Meron Hadero's winning short story is about an Ethiopian boy called Getu, who has to navigate the fraught power dynamics of NGOs and foreign aid in Addis Ababa. It impressed the judges who found it "utterly without self-pity" and said it "turns the lens" on the usual clichés. The author was born in Ethiopia and raised in the US by parents who are both medical doctors. Her sister is the singer Meklit Hadero. (BBC News)
AKO Caine Prize: Meron Hadero named first Ethiopian winner
“I’m absolutely thrilled, I’m in shock – being shortlisted in itself was a huge honour,” she told the BBC.
Her winning short story is about an Ethiopian boy called Getu, who has to navigate the fraught power dynamics of NGOs and foreign aid in Addis Ababa.
It impressed the judges who found it “utterly without self-pity” and said it “turns the lens” on the usual clichés.
Hadero will take home £10,000 ($13,000) in prize money.
The author was born in Ethiopia and raised in the US by parents who are both medical doctors. Her sister is the singer Meklit Hadero, whose support was “absolutely essential” to her success, Hadero says.
She says stories of “refugees, immigrants and those at risk of being displaced” are always the “entry-point emotionally” to her work.
“With The Street Sweep, he has that threat looming. He’s facing losing his ancestral home, and that’s the real driver of the story that makes him take charge and try to re-write that outcome that seems kind of inevitable,” Hadero told BBC Focus on Africa.
Much of The Street Sweep is set in Addis Ababa’s Sheraton hotel, where Getu is invited for a party.
“Looking through his eyes it’s almost a culture shock when he goes there,” Hadero said.
“I did want to paint that contrast… What does that access mean? And what does that bestow? That’s the bigger question of what those open doors represent.”
Writing short stories has been “it’s own love” for the author, who likened the form to a “contained laboratory” from which “pared down and elegant” tales can emerge.
Her next challenge is her debut novel, which “is really fun to work on in a different way.
“A lot of my family, a lot of my community in terms of the Ethiopian American diaspora that lives here — it’s really a hub for us and for our small businesses that I frequent often,” Meronne Teklu, whose immigrant parents moved to Alexandria following the downfall of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974, said. “I’m excited to be a part of it, and I’m excited to do what I can to help our local economy.” (Alextimes)
Candidate profile: Meronne Teklu enters council race
At 25, Meronne Teklu has worked as a tech consultant, nonprofit manager and advisory board member. She’s also launched her first campaign for Alexandria City Council.
Teklu said she doesn’t view her age as a drawback but rather as an opportunity to bring a fresh, multigenerational lens to the council.
“As residents of this community, we have an opportunity to serve at all levels. I don’t think it matters what your age is, gender identification, race identification, class — we all have that opportunity,” Teklu said. “I definitely don’t think [my age] is a negative thing; it’s more so ensuring that we have varying representation and perspectives that we bring.”
Although she was born in Alexandria and currently lives in the West End, Teklu grew up down the road in Springfield, having graduated from West Springfield High School. She said that, despite this, Alexandria always felt like home.
“A lot of my family, a lot of my community in terms of the Ethiopian American diaspora that lives here — it’s really a hub for us and for our small businesses that I frequent often,” Teklu, whose immigrant parents moved to Alexandria following the downfall of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974, said. “I’m excited to be a part of it, and I’m excited to do what I can to help our local economy.”
Teklu currently works as a technology management consultant in Northern Virginia, where she aids clients from the public service to government sectors in designing and launching digital products. Teklu said this technology background helps her bring an innovative, “future-forward lens” to the table — something she feels is a principal ingredient in moving the needle toward data-driven, long-term change.
Her experience also includes mentoring students of immigrant backgrounds at the D.C. nonprofit IEA Councils on Higher Education as well as an advisory position on the Wegene Ethiopian Foundation, a nonprofit organization cofounded by her mother that focuses on poverty alleviation support in Ethiopia through fundraising and identification of vulnerable populations.
Teklu received a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies with a focus on computer science from the College of William & Mary. During her time there, Teklu and several peers created a media project called The Real William & Mary that published videos tackling issues related to inclusion on campus and centering minority student voices. The project’s aim was to foster conversations about ways to develop a diverse office and support programs like Pacific Islander and Asian studies.
The project spread through social media like wildfire, eventually capturing the attention of the community race relations task force and culminating in a newly implemented freshman year required course at William & Mary that examines social inequities in America.
“That only happens when you’re able to show others who are not part of your immediate community issue that, ‘Here are the perspectives. Here’s what we can do.’ And maybe that doesn’t happen immediately, maybe that’s a one month or two month or five year effort, but I think it’s amazing,” Teklu said.
Teklu said this experience not only played a role in demonstrating how perseverance leads to tangible social change — “I live and breathe the intersections of race, class and gender on policy and our general American history,” she said — but also in igniting her passion for equity.
Teklu said her primary goal is to connect Alexandria’s marginalized and underrepresented communities with city leadership. For Teklu, this demographic ranges from the voices of minority, low income and young people.
“I’m here to elevate those communities [through an] emphasis on equity,” Teklu said. “I’m approaching things from the lens of, ‘How can we be better for all of our communities, not just one particular one?’ How we can elevate diverse minority perspectives within that is something I’m very passionate about.”
According to Teklu, one crucial issue plaguing the city is its longstanding housing affordability crisis. With equity placed squarely at the heart of her campaign, Teklu said she always wants to support minority and immigrant tenants – especially during COVID-19 when many “disproportionately affected communities of color” cannot pay rent and need city support in eviction protection.
And it’s not just housing that COVID-19 has impacted, Teklu said. Another topic of interest for Teklu is lifting up the city’s youth, not only from an educational standpoint in schools but also through emotional and social support during the pandemic.
“We know it’s been quite isolating, so ensuring that they’re set up to thrive will be equally as important for council to work [on] with the School Board and the private school community as well,” Teklu said.
Although Teklu acknowledged that she plans to do “more digging” regarding the controversial proposed stream restoration at Taylor Run, she emphasized the importance of listening to grassroots organizations and environmental advocacy groups regarding the best path forward.
She also noted that while many arguments surrounding flooding in Alexandria are pointed at over-densification and development, she believes the root is more of an environmental issue.
“We know that we have a ways to go in ensuring that the city of Alexandria meets our environmental sustainability goals, and I think investing in long-term mitigation strategies against flooding will be key,” Teklu said.
Whether it’s rebuilding the local economy, supporting environmental justice, providing COVID-19 relief or investing in public modernization efforts, Teklu said the notion of equity for all should serve as a “north star” in every action City Council takes.
“I really do feel like Alexandria coming out of this pandemic has an opportunity to reimagine what it is to be a community and to be advocates of change,” Teklu said. “We have a lot of momentum to reimagine what it looks like to operate as a city, to incorporate technology and incorporate the perspective of young people in that – and to push for equity for all. That’s something that is very exciting to me.”
When she was crowned Miss Africa USA at a national pageant on August 8 at the Music Center at Strathmore in the Washington area, the tall and striking model and youth recreation director Meron Wudneh paid tribute to the country where she was born.
“I am honored and delighted to represent Ethiopia,” she said. Wudneh described her homeland as “an ancient African country with amazing bio-diversity, people who take pride in preserving their diverse culture, its great warriors, kings and queens.”
Video: Voice of America Yeheyes Wuhib’s interview with Meron Wudneh
I love dancing our traditional dances Eskista, playing sports and bringing visibility to our culture through our fashion which inspired my greater love of modeling.” Wudneh currently works in New York as a model while she continues her career developing youth programs for Montgomery County in Maryland. She is represented by a Christian Ruart Fashion Group.
She wanted to build children’s futures
Wudneh was seven years old when her family emigrated to the United States. The family settled in the state of Maryland where she attended Wheaton High School. As she and her sister grew up, their parents wanted them to remember their African roots, so the girls had to always speak their native Amharic at home.
The six-foot tall student received an athletic scholarship to attend Bowie State University, where she played women’s basketball and earned a Bachelor’s degree with a major in biology.
Last year she spent six months in Ethiopia working with some non-government organizations supporting then needs of Ethiopian children. She volunteered with the Mary Joy Foundation in Addis Ababa serving destitute seniors, people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and disadvantaged Ethiopians.
She witnessed the plight of the children first-hand, an experience that has energized Wudneh to further her cause for Ethiopia’s children.
“I learned how one person can truly change a child’s future,” she says.
“Since I was a child growing up in Ethiopia I always had the desire to help people, especially kids.” In high school in Maryland, Wudneh spent more than a thousand hours working with children in community service projects (athletic programs, health programs?) in her Maryland neighborhood.
She founded her own NGO
Two years ago she founded Kids First Ethiopia, to send school supplies, clothes and shoes to Ethiopian children who lost one or both parents to death from HIV/AIDS or are homeless.
Ethiopia has one of the largest populations of orphans in the world: 13 per cent of children throughout a country of 96 million are missing one or both parents. This represents an estimated 4.6 million children – 800,000 of whom were orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
After winning the Miss Africa USA competition, Wudneh wants to strengthen her Kids First Ethiopia project to develop strategies and funding to help needy children in Ethiopia to continue in school, graduate and become successful. She also hopes to expand these services to other countries in Africa.
“The pageant is not only about beauty but goes way more than that,” she says. “As contestants and goodwill ambassadors, the organizers demand that we constantly work for the betterment of Africa.”
— Related: Ethiopian Meron Wudneh Crowned Miss Africa USA 2014
Miss Africa USA 2014 Meron Wudneh. (Image courtesy: Miss Africa USA)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Friday, September 5th, 2014
Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) – The reigning queen of the Miss Africa USA pageant, Meron Wudneh, will be hosting an event this weekend in Washington, D.C. to thank her supporters. The event to be held at Maraki Restaurant & Lounge (1930 9th Street NW) is free and open to the public.
Meron was crowned Miss Africa USA 2014 last month becoming the first Ethiopian to win the pageant since it was launched in 2005.
— If You Go:
Maraki Restaurant & Loung
1930 9th Street NW
Washington, D.C. www.marakidc.com
Meron Wudneh was crowned Miss Africa USA 2014 on Saturday, August 9th in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photograph courtesy: Miss Africa USA)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, August 10th, 2014
Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) – Ethiopian-born beauty queen Meron Wudneh has been crowned Miss Africa USA 2014. Meron, who beat 20 other contestants, is the first Ethiopian to win the Miss Africa USA pageant since it was launched nine years ago. Meron received the sought-after tiara on Saturday evening during the Grand Finals held at the Strathmore Theater in North Bethesda, Maryland.
In her statement posted on the Pageant’s website Meron states: “I am honored and delighted to represent Ethiopia, an ancient African country with amazing biodiversity, people who take pride in preserving their diverse culture, it’s great warriors, Kings and Queens! I love dancing our traditional Eskista dances, playing sports and bringing visibility to our culture through fashion.” Meron is a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland and a graduate of Bowie State University where she studied Health Sciences.
When Secretary of State John F. Kerry traveled to Ethiopia last year, he met a young blogger named Natnael Feleke. When he returned a few months ago, Kerry found that Feleke, along with five other bloggers and three journalists, had been arrested — the latest in a long line of journalists the Ethiopian government has detained on the claim that they were trying to incite terrorism. Although Kerry addressed the arrests with officials he met, and President Obama has spoken forcefully on the importance of good governance in Africa, preoccupation with immediate security priorities — in particular counter-terrorism — trumps the fine words.
It is our hope that President Obama will use the summit of African leaders he is hosting this week to launch a new chapter in U.S.-African relationships — one in which support for good governance will guide U.S. policy, in deed as well as in word. If not, the result is likely to be more of the very violence and instability that counter-terrorism is supposed to curb.
In our country of Ethiopia, the government maintains a stranglehold on freedom of expression. Journalists or activists who question the ruling party or its actions face arbitrary arrests and repression. After his April visit, when Kerry made the long overdue comment that it was important for anti-terrorist mechanisms to avoid curbing the free exchange of ideas, Ethiopian democracy activists around the world were thrilled.
Yet at the same time, we know that words, even from a U.S. secretary of State, will not be sufficient to counter years of repression and disregard for human rights. The Ethiopian ruling regime — like many others in Africa — has ignored criticism from abroad; indeed, Feleke’s and the other journalists’ arrests came just days before Kerry’s visit to Ethiopia.
In spite of Ethiopia’s well-documented record of oppression and corruption, it has become the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Shortly after his election in 2009, Obama delivered a speech in Accra, Ghana, sketching the elements of his policy toward Africa, which involved focusing on “good governance,” “the rule of law” and “civic participation.”
Ethiopia, though projected by Washington as well as Addis Ababa as an important U.S. ally, violates these principles at every turn. The regime’s draconian Charities and Societies Proclamation Act in essence criminalizes civil society. Under the terms of its 2009 anti-terrorism law, security forces can enter any home and seize any person or belonging. Presumed sympathy to anyone suspected of “terrorism,” which is very broadly defined, is punishable by death. It was under this law that Natnael Feleke was arrested.
Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) –The organizers of the annual Miss Africa USA Pageant have announced 20 contestants from 20 African nations who will be competing for this year’s Miss Africa USA title. The finalists include Meron Wudneh who is representing Ethiopia at the Grand Finals at the Strathmore Theater in North Bethesda, Maryland on August 9th, 2014.
“We invite you to check out their profiles, what they stand for and how they plan to impact nations and bring change to the world,” organizers said. “The future of Africa lies in its untapped potential, the potential of its women.”
Below is Meron’s message. You can vote for her at missafricausa.org.
Meron Wudneh. (Photo by Cain Manigque and E.Z/Miss Africa USA Org)
“My name is Meron Wudneh. I am honored and delighted to represent Ethiopia, an ancient African country with amazing biodiversity, people who take pride in preserving their diverse culture, it’s great warriors, Kings and Queens! I love dancing our traditional Eskista dances, playing sports and bringing visibility to our culture through fashion, which inspired a greater love of modeling. I model in NY, and also work in MD for Montgomery County in the field of healthcare and recreation where we develop youth programs. I completed my studies with a full scholarship at Bowie State University and earned a Bachelors degree in Health & Sciences and played women’s basketball.
Since I was a child growing up in Ethiopia I always had the desire to help people, especially kids. When I graduated from high school I realized that I had served 1,000 hours of community service helping kids at my neighborhood community center. Almost two years ago, I founded my non-profit called Kids First Ethiopia. Kids First Ethiopia sends school supplies, clothes, shoes, and other miscellaneous items to kids that have suffered the loss of their parents to HIV/AIDS and/or are homelessness.
Last year, I stayed in Ethiopia for 6 months working alongside established NGOs, such as Mary Joy Foundation, to support the efforts of others who are passionate about supporting the needs of kids. I learned how one person can truly change a child’s future.
Please join me on my journey to continue this effort to serve more kids in our beautiful motherland!
Thank you all for your support!”
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Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
Meron Gebru: My Experience as a Diaspora Volunteer in Ethiopia
LIVE-Addis, a local NGO based in Addis Ababa, provides job training for the youth. (Courtesy photograph)
Tadias Magazine
OP-ED
By Meron Gebru
Updated: Monday, March 3rd, 2014
Washington, D.C. — There is nothing like firsthand experience. Recently I spent three months in Ethiopia as a Diaspora volunteer through Cuso International working as a Women’s Livelihood Promotion Officer at LIVE-Addis, a local charity based in the capital. LIVE-Addis is devoted to enabling poor households to improve their livelihoods. What a rewarding time it was!
Aside from my sporadic visits to Ethiopia in the past few years, which often lasted for a couple of weeks, my idea of how things operated in Addis was very scant and was bound to be challenged. This opportunity gave me an intimate understanding of how the nonprofit community works, as well as how the different stakeholders in local economic development activities engage each other and what challenges they face on a regular basis.
My role at LIVE-Addis was to assess the capacity of the organization and help build its gender programming. I led several projects included designing an employment training manual, facilitating training, and providing job readiness workshops, while spending time with the motivated and dedicated staff who run the organization. Established in 2005 the non-profit has been implementing projects that support vulnerable and unemployed youth and women by connecting beneficiaries to a variety of vocational trainings that last 2 to 10 months, providing life skills education, business development classes, networking with employers, and granting seed money for those who want to start small businesses.
I also supported the organization in its annual friends’ day event where graduates are honored as well as asked to showcase their specific talents. I recognized this event as an important opportunity to invite potential employers so that the graduates could connect with them, demonstrate their expertise and learn about possible employment opportunities. To prepare, I trained candidates in job readiness aptitude, which included interviewing skills, job searching techniques, writing resumes, and initiating conversation with potential employers. After seeing its impact, the organization has institutionalized preparation of CVs and giving short coaching sessions to participants.
I believe volunteering is not merely giving back, but it is also receiving, in equal amount if not more, in personal growth. After applying for the position with Cuso International’s Diasporas for Development (DfD) Initiative, which is funded by USAID and Accenture, I was given a thorough volunteer assessment and training before my departure. I gained a great deal of knowledge, however, on the ground during my time in Addis Ababa including the cultural competency that plays a paramount role in conducting any kind of business. I believe volunteering creates a healthy partnership between people who live in different continents and who aspire for the same goal. Volunteers are ambassadors who link two cultures, especially in these days of globalization. Volunteers can play a vital role in promoting fair trade whether it is in knowledge, skills or materials.
– If you are interested, Cuso International is currently recruiting skilled volunteers from members of the Ethiopian Diaspora as part their Diaspora for Development Project. You may apply directly on the Cuso International website.
About the Author: Meron Gebru, who holds a graduate degree in Development Management, lives and works in Washington, D.C. area. Meron completed her undergraduate degree in Rural Development in Ethiopia before migrating to the U.S. seven years ago.
Meron Getnet is selected as one of '10 Actors to Watch Out For' at Sundance 2014 (photo: Difret.com)
Indiewire.com
BY TAYLOR LINDSAY
Meron Getnet (“Difret”)
Why You May Know Her: Starring in the first Ethiopian film to ever premiere at Sundance, Meron Getnet is a renown actress, poet, and playwright in Ethiopia. She was one of four Ethiopians chosen to attend President Obama’s African Youth Leaders Forum in DC. She is a feature a popular TV drama and is already a star in her country. And she’s rising in America with her debut at Sundance in a film written and directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari and executively produced by Angelina Jolie.
What Sundance Could Mean for Her: A breakout performance in the US. “Difret” is the story of a 14-year-old girl caught up in a country’s staggering progression toward equal rights. When she acts in self-defense, an aspiring young lawyer (Getnet) risks her career to represent the child and save her life. Based on real events, the World Dramatic film promises a daring and moving story. And hopefully a new spotlight for Getnet.
What’s Next? Getnet is currently working on her Masters on development and the arts at Addis Abada University. There’s nothing official in the works for more feature film performance, but this might be the first of many (or at least a couple) more.
