Fighting Racism, Prejudice and Inhumanity

As I read and hear of all the hope from around the world being bestowed upon, one man, Barack Obama, I wonder if there will be any hope left for ourselves. Don’t we have a responsibility to invest hope in ourselves? If we can muster enough hope in ourselves, maybe, the hope that we had for Obama will come to fruition. We Africans at home and around the world must strive to be the best at whatever livelihood we pursue. Respect for each other is indispensable and we must also be able to disagree without being condescending and unpleasant towards one another.

President Barack Obama on his current visit to Ghana, Africa, in his address speech, said, “Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at war. But for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes. These conflicts are a millstone around Africa’s neck. We all have many identities – of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century. Africa’s diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God’s children. We all share common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families, our communities, and our faith. That is our common humanity. That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systematic rape”.

He continued explaining more about the honesty, transparency and good governance in all African countries that will undoubtedly lead to respect for humanity and prosperity for the entire nation.

He said, “Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.”
As I have said so many times in my previous written comments, our problem, no matter how and when should be resolved and reconciled in our own traditional way without copying western political styles which will not blend in the African way of life.

The President asserted that notion when he said “We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans”. No one can clean up and fix our own mess in our back yard, but ourselves. The President reitrated my word on that one when he reminded the Ghanaians his election winning truism ‘YES WE CAN’ He said, “Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can”.

Don’t we know that we need not be reminded that we take responsibility for our own destiny and country’s future? Well, it is easier said than done. Sometimes we need somebody to be stimuli for our innate wisdom to come to the fore. Here is what Mr Obama said to remind us, “Things can only be done if you take responsibility for your future. It won’t be easy. It will take time and effort. Opportunity won’t come from any other place, though – it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts. Freedom is your inheritance. Now, it is your responsibility to build upon freedom’s foundation”. I Also made a comment about those people who wrote letters to the President and prominent figures that it will not change the policies regarding the atrocities being committed by our own government, I feel sorry for them that their applications fell on to deaf ears from what Mr Obama emphasised here, “it is our own responsibility”.

He told the Ghanaians, “Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation – the essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny. We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don’t, and that is exactly what America will do. As I said earlier, Africa’s future is up to Africans.
The people of Africa are ready to claim that future. In my country, African-Americans – including so many recent immigrants – have thrived in every sector of society. We have done so despite a difficult past, and we have drawn strength from our African heritage”.
The culprit: Africa, more or less, has inherited foreign culture, become largely westernized or asianized. Almost 90% of Africans today continue to buy, sell and wear western outfits, rather than African traditional clothes, and all that it has to impose or offer. We no longer care about our roots, villages, languages, cultures and inheritances. We despise ourselves, despise and denigrate our fellow Africans if they exhibit themselves wearing their cultural outfits and aspire only to compare ourselves with all that is not us or to be like those who are not like us.

No wonder everyone is scrambling to grab pieces of Africa because we are not prepared and committed to treasure and protect our own backyard and our own brothers and sisters and allowing foreign aids to corrupt us and not being recognized as equals in the eyes of those who render their alms.

This brings me to the question of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is a good model for the administration of international justice beyond the borders of sovereign states, western double standards and arrogance have made it irrelevant and this in-turn has made it possible for Africans to go soft on our despots.

The western society, Americans, wouldn’t allow or permit even their lowest citizen to be tried by the ICC. How come they want African leaders to be tried by the ICC? One has to ask the bigger question we are facing today: why are the indictments mainly against African leaders and/ or rebels? Africa doesn’t have a monopoly on atrocities. What about “the three stooges”, George W. Bush, Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Australian counterpart John Howard, who have created axis of evil reigniting the sixteen century “triangle trade” or the transatlantic slave trade era of slavery rule of law in the twenty-first century; lied to the world community about what they called weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in order to silence, oust and kill those who opposed their policies; they committed unforeseen atrocities against humanity, displaced so many families, murdered, tortured and incarcerated millions of children, men and women around the world. Why wouldn’t they be persecuted and appear before the World’s Court? Who are the governing body of the so called world court, “ICC”?

“I don’t admit that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, has come in and taken its place”-Winston Churchill to the Palestine Royal Commission, 1937.

What comes out, of all of this, is what most Africans see as organized hypocrisy, selective justice, orchestrated double standards, and a refusal by the western world to see and treat African blacks as equals and responsible.
Don’t get me wrong that I am not complacent, approving or taking pride in the abuse of law, justice and freedom committed by the leader in my country and leaders of some African countries but besides living through it in my daily life, this injustice brings tears to my eyes that how in broad day light the principle on which the ICC was formed categorically ignored.

Alike Iraq or the Middle East, it seems that the primary motive underpinning the cries of Darfur’s genocide is not a concern for humanity but to seek control of Sudan’s oil or to ensure the breakaway of South Sudan and Darfur. If the concern was highly motivated to save human lives, one would genuinely ask, what about the genocides committed in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo where millions of lives perished in an oil free country? Alternatively, this is to instigate a regime change that will impose a US- friendly government at the helm where Darfur to be used as justification by South Sudan to secede, China, Malaysia and India would lose significant sources of oil and investment. With all my conscience, I am regrettably forced to say that everyone is taking a free ride and profiteering at the expense of developing country’s genocides. One can only presume if Africa as, labeled “the Dark Continent”, a black country being ignored by the living opposites.

When people with different cultures and views live side by side, in the absence of effective interaction, it’s natural for them to make assumptions about the other. When such neighbouring groups compete over resources, or when there is conflict of interest, those assumptions develop into prejudices and bigotry.



Therefore, assumption, prejudices and bigotry are present in any diverse society and they often die out as interaction and interdependence among communities increase. But if and when one group dominates the other and imposes its cultural, political and economic will, those pre-existing assumptions and prejudices become fertile ground for dehumanization, discrimination and exploitation.

In other words, what we call racism today is a situation in which the powerful suppresses the powerless based on those pre-existing social differences. We cannot simply wish away bigotry and ethnic hatred; we must face it head on and deal with it.

The man we all admire or we either hate him or love him, for his ingenuity and conceptual contribution to today’s relative warfare, Albert Einstein said, “It is hard to crack a prejudice than an atom”. The Western democracy or and Australian practice has never been fair to black people; hopefully one day, like President Barack Obama, election of a black person as Prime Minister of Australia would finally be an audacity of hope being realized.

