Author’s Note: I have a tradition of reviewing the year in my last commentary of the year. It gives me an opportunity for a momentary reflection on some things that have happened and did not happen during the year.
If I were to describe 2017 in a short sentence, it would be “The Year of Ethiopiawinet, Rising”.
For over a quarter of a century, under the oppressive rule of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (T-TPLF), it has been a crime to publicly acknowledge Ethiopiawinet, a system of beliefs which affirms the unity of the Ethiopian people in their humanity. Lemma Megerssa best defined Ethiopiawinet as “an addiction [deep passion]. It is in the heart of each and every Ethiopian. If there is a way to open and look at what is in the hearts and and minds of Ethiopians, what we see is EthiopiaWINet… EthiopiaWINet is to be free. Human beings being free to express their feelings… ”
2017 has been the year of Ethiopiawinet, a year in which courageous and patriotic Ethiopians affirmed not only in their hearts and minds but also in the streets that they have a common unbreakable bond, a unifying identity and a collective mission that can be realized only through the practice of Ethiopiawinet.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIAWINET IN THE HEARTS, MINDS AND SPIRITS OF THE ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE!
I have selected one or two commentaries from each month of the year in my year in review below.
In my January 1, 2017
In my January 15, 2017
For eight years, Obama talked about being “on the right side of history, and for eight years he walked on the wrong side of history holding hands with Africa’s most brutal and corrupt dictators. As Obama bowed out to join the “kingdom of the has-beens”, I was left only with bitter words and hard feelings for him. I said good bye to Obama paraphrasing Shakespeare, “’So farewell Barack Obama to the little good you bear me./ Farewell! a long farewell, to all [your] greatness!’ But were you to ask me what your legacy shall be in Africa, my answer is this: You shall inherit the wind because you stood on the wrong side of history!”
In February 2017, I
I also had my own questions for President Trump: 1) How long must Ethiopia remain a beggar nation panhandling for aid? 2) How long must Africa remain a beggar continent, the object of charity for the rest of the world? 3) How long must the US aid gravy train continue to transfer billions of American tax dollars to African dictators to maintain their empires of corruption? I insisted there must come a time when Ethiopia and the rest of Africa must be forced to kick their addiction to aid and charity.
In my March 24, 2017
In my April 16, 2017
May 2017 was a busy month. I published a total of 9 commentaries, op-ed pieces and did one radio interview. The “artist of Ethiopiawinet”, Tedros (“Teddy Afro”) Kassahun released his globally acclaimed album
I am overawed not only by Tewdros’ unsurpassed musical genius and prodigious creativity, but even more compellingly, I am mesmerized by his committment to Ethiopiawinet. Tewdros is not just a musician, he is a deep thinker who speaks in lyrical poetry. Tewdros is a man who practices his credo of love, compassion and understanding, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation in his music. Tewdros Kassahun is a man for all seasons. Teddy Afro is a prophet of his generation.
In June 2017, the passions of Ethiopiawinet sparked by Teddy Afro were getting hot. The Governments of the U.S. and U.K. were
In July 2017, the popular protest against T-TPLF oppressive rule was in full swing. There was uprising everywhere. The T-TPLF tried to pacify the Oromo people in Ethiopia by playing a name game for the capital. Is it Addis Ababa or Finfine?
In my July 9, 2017
In July, the T-TPLF also tried to
In August 2017, I wrote about the
In September 2017, I focused on foreign investments, particularly Chinese and Indian, in Ethiopia. I have long been leery of Chinese “investment” (or is it infestment) in Ethiopia and Africa. In February 2012, I wrote a
I don’t buy the canard that China is Africa’s gift that keeps on giving. In 2017, China cares as much about Africa as the European colonial powers did at the Berlin Conference in 1894. 1) Does China use its mega transnational corporations and banking institutions to perpetuate colonial forms of exploitation in Africa?2) Is China’s “new strategic partnership” with Africa a fancy phrase for China’s kinder and gentler creeping neocolonialism through outwardly benign economic relations (domination) and exploitation of Africa as a source of cheap raw materials and cheap labor?