Lydia Assefa-Dawson, a member the Federal Way City Council in King County, Washington [located within the Seattle metropolitan area] has announced that she is running for King County Council District 7 seat. According to her campaign Lydia, who is Ethiopian American, "pledges to bring leadership and perspectives as a housing advocate, person with disabilities, immigrant, and mom." (Courtesy photo)
Federal Way Mirror
Federal Way Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson announces run for King County Council District 7
Lydia Assefa-Dawson formally announced her campaign to challenge 28-year incumbent Pete von Reichbauer for King County Council, Position 7.
Assefa-Dawson, in her second full term on the Federal Way City Council, believes it is time to take it to the next level in order to reflect the rapid demographic changes and economic challenges facing families in the district, which includes Federal Way, Auburn, Kent, Milton, Algona, Pacific, and unincorporated areas.
“It’s time for new experiences and perspectives to address the changing priorities of struggling families and small businesses in our region,” said Assefa-Dawson. “We have a worsening homelessness crisis, an economy battered by the pandemic, critical infrastructure and transit needs, and our criminal justice system remains burdened with bias and mistrust in too many communities. We can only expect to make needed progress on these and other issues with new voices and leadership.”
Assefa-Dawson has received numerous awards and recognitions for her dedicated service in the region from organizations including King County Housing Authority, National Association of Professional Women, City of SeaTac, the President’s Volunteer Service Award, Bridge Builders Award, and many more.
She points to her own story overcoming great adversity as her motivation to create opportunity and self-sufficiency for families across the region.
“I came to America from Ethiopia over 40 years ago seeking education and in need of medical care after a disability led to my legs being amputated as a child,” said Assefa-Dawson, who works as a Family Self Sufficiency Coordinator at King County Housing Authority, as well as an Economic Resilience Financial Educator and Coach for Survivors of Domestic Violence at the YWCA. “I went on to complete college and graduate school, and raised three wonderful sons, all of whom graduated from local schools. Having suffered housing insecurity and financial hardships along the way, I’ve dedicated my career to helping others receive the critical services and financial literacy needed to stabilize their own lives. I’ll bring these experiences – along with my work on the City Council – to support all the people of the district.”
On the Federal Way Council, Assefa-Dawson serves on the Parks, Recreation, Human Services, & Public Safety Committee and chairs the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. She served on the Federal Way Human Services Commission before her appointment to the City Council.
Assefa-Dawson serves on the Puget Sound Economic Development District Board, co-chairs the Regional Law, Safety and Justice Committee, and is Vice President of the Ethiopian Community Center. She previously served on the State’s Advisory Committee on Homelessness, with the Committee to End Homelessness, and the Best Starts for Kids Children and Youth Advisory Committee.
“The work I do every day at the local and regional level is directly related to building a strong economy, and more just and equitable communities for all,” said Assefa-Dawson. “I’m proud of my deep commitment to the people of this region, and hands-on experience helping small businesses, working for police reform and trust, and making sure kids and families have the opportunity to thrive.”
Committed to expanding economic opportunity in historically marginalized communities, Assefa-Dawson also co-chairs the Highline Forum, serves on the Equity Group with the Association of Washington Cities and the newly formed Equity & Inclusion Cabinet with Sound Cities Association, and is on the Governance Group for Communities of Opportunity.
“I’m committed to positive, equitable change that benefits everyone. Local families need a voice at the County Council – for jobs and mobility, for affordable childcare and healthcare, and for housing that is safe, affordable, and close to jobs and education,” Assefa-Dawson said.
Assefa-Dawson is launching her campaign with support from fellow local elected officials from throughout the region, immigrant and refugee communities and leaders, housing advocates, and others.
“Representing District 7, I’ll partner with stakeholders at every level, and ensure community has a voice on the King County Council,” said Assefa-Dawson.
Learn more at Lydia4KC.com.
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Editor’s note: This is a press release from the candidate’s campaign
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Yohannes Abraham has been named Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the White House National Security Council in the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. (Photos: Harvard and Transition website)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: January 10th, 2021
New York (TADIAS) — The Transition Office of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris continue to release a diverse list of appointments “that looks like America” to serve in their incoming administration. The latest hires include Ethiopian American Yohannes Abraham, who has been named Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the White House National Security Council.
As the press release highlighted:
Yohannes Abraham currently serves as the Executive Director of the Biden-Harris Transition, overseeing preparation for the implementation of Biden-Harris policy, personnel, and management priorities. He is also on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he lectures on management. During the Obama-Biden administration, Abraham served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council. He also worked as Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, where his team partnered with cities, states, and other key stakeholders to manage crises and support domestic and national security policy priorities. Abraham has also served on the leadership team of the Vanguard Group’s global investment unit and as a Senior Advisor at the Obama Foundation. A native of Springfield, Virginia, Abraham holds a BA from Yale College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
In a statement President-elect Joe Biden said: “The National Security Council plays a critical role in keeping our nation safe and secure. These crisis-tested, deeply experienced public servants will work tirelessly to protect the American people and restore America’s leadership in the world. They will ensure that the needs of working Americans are front and center in our national security policymaking, and our country will be better for it.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris added: “This outstanding team of dedicated public servants will be ready to hit the ground running on day one to address the transnational challenges facing the American people — from climate to cyber. They reflect the very best of our nation and they have the knowledge and experience to help build our nation back better for all Americans.”
And incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said: “I am proud to announce that these incredibly accomplished individuals will be joining the National Security Council. They will bring a wide range of perspectives to tackling the defining challenges of our time, and I thank them for their willingness to serve their country.”
Below are the biographies of the NSC appointees named in alphabetical order as provided in the press release of the Biden-Harris Transition team:
Yohannes Abraham, Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary
Yohannes Abraham currently serves as the Executive Director of the Biden-Harris Transition, overseeing preparation for the implementation of Biden-Harris policy, personnel, and management priorities. He is also on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he lectures on management. During the Obama-Biden administration, Abraham served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council. He also worked as Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, where his team partnered with cities, states, and other key stakeholders to manage crises and support domestic and national security policy priorities. Abraham has also served on the leadership team of the Vanguard Group’s global investment unit and as a Senior Advisor at the Obama Foundation. A native of Springfield, Virginia, Abraham holds a BA from Yale College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Sasha Baker, Senior Director for Strategic Planning
Sasha Baker was most recently national security advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren and served as a Deputy Policy Director for her presidential campaign. Previously, she served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. Baker was a career budget analyst at the Office of Management and Budget, joining as a Presidential Management Fellow and serving in homeland and national security roles and as a Special Assistant to the OMB Director. She began her government career as a research assistant for the House Armed Services Committee. Originally from New Jersey, Baker is a graduate of Dartmouth College and received an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Ariana Berengaut, Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor
Ariana Berengaut currently serves on the NSC Agency Review Team with the Biden-Harris Transition and held the COVID-19 policy portfolio as a volunteer on the Biden-Harris Campaign. She previously was a founding director at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. She served in the Obama Administration as speechwriter and counselor to then-Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and, prior to that, as chief speechwriter and senior advisor to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. She started her career as a researcher at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and worked on the 2008 Obama campaign. Born in Washington, D.C., she attended Brandeis University and the University of Oxford, completing her graduate fieldwork in southeastern Uganda.
Tanya Bradsher, Senior Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement
Tanya Bradsher is the National Security Agency lead on the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Prior to her role on transition, she served as Chief of Staff for Congressman Don Beyer. Bradsher served as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama-Biden administration, led Veteran and Military Family outreach in the Office of Public Engagement, and served as the Assistant Press Secretary on the National Security Council. Bradsher is an Iraq war veteran who served 20 years in the United States Army and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Bradsher was born in Virginia, is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The George Washington University. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three daughters.
Rebecca Brocato, Senior Director for Legislative Affairs
Rebecca Brocato was Director of Strategy and Government Affairs at National Security Action. During the Obama-Biden Administration, she served in the White House as Director for Legislative Affairs on the National Security Council and as House Legislative Affairs Liaison. She worked previously on Middle East policy at the State Department and as an aide to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD). Brocato began her career as a researcher focused on West and Central Africa. A Baltimore native, she is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford.
Elizabeth Cameron, Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense
Elizabeth (Beth) Cameron is the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Vice President for Global Biological Policy and Programs and a volunteer with the Biden-Harris transition team. She previously served on the White House National Security Council staff, where she stood up the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense and helped launch the Global Health Security Agenda. She also served at the Department of Defense as an Office Director and Senior Advisor and at the Department of State where she focused on global threat reduction programs. She was a policy director with the American Cancer Society and an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow in the health policy office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Cameron holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the Human Genetics and Molecular Biology Program at the Johns Hopkins University and is a graduate of the University of Virginia and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Raised in Maryland, she lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband.
Tarun Chhabra, Senior Director for Technology and National Security
Tarun Chhabra is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. He was previously a Fellow with the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Chhabra served on the National Security Council staff as Director for Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter to the Secretary of Defense. Born in Tennessee and raised in Louisiana, Chhabra is a first-generation American and a graduate of Stanford University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.
Caitlin Durkovich, Senior Director for Resilience and Response
Caitlin Durkovich serves on the Department Homeland of Security (DHS) Agency Review Team for the Biden-Harris Transition. She is a Director at Toffler Associates and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Caitlin served as Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection and as Chief of Staff for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (the predecessor to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) at DHS during the Obama-Biden Administration. Caitlin was also a member of the Mission Assurance/Business Continuity Team at Booz Allen Hamilton. She helped launch the Internet Security Alliance in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, and iDefense, an early cyber threat intelligence service. Born in New Mexico, Caitlin is a graduate of Duke University.
Jon Finer, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
Jon Finer serves as Deputy Head of Foreign and National Security Policy on the Biden-Harris Transition team. He previously served in the Obama White House and State Department, including as Middle East Advisor and Foreign Policy Speechwriter to then-Vice President Biden and as Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning for Secretary of State John Kerry. Finer began his career as a journalist in Asia and covered several conflicts, including the Iraq War, as a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post. Since leaving government, he has held positions in academia, at think tanks, and in the private sector. He has an A.B. from Harvard; a M.Phil from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar; and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Finer was born and raised in Vermont, where his parents still live, and has three younger siblings.
Juan Gonzalez, Senior Director for Western Hemisphere
Juan Sebastian Gonzalez serves on the Biden-Harris Transition Appointments Team as a Deputy for National Security Agencies. He was previously a Senior Fellow at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Gonzalez served in the Obama-Biden Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and in the White House as Special Advisor to Vice President Biden and National Security Council Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs. In 2017, Gonzalez was appointed by Senator Chuck Schumer to serve as a Commissioner on the bipartisan Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, and represented the Biden campaign on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force on Immigration. Born in Colombia and raised in New York, Gonzalez is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and son.
Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia
Sumona Guha was co-chair of the South Asia foreign policy working group on the Biden-Harris campaign, and serves on the transition’s State Department Agency Review Team. Guha is Senior Vice President at Albright Stonebridge Group. Previously, she served in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and later, on the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff where she focused on South Asia. During the Obama-Biden Administration, she was Special Advisor for national security affairs to Vice President Biden. Guha is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and three children.
Ryan Harper, Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Executive Secretary
Ryan Harper currently serves as the Director of Planning and Staff Secretary for the Biden-Harris Transition. He previously served in a number of foreign policy and national security positions during the Obama-Biden Administration at USAID and the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Defense. He has also held positions at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to the transition, Harper was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Co., where he worked with public sector defense, development, and intelligence organizations. Originally from Massachusetts, he is a graduate of Stanford Law School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the College of the Holy Cross. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife.
Peter Harrell, Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness
Peter Evans Harrell is a member of the Biden-Harris Transition working on the State Department Agency Review Team and on international economic and trade policy. Since 2015, he has served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and as a lawyer in private practice. He has also taught international trade law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. From 2009 to 2014, he served in the Obama-Biden Administration on the State Department Policy Planning Staff and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. Earlier in his career, Harrell worked as a journalist and as a staffer on the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign. Harrell was born in Baltimore and raised in Atlanta, where he currently resides with his wife, two children, and cat. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the Yale Law School.
Emily Horne, Senior Director for Press and NSC Spokesperson
Emily Horne serves as a volunteer on the Biden-Harris Transition Team leading communications for several national security Cabinet nominees. She joins the Biden-Harris Administration from the Brookings Institution, where she was Vice President of Communications. Horne was previously a civil servant at the State Department, where she began as an intern and served in a number of public affairs roles including Assistant Press Secretary and Director of Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, Communications Director for the Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, and Spokesperson for South and Central Asian Affairs. She also served as head of global policy communications at Twitter. Originally from Michigan, Horne holds a B.A. and M.A. from The George Washington University. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and their two sons.
Shanthi Kalathil, Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights
Shanthi Kalathil is currently senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, where her work focuses on emerging challenges to democracy. Previously in her career, she served as a senior democracy fellow at the US Agency for International Development, an associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Hong Kong-based reporter for the Asian Wall Street Journal, and an advisor to international affairs organizations. Kalathil is the co-author of Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2003). Originally from California, Kalathil is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia
Andrea Kendall-Taylor is the Russia policy lead for the Biden-Harris Transition. She previously served as a senior intelligence officer both as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. Kendall-Taylor was also Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Originally from San Diego, Kendall-Taylor is a graduate of Princeton University and received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and three children.
Ella Lipin, Senior Advisor to the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
Ella Lipin serves on the Biden-Harris Transition’s national security and foreign policy team. Prior to joining the Transition, she was national security and foreign policy advisor to Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. Lipin served as Egypt Country Director in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and in the speechwriting office of the Secretary of Defense. Raised in Oregon, Lipin is a graduate of Duke University and received an MPA from Princeton University.
Brett H. McGurk, Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa
Brett H. McGurk is currently the Frank E. Payne and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute. He has held senior national security posts across the last three administrations, most recently as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (2015-2018). He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs at the State Department (2012-2015), Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East Affairs on the National Security Council (2007-2009), and Director for Iraq on the National Security Council (2005-2007). McGurk graduated from the University of Connecticut and Columbia University School of Law, after which he served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Melanie Nakagawa, Senior Director for Climate and Energy
Melanie Nakagawa serves on the Biden-Harris Transition focused on climate change and energy. In the Obama-Biden Administration Nakagawa was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation at the U.S. State Department and served as a strategic advisor on climate change to the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the Policy Planning Staff. Most recently, she was Director of Climate Strategy at Princeville Capital, leading their climate and sustainability investment strategy to back technology-enabled companies delivering transformative solutions to climate change. Earlier in her career she was the Senior Energy and Environment Counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. She provides her expertise on the Board of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, REVERB Advisory Board, and as a Loomis Council Member. Born in New Jersey, Nakagawa earned a J.D. and M.A. in International Affairs from American University’s Washington College of Law and School of International Service, and an A.B. from Brown University.
Carlyn Reichel, Senior Director for Speechwriting and Strategic Initiatives
Carlyn Reichel is a member of the National Security Council Agency Review Team on the Biden Transition. On the Biden-Harris Campaign, she served as both Director of Speechwriting and Foreign Policy Director. Prior to the campaign, Reichel was the founding Communications Director for the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Reichel joined the Department of State during the Obama-Biden Administration as a Presidential Management Fellow and went on to work as a speechwriter for foreign policy and national security officials at the State Department, the NSC, and the Office of the Vice President. Reichel grew up in Georgia, graduated from Stanford University, and earned her Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Dr. Amanda Sloat, Senior Director for Europe
Dr. Amanda Sloat is currently serving on the policy team for the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Prior to this role, she was a Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She was also a non-resident fellow in the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at Harvard Kennedy School. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Sloat served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs at the State Department. She also served as senior advisor to the White House’s Middle East coordinator and as senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. She previously worked as senior professional staff with responsibility for Europe policy on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. Before her government service, Sloat was a senior program officer with the National Democratic Institute and a postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University Belfast. She has written widely on European politics, including a book (Scotland in Europe: A Study of Multi-Level Governance). Originally from Michigan, Sloat is a graduate of James Madison College at Michigan State University and holds a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.
Founded by artist Yenatfenta Abate, the 'Free Art Felega' project offers a platform for Ethiopian artists of various disciplines internationally to display their work as well as to discuss, exchange ideas and learn from each others experiences. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: December 16th, 2020
‘Free Art Felega,’ A Virtual Ethiopia Exhibition by Yenatfenta Abate Bringing Artists Together
New York (TADIAS) — There are positive and optimistic art projects growing amidst the challenges of the current COVID-19 era as a much-needed meeting space for Ethiopian artists around the world. Among them is an online exhibition that was held this week called Free Art Felega 5 Disrupt, organized by German-based Ethiopian artist Yenatfenta Abate.
“The basic concept is based on the focus of life and work of the participating artists in times of COVID-19 and the reflection of joint work in the context of the social challenge caused by the changing environment,” the announcement notes. “Artists from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the Diaspora with a studio in Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, are involved.” It added: “With Free Art Felega 5 – Disrupt, a virtual platform is being created for the first time, on which artists who collaborated on prior projects work together, discussing their designs and work results and showing them online in a virtual exhibition.”
Yenatfenta, who now lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany is a graduate of the Ale School of Fine Arts and Design in Ethiopia. She staged the inaugural Free Art Felega exhibition in Ethiopia in 2004 after being awarded a scholarship by the Karl-Heinz Ditze Foundation, having started the project 8 years earlier in 1996 as an artist participating in an exchange program between Germany and Ethiopia. The program was eventually expanded into a series in partnership with the Goethe Institute Addis Ababa, which sponsored subsequent Free Art Felega shows in Ethiopia. In 2019, Free Art Felega 4 – Identity was held in collaboration with charity organizations in Addis Abeba.
“The objective of the ongoing project is the development of the abilities and skills of Ethiopian artists, especially the “liberation” from applied art in the extensive overall context of modern visual arts,” Yenatfenta says. “The original artistic training is given special consideration and is further developed through the concept of free art. She adds: “In terms of content, “Free Art Felega” guarantees to strengthen the quality of the artistic exchange, to create artistic identities and to enable artists to have a common platform in the long term.”
In 2019, Yenatfenta Abate decided to take the group of Free Art Felega 4 – Identity to charity organizations in Addis Abeba. There, the artists helped elderly and mentally disabled people, and children to deal with their everyday struggles by helping to express their feelings and thoughts through art. (Courtesy photo)
So far, there have been five complex projects of the series Free Art Felega. Yenatfenta Abate has run all projects in Addis Ababa, in cooperation with institutions like the Goethe-Institute and CIM. (Courtesy photo)
(Photo Courtesy of Free Art Felega)
The latest exhibition, Free Art Felega 5 Disrupt, is an online show that opened via Zoom on December 10th reflecting our contemporary reality, but has also provided an opportunity for a diverse and an eclectic group of Ethiopian artists to take part from various parts of the world including Germany, Ethiopia and the United States. “I am proud of all participants and especially the fact that we intensely used our times during the last months and that we worked concentrated together in those times of CoVid19,” Yenatfenta says, noting that she is working on a follow upcoming events.