The recent Walk for Harmony, in July 2009 in Melbourne, Australia, was a tale of same, same but different! A lot of community and ethnic organizations have been left out because of the government’s failure to tackle racism issues and unfair deal in its judicial system.
All ethnic community groups in Melbourne should have taken part and allowed to address the crowd rather than being used to satisfy Victorian Premier’s political propaganda. The attacks against Indian students were the initial motivation to persuade the Premier to call “Walk for Harmony”.

Australia still remains to practice implicit racism cannily operated and very hard to amplify for those least affected and even harder when others imply hypocrisy and diplomatically character assassinate others because they are different. Former Telstra CEO, Sol Trujillo aggravated Australians for telling the truth on his departure when he said, “Australia is racist and backwards”. ( www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,25539478-462,00.html )

Mr Trujillo was not the only person who honestly revealed the truth about Australian racism. Sandy Gifford is a professor in the school of social sciences, La Trobe University and director of the La Trobe Refugee Research Centre who said on a Melbourne newspaper, “Australia is a racist society. There, I've said it. I've wanted to say this for the past 24 years — from the time I arrived here”. ( www.theage.com.au/opinion/lifting-the-veil-on-our-ingrained-racism-20090612-c637.html?page=-1 )

Another Victorian prominent figure, Waleed Aly, is an Australian lawyer, Muslim community leader, frequent 774 ABC Melbourne guest standing in for regular host Richard Stubbs, grew up in Melbourne's eastern suburbs and is a former student of Wesley College. He studied Engineering and Law at the University of Melbourne and an academic lecturer in politics at Monash University exposed his analysis of racism in areas of employment. ( www.watoday.com.au/opinion/no-equal-opportunity-in-job-losses-20090130-7u0r.html?page=-1 )

The issues of race, class and identity are broad and I will not attempt to tackle them here, except the agreement we should all bear in mind that racism is not limited to color of one’s skin, but about shared values, cultural diversity, striving for social, economical, political, equality, justice and creating national and international solidarity for the disadvantaged. We are obsessed with the politics of race- a clear sign of inhumanity and disunity instead of discussing solutions on matters regarding unity, security, political progression and stability or the impact of globalization on the cultural dislocation of families.

One thing black people ought to know for sure that we can’t be free until we free ourselves. This can only be achieved through the power of learning and attaining knowledge, and pushing our self up as Obama, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and others have done. Life will never be fair to all of us, if we just sit there and contemplate negative thoughts about everything, rather than directing our energy toward accentuating positive attitude and looking forward to a bright future.

Like many of our heroes, we need to persevere, be courageous and keep on fighting racism, prejudice and inhumanity until we turn things emulating the philosophy of Obamology- yes we can. Rejection or racial discrimination should not dissuade us. Instead, we should stirrup our dormant potentials and face any adversity without fear, of course, given the opportunity, allowing, accepting and welcoming us in the mainstream participation. We can be better and make our children’s and humanity’s better future if we wake up and start doing something now.

Let me share with you a story a friend told me. A man came across an old lady searching outside her house for a needle she lost inside. The man asked her why she was looking outside if she lost it inside. Her response was that there is no light inside. The man asked “what is easier, finding light for your house or searching outside where you know the needle is not there?" The situation in our day-to-day living with racism or and any adversity is similar, there are too many problems, but needless to say, the pertinent solution must come from inside not outside.

Let’s, therefore, motivate our people, people of the world, to become great achievers and tolerant instead of focusing on what those who don’t wish us well are doing.

Long live! Humanity before ethnicity. Remember, we all are African origin.

THE NEED TO FORGE BONDS IN DIASPORA COMMUNITY

I had always believed – as I had been taught – with great conviction, though perhaps foolishly, that Ethiopians were kind and generous to one another and even to foreign visitors. I certainly never, even in my wildest dreams, thought that Ethiopians could also be so hostile, so outrageously cruel and so humiliating to one another. Yes, even though I was one who occasionally accused Ethiopian political leaders and activists of recklessness and of leading weakly organized and dysfunctional organizations housed in shaky buildings constructed from cane and bamboo, with supporters who are lawless, scary militants, blindly following in the footsteps of their political leaders and of activists those who are not in peace with themselves and with each other, much to my astonishment and naïveté, however, I never envisioned that the sudden waves of optimism that came to light in 2005 might be replaced by additional shackles of hatred.

I honestly did not know that we Ethiopians could be so inhuman and so ready to obliterate those who refuse to be blind followers, who disagree with our self-centred and hidden ends and our feeble, vague organizations or political parties – political parties that have little or none of the necessary fundamental political structures, strategies, political maps and legal foundations. Nor did I know that we Ethiopians could be so terribly stubborn and jealous - unashamed liars who appear determined to trash and eliminate our own compatriots – not to maintain the territorial integrity of our country, to realize carefully planned socio-political and economic transformation, or to help educate Ethiopians about the terribly necessary modern political culture (a political culture that is entirely absent in the land we call Ethiopia and among the Ethiopian Diaspora community) or about the meaning and significance of democracy and accountability. Instead we do this for the most hazardous and frightening reasons – to support personal, family and group status and interests.

Isn’t this extremely frightening and depressing? What is most disturbing is that these cruel and shameless individuals call themselves “the gallant and true children of Ethiopia,” and do everything to convince us that they behave the way they do – engaging day in and day out in character assassination and false charges against known and unknown innocent individuals – because, they argue, they love their country, Ethiopia, enormously – more than anyone else. They also continue to insist that they are the ones who are capable of scaring Meles Zenawi’s regime, preventing them from handing over Ethiopia’s fertile land to Sudan and continuing the repression of our people at home. Maybe some of us just missed our old seat and want to regain it by complaining to the brink of self destruction.

More importantly and depressingly, however, the political events of May 2005 have magnified the long existing unhealed wounds and darkened the prospects for positive, relatively civil and respectful communication within the Ethiopian Diaspora community and Ethiopian society at large. Yes, even though most Ethiopian political activists and the unorganized interest groups would prefer to tell us otherwise – saying that the May 2005 election helped to expose the repressive nature of Meles Zenawi’s regime and weakened its political and economic position, both nationally and internationally – in fact in concrete terms, for the majority of Ethiopians both at home and abroad, the direct and indirect repercussions of the May 2005 election and the subsequent turmoil of the past four years have been costly, dreadful, tragic and full of disappointment and embarrassment.