In antiquity, the warning was, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. Today, in Africa, it is, “”Beware of Chinese bearing gifts”.
It was also
October. Aaah! October. The month I declared, “
In October, I wrote a
In light of my letter to President Trump, the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front had the gall, the audacity to
President Trump signed a targeted sanctions executive order applicable to all nations in December 2017. KUDOS, Trump!
Initially, I was offended that my Ethiopian-ness should be challenged by a gang of lowlife ignorant bush thugs who literally sold Ethiopia down the river (to Karuturi on the Alwero and Baro Rivers) and on the Red Sea when they declared the port of Asab belongs someone else and Ethiopia does not need a port. Thugs who sacrificed 80 thousands young Ethiopians to defend Badme and then handed it over to the enemy in arbitration were questioning my Ethiopian-ness? Thugs who used to travel the world over as citizens of Somalia, Libya and what have you “fighting their war of liberation” against Ethiopia itself were questioning my Ethiopian-ness? Thugs who ran into the bush to create a separate country called the “Republic of Tigray”, separate and apart from Ethiopia, were questioning my Ethiopian-ness?
Shakespeare wrote, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose./ An evil soul producing holy witness/Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,…” The T-TPLF devils citing the holy scripture of Ethiopiawinet and producing holy witness against me for being un-Ethiopian is like frigging bush thugs with smiling cheeks.
I challenged the T-TPLF to produce a shred of evidence to raise doubt about my Ethiopain-ness or apologize to me. They did neither. I am not surprised. As I always say, you can take the thug out of the bush and dress him up in designer clothes but you can never take the bush out of the thug. That is thug life!
But I did thank the T-TPLF. By doubting my Ethiopian-ness they gave me a new platform to advocate, defend and mobilize Ethiopians to rise up and assert their Ethiopiawinet and teach the true meaning of Ethiopiawinet. They helped me discover that Ethiopiawinet is the one and only thing that will save Ethiopians from the T-TPLF’s prophesy of civil war, ethnic warfare and strife.
In November 2017, I remembered, as I do every year, the
In November, I offered an English translation of a speech given by
Ethiopians are like sergena teff [staple foodstuff in Ethiopia made whose tiny seeds resemble poppy seeds eaten as flatbread called injera] (applause). [Grain] that is gathered together. Milled together. Eaten together (applause)… EthiopiaWINet is an addiction [deep passion]. It is in the heart of each and every Ethiopian. If there is a way to open and look at what is in the hearts and and minds of Ethiopians, what we see here today [EthiopiaWINet] is what have seen here today [our unity in our Ethiopiawinet]… [EthiopiaWINet] is to be free. Human beings being free to express their feelings… Our people did not heroically sacrifice themselves in yesteryears for our country because they were paid. Our people who gave up their lives for the one-ness (unity) of our country.
In yesteryears, our people shed their blood in major battles for [to defend the integrity] Ethiopia. Now it is expected of us to work (sacrifice) for our country. We cannot go forward looking backwards. Let us not dwell on the past. Now we must stand together collectively for our country… If we set out to count our differences, in this hall there could be numerous things to separate and divide us. But there are also numerous other things that we share that could bring us together. Why don’t we strengthen that as long as it is something that can be used to good end?”
Ato
Indeed, our diversity has been the amazingly distinctive feature of our Ethiopiawinet. The strong bond in the mosaic of our Ethiopiawinet is reflected in the diversity of our religions, traditions and cultural practices. The linkage of our unity over the ages has remained very strong. [Ethiopiawinet] is not something that dissipates like vapor in the air. It is not a thing swept by the wind and scattered or easily broken. It is a unity that is deeply rooted. It is great unity with [immeasurable] depth and strength.”
In December 2017, I reviewed the Trump administration’s
No American president had ever classified “serious human rights abuse and corruption” as a “threat to American national security, foreign policy and economy”.
In my October 1, 2017 “
Kudos! Trump & Tillerson.
2018: The Year of Total Victory of Good Over Evil!
I, PROUD, ETHIOPIAN!