Free Art Felega is a project series created by artist Yenatfenta Abate. Yenatfenta developed the concept “Free Art Felega” – the search for free art – from her experience of intercultural work in artistic exchange between Germany and Ethiopia. (Video: Free Art Felega YouTube page)
Free Art Felega 5 includes several artists in two categories: “The Master Group” and the “Identity Group.”
As Yenatfenta sums it up”: “Art is not limited by its material but by its creator. And if the creator has a free mindset with the wish to create something new, everything is possible.”
The short film by U.S. and Ethiopian crew including Ethiopian American producer Bemnet Yemesgen (pictured above) is based on a true story of a teenager named Abel who, like thousands of other young people in Addis Ababa, finds himself on the brink of becoming a street peddler. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: December 13th, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — The Other side, a new film from Ethiopia, released in the United States during Thanksgiving week sheds light on the crisis of abandoned children in Ethiopia.
The short film by U.S. and Ethiopian crew led by Ethiopian American producer Bemnet Yemesgen is based on a true story of a teenager named Abel who, like thousands other young people in Addis Ababa, finds himself on the brink of becoming a street peddler. Abel is required to vacate the orphanage where he grew up when he turns 18 in a few days, leaving behind his younger brother and without any social safety net to support him as he must navigate life into adulthood as a homeless person.
Abel’s story is the epitome of a much larger problem that personifies the lives of millions of youth across the country who grow up without parents — most of whom were deserted at birth primarily because of poverty. UNICEF estimates that there are 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia. The non-profit organization, SOS Children’s Villages, cites government statistics, and notes that in some cities such as the university city of Jimma “unmarried mothers, many of them teenagers, abandon their babies at a rate of two to three a day. Babies are abandoned at hospitals. They are left at police stations. They are put on the side of the road.” The Guardian has recently published an article tilted “Homeless Children Struggle to Survive on the Streets of Ethiopia’s Capital,” and like Abel many of them eventually find their way to Addis Ababa.
The Guardian adds:
Driven from their rural homes by family problems and lack of opportunity, more and more children are making for Addis Ababa. Alone and vulnerable, they receive no state support…Children as young as six come to the city to escape rural drudgery and, in many cases, family breakdown. “The reason is always poverty – but poverty plus [something else],” says the country director of Retrak Ethiopia, an organization that rescues street children in Addis Ababa and reunites them with their families. One recent survey found that almost half the street children sampled were living with step-parents because their biological parents had died, divorced or separated. Most come from rural villages, and especially from what researchers call Ethiopia’s “southern corridor” of migrant-sending communities, where a tradition of relocation to Addis Ababa and even further afield is well established.
In the film the The Other Side — which was developed in collaboration with NGOs including DC-based Orphan Care Ethiopia and Great Commission Ministries — Grammy-nominated Ethiopian-American recording artist Wayna plays a counselor in Abel’s orphanage called Mihret, while Abel is portrayed by American actor Ethan Herisse who is also the star of the Emmy-winning Netflix series When They See Us directed by Ava DuVernay. The film also features newcomer Adonai Girmaye Kelelom, a 15-year-old Ethiopian actor, who plays an orphan named Kiya. The filmmakers note that “though the role of Kiya stands as Kelelom’s professional debut, portraying this role has been one of ‘the best experiences [he’s] ever had,’ and has inspired him to pursue a career in acting. He aims to study acting as well as neuroscience in the United States in the near future.”
Grammy-nominated Ethiopian-American recording artist Wayna along with producer Bemnet Yemesgen and writer and director Josh Leong during the filming process in Ethiopia. (Courtesy photo)
The Ethiopia film crew. (Courtesy photos)
In addition to Bemnet — an Ethiopian-American producer, writer, and director — the film’s Ethiopia crew includes Frehiwot Berhane (Casting Director), Yabsra Megersa (Unit Production Director), Daniel Belay (First Assistant Camera), Beferdu Teffera (Sound Mixer), Temima Hulala (Key Makeup Artist), Tedos Teffera (Location Manager), Yodahe Zerihun (Translator), Abdirebi Daniel (Translator) and Nahom Semunegus (Boom Operator).
On its website the U.S. team states that “in order to allow the country to tell its own story, we wanted to collaborate with Ethiopian filmmakers in and around Addis Ababa.” They include writer and director Josh Leong, Producer and Assistant Director Sofia Bara, Director of photography Tom Ingwersen, Associated Producer Sophia Loren Heriveaux, Marketing Directors Celia Tewey and Grace Sessinghaus, Script Supervisor Olivia Bfournier, Art Director Cameron Protzman and Director of Business Development Phillip Kearney.
In a press release the filmmakers emphasize that “The Other Side seeks to raise awareness for Ethiopia’s abandoned children crisis through narrative film, and the team is currently seeking partners for the development of a feature-length version of the film.” The media release adds: “The film has reached the eyes of Ethiopian Ambassador Fitsum Arega, as well as the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC. The nation’s capital is actually the second largest Ethiopian city in the world (by population), behind Addis Ababa.”
So far “the film has been accepted into 10 major festivals (4 Academy Award®-Qualifying), winning Best Short at the Greenwich International Festival. THE OTHER SIDE enjoyed an NYC Premiere at the Urbanworld Film Festival and an LA Premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, in partnership with HBO and WarnerMedia. The film was also included at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival Court Metrage.”
Then-President Barack Obama and his national security adviser, Susan Rice, at the Group of 20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, in 2015. (Getty Images)
The Washington Post
By David Ignatius
Reading Susan Rice’s new memoir, “Tough Love,” is a reminder of two things: what a remarkably gifted, subtle but maddeningly distant man President Barack Obama was; and how people such as Rice who served him endured ceaseless public attacks in a country that was already on the ragged edge, though we didn’t yet know it.
Washington memoirs are most valuable for the parts that aren’t about what the author did at the office. That’s especially true of this account by the former national security adviser. The riveting passages are where Rice tells the private story that was hidden: her parents’ brutal divorce, her mother’s death, her children’s struggles with their mother’s public vilification.
Good memoirs always have a quality the Germans define as a bildungsroman, a novel of the principal character’s education in the world. That’s true with Rice’s tale: She was an African American who triumphed in the elite world of prep schools, Ivy League colleges and Rhodes scholarships. She embodied the intellect and ambition these institutions aspired to produce, even as she masked a shattered family where her parents “fought ugly and often,” she writes, and her home life was “like a civil war battlefield.”
Susan Rice Has Spent Her Career Fighting off Detractors: ‘I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men’ (WaPo on Her Memoir)
Former national security adviser Susan Rice at her Washington home. (The Washington Post)
The Washington Post
October 8th, 2019
Susan Rice has spent her career fighting off detractors: ‘I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men’
She should have listened to her mother.
“Why do you have to go on the shows?” Lois Dickson Rice asked her daughter, Susan, in September 2012 “Where is Hillary?”
Susan Rice was then the United States ambassador to the United Nations, equipped with a gold-standard Washington résumé — Stanford, Rhodes scholar, Oxford doctorate, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs. She explained that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was “wiped after a brutal week.” The Obama White House asked Rice to appear “in her stead” on all five Sunday news programs.
It was days after attacks in Libya killed four U.S. officials.
“I smell a rat,” said her mother, a lauded education policy expert. “This is not a good idea. Can’t you get out of it?”
“Mom, don’t be ridiculous,” Rice said. “I’ve done the shows. It will be fine.”
Well, no, it was not.
Benghazi became the millstone in Rice’s stellar career. It stopped her from succeeding Clinton.
Criticism of Rice was relentless… The scrutiny lasted through multiple congressional investigations.
The aftermath took a punishing toll on Rice’s family and professional reputation, she reveals in her frank new memoir, “Tough Love.” The book also explores how, despite Rice’s many accomplishments during two administrations, she attracted criticism for her brusque manner. And Rice faces an extra challenge — she’s been forced to grapple with whether any of this adversity was somehow a result of her race and gender.
“The combination — being a confident black woman who is not seeking permission or affirmation from others — I now suspect accounts for why I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men,” she writes, “and perhaps also why I have long inspired motivated detractors who simply can’t deal with me.”
What My Father Thought Me About Race: By Susan Rice
Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser from 2013 to 2017 and a former United States ambassador to the United Nations, is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the forthcoming memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For,” from which this essay is adapted. (Photo: Susan Rice with her father Emmett J. Rice, right, and the Federal Reserve chairman, William Miller, in 1979. (Getty Images)
The New York Times
By Susan E. Rice
My father, Emmett Rice, was drafted into military service at the height of World War II and spent four and a half years in uniform, first as an enlisted man and ultimately as an officer with the rank of captain. Called up by the Army Air Force, he was sent to a two-part officer training program, which began in Miami and was completed at Harvard Business School — where he learned “statistical control” and “quantitative management,” a specialized form of accounting in an unusual program designed to build on his business background.
Emmett eventually was deployed to Tuskegee, Ala., where he joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first black fighter pilot unit, which distinguished itself in combat in Europe. Though he learned to fly, my father was not a fighter pilot, but a staff officer who ran the newly created Statistics Office, which performed management analyses for commanding officers. He earlier served a stint at Godman Field adjacent to Fort Knox, Ky. There, he was denied access to the white officers’ club. To add insult to injury, he saw German prisoners of war being served at restaurants restricted to blacks. Both in the military and the confines of off-base life, his time in Kentucky was a searing reintroduction to the Southern segregation he had experienced as a child in South Carolina.
Susan and Emmett Rice in 1996. (Credit Ian Cameron)
Still, socially and intellectually, dad’s Tuskegee years were formative. He met an elite cadre of African-American men who would later be disproportionately represented in America’s postwar black professional class, among them my mother’s brothers, Leon and David Dickson. Dad’s Tuskegee friends and acquaintances formed a network he maintained throughout his life. What was it, I have often wondered, about those Tuskegee Airmen and support personnel that seemingly enabled them to become a vanguard of black achievement? Perhaps the military preselected unusually well-educated and capable men for Tuskegee, or some aspect of their service experience propelled them as a group to succeed. To my lasting regret, I failed to take the opportunity to study this topic in depth before almost all those heroes passed away.
Ambassador Susan E. Rice talks to theGrio about her new memoir, “Tough Love: My story of the Things Worth Fighting For.” (Photography by Christopher Patey)
Ambassador Susan Rice Reflects on Impeaching Trump, Raising a Republican Son, and Her New Memoir, ‘Tough Love’
One of the most refreshing aspects of President Barack Obama‘s legacy is the fact that he surrounded himself with intelligent, thoughtful women who possess some of the most strategic minds in our government’s history. No one fits that paradigm more than Obama’s former National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.
Throughout her years at the White House, Rice set the tone for national security as a serious defender of American democracy and an ardent champion of Democratic politics. In her 500-page memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For” (Simon & Schuster) the 54-year diplomat, wife, daughter, sister, and mother of two, carefully details what it was like being a Black woman working in foreign policy as well as providing insight into some of the most pivotal moments of her personal life that led up to enormous professional accomplishments. She also talks about the bewildered haze that the Obama administration embodied as they turned over the White House to the Trump administration.
Susan Rice Has Spent Her Career Fighting off Detractors: ‘I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men’ (WaPo on Her Memoir)
Former national security adviser Susan Rice at her Washington home last month. Her memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For,” is being published this week. (The Washington Post)
The Washington Post
October 8th, 2019
Susan Rice has spent her career fighting off detractors: ‘I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men’
She should have listened to her mother.
“Why do you have to go on the shows?” Lois Dickson Rice asked her daughter, Susan, in September 2012 “Where is Hillary?”
Susan Rice was then the United States ambassador to the United Nations, equipped with a gold-standard Washington résumé — Stanford, Rhodes scholar, Oxford doctorate, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs. She explained that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was “wiped after a brutal week.” The Obama White House asked Rice to appear “in her stead” on all five Sunday news programs.
It was days after attacks in Libya killed four U.S. officials.
“I smell a rat,” said her mother, a lauded education policy expert. “This is not a good idea. Can’t you get out of it?”
“Mom, don’t be ridiculous,” Rice said. “I’ve done the shows. It will be fine.”
Well, no, it was not.
Benghazi became the millstone in Rice’s stellar career. It stopped her from succeeding Clinton.
Criticism of Rice was relentless… The scrutiny lasted through multiple congressional investigations.
The aftermath took a punishing toll on Rice’s family and professional reputation, she reveals in her frank new memoir, “Tough Love.” The book also explores how, despite Rice’s many accomplishments during two administrations, she attracted criticism for her brusque manner. And Rice faces an extra challenge — she’s been forced to grapple with whether any of this adversity was somehow a result of her race and gender.
“The combination — being a confident black woman who is not seeking permission or affirmation from others — I now suspect accounts for why I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men,” she writes, “and perhaps also why I have long inspired motivated detractors who simply can’t deal with me.”
What My Father Thought Me About Race: By Susan Rice
Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser from 2013 to 2017 and a former United States ambassador to the United Nations, is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the forthcoming memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For,” from which this essay is adapted. (Photo: Susan Rice with her father Emmett J. Rice, right, and the Federal Reserve chairman, William Miller, in 1979. (Getty Images)
The New York Times
By Susan E. Rice
My father, Emmett Rice, was drafted into military service at the height of World War II and spent four and a half years in uniform, first as an enlisted man and ultimately as an officer with the rank of captain. Called up by the Army Air Force, he was sent to a two-part officer training program, which began in Miami and was completed at Harvard Business School — where he learned “statistical control” and “quantitative management,” a specialized form of accounting in an unusual program designed to build on his business background.
Emmett eventually was deployed to Tuskegee, Ala., where he joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first black fighter pilot unit, which distinguished itself in combat in Europe. Though he learned to fly, my father was not a fighter pilot, but a staff officer who ran the newly created Statistics Office, which performed management analyses for commanding officers. He earlier served a stint at Godman Field adjacent to Fort Knox, Ky. There, he was denied access to the white officers’ club. To add insult to injury, he saw German prisoners of war being served at restaurants restricted to blacks. Both in the military and the confines of off-base life, his time in Kentucky was a searing reintroduction to the Southern segregation he had experienced as a child in South Carolina.
Susan and Emmett Rice in 1996. (Credit Ian Cameron)
Still, socially and intellectually, dad’s Tuskegee years were formative. He met an elite cadre of African-American men who would later be disproportionately represented in America’s postwar black professional class, among them my mother’s brothers, Leon and David Dickson. Dad’s Tuskegee friends and acquaintances formed a network he maintained throughout his life. What was it, I have often wondered, about those Tuskegee Airmen and support personnel that seemingly enabled them to become a vanguard of black achievement? Perhaps the military preselected unusually well-educated and capable men for Tuskegee, or some aspect of their service experience propelled them as a group to succeed. To my lasting regret, I failed to take the opportunity to study this topic in depth before almost all those heroes passed away.
Former national security adviser Susan Rice at her Washington home last month. Her memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For,” is being published this week. (The Washington Post)
The Washington Post
Susan Rice has spent her career fighting off detractors: ‘I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men’
She should have listened to her mother.
“Why do you have to go on the shows?” Lois Dickson Rice asked her daughter, Susan, in September 2012 “Where is Hillary?”
Susan Rice was then the United States ambassador to the United Nations, equipped with a gold-standard Washington résumé — Stanford, Rhodes scholar, Oxford doctorate, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs. She explained that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was “wiped after a brutal week.” The Obama White House asked Rice to appear “in her stead” on all five Sunday news programs.
It was days after attacks in Libya killed four U.S. officials.
“I smell a rat,” said her mother, a lauded education policy expert. “This is not a good idea. Can’t you get out of it?”
“Mom, don’t be ridiculous,” Rice said. “I’ve done the shows. It will be fine.”
Well, no, it was not.
Benghazi became the millstone in Rice’s stellar career. It stopped her from succeeding Clinton.
Criticism of Rice was relentless… The scrutiny lasted through multiple congressional investigations.
The aftermath took a punishing toll on Rice’s family and professional reputation, she reveals in her frank new memoir, “Tough Love.” The book also explores how, despite Rice’s many accomplishments during two administrations, she attracted criticism for her brusque manner. And Rice faces an extra challenge — she’s been forced to grapple with whether any of this adversity was somehow a result of her race and gender.
“The combination — being a confident black woman who is not seeking permission or affirmation from others — I now suspect accounts for why I inadvertently intimidate some people, especially certain men,” she writes, “and perhaps also why I have long inspired motivated detractors who simply can’t deal with me.”
What My Father Thought Me About Race: By Susan Rice
Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser from 2013 to 2017 and a former United States ambassador to the United Nations, is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the forthcoming memoir, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For,” from which this essay is adapted. (Photo: Susan Rice with her father Emmett J. Rice, right, and the Federal Reserve chairman, William Miller, in 1979. (Getty Images)
The New York Times
By Susan E. Rice
My father, Emmett Rice, was drafted into military service at the height of World War II and spent four and a half years in uniform, first as an enlisted man and ultimately as an officer with the rank of captain. Called up by the Army Air Force, he was sent to a two-part officer training program, which began in Miami and was completed at Harvard Business School — where he learned “statistical control” and “quantitative management,” a specialized form of accounting in an unusual program designed to build on his business background.
Emmett eventually was deployed to Tuskegee, Ala., where he joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first black fighter pilot unit, which distinguished itself in combat in Europe. Though he learned to fly, my father was not a fighter pilot, but a staff officer who ran the newly created Statistics Office, which performed management analyses for commanding officers. He earlier served a stint at Godman Field adjacent to Fort Knox, Ky. There, he was denied access to the white officers’ club. To add insult to injury, he saw German prisoners of war being served at restaurants restricted to blacks. Both in the military and the confines of off-base life, his time in Kentucky was a searing reintroduction to the Southern segregation he had experienced as a child in South Carolina.
Susan and Emmett Rice in 1996. (Credit Ian Cameron)
Still, socially and intellectually, dad’s Tuskegee years were formative. He met an elite cadre of African-American men who would later be disproportionately represented in America’s postwar black professional class, among them my mother’s brothers, Leon and David Dickson. Dad’s Tuskegee friends and acquaintances formed a network he maintained throughout his life. What was it, I have often wondered, about those Tuskegee Airmen and support personnel that seemingly enabled them to become a vanguard of black achievement? Perhaps the military preselected unusually well-educated and capable men for Tuskegee, or some aspect of their service experience propelled them as a group to succeed. To my lasting regret, I failed to take the opportunity to study this topic in depth before almost all those heroes passed away.