Many in the Ethiopian Diaspora community came to regard it as either a leisure time activity or as a pastime of “see-ra-fe-to-ch/ bo-ze-ne-wo-ch,” those who have little or nothing else to do.
the reputation of being nothing more than “barking dogs that are unable to bite.” the most important factors and actors that have persistently, perhaps even permanently, prevented the Ethiopian Diaspora community from becoming a collective, harmonious force with a single face, a community that is both respected and proud of itself and its activities, and has kept it from playing a meaningful role that contributes to mending bridges among community members and to alleviating Ethiopia’s multiple, prolonged suffering.

We attempt to imitate the systems, political and democratic models of other nations, to implement them in our own land and incorporate them into our minds, but we fail to first understand and deal with the cardinal foundations and requirements of the many-sided components of democracy and democratic patterns and principles, and to consider and study their appropriateness to our situation, the openness of our culture and our socio-culturally molded attitudes and mindsets.

Not just to initiate new discourses and educate ourselves, but first of all to stress the urgent need to think and look critically, either individually or collectively, at the historical components that have shaped Ethiopian culture and molded our uncompromising, irreconcilable and sometimes vindictive attitudes and uncaring behaviours.

Through such engagement, after addressing the root causes of our inabilities to forge bonds, live and work together and find the remedies we need, and after inculcating concepts of respect, trust, confidence, accountability and shared responsibility for each other – combined with a mindset among the members of our society that includes a sense of belonging, a feeling of nationhood – we can achieve a basis for democracy and democratic systems to gradually take root in the land of Ethiopia.

There is an increasing difference within the community in terms of educational background and the extent of involvement in Ethiopian Diaspora politics. A more crucial element in relation to Diaspora politics, which I would like to see taken under consideration by the Ethiopian Diaspora community – especially if we are willing to make a serious attempt to forge bonds among ourselves, become a socially and politically influential community and play a meaningful role in helping ourselves and possibly also our country – is to issue calls underlining the urgent need for the establishment of a common, single House for the Ethiopian Diaspora, a professional institution, free from any direct or indirect influence from any political party, with visions and strategies, systems and rules – systems and rules that reward and obligate its members to serve, provide support and comply.

This would be an institution within which we can all educate ourselves; provide the means and the required material and educational tools to help in the development and expansion of civil society in our country; rebuild the badly needed trust, confidence and accountability among ourselves; engage in positive and constructive discourse and research about the many sided positive and negative cultural elements of our society; redress previous wrongdoing; and fashion new and helpful tools and strategies that will help to heal wounds, whether long existing or freshly inflicted, upon particular sections and generations of Ethiopian society.

Within such an institution we can produce acceptable, maturely written policies relevant to our contemporary political challenges and debates about the process of democratization, the development and role of civil society and the future face and direction of our country and its people, and we can rebuild the badly needed respect and love among ourselves. Such an institution is also needed to help maintain and expand our long-established positive cultural elements and use these to fashion a new political culture, extending our cultural patterns to include habits of working and living together with accountability and responsibility.

This will allow us not only to influence the forces and processes of future socio-economic and political changes in our country, both directly and indirectly, but to play an indispensable part, with a meaningful, positive, substantial role in helping and defending each member of our community in times of personal or collective difficulty, no matter how severe.

That’s the change we want!

PROPOSITION FOR ALL ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES

All opposition parties to, ideologically not politically, engage in a unified, peaceful, honest and transparent behaviour to reflect their philosophy of governance, to the people starting now and leading up to their nomination in the election process in order to create a sustainable government for Ethiopia without going at each others throat.

Whatever ethnic he might be that person will be the people’s choice, elected by the people, for the people and governs the people democratically until the next election. There will not be despotism and draconian style rule of business as usual, once elected continue to govern until forcefully evicted causing catastrophic atrocities.

Our main concern at present however is not about what we currently witness happening but rather what we failed to see happening. The single most important absence, at least to our knowledge, is the stepping up of mutual consultation and engagement among various opposition political forces. The fact that each strives to solely realize one’s own organizational objective without paying due attention to the larger governing possibility could only lead down the road to a chaotic situation and not to a viable political alternative. It is an objective fact that each has got its own perspective through the prism of which it is looking at the current situation in the country. Besides, be it big or small, each are presumed to have their own respective constituencies the interest of whose social segment they claim to be representing. At the same time, most of opposition political groups are believed to share a very strong anti-Woyanne stance that provides them with a solid common ground upon which they can build their shared strategy and tactics.

Holding serious negotiations among various opposition groups that aim at developing a joint political platform that reflects an optimum combination of those diverse interests, in our opinion, is long overdue. The ideal scenario at about this time should have been the clear articulation of a transition modality that is arrived at through a thoroughly conducted negotiation among various groups of opposition forces. As for us, we see no alternative to such a concerted move. Besides, we would still like to reiterate that unless we manage to establish such a nucleus within the soonest time possible, it is difficult to believe that opposition forces are seriously providing our people with any meaningful practical alternative. For the successful realization of such a lofty objective, some may be required to address in-house challenges first like the tendency towards fragmentation we regrettably witnessed around OLF and Kinjit. We see no reason why some may not be able to transcend the hitherto existing minor differences and come together especially in the face of the currently prevalent troubling situation in the country. In fact, they ought to have long understood that the petty differences they are obsessed with are so trivial to merit any attention this time let alone leading to the squandering of whatever political capital this organization has built over the course of so many years.

Our emphasis on such a collaborative effort however does not mean that we underestimate the significance of those familiar activities we mentioned herein before. In fact, remarkable achievements have already been scored through the medium of those engagements by a group of opposition leaders that operate inside the country. These leaders, during their engagement with the representatives of the Netherlands government, publicly humiliated and tossed out the representative of UEDP-Medhin, an organization everyone in the country knows to be an appendage of Woyanne, from among their rank as opposition group. This is truly a remarkable achievement that unbelievably has a long term impact on other subsequent manipulations intended to be staged by Woyanne.

UEDP-Medhin being measured to its proper size and texture publically henceforth has got only itself to fool around by impersonating opposition political forces. The place it belongs clearly designated now, it can freely proceed with its intended course of self-deception by continuing to preside over Woyanne organized public gatherings as its own. Like it is for every other stunt actors, this particular group of political stunts seems destined to shoulder all too demanding tasks on behalf of Woyanne. The only difference being, political stunts toil at the forefront for the ultimate benefit of the back stage manipulators while in the film industry they constitute an essential part of the whole.

