O McCain You’ve Done It Again

Obama was in South Africa to pay his tribute to, his idol, a man who epitomizes humanity’s goodness and forgiveness. It was during this time world leaders met in harmony to pay their tribute to Mandela and took the opportunity to greet one another. It was also a marvel to watch during the leaders mingling time when the grim faced Raul Castro, Cuban president popped up to face passionate US president Barrack Obama and both leaders, accidental heroes, took the opportunity to shake their hands. 

Later, back in the US, 2008 presidential candidate John McCain who was looking for an excuse to blame, so frantically, a man who defeated him, Barack Obama,  by comparing him to Hitler conciliator for shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa.

But McCain knows better than anyone that diplomacy sometimes means shaking hands with repressive autocrats. Take, for example, former Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi. McCain visited Gadhafi in Tripoli with other lawmakers on a diplomatic mission in 2009 for an interesting hangout he described on Twitter.

 

It is so blindingly obvious that John McCain remains bitter and unreconciled for his election defeat Obama. He still holds grudges for his election loss and walking around with his wound carrying the splinter in his hand waiting for the moment to throw it back to the man who he called ’that one’. “O McCain you’ve done it again”!

 

McCain needs to learn from Nelson Mandela who has been hailed as ‘the last great liberator’, who warned leaders, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner”.

 

“…The primary significance of Mandela and King was not their willingness to lock arms or hold hands with their enemies. It was their unshakable resolve to do whatever was necessary to bring those enemies to their knees. . . . “- Richard Price

Barack Obama gave his most illuminating and enchanting eulogy to the South African people for a man who thought us how to deal with our enemies, preserve democracy and the rule of law.

 

He told the world leaders and others in charge of responsibilities, “And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice.  We, too, must act on behalf of peace.  There are too many people who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality.  There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people.  And there are too many of us on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard”.

 

Former US presidents and other countries’ leaders present at the tribute stadium astounded and had a stern look on their faces. Then, he continued telling the rapturous crowd, “The questions we face today -- how to promote equality and justice; how to uphold freedom and human rights; how to end conflict and sectarian war -- these things do not have easy answers.  But there were no easy answers in front of that child born in World War I.  Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done”.

 

Then, instead of using one of his own ‘yes we can’ truism, He reminded everyone to cherish Madiba’s mantra for life: “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.  I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.  It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.  But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”



DEATH OF AN ICON, NELSON MANDELA 1918-2013

I sadly heard the jaw dropping morning news break, interrupting normal programs, briefing the death of an icon, Madiba, Nelson Mandela, aged 95, “At Last”. He lived it to the last gasp of his breath on the fateful night of Thursday, December 05, 2013.

Everyone dies, nobody lives forever. Madiba lived a life of principle. He lived a life of convictions. He lived it with moral courage according to his dreams and ideals much higher than himself. A life of principle lived to the fullest, a lifelong journey, with steadfast endurance, with so much gloom and pain in the process. All that for the advancement of freedom through his life long struggle in order for social justice and equality to prevail in his homeland and around the world.

Madiba, a great soul, faithful to his convictions, has stood his ground through thick and thin. He has stood his ground indeed with rare endurance and stamina to the last minute of his life. I know Madiba would disagree with my use of brutal words in describing even his political enemies because he honestly reconciled with those who jailed him without bitterness. Therefore, I say no more about his torture. Even if he was a fighter, it doesn’t equate to his torture and his people’s annihilation for freedom.  

But there are certain qualities of him that one can dare assert that Madeba is a rare breed even among that heroic generation. Always dreaming and desiring for a better and humane political order for his people, he never sold or surrounded his soul to the powers that be. Nor did he ever abandon his convictions to trade for the comforts and material gains which he could have acquired so easily with the kind of intellectual calibre, many facets of knowledge, as well as the practical wisdom he was imbued with regard to the social and economic edifice upon which a post-industrial society like the South Africa has been built. Nelson Mandela chose to live, however, a simple life, a modest life, with an unspoken contempt for the glitter that dominates this world that puts premium on gadgets, and all those outward signs and symbols of “success”.