People watch as a hearse carrying the casket of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle passes Hussle's clothing store The Marathon, Thursday, April 11, 2019, in Los Angeles. Hussle’s casket, draped in the flag of his father’s native country, Eritrea, embarked on a 25-mile tour of the city after his memorial service, drawing thousands to the streets to catch a glimpse of the recently-anointed hometown hero. (AP Photo)
LOS ANGELES — Nipsey Hussle’s legacy as a persistent rapper, community activist, uniter, doting father, protective sibling and a loving son were underscored at his public memorial service on Thursday, with deeply personal testimonies from those closest to the rapper, including his actress-fiancee Lauren London, collaborator and dear friend Snoop Dogg and his mother, who said she was at peace with the death of her “superhero” son.
Beyonce and Jay-Z were among the big-name celebrities who attended the three-hour event in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, where the last celebrity funeral held at the concert arena was Michael Jackson’s in 2009.
The arena was packed with more than 21,000 fans and drove home the important impact Hussle — just 33 when he died — had on his city and the rest of the world.
“I’m very proud of my son. My son Ermias Joseph Asghedom was a great man,” said Angelique Smith, dressed in all white. Standing onstage with Hussle’s father, Dawit Asghedom, she declared: “Ermias was a legacy.”
London, who was in dark sunglasses, was emotional but stood strong onstage as she told the audience: “I’ve never felt this type of pain before.”
London called Hussle “majestic” and “brilliant” and said she had learned so much from his presence. She added that though she was hurting, she was really sad for their son Kross, whom she feared wouldn’t remember his dad: “My pain is for my 2-year-old.”
Snoop Dogg’s words to immortalize his friend were both serious and silly, as he told old stories about Hussle and their brotherhood.
“This a tough one right here,” he said, visibly shaken but keeping his composure.
Snoop thanked Hussle’s parents multiple times and told his father that “you picked up another son in me.”
Hussle’s father said he knew his son was strong because when he was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck but he prevailed.
“He was a fighter,” he said.
Earlier in the ceremony, Hussle’s children also appeared onstage to pay tribute. London’s son with rapper Lil Wayne, Cameron Carter, said days after Hussle died, he had a dream he saw the rapper.
“I realized Ermias told me what heaven was like. He told me it was paradise,” Cameron said.
Cameron then told the audience that Hussle would look at him through the window at times and say “respect.” Cameron then asked the crowd to say “respect” in unison, and they complied.
Nipsey Hussle
Hussle was slain last month in front of a store that he tried to use to empower his South Los Angeles neighborhood. The public memorial service kicked off by paying respect to Hussle the rapper, as songs from his latest Grammy-nominated album, “Victory Lap,” filled the arena.
“Everybody put your hands in the air,” the DJ said as one of Hussle’s songs played. “It’s a celebration.”
Indeed, his mother danced in the aisle as R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius sang the Mariah Carey song “Fly Like a Bird” while fighting back tears. “This is for Nipsey y’all,” Ambrosius said before she started as she tried to gain her composure, sighing heavily.
But soon the focus was squarely on the person behind the persona. A montage of photos featuring the rapper from infancy, childhood and adulthood, with fellow rappers, his family and London, were shown to the crowd, set to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
Stevie Wonder was the last performer to pay tribute to Hussle, who he said he had the chance to meet, saying: “We had a good conversation.” Before he sang “Rocket Song,” one of Hussle’s favorites, Wonder denounced gun violence and told the audience “there’s enough people being killed by guns and violence.”
Anthony Hamilton invoked the spirit of a church service when he performed in Hussle’s honor. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan hailed Hussle’s ability to bring different factions together. And blogger and media figure Karen Civil read a letter sent by former U.S. President Barack Obama, who wrote that he never met Nipsey but heard of his music through his daughters.
“While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and only see gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope. He saw a community that even through its flaws taught him to always keep going. He chose to invest in that community rather than to ignore it,” the Obama letter read. “He set an example for young people to follow and is a legacy worth of celebration. I hope his memory inspires more good work in Crenshaw and communities like it. Michelle and I send our sympathies to Lauren, Emani, Kross and his whole family and to all those who love Nipsey.”
Father Thomas Uwal read a scripture in Tigrinya — the native language in Eritrea, the African country where Hussle’s father was from. Uwal spoke of Hussle being “proud to be an Eritrean-American,” later saying to the late rapper’s family: “On behalf of all Eritreans … we say our condolences to you.”
A makeshift memorial site for Nipsey Hussle is filled with candles outside The Marathon Clothing store. (AP photo)
Books with an image of Hussle on the cover were handed out to service attendees. The book of nearly 100 pages contained numerous photos of Hussle with London, his children, and friends like Russell Westbrook and Snoop Dogg. It also had heartfelt messages from Rick Ross, The Game and LeBron James.
“I’ve never cried myself to sleep over any public figure before, but Nipsey’s presence meant so much for our community,” actress Issa Rae said in her message inside the book.
The hearse carrying Hussle’s coffin went through a 25-mile (40-kilometer) lap through the city, including past the property where Hussle had planned to turn an aging strip mall into new businesses and affordable homes.
Thousands of people crowded the streets, some on bicycles and motorcycles, following and surrounding the vehicle as it slowly wound its way to the funeral home. The silver Cadillac passed the rapper’s childhood home in Watts. It came to a halt at times, unable to move in the vast crowd of people.
Police kept an eye on the crowd, which appeared largely peaceful. At one point, people sat atop a police car spray-painted with the words: “Nips in Paradise.”
At one point during the procession, there was a brief stampede, apparently because of some kind of startling noise that may have been Mylar balloons popping. The Fire Department said several power lines were downed by the metalized balloons. There also were reports of people feeling unwell from the heat and the packed conditions. The Fire Department said it treated 15 people, including five who were taken to local hospitals.
There were reports of leg pain and dehydration but no reports of major injuries, fire officials said.
The hearse finally arrived Wednesday evening at a funeral home in the city’s hard-scrabble Crenshaw district, where the rapper was born on Aug. 15, 1985.
Hussle was shot to death March 31 while standing outside The Marathon, his South Los Angeles clothing store, not far from where the rapper grew up.
Eric R. Holder Jr., who has been charged with killing Hussle, has pleaded not guilty. Police have said Holder and Hussle had several interactions the day of the shooting and have described it as being the result of a personal dispute.
For a decade, Hussle released much sought-after mixtapes that he sold out of the trunk of his car, helping him create a buzz and gain respect from rap purists and his peers. His said his stage name, a play on the 1960s and ’70s rhyming standup comic Nipsey Russell, was given to him as a teen by an older friend because he was such a go-getter — always hustling.
Last year he hit new heights with “Victory Lap,” his critically acclaimed major-label debut album on Atlantic Records that made several critics’ best-of lists. The album debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s 200 albums charts and earned him a Grammy nomination.
But the rapper was also a beloved figure for his philanthropic work that went well beyond the usual celebrity “giving back” ethos. Following his death, political and community leaders were as quick and effusive in their praise as his fellow hip-hop artists.
His family and friends vowed to continue his work, and London told the crowd: “The marathon continues!”
Associated Press Writers Andrew Dalton, Amanda Myers and John Rogers contributed to this report.
___
In Ethiopia Candlelight Vigil Held for Slain Eritrean American Artist Nipsey Hussle
Hundreds of Ethiopians and Eritreans living in Addis Ababa attended a memorial service for Eritrean American rapper, Nipsey Hussle who was shot dead last month near a clothes shop he owned in Los Angeles. (AFP)
Ethiopians bid farewell to slain rapper Nipsey Hussle
Addis Ababa — With poems and speeches, Ethiopians have held an emotional farewell for murdered rapper Nipsey Hussle, whose roots in neighbouring Eritrea won him admirers in both countries.
Known for his Grammy-nominated debut album, Hussle was shot dead last week in front of the clothing store he owned in the US city of Los Angeles, whose violence-plagued neighbourhoods he had tried to revitalise.
On Friday, 29-year-old Eric Holder pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder over the shooting that also wounded two other men.
At the Saturday evening memorial in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Hussle was remembered as a rare entertainer who bridged his American upbringing with his roots in the Horn of Africa.
“When we heard there’s an Eritrean rapper out there, we were fans before we heard his music,” said Ambaye Michael Tesfay, who eulogised Hussle at the event held in a darkened parking lot. “He was an icon for us.”
Before his 2018 debut album “Victory Lap” scored a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, had won the attention of rap fans from both Ethiopia and Eritrea for his embrace of his father’s Eritrean heritage.
Eritrea was a province of Ethiopia until 1993, when it voted for independence after a decades-long independence struggle, but both countries still have close cultural and family ties.
“It’s just really tragic what happened,” said Tezeta Solomon, an Ethiopian living in Los Angeles who attended the memorial in Addis Ababa.
“When he first came out, we were all so excited. To know there was a habesha rapper out there definitely sparked some pride,” she said, using a common term to describe people from the Horn of Africa.
Hussle embraced his Eritrean heritage, visiting the country last year and telling state media, “More than anything I am proud of being Eritrean.”
— Nipsey Hussle’s Eritrean American Dream (The Atlantic)
As the staff writer for The Atlantic magazine Hannah Giorgis highlights in the following article: “The slain rapper, who was known for his investment in his Los Angeles community, also inspired fans and fellow musicians who share his East African heritage.” (Getty Images)
The Atlantic
By HANNAH GIORGIS
Updated: APR 4, 2019
In April 2018, the Los Angeles–born street rapper Nipsey Hussle traveled to his father’s native Eritrea for the first time in 14 years. The trip found the musician, née Ermias Davidson Asghedom, both contemplative and triumphant: After a prolific run of mixtapes spanning more than a decade, the fiercely independent artist had recently released his major-label studio debut, Victory Lap. (The February 2018 record, which debuted at No. 4, would later earn him a nomination for Best Rap Album at this year’s Grammys.)
While in the East African country, Hussle and his brother, Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom, followed their father’s lead: They traveled to historical sites and met the country’s divisive president; they were blessed by their 90-year-old grandmother with himbasha, the slightly sweet bread most often served during celebrations. Hussle was also interviewed by a number of state-run media outlets. In one interview, which was posted to Eritrea’s Ministry of Information website, the Eritrean journalist Billion Temesghen told the musician that his listeners, particularly those on the continent, saw his hard-won successes as their own. Hussle’s response at the time was gracious and affirming. “I want to thank my Eritrean fans for feeling connected to me and for supporting me. I feel extremely grateful,” he replied. “I am going to keep coming back here and make frequent returns … Thank you for keeping my name alive out here.”
But now, less than a year later, Hussle’s connection to his fans, Eritrean and American alike, has taken on a far more tragic valence. On Sunday afternoon, Hussle was fatally shot outside the store he co-owned in South L.A., the neighborhood Hussle celebrated in his music, advocacy, and philanthropic ventures. The Los Angeles Police Department has since apprehended a suspect in the case, but the rapper and activist’s killing remains a devastating blow to his family and to fans around the world, many of whom have likened him to the late Tupac Shakur.
— How Nipsey Hussle (Ermias Asghedom) Connected to His Eritrean Roots
Grammy-nominated Eritrean-American rapper Nipsey Hussle whose real name was Ermias Asghedom was shot and killed on Sunday outside the clothing store he founded in Los Angeles. He was 33. (Getty Images)
CNN
Rapper Nipsey Hussle’s death in a shooting near his clothing store was greeted with shock and disbelief by celebrities and fans alike.
The 33-year-old musician, real name Ermias Davidson Asghedom, was shot dead in an attack on Sunday that also left two others injured.
The city of Los Angeles where he grew up and dedicated his life to helping kids break out of the cycle of gang violence mourned his passing.
But somewhere, thousands of miles away in east Africa, Nipsey’s death was felt even more keenly by the people of Eritrea.
His father, Nipsey once said, fled a war in Eritrea to settle in the US.
Hussle visited Eritrea twice in his lifetime: first as an 18-year-old when he spent three months and most recently in April 2018.
With his brother Samiel and their dad, Hussle met the Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and sat down with the Ministry of Information’s website for a wide-ranging interview about his life and experiences growing up in Los Angeles in a culture of gang violence.
Then he spoke of his love for Eritrea and his desire to connect with his extended family after fourteen years since his last visit.
“I am here to visit my family and reconnect with my grandmother, my cousins and everybody else,” Hussle said during the interview.
“I love to be here. The people, the food, the culture, and the lifestyle are extremely good.”
During his trip back to his father’s country, Hussle also visited a local textile factory in the capital Asmara to explore business opportunities.
Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Meskel led the tributes to Hussle after news of his death broke.
Extremely saddened to hear the news of the tragic and untimely death of iconic recording artist/entrepreneur Ermias Asgedom (Nipsey Hussle). RIP & condolences to his family. (Nipsey visited his home country in April last year; Profile interview attached) https://t.co/AM87gfgRPupic.twitter.com/EPaHJGCzm8
Ermias Asghedom AKA Nipsey Husle was an Eritrean rap star, a preformance phenomenon, who had just returned home. In my pleasant talk with him I was delighted to learn of the Eritrean & African pride he carried deep inside him. He is a legend. compassionate compatriot. We miss him pic.twitter.com/ogWbp0HrhA
— Billion Temesghen (@billietemesghen) April 1, 2019
Eritreans worldwide feel sorrow for the loss of a talented star, a loving family man & a compassionate compatriot. Condolences to us all.
— Billion Temesghen (@billietemesghen) April 1, 2019
Sebeatu by designer Muse Legesse and Roots in Style by Tigist Seife. (courtesy of HAFW)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: October 13th, 2018
New York (TADIAS) – The 2018 Hub of Africa Addis Fashion Week took place in Ethiopia’s capital city last week. This year’s runway show, which was held on October 3rd at Millennium Hall, highlighted a diverse collection of local and international designers.
Below are photos courtesy of Hub of Africa Addis Fashion Week:
Photo from previous Hub of Africa Addis Fashion Week. (courtesy of HAFW)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: October 2nd, 2018
New York (TADIAS) – This week in Addis Ababa the annual Hub of Africa Addis Fashion Week is taking place at Millennium Hall. This year’s runway show, which will be held on October 3rd, features the collection of 15 Ethiopian designers as well as international guest presenters hailing from Morocco, DRC and Kenya.
“As in past events, HAFW will also be hosting key industry players including international and regional buyers and media. Vogue Italia / Talents will keep their dedication to scouting talents during the event,” organizers shared in a press release. “HAFW 2018 is happy to be continuing its platform as a source for supporting and encouraging the fashion, textile, and manufacturing industries in Africa as a key part of the sustainable development of the continent.”
In addition, HAFW announced that it is collaborating with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) to connect experts with five young fashion designers whose work will also be showcased on October 4th, 2018 at the Italian Embassy.
When you look at Aida Muluneh’s work, it’s clear where her passion lies: Ethiopia. The photographer has been telling the story of Ethiopia long before it started trending this year. The country has undergone tremendous change in 2018, most of which stems from the election of its new 41-year-old Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, one of the most progressive leaders in the country’s history.
Muluneh was born in Ethiopia, a child of the diaspora. As a youth, she lived in Yemen, England and Cyprus, before finally settling in Canada. Her education brought her to the United States, where she graduated from Howard University, in Washington DC. Later, she became a photojournalist with the Washington Post, before finally moving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, in 2000.
“My work often starts with a sketch, and I approach each image as a film production in which the character, set design, lighting and styling come together,” she said in an email interview. “I utilize face painting as a form in which the inspiration is driven by body ornamentation, not only in my country, but also various parts of the world. I am deeply influenced by various traditional cultures, hence in a sense, I am bringing the past into the future through various forms.”
Ethiopian-American Engineer Fesseha Atlaw, founder of the first Ethiopic software company, Dashen Engineering, and an early pioneer of digitized Ethiopian script. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
April 6th, 2018
How Ethiopic Script Was Introduced to Modern Computers: Interview with Fesseha Atlaw
New York (TADIAS) — Just a couple of decades ago it was unthinkable to see Amharic and other Ethiopian languages on our phones, computers, and other electronic devices. Today, however, Ethiopic script is ubiquitous and is used in many applications including in our communication via text messages and on social media.
We were curious to find out when and how Ethiopic Script was introduced to modern computers, so we reached out to Ethiopian-American Engineer Fesseha Atlaw, founder of the first Ethiopic software company, Dashen Engineering, and an early pioneer of digitized Ethiopian script.
Fesseha was among those profiled here some 25 years ago in an article titled “Legends of Ethiopic Computing” for his role as the producer of the first usable Ethiopic word processor. The article noted: “Ato Fesseha is best known in the field of Ethiopic computing for providing the genesis for the concept of computerizing the Ethiopian alphabet.”
“The Ethiopian script has come a long way since it was first applied to a computer program in the early 1980s,” Fesseha says. “We have made a lot of progress in the last three and a half decades, and I get emotional when I think of how far we have come in just 30 years.”
While working with the Unicode Technical Consortium in the early 90s (where he was the only African participant for 30 years) Fesseha was also responsible for proposing and pushing Ethiopic script to be the computer name instead of Geez or Amharic. “This I did consulting with Ethiopian linguists,” Fesseha explains. “The implication for this name selection was huge. It not only permanently codifies the computer reference to the language to be associated with Ethiopia but also correctly credits that the alphabet origination or development belongs to all Ethiopians.”
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
For Fesseha it was his passion for writing in Amharic rather than his profession in the tech industry that initially inspired him to design the first known Ethiopic Script Software. “I loved writing in Amharic as far back as I remember,” recalls Fesseha in an interview with Tadias.
In fact he was barely 15 years old when a high school play that he wrote got the attention of the late Poet Laureate of Ethiopia Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin and was staged at the National Theater garnering him a “thumbs up” review in the Ethiopian Herald and a full page interview on Ethiopia Dimts (የኢትዮጵያ ድምፅ).
Years later, after Fesseha moved to the United States and became an engineer working for Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the heart of Silicon Valley, he still wanted to continue his writing and had contacted people in Ethiopia to send him an Amharic typewriter. But there was one huge problem.
“I discovered that it was a capital crime to smuggle an Amharic typewriter out of Ethiopia,” Fesseha says. “It was a political punishment to discourage free expression and dissemination of pamphlets and other material by opponents of the military government of Mengistu Hailemariam. As the saying goes ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’ so they did not want anybody to have this writing machine.” He adds: “I even contacted Olivetti in Italy that manufactured Amharic typewriters for the Ethiopian market. They told me that they had a contractual obligation with the Ethiopian government not to sell the typewriters outside of Ethiopia.”