If things go as planned, our sources indicate, UEDP-Medhin is poised to be declared as “opposition party” that scored a significant gain only next to Woyanne in the forthcoming election. Then, of course, updates on the negotiations to be held with this “opposition party” on the possibilities of forming a “coalition government” will be orchestrated and released in a carefully measured way.

We welcome and wholeheartedly support the holding or organizing of different discussion forums as we strongly believe that the kind of understanding we yearned for our politicians earlier could only be achieved through such engagement. Such discussion forums however in as much as they are expected to promote understanding, unless we handle them prudently, could also end up being the venue for sowing discord among people or derailing the issue from its proper track though the intention of the organizers at any rate may be far from that.

We consider such formulation of discussion topic like “How conducive is the political climate to hold a free and fair election in 2010?” to be more helpful and engaging than say such a formulation like “peaceful or armed struggle”. Our reason is plain and simple. The latter one derails the focus of political discourse by putting primacy on methods of struggle before we are able to clearly articulate the very cause we need to struggle for in the first place. The former approach encourages free and open discussions while the latter one deters people from freely expressing their views. Besides, the latter kind of issue formulation tends to wrongly associate or attach “peaceful” with the group in power while depicts the others as may be pondering over to opt for “armed struggle” thus blurring the real picture one could get if one focuses on the objective assessment of the current situation in the country. The objective assessment of the current situation in the country, unlike what such a formulation suggests, places those mentioned forces in a diametrically opposite domain. Most of our people have rightly started to wonder whether ascending to power through armed struggle makes one susceptible to try to govern the country through that very means. Hence, the question of “armed struggle” may pertain more to Woyanne at present than it is for any other group as it seems engaged in a kind of “permanent armed struggle”

ONE ETHIOPIA FOR ALL!

SOLIDARITY IS THE ROAD MAP TO CHANGE

Ethiopia was built by our forefathers and foremothers who struggled and sacrificed so that we might live free and better. They shed their blood for centuries to keep our country free from colonial rule; secured our culture and civilization in religion, literature, music and art; maintained our unity and identity as a people and sowed religious and ethnic harmony among them; looked beyond our borders to promote African unity and solidarity; made Ethiopia the center of continental African affairs; insisted the cause of international law and justice before the League of Nations and made Ethiopia a founding member of the United Nations. Like Australia, Ethiopia was hewn from the granite of sacrifices made by ordinary men and women. We must also pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking Ethiopia.

Barack Obama said, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America.” He also said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.” Ethiopia is no different. There is no Oromo, Amhara, Tigray, Gurage, … Anuak Ethiopia. There is only one Ethiopia. Its history is shaped by its entire people, its culture and traditions reflect longstanding ties of family, kinship and ancestry.

Another pragmatic issue is an inter-party rivalry problem among the opposition parties. It has been common among the opposition that one opposition party makes a ferocious attack on another party and allegedly tries to sabotage, condemn and undermine the other. For example, ethnic based opposition parties, like the ruling party, have used ethnicity as a weapon to blame and intimidate the other ethnic opposition parties. However, if all opposition parties focus and extend the issue of ethnicity beyond its limits by putting aside the main national issue, then the evils of ethnicity (violence, genocide and so on) might shatter the country’s socio-economic conditions as manifested in perennial famine.

The other problem is personality differences of few opposition personnel. Some opposition parties rely on the charismatic appeal of single individual or few individuals, and decision making is highly centralized. As such, it is the enemy of democracy, and also it will be an obstacle to form coalition, cooperation and to work together with other oppositions. These kinds of parties face split whenever another rising star challenges the founder or the leader of the stronger party. Thus, personality conflicts of few opposition parties have contributed to the emergence of many fragmented political parties that we see both at home and abroad. Of course, the “divide and rule” and the “carrot and stick” policies of the ruling party is the main reason for this to occur and the fragmentation of opposition parties.

Apart from the dictatorial nature and power fixation of the ruling party, the problem of intra-party conflicts, inter-party rivalry and personality conflicts of all opposition groups that follow armed or peaceful struggle have undermined issue-based politics and reinforced the power of the regime. So far, the opposition parties both in the peaceful and armed struggle categories have failed to take a unified stand and miserably failed to coordinate their efforts, giving the current government a chance to use fake elections to perpetuate its rule. Now, it is time for change and all opposition parties to take note of the aforementioned problems and refrain from doing them again. Now, it is not the time to raise the past misdeeds. It is not the time to form a fragmented new opposition parties. Now, it is the time to put aside all that might separate or distract us and focus on freeing Ethiopia as the top overriding issue. Now is the time for all Ethiopians back home and abroad with their ethnic communities and all political parties to start a civil dialogue among themselves to reconcile their differences with the view to form solidarity, if possible or to show willingness for cooperation and collaboration with the aim of living together as a cohesive community and together able to form a transformed New Ethiopia. The cooperation and coordination of all ethnic Ethiopians, communities and all opposition parties is very vital to galvanize a new renaissance that will be able to expose the misdeeds of the ruling party, at the same time, facilitate the struggle against the regime. The grand strategy of solidarity, cooperation, and coordination accompanied by actions of all opposition parties will help to achieve its objectives and defeat the ruling party without violence. Moreover, now is the time even for some “phony oppositions” sponsored by the ruling party to join in the really united opposition parties to free and form New Ethiopia.

The destiny of Ethiopians and Ethiopia is not shaped by petty and small-minded power hungry individuals or by begging foreign countries to cleanup our own back yard but by the courage and sacrifices of its people who has a long standing history of patriotism to crash its invaders united as one. We can repeat that history in the coming election by being united to form the new democratically elected government of Ethiopia without bloodshed. “YES WE CAN”. Why fake it, when we can make it! I think we should congratulate the people of Ghana for continuously showing courage, patience and patriotism in their people’s and party’s unity in forming new governments at every election.

This is our time to answer the questions for this and coming generations, to stand up and declare to ourselves and to the world that the stale political arguments of ethnic division and hatred that have consumed us for so long no longer apply; that the lines of ethnicity, language, religion, class will be deleted from our hearts and our minds. It is time for all Ethiopians back home and around the world and their respective ethnic communities to come together and open their heart for a dialogue of understanding and attain a consensus to compromise each other and embrace the politics of solidarity and practice the divine arts of reconciliation, respect, mutual concern, appreciation and love for each other.

TIME FOR CHANGE!