One with a profound sense of self-worth and self-respect, yet he was a modest man, a humble man, always a man of the people at home and around the world.
Nelson Mandela, Madiba, we love you, we respect you profoundly. The struggle for which you gave your entire life with unyielding conviction shall continue and prevail. We can’t thank you enough for your indomitable legacy; dedicating your life for us, magnanimously inspiring us, struggling against injustice for us, incarcerated for us and sacrificing so much of your life for us.

May we cherish the ideas and ideals he struggled for throughout his life.
It’s hard to say Goodbye our dear Madiba. May your soul Rest In Peace.
To his fans and devoted supporters around the world who have chanted the “Free Nelson Mandela” song arduously to free him, I take this opportunity to congratulate you for doing just that and my condolences on his passing.

To his big families & brave South Africans may our thoughts and comforts be with you at farewelling, a man who gave you what you’ve been yearning for: freedom, peace & happiness, Madiba.

"The greatest glory of living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall."

WE SHALL MEET AGAIN.

The Story of a Mandela behind Mandela

By Kadiro Elemo*
This is the story of two Mandelas. Yes, there are two Mandelas. The first one is the Mandela of South Africa, who campaigned against the apartheid. The second one is an Oromo Mandela, who educated the anti-apartheid Mandela. The first Mandela is an international celebrity. He deserves it because he earned it. The other Mandela is an international obscurity, like his otherwise vast people, who are speaking for themselves and coming out from a shadow, a shadow imposed on them by the empire, racism and ignorance of international relations. The South African Mandela is a ferocious enemy of the Apartheid who wanted nothing less than the demise of the system. The Oromo Mandela wanted nothing more than amelioration of the system he faithfully served. The white South Africans tolerated Mandela who destroyed their rule. The Ethiopians killed the Oromo Mandela. What a contrast! The Apartheid system obviously had more clemency for its black subjects than the Ethiopian system for its Oromo people. Had the Oromo Mandela had a chance to witness history in 1994, he would have said that I was the one who gave the ABCs of soldiering to Nelson Mandela.

Recently, I read a fascinating piece, “The Story of Nelson Mandela’s Missing Pistol,” which was written by my dear friend and former classmate at Addis Ababa University, Awol Allo.  As Awol depicted brilliantly, movingly and beautifully, Nelson Mandela, who is widely and popularly known by his tribal name Madiba in South Africa, is an extraordinary man, a man full of courage, wisdom, vision, determination, and who wholeheartedly gave himself for the struggle and freedom of his people.  He is a great man of humanity, and humility, and a trademark of spirit of forgiveness, love and peace. In short, he is an icon of the black race and an epitome of “the best of humanity.” The purpose of my essay is twofold. Firstly, my friend has wonderfully portrayed Mandela the man and the political figure, and his status in the New South Africa. In this essay, thus, I want to shade light on the role of Colonel Taddasa Birru, albeit remote, in the anti-apartheid struggle. Secondly, Awol has brought into the spotlight how the apartheid system and Ethiopian rulers employed the very concept of law and justice to advance, conceal, and humanize their unjust and authoritarian brutality. By comparing the two justice systems, he concludes “that the scale of justice in Apartheid courts is more evenly tipped than their Ethiopian counterparts.” To substantiate his assertion, I will focus on the trial of Maccaa-Tuulamaa Self-help Association to establish roles of courts in Ethiopia in legitimation and perpetuation of the ruthless dictatorship. I should advise my readers that some of the stories in this essay are already discussed in my book, “Ethiopia and United States; The Tragedy of Human Rights.”
As Awol aptly reflected in this writing, Mandela is adored among his countrymen for instituting an armed wing of the African National Congress (MK). He resorted to a military solution when all peaceful venues were closed on the struggle of the Africans for equality. The guerrilla resistance, coupled with international sanctions, ultimately compelled Apartheid South Africa to step back from leaping forward with its affront to humanity and seek compromise with the ANC.
It was this mission of fighting the Apartheid regime that took Mandela to Kolfe, a suburb of Finfinne, in early 1960s. Mandela, an amateurish boxer, armed with nothing but bravery, a resolution, and a sparkling hope, desired to learn the art of war-making to advance the cause of his downtrodden people. This created an opportunity for the two future historic figures to meet, Mandela and Colonel Taddasa Birru.
In his memoir, “Long Walk to Freedom,” Mandela noted, “I was lectured on military science by Colonel Tadesse, who was also assistant commissioner of police.” The colonel taught him about ‘how to create a guerrilla force, how to command an army, and how to enforce discipline’. Mandela, a man who changed the world through his passion and compassion, indicated that the colonel opened his eyes to the military science and shaped his worldview. He lectured him egalitarian ethos of a liberation army, which made the MK popular among its ranks and files. This is how Mandela recalls a conversation with the colonel:

One evening, during supper, Colonel Tadesse said to me, ‘now Mandela you are creating a liberation army, not a conventional capitalist army. A liberation army is an egalitarian army. You must treat your men entirely differently than you would in a capitalist army. When you are on duty, you must exercise your authority with assurance and control. This is no different from a capitalist command. But when you are off duty, you must conduct yourself on the basis of perfect equality, even with the lowliest soldier. You must eat what they eat; you must not take your food in your office, but eat with them, drink with them, not isolate yourself.’

Mandela training in Kolfe was supposed to last for six months, but after two-months, he decided to go back to South Africa as the struggle was bearing fruit and a commander was needed on the ground. Mandela speaks,

Colonel Tadesse rapidly arranged for me to take an Ethiopian flight to Khartoum. Before I left, he presented me with a gift: an automatic pistol and two hundred rounds of ammunition. I was grateful, both for the gun and his instruction.

It was this very gun that Mandela had buried before he was sent to a prison cell on the Robben Island. The fall of the symbolic gun, in the hand of the Apartheid, would have been a psychological disaster, sort of propaganda coup for the apartheid. It is the story of this enigmatic gun that caught the attention of my friend, who was otherwise, went to see a site of the Rivonia Trial in Liliesleaf, SA. Awol has briefly walked us through the place, which transformed from the center of “sabotage and terrorism” to the center of “liberation.” He superbly elucidated the emotional, historic, and symbolic significance of the gun. The military science and the gun for Mandela were contributions of the Oromo hero in a fight against the Apartheid.
It was December 1960 that American educated Girmame Naway and his brother Mangistu Naway, Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, decided to relieve Ethiopia from the rule of Emperor Hayla Sillase. At the time, the emperor was on the official tour in Brazil. They convinced a police commissioner, Warqinah Gabayyahu, to join the plot. As it was a Manzyan matter, they did not consult a man who would be a game changer, Colonel Taddasa, a decorated anti-fascist hero and the deputy commander of police. The news of the coup was a surreal moment,  a nerve-wracking and  an earthquake for the Colonel since he was indoctrinated that even speaking bad of the divine emperor was transgressing the Law of God that would lead to the fall of Sky. He lost his cool for the “sacred” office of “the God Elect” was disputed and violated. He prepared the Ethiopian Police Riot Battalion for the Kamikaze type mission. He gathered his fellow brainwashed policemen. They passionately chanted and chanted, ‘Let us sacrifice ourselves for our beloved emperor!’ “Let us Perish for Ethiopia.” He marched his men, along the national army, to restore the glory of King Solomon, the son of David, the Son of God, and, above all, to restore the Glory of God. Dying in the mission was dying for the cause of God, and the reward was The Eternal Zion.
The human wave overwhelmed the putschists, who intrepidly fought back, including massacring their hostages. Thousands died, and the coup failed. Mandela knew the Colonel’s role in aborting the coup, “Colonel Tadesse … had been instrumental in foiling a recent coup against the emperor.”
Therefore, at the time of Mandela arrival in Kolfe, Mandela and the Colonel were two totally different figures. Mandela was a man ready to stop the oppression, exploitation, and segregation of his people. Contrarily, the Colonel was a man who saved the throne that exploited and humiliated his people at its nadir.
In 1963 the farsighted minds of the Oromo, who were tired of imperial obstructionism and who were tired of self-mortifications, created a Maccaa-Tuulamaa Self-help Association to kindle development and education of their people.  The association was formed by those Oromos who fully assimilated to achieve the Abyssinian dream, but failed because of the government’s incapacitating system. It was this association that approached Colonel Taddasa to join it as an inspirational figure for his people. Because of his fierce Amhara nationalism, the Colonel was reluctant to join the education of his native people even in a language of the ruling class. At the time, he was also the chairman of the national literacy campaign. Eventually, he changed his heart after a number of appeals from Oromo elders.
Wanting to keep the Oromo masses uneducated forever, the empire did not like the Colonel involvement to enhance the condition of his people. Prime Minister Aklilu Habtawald invited him for a candid discussion. Assuming that the indistinguishable General was his fellow Amhara personage, he earnestly advised him that ‘educating the Oromos, in Amharic, is an ocean whose wave could flood them.’
What the Colonel heard was a rude awakening. This turned his worldview upside down; for the nation, he loved so much, never loved him back; and for the throne, he almost vanished for, wanted to keep his people under a literacy embargo.  It changed him forever. It changed him from the Ethiopian patriot into the father of modern Oromo nationalism. He shaded his Amara mask – a transition from pseudo persona to real self, from self-despise to self-respect, from subservience to assertiveness, and from accepting second-class status to yearning for equality and freedom. Although I do not know the extent of Mandela influence on the Colonel, I surmise that he desired to be a Mandela of his people – an Oromo Mandela who built especial place in the minds and hearts of the Oromo people, a Mandela that the world unrecognized.
For choosing to educate his people, the empire dealt a coup de grace to his colorful military career. He was fired. The decision embittered him. He was more committed than ever to become the mouthpiece of his unhappy people. Thus, the Maccaa-Tuulamaa Self-help Association became a popular movement and a semblance of a political party in the party-less imperial system, where there was only one candidate and one voter: Hayla Sillasse, The Elect of God.
As law-abiding and peace-loving citizens, the Oromos respected even the repressive law of the empire. The empire did not like the association. It was associated with fomenting tribal tension and, the government accused them of hurting a national sentiment of the country by using a forbidden language, Afaan Oromoo, for its meetings. At the time, it was illegal and un-Ethiopian to teach, write, preach, or broadcast in any Oromo dialect throughout the realm of Ethiopia. The association was banned.
As I mentioned earlier, Awol highlights the agency of the law in the execution of unjust and inhumane repression, all in the name of justice. When he draws the parallel between the courts under the Apartheid system and the EPRDF Ethiopia, his finding appalls him. Courts workings under the Apartheid system were benign in their instrumentality in rationalizing irrationalities of human wrongs compared to those under the current Ethiopian government. He amply made clear that the court houses were the only place for rationality to prevail under the Apartheid system, unlike the case in Ethiopia. I will corroborate the same argument by focusing on the trial of Maccaa-Tuulamaa Self-help Association in my next essay.
* Kadiro Elemo is a Chicago based independent researcher and the author of “The United States and Ethiopia: The Tragedy of Human Rights.”

