants whom he allowed in very few numbers. Once when a group of German missionaries arrived at his court to pay their respect he asked them if they know how to make firearms. They replied they don’t, and they were there because they were “men of God to preach the gospel”. He angrily replied that Ethiopia already have more than enough priests to preach the gospel. He ended up forcing the missionaries to make him a firearm by holding them as hostages. Luckily, they built him a canon, which they called it “Sebastopol” but he was not satisfied so he decided to imprison them for more time. Even though he does all that wrongdoings he was still a very religious person and his great dream and goal for a long time was “to drive the Turks out of Jerusalem”; which is why today he is called husband of Ethiopian, fiancé of Jerusalem.

The emperor deep resentment towards the church and his angry attitude to his people in addition to rebellion through his far flung kingdom began to weaken him. But, most of all it was his stubborn attitude and miscommunication with the English which ended his trembling empire. He wrote a letter to queen Victoria requesting for firearms and military personnel, to assist his growing army. But his letter never reached the queen because of the lower officers disregard and their though of him as a barbaric African monarch, which they letter regretted when he imprisoned and held hostage every missionary and every letter man they sent. When the situation got worst his letter was searched and found. Soon Queen Victoria replied. But her reply didn’t satisfy him. The British parliament decided to send 32,000 British and Indian armies to set free over dozen of missionaries, captains, and letter men.

The battle started on April 10 1868. Even though his few loyal Ethiopian armies fought devotedly they were outnumbered by the sophisticated British army which won the war after two days. After seeing his defeat from mountain top emperor Tewodros II felt sad because his own fellow citizens betrayed him, but it is said that he felt very sorry that he could no longer drive out the Turks from Jerusalem. Finally when he heard the British army has got to the top of mountain, he shot himself with a pistol queen Victoria had sent him. In Ethiopia his suicide was told to generations as pride and dignity for not giving up himself for captivity of a foreign force.

Strategic engagement

The male dominated colonial history Europeans have brought to Africa has done so much to put women out of the colonial picture, this especially applies to African women. It is difficult to find a piece of writing concerning African women resistance to colonialism and their “strategic engagement” to it. Strategic engagement as most African historian experts defined it is that, African women ability to strategically use the opportunity brought to them by the Europeans for their advantage (Aden, Lecture). For instance, “African women of all ages drank, danced, visited, and negotiated sexual unions and fictive kinship with valungu (non-African) men from every conceivable sector of colonial society ( Gengenbach 129). This clearly shows that women weren’t docile or as collaborators of the west rather, it shows their unique ways of resistance which is different from African men ways of resistance. African women resisted by “playing fire with fire” rather than using water to extinguish it as their male counter parts tried.

In the writing entitled, What My Heart Wanted by Heidi Gengenbach, discuses about the resistance and strategic engagement Mozambique women had with the Swiss missionaries. Throughout Swiss’s presence, Mozambique women “confronted the Swiss with open “mockery”, “hardened” resistance to schooling, and stubborn opposition to efforts to eliminate drinking, belief in witchcraft, and so called “pagan” rituals concerned with ancestor spirits and death (Gengenbach 23). This tells us that even though at times women and in general Africans were collaborates of the system it was more or less for their benefit rather than to give up and ‘give in’. In addition women were active participant during the time of colonization. In one occasion the Swiss stay in Mozambique the missionaries wrote, “We were besieged and annoyed by women, who came down to our camp after the men had retired for the night” (Gengenbach 22). From this we can see that women were always looking for their and their family benefit and trying to gain the most out of the European presence.

In the writing of the Colonial Midwifes and Modernizing Childbirth by Jane Turrittin, discuses about French and British belief that “training African women could further their project of social domination by facilitating access to African families” (71). It indeed helped them but in the process it has strengthen African women communities because they had a place to get together and speak freely out of the range of men (Turrittin 81). In addition because of their access to a ‘higher education’ , “Colonial midwifes were the most highly educated women in the AOF until 1938” (Turrittin 72).For instance, Aoua Keita had been a threat for the French in west Africa because she had opposed both French colonialism and patriarchy. In addition to being a colonial midwife, she was active in the health workers union, major strikes in the period leading up to Mali’s independence, and had made a significant contribution to Mali’s 1962 constitution by promoting marriage legislation which enhanced women’s rights (Turrittin 72)

At the beginning, the French thought African women would welcome the superior child birthing technique, yet the opposite occurred. Regarding this situation Turrittin wrote, “African women welcomed colonial midwives ability to save mother and infant in times of crisis, but otherwise strongly resisted the birthing practices the French promoted” (78).This clearly shows African women use of European techniques when they needed them the most and rejecting them and using their own traditional techniques when they need them the least.