“Necessity is the mother of invention” Fesseha says, explaining that he decided instead to develop a software using the Ethiopic alphabet. Of course there was no such thing as Windows Operating System at the time and personal computers were at very early development stages — home computers were not even in the radar — and buying one was an expensive endeavor. Fesseha rented the cheapest IBM computer (8086 Micro processor) and a “noisy” DOT Matrix printer for $380 per month.
“It was very crude process,” he recalls. “I had to design screen font and printer font separately for each letter pixel by pixel and grid by grid.”
Fesseha held his first major demonstration at Stanford University in the mid-1980s. “It was a well attended event,” Fesseha shares. “Many people came including the touring Ethiopian delegation to the U.S.” Shortly thereafter in 1986/87 Fesseha gave his first interview to Voice of America’s Amharic service.
The touring Ethiopian delegation eventually extended an invitation to him to do a similar demonstration in Ethiopia, which ended up with him hosting a workshop at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa. “It was a dramatic day because Mengistu showed up unannounced,” Fesseha chuckles remembering the moment. “All of a sudden they cleared out the room and a whole bunch of military people with machine guns came in. I kind of sensed that it might be Mengistu and he was not my favorite guy. I had demonstrated against him, I used to write articles in U.S. newspapers about the atrocities and killings at that time, so I was a bit nervous to meet him face-to-face.”
Just as Fesseha guessed, after a few hours of waiting, Mengistu strolled right into the room with his entourage heading straight to the demo table to meet Fesseha. “So I quickly wrote on the screen his favorite slogan: “Hulum Neger Wede Tor Ginbar,” (“ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ጦር ግንባር”), Fesseha says. “To my relief Mengistu found it humorous and smiled from afar.” Although Mengistu was impressed and asked a lot of questions there “was not much productive follow-up afterwards,” Fesseha notes. He returned to California and continued on improving on it and making it available to the public “without any help from the Ethiopian government.”
Fesseha Atlaw hosting the first Ethiopic software workshop at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa in the mid 1980s. (Courtesy photos)
What were the most significant milestones in digitizing Ethiopic Script?
“The most important development in the history of Ethiopic software came in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Voice of America (VOA) international service gave Xerox a contract to develop multilingual computers and one of the languages they requested was Amharic,” Fesseha says. “Collaborating with Joe Becker from Xerox I pushed for “Ethiopic” to be the unicode name in the Unicode list of languages,” Fesseha emphasizes. “I am proud of that struggle and I consider it to be my biggest contribution. Now the computer knows our alphabet as ‘Ethiopic’ and even a brand new computer will be able to display and allow you to write Ethiopic characters without having to download or install fonts or programs.”
What is Unicode?
“Unicode is an international encoding standard for use with different languages and scripts, by which each letter, digit, or symbol is assigned a unique numeric value that applies across different computer platforms and software programs. Ethiopic was included in the Unicode standard in 1990. I feel honored to have had a part in the inclusion of Ethiopic in the Unicode standard working with the founder of the Unicode Consortium himself, Dr. Joe Becker of Xerox Corporation. I have been working with Dr. Becker and others in proposing improvements and additions to the set of Ethiopic characters. Members come from high tech companies including IBM, Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. While I was at Hewlett Packard and Dashen Engineering I participated representing the two companies, now I am an individual member since I no longer work at HP. I am still the only member from Africa.”
What is the state of Ethiopic in 2018?
“The state of Ethiopic is thriving as never before,” says Fisseha enthusiastically. “Now almost all, I would say 90%, of software applications can easily be done in Ethiopic.” Some of these include Amharic Translation such as in Google browser, as well as Amharic OCR and Amharic Natural Language Processing.
“Regarding the Amharic OCR (Optical Character Recognition), it’s a relatively new technology even for English language users,” Fesseha explains. “The way it works is, the computer takes a picture of a character and matches it with a UNICODE equivalent. The implication is huge. We can now search for a sentence or a word in old scanned books or Amharic documents that were written long time ago before the advent of Ethiopic Software. It also means you can now edit old books and scans as the OCR engine converts any written Ethiopic into editable format after it has been scanned as PDF.”
As for Amharic Natural Language Processing, “this is where a computer can actually read a book for you (in a synthesized voice) and one can also give instructions to the computer via natural spoken language,” Fesseha adds. “Again the implication is immense. You can speak to the computer or mobile device in Amharic and it will start writing your words. You can do this within an application or cut and paste the written words into any application like Facebook or Twitter or Excel etc. This natural Language processing AI is also allowing us to have our own robot that takes instructions and provides an answer in Amharic (Much the same way as Alexa of Amazon and Siri of Apple). One young developer has called his robot “Meron.” An actual sample conversation looks like this:
Fesseha points out that modern graphics design and animation can likewise easily be done in Amharic and cites examples such as TV program graphics, neon signs and animated words and phrases.
“The sky is the limit,” Fisseha enthuses. “The basis for all this was the foundation that was set some 30 years ago to include Ethiopic in the globalized world language ranks.” Now many young Ethiopians such as MetaAppz, Ethiocloud, Agerigna and many many more have taken it to the next level and are developing applications at a very fast rate.”
There have been some recent discussions and debates about whether or not Ethiopic should be used to write Afaan Oromo, and Fesseha who also advises the Oromo community in helping to standardize Qube writing system, adds that he does not believe in imposing Ethiopic on anyone.
“That’s a political issue that Oromos must decide on their own as to the value of using Ethiopic script for Afan Oromo” he says. “As you know Oromiffa has several dialects so Qube is not standardized yet and there are some related technical issues that we are working to resolve at the moment.”
“Some 40 years ago, Oromo intellectuals felt that Ethiopic/Geez script was too cumbersome to computerize and developed the Qube system,” shares Fesseha. “Now in 2018, Ethiopic can do everything a Latin script can do and in my humble opinion, if Afaan Oromo started using Ethiopic, it would be easier to have Google translate and other technological advances include Afaan Oromo and the rich Oromo language can benefit from the technology sooner than later. I will continue to do my best to help in this regard. I call on Oromo scholars to consider using Ethiopic to write Afaan Oromo not for political reason but for simple technical reasons. Ethiopic script belongs to all Ethiopians like Adwa belongs to all of us.”
Cover of an old Afaan Oromo Bible መጫፈ ቁልቁሉ reprinted from the 1800′s version.
Ethiopic Unicode has had characters that represent unique Afaan Oromo sounds such as “በዻኔ” “ዻባ” “ዼሬሳ” … These are not new developments but have been incorporated in the Unicode some 30 years ago as shown in this chart.
Fesseha emphasizes that the development of Ethiopic Script incorporated the participation of many individuals over the years in helping to fine-tune the process. He notes: “From the beginning it was a community-based effort and the credit goes to lots of people and especially the young engineers who are continuously refining the use of Ethiopic in various technology platforms.”
— You can learn more about the history of Ethiopic Software and contact Fesseha Atlaw at fesseha@optmax.com or through www.ethiopicsoftware.org.
One of several processional crosses that were among the items looted during the British campaign in Ethiopia in 1868. (Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
April 4th, 2018
New York (TADIAS) — The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the UK is offering to loan Ethiopia its own treasures that were looted by British troops at the battle of Meqdelā in 1868.
Ethiopia officially asked for restitution of the country’s looted treasures that are being held at various locations in England more than ten years ago, but unfortunately the request was rejected.
It’s also worth noting that the latest noncommittal gesture from V&A comes on the eve of the Museum’s exhibition due to open on April 5th showcasing its Meqdelā collection on the 150th anniversary of the battle.
“On show will be 20 items, including a priestly gold crown, a gold chalice (both 1735-40), several processional crosses and imperial jewellery,” The Art Newspaper noted. “The formal opening will be attended by Ethiopia’s minister of culture and tourism, Hirut Woldemariam, and the ambassador to the UK, Hailemichael Aberra Afework.”
“They would be sent to Ethiopia on long-term loan, so ownership would remain with the museum,” the publication stated quoting V&A’s director Tristram Hunt. “This offer is likely to put pressure on other UK institutions that hold seized Ethiopian material, including the British Museum and the British Library.”
In a related story The Guardian argued: “The offer is significant given the pledge by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, that the return of African artefacts would be a “top priority” for his administration.”
The Battle of Meqdelā took place in April 1868 between British soldiers led by Robert Napier and Ethiopians led by Emperor Tewodros II. Per Wiki: “In March 1866 a British envoy had been dispatched to secure the release of a group of missionaries who had first been seized when a letter Tewodros II had sent to Queen Victoria requesting munitions and military experts from the British, delivered by an envoy, Captain Cameron, had gone unanswered. They were released; however Tewodros II changed his mind and sent a force after them and they were returned to the fortress and imprisoned again, along with Captain Cameron.” In the end, Tewodros took his own life in order to avoid being captured alive as the British closed in on him at his mountain fortress in Meḳdelā.
The Guardian added: “The loan proposal has been welcomed by the Ethiopian state and campaigners, but Hunt said it was a complex debate and it was important not to extrapolate a “blanket policy”. He told the Guardian: “You have to take it item by item and you have to take it history by history. Once you unpick the histories of the collections it becomes a great deal more complicated and challenging.”
We’re not exactly sure why returning looted property to its rightful owners is complicated and challenging, but you can read both articles at the following links:
Cover of the new book 'Struggle From Afar' by Dr. Maigenet Shifferraw. (Courtesy of Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
January 22nd, 2018
New York (TADIAS) — In her newly published book Struggle From Afar the late educator and social justice activist Dr. Maigenet Shifferraw, who passed way two years ago, left behind a gem for future researchers by meticulously documenting the history of Ethiopian women grassroots activism in the Diaspora.
In Struggle From Afar Dr. Maigenet also debunks the myth that Ethiopian female millennials are not as passionate about human rights issues as their parents’ generation or their male counterparts. “It would be unfair to say that, unlike our generation, all young Ethiopians are disinterested in social justice movements,” she writes, emphasizing that as one young Ethiopian woman told her that today they simply follow a “different platform.” Dr. Maigenet explains that a “different platform” meant “focus on the humanitarian component of social activism.”
Women activists interviewed and featured in the book include former opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa as well as the acclaimed actress and playwright Alemtsehay Wedajo. In addition, Dr. Maigenet also highlights intimate conversations with several women across various fields including Abeba Fekade, Berhane Ras-Work, Fekerte Gebremariam, Lemlem Tsegaw, Mary Tadesse, Meqdes Mesfin, Meron Ahadu, Tsehai Berhane-Selassie and Wessenyelesh Debela.
“When I interviewed the women activists for this book their political views was not my primary interest,” Dr. Maigenet states. “I was only interested in what motivated them to become activists to work on peace, democracy and human rights issues.” She adds: “I was also interested, for those who were political activists, what challenges they had in participating in the male-dominated arena of political activism.”
Moreover, Dr. Maigenet cites American civil rights hero Rosa Parks as an international role model of the power of nonviolent noncooperation and resistance by individual citizens that changed the course of history in their own countries and beyond.
Another remarkable person mentioned in the book is British suffragette leader Sylvia Pankurst (1882-1960), who became a lifelong advocate for Ethiopia because of her strong opposition to fascism during World War II. “She marched, spoke in conferences, and argued with members of the British Parliament against Italian fascism and the invasion of Ethiopia,” Dr. Maigenet points out. “She founded the New Times and Ethiopia News, which was published in London in the 1930′s. She later turned the paper into the Ethiopia Observer, published in Addis Ababa, after the end of the Italian occupation.” Sylvia Pankurst eventually moved to Ethiopia where she lived until her death on September 27th, 1960 and was buried in Addis Ababa with great honor. Dr. Maigenet noted: “This is an exemplary example of disciplined and sustained peaceful resistance.”
Dr. Maigenet passed away at the age of 68 on February 24th 2016. She was an Associate Professor in adult education at the University of the District of Columbia for 20 years. She also worked as an education consultant at the World Bank and the U.S. Department of Education.
The book Struggle From Afar is published by Fanos Books (a TSEHAI imprint) for the Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW), which Dr. Maigenet helped establish and served as its President at the time of her passing, and with a foreword by her husband Professor Getachew Metaferia.
CREW will be hosting a book release event this coming weekend in Silver Spring, Maryland.
— If You Go:
Book release: ‘Struggle From Afar’
Saturday, January 27th, 2018
Doors open at 4PM
Silver Spring Civic Center
Silver Spring, Maryland centerforethiopianwomen.org
From top left: Maceda Alemu, Saba Alemnew, Eden Mekonen and Meron Begashaw. (Courtesy Photos)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
July 24th, 2017
New York (TADIAS) — The Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship (EDF) has announced its 2017 class of Fellows. Every year Ethiopian American youth are selected to participate in this leadership and creative storytelling program, and EDF, which runs the program, said that its third cohort of fellows will spend half a year in Ethiopia working at St. Paul Millennium Medical College, East Africa Gate, Selamta Family Project and International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia.
“EDF is an organization that connects young Ethiopian diaspora professionals with organizations in Ethiopia for 6-month impact focused fellowship opportunities,” the press release stated. “Fellows are trained on the program pillars of leadership, service, and storytelling throughout the fellowship.” EDF added: “Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship aims to identify and empower the next generation of young Ethiopian professionals.”
Congratulations to the Ethiopian Diaspora Fellows of 2017:
SABA ALEMNEW
Saba has provided revenue cycle review services for some of the largest health systems in the United States at Triage Consulting Group. Prior to that, Saba worked at the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center creating programs that highlighted key issues within the African Diaspora Community on-campus. Her programs led to institutional change including a mentorship program aimed at the retention of the African Diaspora Community on-campus. In addition, she is committed to public service as she has helped numerous refugees resettle in Northern California while working at Opening Doors Inc. Saba holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a minor in Communications from the University of California, Davis. She is excited to become an Ethiopian Diaspora Fellow and leverage her experiences to address economic development challenges in Ethiopia at East Africa Gate.
Meron held a number of health-related positions, including program assistant at The California Wellness Foundation working in women’s health and diversity in the health professions and an intern at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. She is deeply engaged in her Ethiopian community and serves in the young adult ministry at her local Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church. She is also an integral part of Habesha LA, a social media and events company highlighting Ethiopian and Eritrean creatives. She recently completed her Master of Public Health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is excited to learn from and share with a country that has given her so much as the Human Resource Strategies Fellow at St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College.
Eden pursued a year of service with Public Allies Los Angeles where she served as the community engagement coordinator with the youth photography nonprofit, Las Fotos Project. Prior to this, Eden graduated from Occidental College where she majored in Critical Theory and Social Justice and minored in Interdisciplinary Writing. While at Occidental, Eden became passionate about equitable, multicultural education and diverse representations of underrepresented groups, through community-based learning classes where she applied identity-based theoretical frameworks to community social issues. Eden studied abroad in Durban, South Africa where she conducted oral histories with Ethiopian (im)migrant women and conducted community-based research on the political and gendered significance of Little Ethiopia to the diasporic community. Eden is excited to join the 2017 EDF cohort and contribute to Selamta Family Project’s knowledge and long-term capacity.
Maceda joined John Snow, Inc. as Program Officer with the firm’s International Division. As a Program Officer, she provided financial, administrative, and operations support to multi-million dollar public health projects in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Through this role, Maceda refined her skills in program management, strategic partnership development, financial analysis, and donor communication. Prior to this she was Program Coordinator with the Center for Health Equity at the Geisel School of Medicine and an intern in the Resource Mobilization Division at UN Women. She graduated from Dartmouth College majoring in Geography with a focus on International Development, minored in International Relations and completed a certificate in Global Health Studies. She is excited to serve as an Ethiopian Diaspora Fellow and looks forward to collaborating with others in building the human capacity of Ethiopians and promoting positive social development throughout the country at St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College.
This article was originally published by the Council on Foreign Relations. (Photo: Ethiopian communications minister Getachew Reda speaks on border clashes with Eritrea, Addis Ababa, June 14, 2016/Getty Images)
WHAT’S BEHIND ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA’S BORDER CLASH?
International attention is focused on Brexit, the resulting turmoil in the international financial markets, and the resignation of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. There is the risk of overlooking a dangerous confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea that could lead to war and further destabilize the Horn of Africa.
After sixteen years of ceasefire from a border war, Eritrea and Ethiopia clashed on June 12. Hundreds have been reported dead. Both countries are pointing fingers at the other as the original instigator of the incident while maintaining a tenuous, tactical stalemate position.
The border war Eritrea and Ethiopia fought against each other from 1998-2000 left approximately 80,000 dead. The war over claims to border towns was largely due to cultural and historical differences between the two states in the aftermath of Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia. The disputed border towns had no significant economic value, with the fight once described as “two bald men fighting over a comb.” After a final attack by Ethiopia, the war came to a halt, and the two countries signed the Algiers Agreement to implement a ceasefire.
The Algiers Agreement was the vehicle for establishing an independent adjudicator titled the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC). Both countries agreed to accept the decision of the EEBC. The EEBC ruled in favor of Eritrea’s claim over the main border town; Ethiopia was unsatisfied with the decision and requested a political dialogue before withdrawing from the disputed territory. The disputed territory thereupon became in effect a buffer zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea with sporadic skirmishes over the past sixteen years, until Sunday’s significantly larger clash.
What could have caused the recent clash to occur, as either country has little to benefit from a renewed conflict?
Seven-year-old Prince Alemayehu was captured – along with many national treasures – in 1868. His remains are held in Windsor Castle but pleas for their return have been rebuffed. (Photo: Northwestern University)
This Ethiopian Prince Was Kidnapped by Britain – Now it Must Release Him
You see him first as he was soon after his father’s death: a seven-year-old boy staring, stunned, into the camera. He sits on a cloth-covered bench, next to a shield and a strip of animal hide. Around his shoulders, a long shamma drapes and gathers at his folded ankles. You note his bare feet, the way one toe, curled upward and tense, hints at the emotions he is keeping guarded. He wears the silver-baubled necklace that will travel with him from Ethiopia to England, the one also seen in pictures where he is made to sit for Julia Margaret Cameron and other photographers. His mother, if still alive, will soon die unexpectedly, leaving him in the hands of the same British men who came to confront his father. But for now, he has not lost everything.
This photograph of Prince Alemayehu was taken during the 1868 Napier expedition, a British military incursion into Maqdala, Ethiopia, to rescue three dozen European prisoners. His father, Emperor Tewodros, took captives when his letters to Queen Victoria were ignored. Led by Sir Robert Napier, the punitive mission was extravagant: 13,000 soldiers, 8,000 auxiliary workers, and thousands of followers in search of adventure or a story. Several, like Richard Holmes of the British Museum, also came in search of loot.