FREELIEF LAUNCHING INVITATION

 

We would like to invite everyone including recipients and donors on the opening day. If you have something to give bring it with you or call us before the opening date.

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FREELIEF DONATION BROCHURES

FREELIEF

FREELIEF is a non-profit project & the first of its kind dedicated to creating acts of kindness & doing universal good in Australia, and the humble beginnings of the project today is meeting needs of the population far beyond the capacity of government, and leading to the formalisation of FREELIEF, with a broader purpose to support the poor, refugees, jobless, asylum seekers, homeless, the distressed, the aged, and the weak.

Donations include, but not limited to, pre-loved & latest ladies’, men’s, children’s, work & casual clothing and other accessories such as mobile phones, computers, books, cassettes, vinyls, CDs, magazines, glasses, caps, hats, bags, purses, home products and many more items are given free of charge to individuals & families.

MISSION STATEMENT

FREELIEF is dedicated to helping children, families, refugees, jobless, asylum seekers, homeless, the distressed, the aged, and the weak in our communities to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice providing their immediate needs.

SERVICES

FREELIEF meets the specific needs of individual people through direct support services, and also works with whole communities, connecting people across gender, age and cultural divides to create a renewed sense of optimism and belonging.

FREELIEF is devoted to collecting generous donations to provide assistance to people whose survival is in crisis, threatened by violence, neglect, exclusion from care at no cost irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions, at a chosen venue.

Currently our donations come from non-governmental sources such as private & individual donors.

PREREQUISITES

FREELIEF operates independently and conducts evaluations & basic requirements on the ground to determine individual needs before facilitating the delivery of the best required assistance in the community.  