In conclusion, as both the writing of the Colonial Midwifes and What My Heart Wanted sources reveal, African women were active participant during colonialism and they have used “strategic engagement” to counterattack the European cultural and territorial invasion. African women have integrated themselves in to the European system by dancing, visiting and negotiating sexual affairs with the Europeans. However they have also strongly resisted European influences. For instance they have rejected French birthing techniques, schooling, and some of the converted Christians have resisted giving up their pre-colonial beliefs which are sometime called “witchcraft” by the west (Gengenbach 23).

Direct And Indirect Rule in Africa

Both indirect rule and assimilation were applied on the continent of Africa during colonization for economical and psychological benefits of the colonizers. These two forms of colonization had a profound effect on Africans during the time of colonization and even now more than half a century later after African countries had acquired their independence.

Assimilation was the French way of administering their colonies. Through assimilation “the French for their part sought initially to integrate the administrations and incorporate the peoples of their new territories with France as an attempt to forge enormous francophone empire” (Lugard 1965: 101). Clearly, the French were in support of integrating the states of Africa by applying the same kind of political structure as their mother land. Through out their colonies, “the administrative procedures and subdivisions that exist in the metropolis are duplicated exactly the colonies” (Lewis 1962: 142). One other major thing the French did was that, they “tried to create one uniform, rational administrative policy for their entire African empire with out taking to account the differences in size, social organization, religious patterns, etc”( Lewis 1962: 102).This clearly shows that French administrators cared little about the indigenous culture and traditions they were ruling over. Most importantly the French even though were reluctant about the traditions of Africans they “believed in universal equality of all men” (Lewis 1962: 152). They believed that all men are equal and “men were different but these differences were the result of varying environments, principally education and rational change” (Lugard 1965: 103).

Indirect rule as much as assimilation has its own ideologies in which British officials enforced through out their colonies. In indirect rule the “British used the indigenous institutions and were expected to improve them by educating the chiefs with out destroying the authority of the traditional rulers” (Lugrad 1965: 102). By doing so they predicted that “indirect rule would assist the African people adjust to the traumatic impact of contact with the west without losing their identity” (Lugrad 1965: 102).
Some of the basic and clear differences between the assimilation and indirect rule are that in most part indirect rule used the advisory role of the British officials to advice the chiefs and if possible enhance the chiefs’ power through the traditional institutions. Where as the French regarded the chief officials as merely a symbol to retain piece and stability in the region and they didn’t let them exercise that much power (Lugrad 1965:104). In addition one of the major differences between the two systems is that “the French acceptance of racial equality as contested with the ‘color bar’ drawn by the British” (Lewis 1962: 141)

Even though these two systems were different in many aspects, including their administrative structure, their main goal was to amass their exploitation in the colonies in the most lucrative and less expenditure way possible (Aden Lecture). The British indirect rule has greater respect and value for the African customs and traditions. Where as, in the French assimilation, the French officials were indifferent and sometimes contempt for the indigenous language and traditions in favor of French language and customs” (Lewis 1962: 141). One another difference we can draw can be that in the French assimilation system the educated Africans who learned French language and adapted the French culture were allowed to exercise power, for instance, in the case of Leopold Senghor he was elected and reelected in the French National Assembly representing Senegal (Aden, Lecture). However in indirect rule of the British, officials were not willing to let educated Africans take any part in the political system of their own country let alone in the political administration of England.

Adwa and 1935

The loss of the battle of Adwa has caused a great grieve and humiliation on Italians from the four corners the world. For almost a half a century, from 1896 until 1936, Italians were humiliated because of their defeat against the ‘uncivilized’ and ‘barbaric’ people of Ethiopia, Africa.