In the end, Emperor Tewodros released the prisoners unharmed, then committed suicide rather than surrender. What happened next would be described as a “deluge of fire” and one of the greatest looting orgies ever undertaken in the name of the British empire. Alemayehu, by now an orphan, was put on board the Feroze, the same ship as Holmes, who was taking back to Britain the largest haul of stolen artefacts in Ethiopia’s history. The objects went into British museums and libraries. Alemayehu became a ward of Queen Victoria and, despite his continual pleas to be returned to his homeland, he died aged 18 in England. He was buried at Windsor Castle, where he remains. A plaque, “When I was a stranger, ye took me in,” marks his vault.
Today, we can recognise Napier and his forces for the marauders that they were. We can acknowledge the imperialist arrogance that would kidnap a young boy and trumpet the achievement through newspapers and photographs. The generosity of hindsight might even explain why Alemayehu’s pleas to return home were refused. But there is no longer any excuse for that same refusal and arrogance. There is no viable reason to continue to hold his remains hostage. He has become, like the sacred and valuable objects still in British museums and libraries, a possession.
Blen Mesfin, Meron Alemayehu, and Nigist Wondifraw of Ethiopia are among twenty women political prisoners from around the world who are being profiled by the State Department throughout September 2015. (USG)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, September 6th, 2015
New York (TADIAS) — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, launched a one-month campaign last week called #FreeThe20 that will highlight 20 women from around the world who are political prisoners, including three female members of Ethiopia’s Semayawi (Blue) Party: Blen Mesfin, Meron Alemayehu, and Nigist Wondifraw.
According to the campaign, which will last through September 2015, the Ethiopian trio will be the focus of attention on day 4-6 this week.
“Blen Mesfin, Meron Alemayehu, and Nigist Wondifraw were among a number of opposition party members and others arrested and charged with inciting violence during anti-Islamic State in Libya (ISIL) demonstrations in Addis Ababa in April 2015, which were organized by the government of Ethiopia following the killing of 26 Ethiopians by ISIL,” states the campaign’s website humanrights.gov.
During a Q&A session with the press following her announcement of the campaign last Tuesday, a reporter asked Ambassador Power regarding the women from Ethiopia: “You’ve got three from Ethiopia on here,” the journalist said. “I’m curious – the President, our President, was just in Ethiopia, where he made some comments praising its democracy. I’m just wondering if you see a discord there?”
In her response Ambassador Power said: “As President Obama said on his trip to Ethiopia, the full potential of Ethiopia will not be unleashed and unlocked until journalists are able to report on what’s going in the country freely and opposition – credible opposition candidates are able to participate in elections.”
Humanrights.gov adds: “Blen, Meron, and Nigist are leading members of Ethiopia’s Blue Party, which advocates peacefully for democratic principles and has faced numerous obstacles in exercising freedom of association and assembly both in the build-up to May 24 parliamentary elections, and thereafter. All three were arrested in Addis Ababa in the days following the April 22 protests and charged with inciting violence at the rally. They remain behind bars to this day.”
New York (TADIAS) — Below are the names and biographies of the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows from Ethiopia. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
The fourteen fellows from Ethiopia, all under the age of 35, are part of 500 other promising young leaders from across Africa who are selected to attend top U.S. universities over the summer for a six-week academic and leadership institute in one of three areas: business and entrepreneurship; civic leadership; or public management.
According to YALI: “Immediately following the academic institutes, Mandela Washington Fellows convene in Washington, D.C. for a Summit. During the Summit, participants interact with President Barack Obama and other prominent U.S. government, business, and civic leaders. 100 Fellows will remain in the United States for an additional six to eight weeks after their academic institute and Summit to participate in internships in the public, private and non-profit sectors with organizations throughout the United States.”
Here are this year’s fellows from Ethiopia:
Helen Abelle Melesse
Helen Abelle has over five years’ experience in various fields of the legal sector. Currently, she is a researcher and trainer in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People Regional State Justice Organs Professionals Training and Legal Research Centre, where she focuses on conducting research and training on current legal, social, and human rights issues. Helen obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights from Addis Ababa University, managed to get some of her research published, and is a volunteer for the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and Ethiopian Human Rights Council. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, she plans to continue her work in the development of human rights protection and good governance in her community.
Abdela Alite
Abdela Alite has over seven years of experience in different departments of South Omo zone health department, first in drug supply and distribution expert for about a year, then as a quality control process coordinator for another two years. Currently he is head of the department, coordinating about 33 health centers, 247 health posts and one general hospital. He also volunteers in fund-raising activities for helpless children to continue education, as part of a local organization called Male Development Organization. Abdela holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Arbaminch. Upon completion of the Fellowship, Abdela wants to continue working on the education of maternal and child death and also on combating communicable diseases.
Hana Bekele Ayele
Hana has over 7 years’ experience in the area of disability, particularly in leadership positions and the teaching of basic computer skills for blind persons. At present, she is working as general manager in the Ethiopian National Disability Action Network, where she gives due attention to strengthening collaboration and creating a united voice among disability-based organizations. She volunteers in associations for women with disabilities, is board vice-chair and a member of the general assembly enabling her to give advice, design projects, and reflect the issues of persons with disabilities at different stages. She has certificate in Basic Computer Skills, a diploma in teaching English, and graduated from the Addis Ababa University with a first in sociology. After completing the Fellowship, she plans to share her experience with the disability community, and facilitate ways where persons with disabilities can access equal opportunities and participate in every sphere of society.
Hilina Berhanu Degefa
Hilina Berhanu Degefa has four years’ experience as a women’s rights advocate. She has been working in the area of human rights for women with a particular focus on grassroots advocacy, gender-based violence, and empowerment of women in educational institutions. She is co-founder of the Yellow Movement AAU and Women for Change in Ethiopia as well as youth-led organizations that promote women’s rights. She is responsible for having managed campaigns and run online activism in support of women’s rights, serves as the president of Women for Change in Ethiopia, and is also involved in the Sanitation for Education project. Hilina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Addis Ababa University, School of Law. Upon completion of the fellowship she plans to work on youth mentorship and expand the Sanitation for Education project by setting up sanitary booths and selling or giving sanitary pads for free all across Ethiopia.
Dagnachew Bogale Wakene (Dag)
Dag has been working for over nine years as an advocate, educator, and research consultant with a focus on disability rights and inclusive development. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and a Master’s of Philosophy majoring in Rehabilitation and Development Studies from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is currently the Africa Regional Coordinator at Disability Rights Promotion International, a project run by York University, Canada to establish a monitoring system that addresses disability discrimination globally. He’s also co-founder of ThisAbility Consulting, an initiative which aims to bridge existing gaps of participatory disability research in Africa. A childhood polio-survivor, Dag embraces an outstanding blend of lived experience and professional excellence in his fields of expertise. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, he will continue his robust contributions to efforts of creating an inclusive society in Ethiopia and the continent.
Maji Hailemariam Debena
Maji is a social work and mental health professional with over five years’ experience working with different academic and research institutions. Her major areas of interest include mental health, poverty, migration, food security, and gender. As an educator and researcher, she is working with Hawassa University in Ethiopia and currently pursuing her PhD in Mental Health Epidemiology. Her doctoral dissertation combines an intervention and research on understanding barriers to equitable access to mental health care. In her undergraduate, she majored in Philosophy with a minor specialization in Sociology. She has a Master’s degree in Social Work. Her long-term career plans include initiating a regional research and training collaboration involving five East African countries. Upon return, she aspires to invest on equipping the next generation of social activists in Ethiopia.
Yordanos Jembere Dessalegn
Yordanos has over seven years’ experience working with coffee farmers’ cooperatives in different positions, particularly the export department. She established her own coffee exporting company, Coffee Culture Coffee Export PLC, where she is the manager. Yordanos also serves as a chairperson of women organized to support each other to address socio-economic problems. She volunteers at Give Hope Ethiopia, a charity helping orphaned and vulnerable children, youth, and women in Ethiopia to which 10% of her company’s revenue goes. She has long-term plans to be one of the top coffee exporters, with her own coffee farm and processing plant producing traceable and quality coffee, creating more jobs for others, mainly women. After the completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Yordanos plans to apply the knowledge and skills obtained from the opportunities she gains to improve her business and enhance the community she serves.
Meron Kassahun Asfaw
Meron Asfaw is an architect, lecturer, and researcher at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) of Addis Ababa University. She is currently involved in research related to sustainable rural housing initiatives, Sustainable Rural Dwelling Unit (SRDU). In collaboration with her colleagues, she spearheaded the SRDU research and has been closely involved in it for the past four years as an author and point person for the management of documentation, publication, and design as well as construction tasks. She strongly believes that real change in rural areas will come when modern science and traditional knowledge learn from each other. Upon completing the Fellowship she plans to continue working on sustainable building practices that will enhance the livelihoods of farmers, particularly in Ethiopia but even more importantly across the African continent.
Dawud Mohammed Ali
Dawud has over six years’ experience in teaching, research, international relations, and community service. He is currently a lecturer and researcher at Samara University of Ethiopia, where he also serves as an executive director for the international and public relation affairs directorate of the university. He has been serving in different senior leadership positions of the university for many years and is the founder and president of a NGO called the Afar Development and Scholarship Fund which is dedicated to the advancement of education and development affairs in Afar state of Ethiopia. Dawud holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Andhra University in India, where he focused on international business and leadership aspects of management. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Dawud plans to continue serving his University and to work in promoting development and education to eradicate poverty focusing on activism for youth education and empowerment.
Balayneh Nekatibeb Begna
Balayneh holds Master’s degree in Development Studies from Addis Ababa University. For over 10 years, he has designed and managed a number of agricultural growth and economic development programs and projects with NGOs, donor agencies and the Ethiopian Government. He is currently working in Ethiopia as capacity development advisor to the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development of Canada. He volunteers as a board member for KMG Ethiopia, a community-based organization that helps thousands of rural women, girls, and marginalized communities to emancipate themselves from violence and discrimination. His experiences, beyond developing his skills and capacities in development management, have enlightened him to learn about business opportunities that can hugely benefit smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and beyond. He believes that the Mandela Washington Fellowship will help him acquire the skills, networks, and resources he needs to establish a socially viable, prototype Agribusiness Centre in Ethiopia on his return.
Israel Tibebu Taye
Israel Taye is young pan-African lawyer from Ethiopia, passionate about African renaissance, youth empowerment, sustainable development, and human rights. He aspires to fast-track youth participation in continental and international development initiatives and has over three years’ experience in various fields in the public management sector, in human rights in particular. Currently, he serves as a legal assistant for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights under the African Union’s youth volunteer program. In this capacity, he focuses on issues relating to extractive industries and environmental rights, as well as other human rights violations in Africa. Israel holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and volunteers for community initiatives aimed at youth empowerment through life-skills development and career guidance. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, he plans to engage in youth empowerment and development forums both nationally and within the African Union system.
Marta Tsehay Sewasew
Marta Tsehay Sewasew has six years’ experience and involvement in several developmental programs on girl’s education, women economic empowerment, youth leadership, adolescent and youth reproductive health, and orphan and vulnerable children support projects. Currently, Marta is working for the Development Fund of Norway in Ethiopia as a program coordinator on the Girls Education and Youth Participation program, where she focuses on program design and development, management, monitoring, and evaluation. Further, Marta initiated a program called Mobile for Students Reproductive Health (M4SRH) for University students, which uses mobile technology to convey reproductive health messages. She also played an important role in the preparation of a national life-skills manual for students in Ethiopia. Marta has a Master’s degree in Social Work with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. She plans to continue her effort on scaling up girl’s education and the M4SRH initiative on completion of Fellowship.
Ethiopia Wondimu Robi (Ethiopi)
Ethiopi has over three years’ experience in various fields in the real estate sector and works passionately towards introducing green buildings to Ethiopia, and developing a culture of sustainability within the real estate sector. Currently, she is the principal founding member and general manager of Olympus Real Estate P.L.C, a green company committed to developing eco-friendly homes. Ethiopia holds a Master of Science degree in Real Estate Management from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden where she focused on rapid urbanization and housing shortage in Africa while reflecting on the opportunities within the problem facing her country. Upon completion of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, she plans to continue her work in her real estate company with a focus on building green, and establishing a positive influence on her fellow professionals in the industry into becoming more environmentally consciously, ensuring a better future for all.
Hermella Wondimu Woldehana (Hermi)
Hermi has spent five years working with rural communities in Ethiopia focused on the provision of clean water and promotion of hygiene and sanitation. She is currently the general manager of Drop Of Water, the NGO she co-founded as a university student, and believes it is the honor and moral obligation of all university students to stand for the betterment of their community. Demonstrating the power of grass root volunteerism, Drop Of Water has provided clean water access to tens of thousands of rural communities in Ethiopia. Hermi has a degree in civil engineering from Mekelle University, and has completed training certifications on emergency water and sanitation and water safety plans. Through people working together, she believes the water crisis can be ended, and upon completion of the Fellowship plans to continue her work with volunteers with a focus on community leadership and fundraising.
A delegation of British MPs will visit Ethiopia next month in a bid to secure the release of Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, a British father of three who is under a death sentence.
Mr Tsege, 59, a leading critic of the Ethiopian government who came to Britain as a political refugee more than 30 years ago, has been held in solitary confinement for the past six months.
He vanished during a stopover in Yemen last June, during a trip from Dubai to Eritrea, in what campaigners say was a politically motivated kidnapping. Weeks later it emerged he had been imprisoned in Ethiopia.
His precise whereabouts remain unknown.
The Briton, who is the secretary-general of a banned Ethiopian opposition movement, is facing a death sentence imposed at a trial held in his absence in 2009.
The announcement of the visit by British Parliamentarians, yesterday, is in stark contrast to the efforts of Prime Minister David Cameron, whose response to desperate pleas for help from Mr Tsege’s family last year was to write a letter to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister.
Jeremy Corbyn, vice-chair, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights, and Mr Tsege’s constituency MP, will lead the delegation. “He is a British citizen so there is no reason on earth why the British government should not take a very robust view on this,” he said.
Ballots tumble at an Aberdeen counting center in Scotland. The outcome headed off the political, economic and military imponderables that would have accompanied a divorce from the UK. (NYT)
EDINBURGH — Voters in Scotland rejected independence from Britain in a referendum that had threatened to break up a 307-year union, according to projections by the BBC and Sky early Friday.
The outcome was a deep disappointment to the vocal, enthusiastic pro-independence movement led by the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond, who had seen an opportunity to turn a centuries-old nationalist dream into reality, and forced the three main British parties into panicked promises to grant substantial new power to the Scottish Parliament.
The decision spared Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain a shattering defeat that would have raised questions about his ability to continue in office and diminished his nation’s standing in the world.
Selam Bekele giving artist talk at the 'Home Away from Home' festival in Oakland, California last week. (Photo: Jon Teklai)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Tuesday, September 16th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) – In a short, experimental film entitled Prince of Nowhere Ethiopian-born filmmaker Selam Bekele reflects on the exiled life and death of Prince Alemayehu Tewodros, the son of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. Alemayehu was taken prisoner by the British army in 1868 after his father committed suicide following the infamous Battle of Magdala. The child was initially accompanied by his mother, Empress Tiruwork Wube, but she died halfway through the trip. In England, the orphaned Ethiopian prince received some education under various caretakers and even briefly attended officers’ training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He died of lung problems at the age of 18 on November 14th, 1879 and was buried outside Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria is quoted to have written in her diary noting the passing of Prince Alemayehu as “too sad.” Wiki adds: “She also mentioned how very unhappy the prince had been, and how conscious he was of people staring at him because of his colour.”
In her movie Selam holds an imaginary interview with Alemayehu before he dies in which she asks the prince about his feelings of being away from his family and country. “It’s mostly a conversation about displacement and how we continue to survive when we are away from home,” said Selam in an interview with Tadias Magazine. The aspiring filmmaker, who herself left Ethiopia at the age four in 1995, recently graduated in Communication & Film Studies from the University of California, Davis. “I was in London for the first half of this summer as part of my research and study abroad program and it was during this time that I rediscovered the amazing story of Prince Alemayehu,” she said. “I realized just how much I can relate to him as a person that left Ethiopia at a young age and kind of had to adopt to a new world. I kind of wanted to connect his story with the similarity of stories from the Diaspora today in regards to migration, relocation and adapting to a new society while maintaining our ties to our culture and history.”
Left: Prince Alamayou as a child – photo by Julia Margaret Cameron. Right: Alamayou in his teens in England – photo from Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.
Prince of Nowhere was screened last week in Oakland, California at the Home [away from] Home visual arts and music festival held in celebration of Enkutatash and featuring the works of several up-and-coming East African artists in Northern California including Ethiopian-born singer and songwriter Meklit Hadero, Eritrean American filmmaker Sephora Woldu, Ethiopian American musician Ellias Fullmore as well as Ethiopian painter Wosene Kosrof. The centerpiece of the week-long festivities in Oakland was a pop-up art installation in the form of a Gojo that was built by the artists and set-up on Lake Merrit. “You walk inside and you see the commissioned arts on display. It had an entrance door and the exit door is your way to the festival,” Selam said. “It was something that basically took the whole summer to organize. She added: “We found taxi cab stories from Ethiopian and Eritrean cab drivers. Basically we interviewed them and got them to tell us a bit of their stories. Then, we sent the stories to the artists to help them find some sort of inspiration based on the kinds of things the taxi drivers had shared and we made art out of it and each artist had their own interpretation.”
The outdoor event was attended by a diverse crowd of 300 to 400 people. “We attracted kids, elders, Ethiopians, Eritreans and members of the larger Oakland community,” she said.
As to her own film project, Selam notes that as part of her research she visited Alemayehu’s burial site at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle and the major museums in London housing any information on Alemayehu, Tewodoros, and the 1868 British expedition to Ethiopia. “I got to see some incredible photographs of Alemayehu that were taken of him both alone and with his caretaker,” Selam said. “I use some of those images in my film.” Selam continued: “I found out that Prince Alemayehu was extremely homesick. They could not figure out what was really wrong with him, he had breathing problems that caused him to die at such a young age. I believe that his sadness contributed to his death,” Selam stated. “I was thinking that sadness, that feeling of emptiness, is easily relatable by those of us living in the Diaspora.” She added: “And his name Alemayehu is kind of ironic too, if you break it down Alem ayehu it means “I saw the world,” but in his case when you are forced or taken away without choice and not exactly for the best reasons, it has that ironic undertone. So I wanted to capture that in a modern, bright, experimental and artistic way, but at the same time save a piece of history.”
The film project came out of Selam’s study abroad experience: “I felt that we were not discussing enough when it came to some of the greater effects of the British Empire has had on the rest of the world and that conversation was kind of being left out. And that’s why I started to dig a little bit into what exactly was the historical relationship between Britain and Ethiopia?”