With the purpose of assisting everyone equitably, to receive help from FREELIEF, proof of one or two assessment verifications of the followings are required:

1. Refugees unable to sustain their day to day expenses & incapable to qualify for any other help
2. Homeless
3. Families receiving centrelink benefits
4. Jobseekers & students receiving centrelink assistance
5. Men or women affected as a result of economic disparity
6. Young people who can’t afford to fulfil their needs
7. A person is entitled to 5 different items at any one time. (e.g. clothing, electronics, books, household &.)
8. A person may receive donations again after one year period, thus, to accommodate everyone equally.
9. Natural disaster & fire victims 

BASIC GUIDELINES

 

FREELIEF is strongly committed, based on the humanitarian principles to provide independent, ethical & impartial assistance, helping those individuals & families who do not have extra cash to buy them.

 

As committed individuals, at FREELIEF, we are neutral & do not take sides in providing care on the basis of need alone, and pushes for increased independent access to victims of crisis as required under our strict principles of basic humanitarian guidelines.

FREELIEF is rightly prepared to raise help, create awareness and advocate with individuals, business owners & local governments on humanitarian concerns.

FREELIEF will organize meetings with benevolent individuals, and arrange regular speaking events and activities across venues deemed necessary to direct & obtain more help.

LEADERSHIP

Simeneh Makonnen, a consummate professional, employment consultancy and community development  & a leading pioneer in establishing, the two major institutions, the first Ethiopian Community Association  & African Soccer Club in Australia.

Halakhe Ganyu, Social Worker/Counsellor & Psychotherapist who amassed extensive experiences in counselling youths, adults, couples & families as well as appearing at various motivational seminars & provision of the African communities frequently.

We are both, refugees fortunately settled in Australia for so long, driven by our quest to help people by changing their trashes into treasures to help others & our own will not to accumulate material wealth until we are gone.

In our work experiences & community related activities, we often witness violence, atrocities, and neglect in the course of their work, much of which occur in places that rarely receive humanely attention.

At times, we may speak out publicly in an effort to bring a forgotten crisis into view, alert the public to abuses occurring beyond the headlines, criticize the inadequacies of the aid system, challenge the diversion of humanitarian aid for political interests, or call out policies that restrict access to personal care or essential needs, unless we all do our share, these causes might fall into deaf ears.

 

Even though we have limited financial, human, and logistical resources, we are committed individuals campaigning, operating independently and impartially to provide assistance for people caught in crises in our community & around the world hopefully attracting more talented volunteers to do their share by working together in accordance with our basic guiding principles of humanitarian ideals.

We have already witnessed the need in various communities as a result of economic disparities where different crises are constantly recurring and some charities selling donations to those people at excessive prices.

MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Subject to our guides, to operate successfully, we will manage our project honestly and ethically creating an environment of trust, empowerment, respect and mutual support building and improving on the task entrusted to our care, working together as a team leveraging our talents and skills in a spirit of cooperation and trust, being fiscally responsible, keeping administrative costs low & inexpensive while ensuring the highest possible quality services to our community.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." - Martin Luther King Jr.

For a charity it is perhaps even more significant considering as non-profit organisations depend on the goodwill and support of individuals, the business community and government for their ongoing existence.

 



WHAT WE NEED IS SOLIDARITY NOT RETRIBUTION

I wish my friends, former community colleagues and all Ethiopians, including those who have attended this yearly festival organised by both the youth and Ethiopian community association in Victoria and the Ethio-Australian sports federation, a happy and successful new year.

Once again, it was good to see the annual Ethiopian soccer tournament & cultural festival was organised here in the hub of the majority of Ethiopians. However, I am not condoning to organising the occasion only in one city. The festival can be organised wherever the amicable location is chosen by members and organising committee. Nonetheless, I remember the last tournament was held in Melbourne in 2010 on one ground all inclusive.

 

2010 Ethiopian's Soccer Tournament Melbourne

It was good to see that the overwhelming people supported the principle of solidarity not disparity and frugality. I could not help but saddened to see some of my friends chose to be otherwise. All in all, the organisation and the turnout at the festival prepared by the community were to full capacity. There were more families and children with entertainment such as jumping on bouncing carnival castle balloon hired for them.