Time For Change

Endless feuding and infighting from the grassroots level on upwards have made it difficult for Ethiopians to attain the organic solidarity necessary to build and sustain the institutions necessary for democracy. I think it is imperative that pro-democracy activists make awareness of intra-group conflict a top priority in the struggle for democracy. But before I make my case, I would like to describe the nature of the problem in greater detail.

Here are a few interesting points. First, the intra-group conflicts we see in Ethiopian collectives are seldom caused by differences in ideology, organizational structure, or other substantive reasons. Nor are they confined to organizations whose members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Indeed, the most virulent conflicts occur in apparently homogenous groups whose memberships have not only similar ideologies, but similar frames of reference, perspectives, and interests. The current ethnic related conflict, for the most part, is an example of this.

Another interesting point is that such conflicts occur just as much in the Ethiopian Diaspora as they do in Ethiopia. This is interesting because, in the Diaspora, factors such as poverty, political oppression, lack of education, etc., do not exist.

Finally, intra-group conflicts are not restricted to organizations of a political nature. They are found in all types of Ethiopian collectives. We can observe chronic feuding and infighting in families, extended families, non-political civic organizations such as professional associations, churches, local community organizations, charity organizations, and others.

So, why is there so much intra-group conflict, characterized by personal feuds and infighting in Ethiopian society? And when there is conflict, why is conflict resolution so difficult? One explanation is that we have been brought up in an environment where certain dysfunctional behaviors that hamper effective communication and cause conflict are the norm. Below is a list of some of these behaviors that I have observed. I ask readers to reflect on whether you have seen them in yourself; in others; in meetings and other group settings.

• Personalization of issues (ha-sa-bu ye-ne-ne-woo): This is when we are unable to conceptually distinguish between people and their ideas or thoughts. For example, if someone objects to a suggestion I make, I see the objection as personal attack, not as a simple difference of opinion. In response to the perceived personal attack, I respond with a personal attack, instead of discussing the issues. Hence, the initial disagreement over ideas turns into a personal struggle, and because it is a personal struggle where pride and survival are at stake, we end up unable to constructively ‘agree to disagree’. Groups whose members find it difficult to ‘agree to disagree’ become paralyzed by feuding and infighting and eventually collapse.

• Parochialism (we-ge-na-wi-ne-t or ze-re-gna-ne-t): We tend to irrationally favor those from our own kin or we-ge-n—family, village, team, and ethnic group— no matter what the cost. For example, if a person from my we-ge-n has a conflict with a stranger (be’a-da), a person outside my we-ge-n, I automatically favor my colleague, no matter what the substance of the disagreement. Furthermore, I extend the conflict to a dislike of the stranger and his entire we-ge-n—his family, friends, place of employment, ethnic group, etc. This is the root of blood feuds (de-m). Parochialism within organizations leads to ineffectiveness, as decisions are made based on who supports the decisions, rather than on their merit. It also leads to organizations being split into smaller and smaller factions, and eventually collapsing. For example, an organization may split into two main factions. Factions will develop within those factions, and further splitting will occur, until the organization fails.

• Chronic suspicion and mistrust (tee-ree-ta-re): We view each other first and foremost as potential threats. With such a heightened level of threat-awareness, any idea or thought, no matter how innocuous, is quickly considered to have negative ulterior motives behind it. Even the most innocent comments by the closest of friends can be misinterpreted as sinister, resulting in the breakup of fruitful relationships. This behavior is a fundamental cause of conflict in a group setting. By definition, no group can be effective without trust.

• Paranoia: As we view everyone as a threat, we tend to disproportionately develop a paranoid outlook in our interaction with others, with the ‘threat’ foremost in our minds in all our interactions. This paranoia, in a group setting, results in organizational paralysis, with everyone looking over their shoulder and hesitant, instead of working towards the common goal.

• Lack of empathy and understanding: Empathy, the ability to identify with or understand others’ situation, feelings, and actions, is critical for effective communication and teamwork. However, in Ethiopian society, we are not sensitized to the importance of empathy. We do not ask questions such as ‘what in his background might have caused him to react this way’, or ‘what would I have done in his shoes’. This leads us to make erroneous judgements based on incomplete understandings, which leads to misunderstanding and conflict within groups.

• Lack of suspending judgement or giving others the benefit of the doubt: Suspending judgement is fundamental to effective communication. Unfortunately, the combination of chronic suspicion and lack of empathetic understanding lead to the absence of awareness about the concept of suspending judgement and giving others the benefit of the doubt. If someone does something we do not understand, we do not ask, ‘Perhaps there is something he knows that I don’t,’ or ‘Let me wait and see before making a judgement.’ We judge hastily, without taking time to examine all possibilities. This results in erroneous judgements and personal conflicts.

• Character assassination (si-m ma-tee-fa-t/ alu-ba-l-ta/ we-re-gna-ne-t): Rather than addressing conflict directly, we chronically spread rumours and innuendo about those with whom we disagree. We engage in character assassination because we know that it is an effective weapon in our society. Since we do not give each other the benefit of the doubt, we tend to believe bad things about others! A strategy of muddying someone’s reputation will render them useless, as people will simply have had their existing suspicions confirmed. Obviously, character assassination quickly leads to infighting and paralysis in groups, a scenario with which most of us are familiar.

• Lack of openness (ya-le-me-te-ma-me-n): Openness facilitates effective communication. As Ethiopians, we are not open and forthcoming about our thoughts and expect the same guarded approach from others. This is related to our lack of empathy, which makes us afraid of being judged hastily and incorrectly if we speak openly. This fear leads us to be initially vague, unclear, and non-committal, which inevitably leads to communication gaps and communication breakdown, as others persistently try to interpret the hidden meaning of what we say, and often end up interpreting negatively and incorrectly. Lack of openness leads to misunderstanding and conflict.

• Holding grudges (qee-m me-ya-z/ me-que-ye-m): We tend to chronically hold on to personal grudges. Understanding or forgiveness of perceived affronts is seen as weakness, as it is assumed that everyone is and remains to be a threat. In a group setting, there are bound to be conflicts, and if people hold on to grudges, there can be no effective teamwork.

• Envy (qee-na-t/ mee-que-gnee-ne-t): We hate it when others are better off than us in any context, but instead of struggling to improve our own lot, we work to reduce others’! This comes from our ingrained perception that everything in life is a zero-sum game. If someone is rich, it is because another is poor. If someone is happy, it is because another is sad. It is as if the world has been allotted a fixed amount of wealth, happiness, etc., and it has been ordained that everyone should have more or less the same amount. Failing this, the ones with more must have committed some kind of crime to improve their lot and the ones who have less must be cursed.