In addition to carrying off Prince Alemayehu, the British army employed elephants and hundreds of mules to transport royal loot of priceless Ethiopian treasures that to date remain unreturned. In an article published in 2007, BBC reported that “Many of them are still in Britain and the Queen has some of them – notably six of the very finest illuminated manuscripts, which are part of the royal collection in Windsor Castle.” The same article adds that “Ethiopia’s president has sent Queen Elizabeth II a formal request for the remains of a prince who died in Britain more than a century ago. The royal household at Windsor Castle, where Prince Alemayehu was buried, is said to be considering the request.”
That was seven years ago, but today Selam said she will be bringing her 18-minutes film to the East Coast this Fall “to keep the story alive” and hopes to screen in DC in late October and in New York sometime in November.
Below are photos from Oakland’s Home Away from Home Arts & Culture Festival:
Genet Tsegay - Miss World Ethiopia 2013. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, August 17th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) – The final selection for Miss World Ethiopia 2014 will be made next week by a combination of voting both by a panel of international judges and online public voting. The winner will be revealed on the organizer’s Facebook page. The victor from Ethiopia will compete at this year’s Miss World competition in London on December 14th.
The 64th edition of the international pageant features over 130 contestants from around the globe. Miss Philippines will pass on the crown to the new Miss World.
The Miss World Ethiopia 2014 judges include Yordanos Teshager (International Top Model), Jason Gardener (CEO JG Models), Whitney Carter (Model and Beauty Queen), Matewos Yilma (Former Mister Ethiopia and Top Model), Genet Tsegay (Miss World Ethiopia 2013), Robert Anderson (VP Konjo International), Dr. Jennifer Hobson (International Fashion & Fine Arts Event Producer), and Meron Wudneh (Miss Africa USA 2014). Organizers note the the public vote will be equivalent to one vote by the judges.
A pro-Russian fighter places a black box from the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on a table while handing it over to Malaysian representatives in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, July 22, 2014. (AP)
A senior separatist leader, Aleksander Borodai, handed over two black boxes from an airliner downed over eastern Ukraine to Malaysian experts in the city of Donetsk in the early hours of Tuesday.
“Here they are, the black boxes,” Borodai told a room packed with journalists at the headquarters of his self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic as an armed rebel placed the boxes on a desk.
Both sides then signed a document, which Borodai said was a protocol to finalize the procedure after lengthy talks with the Malaysians.
“I can see that the black boxes are intact, although a bit damaged. In good condition,” Colonel Mohamed Sakri of Malaysian National Security Council said in extending his thanks to “His Excellency Mr. Borodai” for passing on the recorders.
Borodai also said a train carrying the remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash has reached Donetsk. It is on its way to Kharkiv, some 300 km (186 miles) northwest.
The Malaysian experts and a Dutch delegation also on site in Donetsk will travel along with it, he said.
U.N. Security Council resolution
The U.N. Security Council on Monday afternoon unanimously passed a resolution condemning the downing of the Malaysian passenger jet and demanded that pro-Russian separatists controlling the crash site allow investigators unrestricted accesss to the area.
Council member Australia, which had 37 nationals aboard the flight, drafted the resolution. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop traveled to New York for the vote. She said Russia, which backs the separatists, must use its influence to ensure the resolution is implemented.
“We must have answers; we must have justice. We owe it to the victims and families to determine what happened and who was responsible,” said Bishop.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said a resolution should not have been necessary.
“We welcome Russia’s support for today’s resolution. But no resolution would have been necessary had Russia used its leverage with the separatists on Thursday, getting them to lay down their arms and leave the site to international experts. Or on Friday. Or on Saturday. Or even yesterday, ” said Power.
Obama Urges Unimpeded Probe
Earlier in the day U.S. President Barack Obama called on Russia to allow international investigators immediate, full, and unimpeded access to the site in Ukraine where a Malaysian passenger jet was shot down last week.
Obama said Monday the pro-Russian separatists who control the part of eastern Ukraine where the plane went down are preventing international investigators from gaining full access to the wreckage.
“As investigators approached, they fired their weapons into the air. The separatists are removing evidence from the crash site, all which begs the question: What exactly are they trying to hide?” the president asked.
U.S. officials say there is evidence the missile that brought the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 down was fired from territory controlled by rebels who Russia is backing and supplying with equipment that includes anti-aircraft weapons.
Obama said Moscow has urged the rebels on, trained them, and armed them. And he said Russian President Vladimir Putin now should facilitate a transparent investigation.
“Given its direct influence over the separatists, Russia, and President Putin in particular, has direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate with the investigation. That is the least that they can do,” Obama said.
The president said the separatists have been removing bodies from the crash site without following proper procedures, something he called an insult to the victims’ loved ones.
Obama has been speaking to leaders of nations whose citizens were lost on the flight.
The U.S. leader said Russia will only continue to isolate itself from the international community if it keeps supporting the rebels.
Former Pentagon official Dr. Anthony Cordesman was asked whether the magnitude of the downing of MH17 compels Obama to act more aggressively towards Russia.
“I think the word compel isn’t valid. It [the downing of the jet] gives the U.S. more leverage in mobilizing world opinion and getting support for sanctions from European allies.…but the key problem is how easily something like this can fade….the whole problem of how Russia deals with the states around it is going to go on in the future,” he said.
Kerry condemns Russia
Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned Russia for what he called “overwhelming evidence” of complicity in Thursday’s downing of the Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine.
In a series of appearances on Sunday news shows, Kerry said the evidence points to Russia supplying pro-Moscow separatists with a sophisticated SA-11 anti-aircraft system and then training separatists to use it.
He said U.S. authorities have seen video, taken after the crash, of a missile launcher with at least one rocket missing. He said that battery was moved back into Russian territory from rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Thursday’s attack, which killed 298 people near the Russian border.
EU to increase sanctions
European leaders said Monday they were ready to slap increasing sanctions on Russia to force Moscow to use its influence over the rebels to stop the conflict and allow international investogators free access to the crash site.
British Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament Monday that Russia cannot expect to enjoy access to European markets and money if it fuels conflict in Ukraine.
He also echoed comments by Obama that the separatists must ensure the bodies of the victims of the crash are repatriated and that international investigators must be given access to the crash site.
Putin response
Russian President Vladimir Putin once again on Monday said the airliner would not have gone down if Ukraine had not re-ignited fighting last month in the region with separatists.
“We can say with confidence that if fighting in eastern Ukraine had not been renewed on June 28, this tragedy would not have happened,” he said. “At the same time, nobody should or does have a right to use this tragedy to achieve their own selfish political objectives. Such events should not divide, but rather unite people. We need for all people who answer for the situation to uphold their responsibility both before their own people, as before the people of other nations, the representatives of which became victims of this catastrophe. It is necessary to do everything in order to secure the safe work of international experts at the site of the tragedy.”
Putin said Monday that Russia is doing everything possible to allow a team of experts from the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate the scene.
— VOA’s Luis Ramirez from the White House and Margaret Besheer from the United Nations contributed to this report. Some information provided by Reuters.
(Image: From the book "Crossing Ethiopia: Retracing The Last March of Emperor Tewodros to Magdala")
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, July 17th, 2014
Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) – John Snyder, author of the new photography book Crossing Ethiopia, which chronicles his own journey retracing the last march of Emperor Tewodros of Ethiopia to Magdala to face a British army numbering over 60,000, initially thought of making a movie on the scale of Lawrence of Arabia to depict Tewodros’ epic confrontation with Victorian England over European hostages held by Tewodros including the English ambassador to Ethiopia. Snyder writes: “A chain of events that eventually brought in the massive British Expedition of 1867-1868 began when a new English consul, Charles Cameron, arrived to replace the murdered [former consul and close friend of Tewodros ], Walter Plowden.”
In October of 1862 Tewodros gave Cameron 1000 dollars and a letter “directing him to hand deliver” to Queen Victoria. “Cameron went only as far as northern Ethiopia from which he forwarded the letter on to England,” writes Snyder. “Returning in June of 1863 without a reply from Victoria, he incurred the wrath of Tewodros, who forbade his leaving the country until an answer was received.”
In the meantime mail had arrived from France containing a response to Tewodros’ letter to Napoleon III. Suffice it to say that the reply was not exactly what the Ethiopian Emperor was looking for, not to mention that it was not signed by the French King himself. Snyder notes that “after ripping the letter to shreds and trampling it underfoot,” Emperor Tewodros is quoted as saying: “I know the tactics of European Governments when they wish to acquire a possession of Oriental States. They first send missionaries, then consuls to support the missionaries, then armies to support the consuls. I am not a Rajah of Hindustan to be humbugged in that fashion. I prefer at once having to do with the armies.”
In 1868 Ethiopian and British “armies converged for a showdown at Magdala, a mountaintop fortress where a handful of European prisoners were residing in fetters at the mercy of the Emperor.” Snyder states in his introduction: “Costing $9 million in 1867 sterling, (translating to over $5 billion today) it was, and remains, history’s most expensive hostage rescue operation.”
“Born in a remote province west of Lake Tana in 1818, Tewodros received a convent education that left him literate and deeply versed in the bible. After his teens, however, he did nothing but soldiering, getting his start as a shifta (bandit). A few followers gradually swelled into an army as he led them from one brilliant victory to another. By the age of 35, he had conquered all of highland Ethiopia and declared himself emperor. At his coronation in 1855, he cleverly designated himself Tewodros II, fulfilling a legend that 15th century King Tewodros I would eventually have a successor by the same name.”
History also records that Tewodros’ tenor as the crown holder was marked by his infamous killing sprees directed at his own domestic ‘enemies.’ Even his ill-fated letter to the Queen of England was full of macho imagery bordering on religious and ethnic fanaticism. In assuring Victoria that he is taking action to avenge the life of her former ambassador and his close friend Walter Plowden, Tewodros adds: “All men are subject to death, and my enemies, thinking to injure me, killing these my friends. But by the power of God I have exterminated these enemies, not leaving one alive, although they were my own family, that I may get, by the power of God, your friendship – I wish to have an answer to this letter by Consul Cameron and that he may go with my embassy to England…”
The author of Crossing Ethiopia: Retracing The Last March of Emperor Tewodros to Magdala, John Snyder, will be giving a book talk on July 27 in Washington, DC at Politics & Prose bookstore. “I am pleased to report that Foreword Reviews has just awarded Crossing Ethiopia Honorable Mention in the photography category of their 2013 IndieFab competition,” he shared.
— If You Go:
DATE: SUNDAY, JULY 27
TIME: 1 PM
POLITICS & PROSE BOOKSTORE
5015 CONNECTICUT AVE., NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20016
202-364-1919 www.politics-prose.com
Photo Courtesy: Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, May 11th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — In a Mother’s Day tribute to Ethiopian women around the world, the Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) has gathered a collection of essays, poems and photos reflecting motherhood.
Among the featured contributors include Ethiopian-American author Maaza Mengstie, exiled journalist Serkalem Fasil (wife of Eskinder Nega), migrant domestic workers issues activist and filmmaker Rahel Zegeye (a former migrant worker from Ethiopia who currently resides in Beirut, Lebanon), as well as Meron Ahadu, Dr. Tsehai Berhane-Selassie, Dr. Menna Demessie, Tizita Belachew, Helen Afework, Fekerte Gebremariam and Tsigereda Mulugeta.
The tribute to Ethiopian women also recognizes imprisoned Ethiopian female journalist Reyot Alemu, winner of the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
In a statement Dr. Maigenet Shifferraw, President of CREW said: “For generations, Ethiopian women have played major roles in their society. They are the center of the family and shouldered immense responsibilities. They are strong and courageous fighters for freedom. They have come a long way, but they still have a long way to go to achieve equality. The major obstacles in women’s advancement in Ethiopia are the abject poverty and the traditional harmful practices that hinder women’s progress. Because of these, women have continued to face enormous hardships. On the other hand, their resilience in the face of all impediments is quite amazing.”
An Ethiopian farmer has been given legal aid in the UK to sue Britain – because he claims millions of pounds sent by the UK to his country is supporting a brutal regime that has ruined his life.
He says UK taxpayers’ money – £1.3 billion over the five years of the coalition Government – is funding a despotic one-party state in his country that is forcing thousands of villagers such as him from their land using murder, torture and rape.
The landmark case is highly embarrassing for the Government, which has poured vast amounts of extra cash into foreign aid despite belt-tightening austerity measures at home.
Prime Minister David Cameron claims the donations are a mark of Britain’s compassion.
But the farmer – whose case is set to cost tens of thousands of pounds – argues that huge sums handed to Ethiopia are breaching the Department for International Development’s (DFID) own human rights rules.
Lawyer Meaza Ashenafi & Difret Actress Meron Getnet at 2014 Berlin Film Festival. (Photograph: Berlinale)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Tuesday, February 25th, 2014
Washington, D.C. (TADIAS) — The Ethiopian film ‘Difret,’ which won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, will premiere in Washington, D.C. area next month during the 10th annual New African Films Festival at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.
According to organizers “This year’s festival — the biggest yet — showcases the vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent.” Difret will be screened on March 15th in Silver Spring, Maryland — co-presented by AFI, TransAfrica and Afrikafé — followed by a Q&A session with filmmaker Zeresenay Mehari and producer Mehret Mandefro.
Based on a true story “first-time filmmaker Zeresenay Mehari has crafted a beautiful and important film, capturing Ethiopia in flux, grappling with traditions and looking towards the future,” the press release added. The character “Meaza [played by Meron Getnet] is an empowered lawyer who provides free legal-aid services to poor women and children in need. Her life changes forever when she takes on the case of Hirut, a 14-year-old girl charged with the murder of her abductor and would-be husband. Inspired by this young girl’s courage, Meaza embarks on a long, tenacious battle to save Hirut’s life.”
— If You Go:
2014 New African Films Festival
‘Difret’ Premier: Sat. March 15th at 7:00 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural center
8633 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.495.6700 www.afi.com
Zeresenay Mehari & Mehret Mandefro at Sundance Award ceremony on Jan. 25th, 2014. (Getty Images)
Tadias Magazine
By Tigist Selam
Published: Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — Last month Difret, an Ethiopian film directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The film is currently premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Difret, which was initially funded through Kickstarter — an online crowdfunding platform — chronicles the true story of a teenager, from a rural village in the Arsi region, whose widely publicized arrest for murder in the 90s unleashed a historic court battle that resulted in the girl’s acquittal on the grounds of self-defense and legally ended the traditional practice of child marriage by abduction in Ethiopia.
Below is an interview with the film’s Director, Zeresenay Mehari and Producer Mehret Mandefro.
TADIAS: You had been developing the script for quite some time. What inspired you initially and what kept you going?
ZM: When I found Meaza’s story I was completely enthralled. What she did to take on a legal system and entrenched tradition is truly inspiring to me. It is what pushed me to tell this particular story and what kept me going throughout.
TADIAS: It was wonderful to see both female characters portrayed in such an honest and complex way without victimization. How did you go about casting for such demanding roles?
ZM: The casting process took 8 months. The toughest role to find was that of the young girl. There aren’t many roles for child actors in Ethiopia so we had to go to the schools to try and find the young girl who would play Hirut. We printed out 6,000 flyers and went to all the elementary schools arranging transportation to and back from our audition studio. In the end, I finally found the girl I was looking for, Tizita Hagere. We heard that an old thespian was giving free acting workshops to kids at a local school. As luck would have it, the school was actually my old elementary school. And there in my old classroom was Tizita. I saw her and immediately knew she was Hirut.
Meron Getnet was easier to find. She is a very established actress in Ethiopia and during the audition process she stood out from her peers immediately. She is a truly talented actress with a very bright future ahead of her.
TADIAS: You were in the middle of the pre-production when the former PM Meles Zenawi passed away and the country was in a state of transition. Could you talk about some of the challenges that you had to face while shooting in Ethiopia, especially during that time?
ZM: It was a sad time for the country and the mood was somber but thankfully it did not affect anything we were doing. The production moved along smoothly despite this great loss.
TADIAS: Music is a big part of your film. The last song of the film, in particular, is very distinct. What led to your collaboration with David Schommer on the film?
ZM: I love the last song. It’s actually an old recording of Aster Demoz (Leelai Demoz’s mother) that Dave remixed. We considered quite a few composers for this film. However, none of them knew Ethiopia like Dave did. In the end that’s why we went with him. He also happened to be a good friend so there was a relationship in place that could nurture the creative partnership.
TADIAS: I love the fact that your crew is a mix of Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians. What was your process as a producer of the film?
MM: Putting together our team was a cool part of the process. I joined Zeresenay first and we spent a lot of time talking about the people we wanted to involve in this project. Some of this was conscious but sometimes choices also came down to timing and what worked with everyone’s schedule. In the end, I am very proud of the team we assembled, which pulled talent from all over the world but was predominantly an Ethiopian team with a majority of women in lead creative positions.
TADIAS: Speaking of your creative crew, Angelina Jolie recently joined you as an Executive Producer. In which ways did that help Difret?
MM: Angelina joined our project during the post-production phase about 5 months ago. We had a locked picture when she saw the film and she really loved it and wanted to support us in getting it out there. Given her high profile, having her name attached definitely increases the visibility of our project and we are totally grateful to her for that.
TADIAS: Congrats again on winning the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance. This was the first time an Ethiopian film was in competition at the film festival. How did that affect your career and perhaps even Ethiopian cinema?
ZM: Thanks. It was truly awesome to win this award because when we first embarked on making this film so many people told us that there was no audience for a film like ours. Funders told us that the subject was too tough and would not lend itself to commercial distribution. The award obviously says otherwise and is truly a testament to sticking to something you believe in for the long haul. Given this is our first feature narrative endeavor it’s hard to say how this may affect our career – we are just beginning. But I do think winning the audience award at Sundance adds yet another layer of visibility to the film because distributors and others alike pay attention to who wins at Sundance. As for Ethiopian cinema, we are thrilled to be able to contribute to Ethiopia’s cultural history, and more importantly, hopeful there will be many more fantastic Ethiopian films competing at Sundance from here on.
TADIAS: Difret is not only an exceptional film, but it also sends out a strong message. What are your hopes for Difret?
ZM: My hope is that Difret starts a conversation about the parts of our tradition that hold women back. I think change takes time but it always begins with untold stories that compel us to think differently about what we take for granted. Telefa is a tradition that many still take for granted and I hope Difret can start a dialogue about perhaps letting go of this tradition once and for all.
Director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari & Producer Mehret Mandefro accept Audience Award for Difret on Saturday, Jan 25th at Sundance Film Festival (Photo Courtesy: Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Saturday, January, 25th 2014
New York (TADIAS) — Difret, an Ethiopian film directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Saturday evening.