I went over to Yarraville, where the federation’s soccer tournament was held, not far from Altona North where the community’s soccer tournament was organised, to see some of my friends and observe the outcome. Obviously, there were few crowds and I was told that only few players turnout and they have to forfeit some games. This is what happens when festivals are held on the same days and times creating the unpredictability of the last minute decision by participants. One couldn’t help but think what would have happened had this been organised in unison.

      2010 The Bold & the beautiful Team

I wish to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for all the volunteers, organisers and participants. I am thankful for all of the support and encouragement everyone has given the community irrespective of the festival being held in two venues reprehensibly on the same days and times not far away from each other. Although, disappointed whatever the reason for the predicament to occur, I don’t intend to make it irreparable by naming, shaming and talking evil of the already damaged circumstances and I sincerely plead to others to refrain from abusing this gloomy status quo.     

I wanted to thank everyone personally because being the founding member of the community, it has always been my greatest aspiration for all Ethiopians to be united and celebrate our cultural heritage in an atmosphere of harmony. We all must know that if one is affected, we are all indirectly affected.

As a prominent business stall holder, I was the only proud and grateful individual who has displayed my business promotions based on our cultural ideals and all sales of merchandises and T-shirt prints reflecting on our cultures & positive aspirations.

Zelalem Print Display Stall

2012 is gone now. As our saying goes, ላለፈው ክረምት ቤት አይሰራም, (roughly translated), we can’t build a house for the past winter. We can only hope mutual agreements can be reached for the coming year festival and change of those agreements will not happen again, specially, close to last minute preparation for the festival.

2012 Ethiopian's Soccer Tournament Melbourne

I urge both parties of the organising committee to be committed and make a strong resolution to solve this dilemma and call for solidarity to organise a better, bigger annual festival in 2013 by inviting more business stall holders adding more colours to the celebration. Whatever private or individual differences the other groups or members might have, for the sake of the community and as an Ethiopian we need to look in to our communal responsibilities, no matter how difficult and unmanageable the circumstances might be. “United we stand, divided we fall”. ድር ቢያብር አንበሳ ያስር.

Albeit we all came from different cultural backgrounds, we have incurable enigmas of intolerable secrecy and silence in common impeding the manner to open communication and honest dialogues harbouring fear of retribution and ostracism. Time to accept, appreciate our differences and differing of opinions without hatemongering and work together with those colleagues who have a shared passion for making a difference for individuals & transforming the community for the better. Time for change to take its course!
It is said that those who do not learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat it. Many mistakes and errors have been committed by successive leaders in the past. These mistakes need to be identified, studied and lessons drawn from them so that they will not be repeated again. We need to build collective agenda to advance and support these mistakes and undertake not to repeat them.

We mustn’t disrespect others who have helped us pave the high way to success and mustn’t engage in character assassination (ye saaw sim matifat) of anybody by giving in to other peoples gossip (waare) & trusting the tall poppy syndrome saga (und saaw ye telawoon hooloom saaw metilat, ye tewededewoon mawooded bana woo qe woom) – to hate or like someone just because everybody does - instead of believing in ourselves to make our own judgement about other people.

We must, always, remember that every difference of opinion & ideology is not a difference of principle and shouldn’t be construed as personal vendetta and should be discussed or expressed with respect.

I am a strong advocate, passionate, rational, and strong leader in human rights and equal opportunity issues affecting, not only Ethiopian community, other African communities, a diverse range of communities, the development of services for the disadvantaged and marginalised groups. I always believed in cross-cultural community building and creating a healthy society when I took the first step navigating through storms to establish Ethiopian community.

It is time to replace bitterness with reconciliation; hate with love that heals the community; revenge with forgiveness; hope with despair; hurt with healing; fear with courage; division with unity; doubt with faith; shame with honour;  deceit with candour and sincerity; anger with reason; cruelty with kindness and caring; enmity with friendship; duplicity with openness; complacency with action; indifference with passion; incivility with gracefulness; suspicion with trust; selfishness with altruism; dishonesty with integrity; convenience with virtue; cunning  with moralities; ignorance with knowledge; benightedness with imagination; acrimony with civility, desire with fulfilment.

If there is one thing I detest and reject in the Diaspora Ethiopians, it is political bluffing, power mongering, egos and self-promotion/centeredness and hypocrisy. Breaking up, narrow group think, personality worships, arrogance, hidden agendas, one group trying to undermine the other and so on will not advance the common cause and or respond to the unity of all Ethiopians especially the youths.

