Saturday, November 04, 2006

Break

I have been really busy with school. I will post something within the next week.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

News Links

I saw something really good on someone’s blog, having news links. So I thought I would also include news links.

-Ethiopian police arrest "Red Terror" actor during the Dergue
-To young for Democracy
-Under age sex industry in Addis Ababa, caused by poverty
-Ana Gomes accuses Western leaders over government crimes in Ethiopia
-Rare bird sited in Ethiopia
-Jihad called on Ethiopia
-U.S. accuses Eritrea of arming Somali Islamists
-EU anger over Ethiopia expulsions

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Poems

For the last couple of weeks I have been into poetry, so I decided to find some poems about Ethiopia and to my surprise I found many poems about Ethiopia by non-Ethiopians. Here are a couple that caught my attention:

Ode to Ethiopia
by
Unknown American Slave

O MOTHER Race! to thee I bring
This pledge of faith unwavering,
This tribute to thy glory.
I know the pangs which thou didst feel,
When Slavery crushed thee with its heel,
With thy dear blood all gory.

Sad days were those--ah, sad indeed!
But through the land the fruitful seed
Of better times was growing.
The plant of freedom upward sprung,
And spread its leaves so fresh and young--
Its blossoms now are blowing.

On every hand in this fair land,
Proud Ethiope's swarthy children stand
Beside their fairer neighbor;
The forests flee before their stroke,
Their hammers ring, their forges smoke,--
They stir in honest labour.

They tread the fields where honour calls;
Their voices sound through senate halls
In majesty and power.
To right they cling; the hymns they sing
Up to the skies in beauty ring,
And bolder grow each hour.

Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul;
Thy name is writ on Glory's scroll
In characters of fire.
High 'mid the clouds of Fame's bright sky
Thy banner's blazoned folds now fly,
And truth shall lift them higher.

Thou hast the right to noble pride,
Whose spotless robes were purified
By blood's severe baptism.
Upon thy brow the cross was laid,
And labour's painful sweat-beads made
A consecrating chrism.

No other race, or white or black,
When bound as thou wert, to the rack,
So seldom stooped to grieving;
No other race, when free again,
Forgot the past and proved them men
So noble in forgiving.

Go on and up! Our souls and eyes
Shall follow thy continuous rise;
Our ears shall list thy story
From bards who from thy root shall spring,
And proudly tune their lyres to sing
Of Ethiopia's glory.

Here are some more poems by an unknown British Visitor

On the road to Tenta

Golden moon,

Smiling in the night,

Euphorbia fingers

Silhouetted

In your light,

Where the dirt road

Corrugated

By Mengistu's flight

Drives past

Haystack houses -

Who sings your tune,

Oh golden moon,

When day is bright?

Ethiopia Departed

Farewell ancient land

Where once Mankind

Was born,

Where kings of old

Built castles on a hill,

Whence Sheba came

Whose dusky beauty

Captivated men.

Where ragged children

Herding flocks

Of skinny sheep

Must shade their eyes

Against the dust

Of motor cars

To wave goodbye.

We gather speed to climb

Above the plateau rim

And view below

The patchwork fields

Where oxen plough

And women toil

To gather firewood

From the eucalypts.

Farewell ancient land

Until I come again.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Meskel

Today I thought I would skip the politics and talk about Meskel. I was amazed at the celebration of Meskel last weekend. We had a big celebration here in Seattle at the St.Gebreil Church. I was always confused about why we celebrate it. I use to think that it was just some celebration but when I got home yesterday I decided to research its history and why we celebrate it. To my surprise most Ethiopians don’t know the exact history either.
First, what is this holiday? Meskel is celebration to remember the discovery of the True Cross. It’s celebrated every year on the 17th of meskrem/around September 27th. The burning of a large bonfire, or better known as Demera is a must for Meskel.
At church I asked a man next to me why we had a bonfire and he told me that it was part of the celebration. I said “I know its part of the celebration but why do we do it, what is the meaning”. Once again the Gentlemen told me it was part of the celebration.
The story of the bonfire goes like this, Queen Eleni had a messenger tell her in her dream that the she shall make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. The next day she commanded everyone in Jerusalem to bring wood and to make a pile. They lit the bonfire and the smoke from the bonfire rose high and came back down to the exact spot where the true cross-had been buried.
This is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard in my life. There is also a believe that part of the cross was brought back to Ethiopia. It is believed to be at Amba Gishen. So if you go to Ethiopia go check out Amba Gishen.

Friday, September 29, 2006

HR 5680

Yesterday our brothers and sisters made Capitol Hill look like Meskel Square. Capitol Hill was filled with beautiful abesha faces. You could see their pain in their face, their lost ones flashing in their minds, thinking “I can’t go back to my beloved country.” Their hope of a peaceful Ethiopia getting stripped away from them. Their hope, our hope was HR 5680.
Yesterday many Ethiopians rallied in Washington D.C from 9 AM till noon asking why Dennis Hastert, speaker of the house, blocked HR 5680 from going to the floor. There has been no answer from him or his representatives. We will have to just wait and pray for his heart to open up to our mother Ethiopia.
I have also realized that most Ethiopians don’t know what HR 5680 is. So I will briefly explain what Hr 5680 is. To summairzie things up Hr 5680 aka Ethiopia Freedom is desgined to help
* Ethiopia build strong democratic institutions, processes and practices,
* Ethiopians enjoy human rights and civil liberties,
* Ethiopia become a just society by requiring release of political prisoners who are jailed unlawfully,
* Ethiopia professionalize and modernize its judicial system and promote the rule of law,
* Ethiopia strengthens its ties to the United States and forge an effective anti-terrorism partnership in Africa, and
* Ethiopia by providing USD $20 million over two years to cover costs associated with implementation of the bill.

So go out there and tell all the Ethiopians you know about HR 5680 and explain to them what its supposed to do. So long for now my brothers and sisters.

http://www.hr5680.org/
http://ethiomedia.com/addfile/capitol_hill_rally.html

Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Constitution

1. Everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice.
3. Freedom of the press and other mass media and freedom or artistic creativity is guaranteed.

Does this look familiar? Most people would say; is that a part of the United States Constitution? The answer is no, the piece above is part of the Constitution of Ethiopia. To be more exact it is the first three sections of Article 29 in The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
The first two sections clearly state that anyone can say whatever they want without interference. Then why is the government blocking many websites and blogs. We are just expressing our opinions.
Section 3 talks about freedom of speech, many reporters and writers have been arrested in Ethiopia for telling the truth to the outside world. I thought there was freedom of the press.
Clearly the EPRDF can’t follow these simple rules, which by the way they created in 1996. If they can’t follow the rules then maybe they should step down. Are they really pushing for Democracy in Ethiopia? What part of democracy is jailing reporters and writers? So long for now my brothers and sisters.