• Stubbornness and lack of compromise (gee-tee-ree-ne-t and ya-le-me-s-ma-ma-t): Because of our zero-sum view of the world, compromise is seen as a weakness. We do not understand the concept of compromise as a building block for future win-win endeavors. Instead, compromise is seen as a loss forever.

I am sure that all of us have seen first hand these behaviors manifested in various contexts. We have also seen the resulting conflicts in our various collectives, from families to religious groups to political organizations.

On the other hand, most of us in the Diaspora have been exposed to non-Ethiopian collectives where, generally speaking, such conflicts occur far less often. We have also observed that these collectives are, as a result, far more effective and efficient than Ethiopian collectives.

In order to bring Ethiopian collectives, including Ethiopian pro-democracy and human rights organizations such as KUSA and KIL, to this level, it is crucial that we find a way to raise awareness that intra-group conflict is a fundamental barrier to democracy, to put an end to our dysfunctional group behaviors, and to promote positive, constructive behaviors that reduce conflict, increase our capacity for conflict resolution, and increase collective consciousness and organic solidarity.

To this end, as a first step, I suggest that all organizations draft a code of conduct document. The aim of this document should be primarily to raise awareness about dysfunctional behaviors, the problem of intra-group conflict, and the importance of effective communication. In addition, the code of conduct should provide guidelines of behavior and conduct, along with explanations for the guidelines.

My second suggestion is that there should be a collective attempt to stigmatize dysfunctional behaviors in our everyday lives. For example, we must make it tee-lee-k ne-woor to attack anyone personally instead of addressing issues. We must not only refuse to listen to character assassination, but openly chastise and correct those who do it. In a charitable and constructive manner, of course, we have to keep in mind that most of us engage in such behavior almost unknowingly, because of the culture we have grown up in. Unless sensitized to the ramifications of such speech and actions, we cannot become fully aware of the consequences. We need to change our attitude in general.

I believe that these two actions alone will result in a significant reduction in the chronic feuding and infighting in our collectives and organizations. The resulting increase in organic solidarity and collective consciousness will, in due course, crowd out dictatorship at all levels of our society, including the political. The democratic culture at the grassroots will end up being reflected at the national level.

Indeed, imagine Diaspora pro-democracy groups devoid of feuding and infighting. They would make great strides in improving the prospects for democracy in Ethiopia. Imagine that behaviors such as suspicion and paranoia were no longer the norm in Ethiopia. Dictatorship, which thrives on suspicion and paranoia, would disappear shortly.

Doing away with dysfunctional behaviors and intra-group conflict is the only way to achieve democracy. To those who believe in democracy for Ethiopia, I say, we need an all-out campaign for change: Let us declare war on dysfunctional behaviors!

Time for change!

CHANGE OF HEART AND ATTITUDE

Change must first come within our hearts. We, Ethiopians, in Diaspora need to come to a new understanding that transcends the bitterness, petty grudges, personal animosity and hatred, recrimination and distrust because of the past injustices. At a time when lawful internal opposition is crushed, dissent stamped out, human rights trampled upon, famine is spreading like wildfire, and we cannot afford to stand by idly suspicious and distrustful of each other. We have a higher duty that requires us to purge our hearts of thoughts and feelings that weaken us as a united democratic opposition. The time has come to take a stand, to make a public declaration that our differences are far less important than the urgent need to work together in the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. We must replace the self-defeatism and self-doubt which weighs heavily on our hearts today with the courage of a can-do spirit and defiance in the face of Evil. We must stop practicing the politics of personal destruction of our allies and potential allies in the cause and embrace the politics of collective reconciliation and consensus-building. We must begin to cultivate a genuine sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.

One of Ethiopia’s unique virtues is its multi century tradition of the coexistence of people with various Semitic faiths which exist to the present day of Ethiopia. Religious conflict has long affected mankind before any political discourse ever descended to armed conflicts and indeed the subjugation of any nation by conquest of war even in today’s modern geopolitical theater. What makes today’s terrorist conflict more dangerous is it mushrooms not from super power ideology of the cold war, but indeed from long unresolved religious conflicts, injustice and maltreatment that has reignited with such unprecedented zeal for global domination. From the world snapshot and especially the geographic location where our nation lies, Ethiopia remains the only independent nation who has contained these elements of highly explosive mixtures to live together side by side in peace and tranquility for hundreds of years.

By in large, The Ethiopian Christians, Moslems and Jews together have long recognized the individual right to worship free from any coercion and persecution as the only way to social cohesiveness of the nation. Throughout Ethiopia evidence of common inter-religious and ethnic marriages, co-observation of holidays, social assimilation, mutual dependence for trade and even the gallant sacrifices shared to defend the freedom of the country is a rare find anywhere on earth. It is a unique model in play when considering the approximation of the very region to where these religions originated from, and thus remains the great wonder of Ethiopia’s history. This virtue is in our genes passed on from our forefathers, and it is truly Ethiopia’s greatest gift to the world.

The current ruling party represents a self obsessed ethnic faction and denies the reality of mismanagement which is a common tactic that substitutes deliberate ignorance for thoughtful planning and has sworn to dismember the very state it rules and ignorantly planning to create civil conflict between all the ethnic parties. The EPRDF regime who rules with impunity is devoid of the tiniest drop of national interest thereby relinquishing the mandate for Ethiopia’s history or its consequential legacy. The people of Ethiopia and only them who collectively continue to exhibit these important elements for peaceful coexistence among different religious and ethnic groups are the only owners of such asset. Ironically, those were the Ethiopians who in 2005 went out in unprecedented numbers to give the opposition party the clear choice, and more importantly the necessary democratic mandate to govern them. There lies the unique opportunity and the necessary tools to fight global/regional terrorism which the world was never privileged to see under PM Meles Zenawi.

Today, we must develop a new approach to the struggle for democracy in Ethiopia based on an express commitment to a set of core values and principles that will enable us to defer our differences for another time.

That’s why The Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia, spearheaded by our own human rights activist a young Ethiopian genius, leader Obang Metho, reminds everyone of us that our core values must be built on two compelling principles of no one is free in Ethiopia unless we all are free and to do so we need to put our humanity before ethnicity. How profound and transformational is that declaration or affirmation? If we aspire to these two core principles, open our minds and hearts and collectively pull together, we will soon find ourselves in an indomitable situation. Our unity will be indispensable among so many fragmented parties.