It is that none of us can survive without each other. None of us can hope to prosper while the rest are disenfranchised and subjugated. None of us can make progress while the rest regress or stand still. We are now faced with the fierce urgency of creating the conditions of unity.

Playing the ethnic card game is to fall victim to destructive identity politics that breeds division, hatred, conflict, and cynicism.

The process of unifying people is difficult and the road to unity is often littered with the debris of historical grievances, animosity and resentment.

The realities today are different than they were ten or twenty years ago. Aligning one’s thinking and actions with changing realities and circumstances is a sign of wisdom and political maturity.

In general, society seems to have put power, ethnicity, and profit ahead of humanity. Our world is still struggling with poverty, environmental pollution, disease and the devastation of war while grieving over memories of both world wars, Gallipoli, Korean, Congo and others. Greed, the struggle for power between the haves and have nots has taken us on a path towards competition instead of cooperation paving the way for destruction and we still continue to torture each other while mourning for the past. As a result of all these circumstances, we have been disconnected from our heart and soul and from the earth that sustain us.

Failure can be turned into an opportunity to learn and grow. I say it can because it requires a particular attitude to benefit from our failure. Without that mentality, all our failures will go to waste. This is true in politics as it is in personal life for a leader as well as a follower. So what is that mentality?

It is a mentality that is willing and able to reflect on past experience – past actions and their outcomes. It is only through such reflections that one learns one’s strengths, weaknesses and the environment and conditions in which actions were undertaken and what could have been done differently that could have resulted in a positive outcome. It is not enough to admit collective failure. One needs to evaluate one’s role in the failure. This is even more so if one is a leader under whose watch an organization – business or political – failed. Denying (to one self and others) failures and personal accountability and scapegoating or blaming on “globalization, end of cold war, etc.” will not do. Leaders without such a mentality cannot educate themselves from past failures and therefore deserve no second chance.

To me, being educated means being responsible, accountable, open-minded, tolerant, compassionate, decisive, insightful, considerate, ambitious, realistic, and perseverant.

We see individuals, political leaders, groups and organizations of all stripes stoking the fires of ethnic and tribal hatred, fanning the flames of sectarian and religious violence and instigating all forms of strife, disagreement and enmity.

By reciting my mantra of personal convictions daily & living a life of principles to the fullest in a lifelong journey with steadfast endurance, with so much despair and discomfort, eventually, achieving happiness and contentment in the process, exclusively, knowing the success of founding the institution for all Ethiopians through my life long struggle to survive and continuing to fight for social justice and equality to prevail in our communities everywhere thereby beaming on our homeland, I feel I have fulfilled my mission without regret.

Ethiopia is one of the most mosaic nations in the world, mothering over 80 different ethnic groups all deserving equal opportunities. I do not mind if my leader/president is from dominant (e.g. Oromo, Amara) or minority nationalities (Walaita, Guragie) as long as s/he demonstrates the all the qualities the leader has to offer and based on merit not idolized personality profiles. Indeed, I will be extra glad if the leader/president comes from the tiniest ethnicities. That should be celebrated as it is one powerful way of ensuring social equity and justice thereby transforming society.

In his autobiography, Gandhi wrote, “Man and his deed are two distinct things.  Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked, always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. ‘Hate the sin and not the sinner’ is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world….”

 If one hates another because of race, colour, religion, ethnicity or other factors, the result is more hate. Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Needless to say that if hate is learned it can also be unlearned. If love can be taught it can be spread across the land.

We should really follow Gandhi’s precept that if we must hate, we “hate the sin and not the sinner.” It is a tough precept to follow and live by without perfecting oneself with enormous change of attitude & self-discipline. We have all been part of the problem and part of the solution at one time or another. If this is not true, then “he who is without sin should cast the first stone”. But now all of us have an opportunity to become part of the grand solution to the political problems facing all of us in the diaspora and in our country.

Let’s join together by resolving our differences and strengthen our solidarity to organise a cultural festival for all Ethiopians by inviting all business vendors to join by displaying their businesses at the chosen festival venues.

Good Health & Happiness

For more read at: https://timeforchangesociety.blogspot.com/2012/11/ethiopian-tournament-factions-thwarts.html