In the 1930’s Mussolini, fascist Italian leader, took over Italia. After seeing the country's humiliated history of Adwa he feels it is important to lift up the countries nationalism in order to be once again equal to the super powers of Europe. And to fulfill his dream he waged war on Ethiopia.

The Ethio-Italia war started in 1935. Soon, this news was heard around the world and it resulted in emergence of black movements. For instance, “in Harlem, blacks signed petitions to be allowed to enlist in Ethiopia's armed services, as did blacks in Kingston, Jamaica, in Cuba's sugar provinces, on the plantations of Central America, and on the tiny island of Grenada”( Yelvington).

During the war, Italia deployed 100,000 well trained and well equipped soldier lead by air planes which sprayed mustard gas not only on the soldier but also on the rivers and villages and civilians to break any kind of Ethiopian resistance. Italian soldiers were about to face an ill-prepared and poorly equipped Ethiopian soldiers with limited number of guns and ammunitions. And an airplane was most likely the work of the devil rather than technology advancement to the agricultural and rural Ethiopian society.
When the emperor saw this unfair kind of war and when he realized that Ethiopia was not going to win the war he fled to the League of Nation to protest this inhumane action. At last, Halile selasse got the chance to protest the Italian invasion in front of the League of Nation but as seen from the result, it seems like his cry and agony has fallen on deaf ears.
I think this was the time Ethiopians began to lose confidence in their emperor. All the previous emperors including Haile Selassie were treated with respect and dignity when the country is in peace. And when the country is under attack the emperor is suppose to fight in front of his soldiers and not run. This has put a doubt in most Ethiopians mind; because if he was a divinity and was crowned with the will of God he wouldn’t have run leaving his sheep’s in the jungle. Emperor Haile Selassie’s fled to London had made most Ethiopians to rethink the status of the emperor which later in 1967 has resulted in his over throw and killing during revolution.

Most importantly, this invasion of Ethiopia has reached the four globes and descendents of Africans all over the world and they have protested against this invasion. Africans in America, in the carnelians, Africans in Europe and African’s in Africa protested against the invasion but again their protest had fallen on deaf ears. However, this didn’t stop them from taking a consequent action. For instance “When Harlem blacks were denied the opportunity to fight Italians in the Ethiopian highlands, they clashed with their Italian neighbors on the streets of New York and New Jersey (Yelvington).

Even though Ethiopia has lost the war, this protest has brought Africans around the world together and has created a sense of Pan Africanism. During the same time or before this time Rastafarianism was also born and was rumbling the British rule in Jamaica. So after all even though this invasion was a defeat for Ethiopian for they have lost many lives and dignity it’s was a success because its impact on the black nation was far bigger. After the invasion of Ethiopia many movements came in to existence and began questioning and resisting the European colonization in a more centralized and coordinated way than ever before.

In conclusion this war “had heightened “race consciousness and solidarity in the whole colored world.”( Schoenherr). Because of Adwa, Ethiopians and Africans all over the globe felt proud and realized that Europeans were not unbeatable. However the defeat of Ethiopia in 1935 was more important than the battle of Adwa, for it has brought black people together and made them realize that if they are not going to fight for their freedom and independence Europeans will always oppress and use them as they needed. Also the fact that Ethiopia being a Biblical and Christian country which has been independent for more than 3,000 years and its invasion caused blacks whom mostly think of Ethiopia as ‘earthly heaven’ to have one more common issue to revolt against the white domination, in addition to their being oppressed and exploited. For instance Jamaicans and more specifically Rastafarians thought the invasion of Ethiopia as directly connected to the Bible, because they thought of the crowning of Haile Selassie just five years ago as a fulfillment of the prophesy of deliverance. After seeing his coronation some Jamaicans believed that he was a black messiah and others thought of him as a God of Abraham and Isaac and he has come to save them from the hands of the devil, from the hands of the white man.

* I used the name "Italia" refering to Italy. Italy is usually pronounced as Italia in Amharic, one of the many Ethiopia languages.