We are becoming a culture of nit-pickers who likes naming, blaming, shaming and who cannot even talk to each other civilly let alone unite and present a credible alternative to a forthright and unwavering leadership. Because of our fragmentation and inability to forge a common democratic front and maintain solidarity, we have been unable to act effectively and help our people in the motherland. Because we have been unable to learn from our past mistakes, make corrections and come to a collective resolution on an action plan to help overcome the challenges facing the motherland, we find ourselves in a state of political paralysis. Because we have been locked into despotism for so long where only one side wins and the other side always loses, we find ourselves in an endless loop of loose-lose outcomes. Because we have been concerned with turf - some political leaders want to maintain insularity and primacy, some civic society leaders run their organizations through a narrow field of vision, political and civic groups often compete for the same base of membership often resulting in conflict and antagonisms, etc. We have been unable to focus our collective energies on the enormous tasks before us.

That’s why I absolutely support and endorse the solidarity movement for representing all Ethiopians, for unity is the one and only way we can forge forward. Now is the time!

If Zenawi leaves tomorrow, the symptom that manifested itself in his dictatorship may be removed; however, the traditional disease of despotism, intolerance of dissent, narrow-mindedness and prejudice will not be gone with him.

So, extreme care must be exercised by all parties not to antagonise or drive the already volatile and violent government to torture and slaughter its own innocent people as revenge again. They (the current government) have their own right like any other party to represent themselves as an incumbent candidate for the coming elections. It is up to the Ethiopian people to stand for themselves and reclaim the freedom they have lost in 2005 election. In 2010, a democratic election can only take place with our unity, common decency and fully monitored by the world community representatives. This time, with an absolute care and without the agony of repeating the 2005 election massacre unnecessarily, all Ethiopians back home and in Diaspora must come together as one to unshackle over a decades of injustice by the repressive EPRDF Party.

PEACE TO THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE!

WE NEED CHANGE not VENGEANCE

We need to ask ourselves that is it well founded and justified to punish others to avenge ourselves? To analyse the moral justifications for vengeance or retribution against those considered to have caused us pain or committed crimes against humanity and question ourselves, if any punishment ultimately satisfies the moral purpose to which it is attached. One does not hate a hailstorm or a plague; one hates only men, not because they are material causes of material damage, but because they are conscious authors of genuine evil.

With the whole concept of vengeance, my deepest concern is for the individual’s creation of a meaning to existence and I see this creation of meaning as inherently bound to an ethical relationship with the other. While every individual is responsible for the creation of his own existence, this existence is always connected with others. I cannot exist without being in relationship with other people. My presence in the world, the choices I make, even the choices I make not to make choices, impacts on others- immobile or in action; we always weigh upon the earth. Every refusal is a choice; every silence has a voice… each of my actions by falling into the world creates a new situation for the other. We all have something to learn from one another irrespective of our core knowledge.

In order to fully recognise the humanity of another, one must be able to accept and recognise the ambiguous nature of both self and other. A ‘will to freedom’ can never be achieved at the cost of another’s freedom, because to do so would in effect be a denial of both one’s own true humanity and that of the person one seeks to master.
A reciprocal interpersonal bond is essentially destroyed when one person abuses the other as thing or ostracises because he does not belong to their social preferences, when a person is degraded and stripped of his subjectivity and freedom and is treated as an object. Do we need to struggle with ourselves to justify the notion of one individual essentially claiming mastery over another individual through an act of vengeance? Having endured life as a citizen in a torturous and tumultuous country of mine, I am aware of the horrific acts of brutality committed by the current government. I acknowledge that such acts awaken a deeply felt need for retribution. Watching the degradation of our fellow humans to the status of objects arouses in society a passionate hatred and rage against the perpetuators of the evil. When there is great suffering, there is an almost primeval need to avenge, to make it right, to obliterate the horror of dehumanisation from memory and restore a balance or a natural order where evil once dominated.

Essentially, this need is a cry for the restoration of humanity, for the recognition by the abuser that the greatest crime was to treat the victim as non-human, a thing- to make the abuser understand the impact of his causing of discomfort amongst us all and crime on another person. One understands torture by undergoing it. Therefore, the demand for vengeance is the demand for the abuser to exchange situations with his former victim, and through himself becoming a victim, viscerally understanding his crime. While it would be difficult to criticise the immediate acts of vengeance by particular individuals in particular situations, it always has a disquieting character. While one may understand the reasons for acting on the deep wells of hatred and rage, when an avenger aspires to set himself up as judge, the very notion of vengeance becomes suspect: but if we look into our own depths, who among us dares say: I am better than that man? It requires a lot of arrogance and very little imagination to judge another. While an action taken to redress a wrong may stem from a desire to restore the balance of justice, it may equally stem from the desire to power and mastery that slumbers in all of us. Who can say if the avenging act is retribution, or tyranny? We must be aware that if personal acts of revenge or retribution are undertaken, if one acts as judge and executioner in response to a passionate hate, one simply replaces one abomination with another. One act of revenge calls for another act of revenge, evil engenders evil, and injustices pile up without wiping one another out as Gandhi put it, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

Therefore, the rule of law justly forbids individual acts of retribution, and in removing judgement to the impartial justice system it effectively distances the act of vengeance or punishment from the passionate hate that demands it. Social justice does not condemn the aggressor in his totality, as mob justice does, but rather condemns the perpetrator as the agent of evil acts repudiated by society. One needs to act positively, swiftly above all with broad common sense. Every person or every leader commences his struggle for the pursuit of happiness for mankind and as time unfolds sinks himself into corruption and regresses back to the same old system of injustice.

However, the raw emotion simmering below the justice system demands that suffering be avenged, and there is great anger and frustration when this right is perceived to be denied. But even if the abuser feels what his victim felt, it won’t remedy the evil the abuser caused: it will not balance the wrong committed. While we seek vengeance as a way of balancing the scales of justice, in reality we are left with the realisation that we cannot ever control the other in his freedom. We can never compel the aggressor to feel the pain of the original suffering. We cannot compel regret or repentance. We can never reach the core of any individual. So, if the intent of vengeance is to reassert the reciprocity of human relations, to restore a balance to the world, then that intent can never be satisfied.

Although all punishments are partially a failure, inevitably, justice/retribution is necessary if only to recognise the evil that is in man. When a man deliberately tries to degrade man by reducing him to a thing, nothing can compensate for the abomination he causes to erupt on earth. There resides the sole sin against man. The mistake is to think that vengeance achieves the moral purpose it sets out to achieve. This is rarely possible. Vengeance cannot compel the freedom of a person, the aggressor, to create anything other than what he wants to create for himself. Vengeance is not the serene recovery of a reasonable and just order. If punishment or vengeance is to have any point, it’s not as a balancing or restorative measure, but rather as a public acknowledgement of humanity’s refusal to accept degrading behaviours.

I see the ethical perspective as essentially a constant questioning of individual motives and intentions. The meaning of one’s existence emerges through an active acknowledgement of the ambiguities of the past, present and future, of a life lived in consciousness of death, and of the relationship of self and other. Ambiguity is at the core of what it means to be human. The ethics built on that ambiguity bears within it not the certainty of success, but the acceptance of the possibility of failure. It may not be possible to compel the aggressor to understand or repent his crimes against humanity: it may not be possible to balance wrongs; all punishment may be a failure- but nevertheless the human cry for meaning demands that the degradation of humanity can never be ignored: their crimes have struck at our own hearts.

It is our values, our reasons to live that are affirmed by their punishment and yet the questions remain, as significant today as eighteen or sixty years ago: What does humanity lose in the act of vengeance? And what does it gain, if anything?

I accept your genuine comments, suggestions and criticisms on all of my articles and about anything without throwing punches for NO reason.

Peace, love and good health to you all!

GRASSROOTS PARTICIPATION IS VITAL

For those who have read my comments of “LET US IMPROVISE”, this is a concrete opinion for those who have commented for ideas how we are going to do it and demanded enough of talking the talk and demanded an action that will make every one start walking the walk. I am calling on all Diaspora Ethiopians and their community members and leaders, all political parties and their support groups, grassroots advocates and activists, religious organizations and their members and concerned individuals to join at a central convention place and facilitate a grand dialogue to resolve all issues that divide us.

                                                    WE ARE MANY BUT WE'RE ONE
We must urgently open dialogue on what is good for our unity in our community and the country our children will inherit.
We need to initiate broad discussion about the core issues that bind Diaspora Ethiopians. I believe there is widespread support among Diaspora Ethiopians on the need to work together on the issues of democratic institution-building for basic freedoms, unity and protection of human rights. I believe it is necessary to provide a public discussion of principles and intentions of our efforts to ensure maximum transparency and accountability.

There shall be no precondition for participation in the dialogue except for philosophical agreement on the two core principles mentioned above. Second, leadership and active participation in the dialogue must not be left entirely to the business as usual suspects of the academics, the political party leaders and the partisan advocates. All segments of the Ethiopian Diaspora community must be encouraged to participate in the dialogue. Most of all, the involvement and participation of the younger generation of Ethiopians and women is paramount.

Effective action requires active involvement of these two segments of the population. Young people and women bring dynamism, energy, fresh ideas, and renewed commitment to the cause. If there is any doubt about the enormous role women can play in defending freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, one need only look at the heroic contributions of Birtukan Mideksa. We should insist on the full engagement of women and young people, not only in this dialogue, in our community discussion activities.

We must make a clean break with the troubled dialogue of the past which emphasized ethnic, linguistic and regional differences, historical grievances and political or ideological differences.

We have a duty to mend our aching hearts with a clear message that says Ethiopians in the Diaspora have resolved to speak in one voice for the cause of democracy, freedom, unity in our community and human rights in Ethiopia.

As Barack Obama thoughtfully reflected on the situation in America, “Our problems are rooted in past mistakes, not our capacity for future greatness.” One can make the same argument for Ethiopians. We must not be prisoners of past mistakes; rather we should use genuine dialogue and consensus-building as weapons of liberation and transform ourselves into a mighty force of solidarity in Diaspora Ethiopian communities and democratic change in Ethiopia.

Our beautiful dream for the Ethiopia that our children will inherit should be one where the rule of law is woven into the fabric of the society and permeates the deepest recesses of the consciences of every Ethiopian; where every man, woman and child shall have the freedom of opportunity; where there is full legal and social equality among men and women; where one’s ethnic, linguistic or regional origins are respected and protected by law; where the free press performs its natural office of informing citizens and serving as a watchdog on government corruption and abuse of power; and where no person will be imprisoned or persecuted because of their political ideas or beliefs.

These are my “beautiful dreams” for Ethiopia, as I hope they are for many Ethiopians in the Diaspora. That is why I have committed myself to the cause. I have no illusions about the enormity of the task and difficulty of the enterprise we are about to undertake. Some well-intentioned people might be skeptical of the call to dialogue and my urgent plea on behalf of this beautiful dream. Some may consider it idealistic and impractical. Some will laugh boisterously and bet our efforts will fail. As some have disdainfully questioned many times before, some will do so again: How can some aspire to serious dialogue when some can not even talk to each other under ordinary circumstances. Let some laugh! But we should not be discouraged in our efforts to form a united Ethiopian Diaspora voice for freedom, democracy, solidarity and human rights in our communities where we live that undoubtedly will reflect back to Ethiopia. The true test of our success is in holding the dialogue by putting the urgent needs of our unity in our Diaspora all Ethiopian communities and above our own narrow interests. We must act now and begin the dialogue.

Tomorrow is too late. That’s why I am calling on all Ethiopians and ethnic communities in the Diaspora to come together with the fierce urgency of now and sit together at a dialogue of brotherhood and sisterhood and form a united alliance in respect to our ethnic communities.

We cannot afford to sit down with folded arms and wait for something to happen. We must act now as a united Ethiopian Diaspora force. If we don’t, a bad situation could become dramatically worse. We did not arrive at our present predicament suddenly or by some accident of history. What we see today has been unfolding for the last 18 years. During this period, many Diaspora Ethiopians stood watching on the sidelines in silence, and did nothing because of various petty issues not worth mentioning. That option is no longer available to us. It’s time to move on to a brand new day with ray of hope reflecting on each and every one of us.

We should all forward our ideas and a centralized convention venue with specific and concrete proposals for a Diaspora dialogue in the foreseeable future. For now, I plead earnestly with all Ethiopians and their respective ethnic communities in the Diaspora to close ranks, open hearts and minds, shake hands and once again prepare for a new dawn in our community that eventually echoing back to our homeland.

Yichalal!