The ninety-nine minute drama is based on the true story of Aberash Bekele (Hirut), a 14-year-old from a small, rural village — not far from Addis Ababa — whose widely publicized arrest for murder in the late 1990s ensued an epic court battle that resulted in her acquittal on the grounds of self-defense. The case and ordeal of Hirut (played by teen actress Tizita Hagere) legally ended the long-upheld cultural tradition of marriage by abduction in Ethiopia. Difret is the first Ethiopian film to be featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film’s producers include Mehret Mandefro, Leelai Demoz, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari as well as Executive Producers Angelina Jolie, Julie Mehretu, Jessica Rankin, Francesca Zampi and Lacey Schwartz.
Other credits include Cinematographer: Monika Lenczewska; Editor: Agnieszka Glinska; Production Designer: Dawit Shawel; Composers: David Schommer and David Eggar.
Difret's cast includes teenage actress Tizita Hagere playing Hirut who was abducted and dared to escape her captors. (Courtesy photograph)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Monday, January 20th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — The World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival got underway this past weekend in Park City, Utah with the premiere of the Ethiopian film Difret (Amharic with English subtitles). The ninety-nine minute drama is based on the true story of Aberash Bekele (Hirut), a 14-year-old from a small, rural village — not far from Addis Ababa — whose widely publicized arrest for murder in the late 1990s ensued an epic court battle that resulted in her acquittal on the grounds of self-defense. The case and ordeal of Hirut (played by teen actress Tizita Hagere) legally ended the long-upheld cultural tradition of marriage by abduction in Ethiopia. Difret is the first Ethiopian film to be featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
A summary of the film describes Meaza Ashenafi as “an empowered and tenacious young lawyer,” who represents Hirut and argues that she acted in self-defense. “Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life. Ethiopian-born writer/director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari portrays, with panoramic beauty, the complexity of a country’s transformation toward equal rights, featuring the courageous generation that dares to own it.”
Indiewire highlighted Meron Getnet, who plays the feisty defense attorney Meaza Ashenafi, as one of the “10 Actors to Watch Out For at Sundance 2014.” In her own right Meron is also one of the leading actresses in Ethiopia.
The film’s producers include Mehret Mandefro, Leelai Demoz, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari as well as Executive Producers Angelina Jolie, Julie Mehretu, Jessica Rankin, Francesca Zampi and Lacey Schwartz.
Other credits include Cinematographer: Monika Lenczewska; Editor: Agnieszka Glinska; Production Designer: Dawit Shawel; Composers: David Schommer and David Eggar.
Difret premiered on Saturday, January 18th at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City and is scheduled to play on Monday January 20th at Broadway Centre Cinema in Salt Lake City. It returns back to Park City on Tuesday, January 21st at the Egyptian Theatre, followed by a screening at the Library Center Theatre on Thursday, January 23rd. The film concludes the ten-day festival with a showing at the Holiday Village Cinema in Park City on Saturday, January 25th.
Lupita Nyong'o wins best supporting actress at the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 18th, 2014. (Photograph: Getty Images)
UPDATE: Lupita Nyong’o Wins Screen Actors Guild Award
AP/CBS News: Updated January 18th, 2014
Stars stepped out Saturday night for the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in hopes of walking away with an honor.
The first award of the night — best supporting actress — went to Lupita Nyong’o of “12 Years a Slave.”
She thanked McQueen “for taking a flashlight and shining it underneath the floorboards of this nation and reminding us what it is we stand on.” The Kenyan actress, who has been hailed for her red-carpet grace this awards season, recalled her celebratory phone call to her father when she got the part – her first feature film.
“‘Daddy, do you know who Brad Pitt is? I’m going to be in a movie with him!’” recalled Nyong’o. “And he said, ‘I don’t know him personally, but I’m glad you got a job.’”
— Lupita Nyong’o: US-based Kenyan Actress Takes Hollywood by Surprise
Lupita Nyong’o (Photo: AP)
Tadias Magazine
News Update
Published: Friday, January 17th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — New York-based Kenyan actress and film director Lupita Nyong’o is well on her way to becoming a household name in Hollywood. She won this year’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards – Best Supporting Actress prize for her successful debut role in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave released in 2013. She is also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards Supporting Actress and the film industry’s most coveted Oscar nomination as well.
Lupita who currently lives in Brooklyn with her brother is the second of six children. She was born in 1983 in Mexico where her family were political refugees. The family repatriated to Kenya when she was less than one year old. Her father is currently serving in the Kenyan Senate representing Kisumu County.
A new Amharic language collection will be housed at the Silver Spring Library (8901 Colesville Rd.), County Executive Isiah Leggett’s office announced on Wednesday.
On Thursday afternoon, Leggett will join members of the Ethiopian community for a formal announcement about the new collection. Also speaking at the event will be Meron Wondwosen, secretary of the Ethiopian Literary and Cultural Awareness Association, and Elias Woldu, vice chair of the African American Advisory Group, according to a statement from Leggett’s office.
Helina Teklu, 15, is diagnosed with end stage kidney disease. (Image credit: Screen shot from EBS Video)
Tadias Magazine
OP-ED
By Meron Abebe
Published: Sunday, August 18, 2013
Washington, DC – Like many girls her age around the world 15-year-old Helina Teklu has big dreams for her future. The teen, who is a tenth-grader and an “A” student, hopes to become a doctor one day in Axum, Ethiopia, where she was born and raised. At the moment, however, Helina is more focused on staying alive. She is suffering from kidney failure, and her doctors have determined that she can only be assisted with specialized medical care abroad. Her family cannot afford to pay for treatment.
I came across Helina’s touching story through a recent video that is circulating among Ethiopians on social media. Her condition epitomizes the long road ahead to improving the dire shortages of health professionals and up-to-date medical facilities in Ethiopia. Helina Teklu is the exact citizen Ethiopia needs today — someone with the ambition to be educated so she can be useful to her community and country.
For Helina’s working class parents (both teachers) the knowledge that their daughter may die soon aware that she could have been saved, is more than they can handle on their own. Her care outside the country, if made possible, is expected to cost upwards of $40,000 for the transplant operation and other related healthcare services. That’s why I am getting involved reaching out to readers with a strong belief that we can make a difference if we can pull our minds and resources together to give Helina the second chance she so deserves.
From a personal standpoint, Helina’s will to survive by itself is inspiring enough for me to act, but her goal is likewise beneficial for all of us. At least, it’s clear to me that her aspirations are not just a lofty child-like dream, but one that has been her life’s journey until abruptly interrupted by this illness. After all, she was a stellar student who is admired by her friends, teachers and neighbors.
You can watch the video here. Let’s give Helina a hand.
— Meron Abebe is the founder of the non-profit organization Thankful Soul. She lives in Washington,D.C.
If You Want to Help:
You can contact Helina’s parents directly in Ethiopia:
Teklu Hagos (0914766051) and Mantegbosh Fissha (0921886921)
Funds can be sent to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
Account number 1000022462133.
In the U.S.: Wells Fargo, Recipient Abeba Yehdego
For transfer or an Electronic deposit:
Routing # (102000076) and Account # ( 1250106620)
Wire : Routing # (121000248) and Account # (1250106620)
Walk-in: Routing # (516306502) and Account # (1250106620)
'Difret' is written and directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, pictured above with the lead actress Tizita Hagere, center right, and her friends. (Photo courtesy Haile Addis Pictures)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, May 30th, 2013
New York (TADIAS) – You may remember our highlight last year of a group of independent Ethiopian filmmakers in the U.S. who successfully raised seed money via Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform, to finance the production of a feature length movie called Difret. Originally titled Oblivion, the film chronicles the true story of a teenager from a small, rural village in the Arsi region whose widely publicized arrest for murder in the late 1990s unleashed a historic court battle that resulted in the girl’s acquittal on the grounds of self-defense, legally ending the traditional practice of child marriage by abduction in Ethiopia.
This week the producers released a short clip of their nearly complete project, revealing for the first time that the main character, 14-year-old Aberash Bekele, is powerfully portrayed by a new teen actress named Tizita Hagere, while Aberash’s feisty lawyer Meaza Ashenafi is played by one of Ethiopia’s leading actresses, Meron Getinet.
“We did two rounds of casting and looked at many professionals and youngsters from various local schools,” Leelai Demoz, one of the co-producers, told Tadias. Regarding the audition process, Leelai said, they screened over 400 people who tried out for the film’s various roles. As to the newcomer Tizita, she was spotted by the director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari. “It was one of those moments where as soon as he saw her performance at one of the auditions he noticed that she embodied the character he had envisioned,” he said.
The epic story opens with Aberash’s ordeal one fateful afternoon in 1997 when she was abducted while walking home from school. She was singled out from her friends by a group of horsemen, led by a 29-year-old farmer, who had planned to kidnap and marry her. That was the person she was accused of killing. “He hit me about the face,” Aberash told the authorities at the time. “I nearly lost consciousness. He was such a huge man, I couldn’t push him away. Then he forced my legs apart. He beat me senseless and took my virginity.” Aberash eventually fatally shot the man. She said that she discovered the gun in a room where she was being held, picked it up, and ran away. Following a chase she turned the weapon on her attacker; She was arrested and charged with murder.
“Making this film has really been a humbling experience because of the support of the community,” Leelai noted: “So many people have come through in so many ways and risen to the challenge.”
“Difret was the Amharic title and as we thought about it, it felt right to keep it for the English version as well,” Leelai said mentioning the recent change of the film’s English heading.
The video was released on kickstarter.com, where the team has launched a second round of campaign for funds to help them finish the final stages of editing work in preparation for the movie’s submission to international competitions later this year.
“In the next two months, we have to start the post production sound mix,” Leelai emphasized. “This process is where every track of audio is mixed and perfected.” He added: “It is labor-intensive and expensive process. In some cases, we have to re-record some audio. We also need to do color correction. This is what gives the film a uniform look. Any differences in exposure or color temperature are fixed. At the end, we will have a film that looks and sounds amazing. This part is where you don’t want to cut corners.”
Below is the two-minute video with an introduction from the director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari.
Watch:
— You can Learn more and contribute to the kickstarter campaign for Difret at www.kickstarter.com.
—
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
Tsige Hussien of Virginia is one of the contestants at the 2011 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (Photo by Matt Andrea)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
New York (TADIAS) – The 6th annual Miss Africa USA pageant will be held in Silver Spring, Maryland this weekend, with dozens of finalists from across the country descending into the city to vie for the 2011 crown and scholarship prize.
Last year’s winner, Fifi Soumah of Guinea, a resident of Maryland, will be passing on the title to the new winner on Sunday, November 13th. According to organizers, the Hilton Hotel ceremony will be hosted by Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron.
This year’s contestants will accumulate points toward their final score starting at the Saturday evening red-carpet gala where they will be presenting their social message. “Pageant Delegates [will] introduce their platforms and humanitarian ventures,” the organization announced. “This special banquet introduces the contestants for the coveted crown of Miss Africa USA.”
29-year-old Nursing student, Tsige Hussein, from Northern Virginia Community College, is representing Ethiopia.
“We were impressed by Ms. Hussien’s platform,” said Lady Kate Njeuma, CEO and Founder of Miss Africa USA. “She wants to use the stage to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.”
Tsige’s agent Markos Huluka said that she is nervous but is very happy about the support from the community. “She already has sponsors covering her hotel expenses. Ethiopian businesses are also advertising in the Miss Africa USA magazine,” he said. And he describes Tsige’s efforts in preparation as akin to “studying for a big exam.”
“I know people that are affected by HIV/AIDS.” Tsige Hussien told Tadias last month. “That’s why I have decided to make it my platform. Based on my own experience, the problem with HIV/AIDS is lack of awareness on how to prevent it.”
Tsige has also been honing her public speaking skills, appearing last week as a guest speaker at Little Ethiopia DC’s “Ethio Mixer.”
Markos says he is already thinking beyond Sunday. “We will be working with promoters in over 22 states to choose the next Miss Ethiopia USA queen,” he said. “The national winner will automatically qualify for the 2012 Miss Africa USA Pageant.”
– If You Go:
Zelalem Woldemariam, pictured above in 2010 in Spain, is one of the winners of the 2011 Focus Feature’s Africa First program for short films. (Courtesy Photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Wednesday, November 2, 2011
New York (TADIAS) – NBC Universal’s Focus Features has named Ethiopian Filmmaker, Zelalem Woldemariam, as one of the recipients of its 2011 grant for short films from Africa.
Earlier last month, CEO of Focus Feature’s Africa First program, James Schamus, announced that their initiative exclusively for emerging filmmakers from Africa has awarded five artists $10,000 apiece. The grant is designed to help finance the production of a short film by each filmmaker.
“My film is about an Ethiopian drummer who learns about his identity and traditional music in an unexpected way,” Zelalem said in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine. Speaking about his film entitled Adamet (Listen), Zelalem adds: “I have always been fascinated by our music and I have wanted to do a film that showcases this rich and colorful part of our culture for a long time.”
The other winners include Ms. Oshosheni Hiveluah of Namibia, Mr. Cedric Ido of Burkina Faso, Mr. Mark Middlewick of South Africa and Ms. Akosua Adoma Owusu of Ghana.
According to the motion picture company, the winning filmmakers will also visit New York City this month for a weekend to meet each other as well as Mr. Schamus and President of Focus Features production Jeb Brody.
“I’m continually impressed by the range of great young artists we meet through Africa First,” Mr. Schamus said in a statement. “Each filmmaker has a distinctive vision and voice, and I look forward to learning from them at our summit.”
Zelalem is a self-taught filmmaker, born and raised in Addis Ababa. In 2005, he founded Zeleman Production, which now employes twenty-five people and has become one of Addis’ go-to studios for creating various media products. Zelalem’s first international recognition came in 2010 when his film called Lezare (For Today), a 12 minute movie which explores the link between environmental degradation and poverty, won the “Best Short Film Youth Jury Award” at the 7th African Film Festival in Spain.
Producer Kisha Cameron-Dingle, who serves as program director for the Africa First program, said, “We are particularly proud of the diversity and ambition in this year’s solid group, with new storytellers coming from several countries contributing to the program for the first time.”
“This means a lot for me and my Ethiopian filmmaker colleagues,” Zelalem said. “To be recognized by a Hollywood studio is a big deal.” He added: “Personally I hope it will open a lot of doors.”
— You can learn more about Focus Features’ Africa First program at focusfeatures.com.
Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron, will host the 2011 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (Photo by Jim Carpenter/ Fredericksburg.com)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Friday, October 28, 2011
New York (TADIAS) – As the countdown continues for the 2011 Miss Africa USA Pageant, organizers announced that Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron, will host the event on November 13th in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Cameron, who was born and raised in Virginia, was crowned Miss America on January 30, 2010 after beating out 52 other contestants for the $50,000 scholarship. An aspiring singer and Miss America’s Talent Award winner in vocal pop, she has performed at noteworthy venues, including the historic Apollo Theatre in New York City as well as during the 2009 presidential inauguration festivities. She is the third Miss Virginia to win the national title.
This year’s contestant representing Ethiopia, 29-year-old Tsige Hussein, is also a Virginian. She is currently a nursing student at Northern Virginia Community College.
“Ms. Hussien was chosen out of several Ethiopian candidates,” Lady Kate Njeuma, CEO and Founder of Miss Africa USA, said in a recent interview with Tadias. “She stood out because of her confidence level and her passion for humanitarian work.”
Lady Kate added that each contestant was required to present a social cause that she intends to focus on if selected as a winner.
“We were impressed by Ms. Hussien’s platform,” Lady Kate said. “She wants to use the stage to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.”
“I know people that are affected by HIV/AIDS.” Tsige Hussien told Tadias. “That’s why I have decided to make it my platform.” She added: “Based on my own experience, the problem with HIV/AIDS is lack of awareness on how to prevent it.”
Tsige arrived in the United States from Ethiopia in 2002 after attending Bole High School in Addis Ababa, and graduated from a boarding school in West Virginia.
“When I was younger people used to tell me that I should be a model,” Tsige said. “I would reply ‘no’ I want to be a nurse. I am eager to show that beauty is more than a pretty face.”
“Yes, it’s true that we emphasize the essence of the women in this pageant,” Lady Kate admits. “But we still need a pretty face to represent Africa.”
Tsige was drawn to participate in Miss Africa USA pageant because “they focus on the woman as a whole and not only on physical appearance.”
As part of their pageant performance, the contestants must also present a musical celebration of their native country. “I am still searching for the right music,” Tsige said. “I have posted on Facebook asking people to helping me select the song.”
“I would like the music to reflect the diversity of Ethiopia,” she said. “Because I have a little bit of everything: Oromo, Gurage, Wolo, Tigre.” She adds: “My childhood memories of Ethiopia include the feeling of love. We spent a lot of time outdoors playing eqaqa (house), sēnyo/maksenyo ( hopscotch), soccer. I want the song to reflect that too.”
— Photo of Tsige Hussein by Matt Andrea.
– If You Go: The 2011 Pageant is slated for Sunday November 13th from 5pm – 11pm. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Tickets are selling via the website www.missafricaunitedstates.com. The African Banquet takes place on Sat Nov 12 and tickets are $100 each. Both events will take place at the Hilton Hotel 8272 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD. Free parking is available.
— Related: Miss Africa USA Picks Ethiopian Finalist
A fundraising page has been set up by Anti-Slavery International, in conjunction with CNN, to raise money for the treatment and care of Shweyga Mullah, the badly burned former nanny of two of Moammar Gadhafi's grandchildren.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Saturday, September 3, 2011
New York (TADIAS) – CNN reports that it was inundated with offers to assist Shweyga Mullah, the 30-year-old migrant worker who had served as a nanny for Hannibal Ghadafi’s family. A fundraising effort is underway to raise money for her treatment and care. Shweyga says she was burned with boiling water multiple times by Hannibal Ghadafi’s wife, the former Lebanese model, Aline Skaf.
The fundraising page is set up by the world’s oldest human rights organisation Anti-Slavery International and CNN – whose news-crew discovered Shweyga last week while visiting a beachfront mansion in western Tripoli formerly owned by the Gadhafi family. She was found abandoned inside the luxury compound.
The website notes: “CNN is helping aid agencies arrange for Shweyga to be taken to an international burn clinic for treatment. It is estimated that it will take up to eight months for Shweyga to recuperate and the money raised will go to paying for any extra care she needs, including her living costs and flights. Money raised beyond the amount needed for Shweyga’s care will be used by Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organisation, which works to protect domestic workers from abuse and slavery across the world.”
— Click Here to Donate to Shweyga Mullah’s Fund Click Here To Read/Write Comments
Above:President Obama held a forum at the White House on
Tuesday with 115 young leaders from Africa designed to mark
the fiftieth anniversary of African independence (Getty Images)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Tuesday, August 3, 2010
New York (Tadias) – President Barack Obama hosted a large contingent of young African leaders from the public and private sectors at the White House on Tuesday.
115 young leaders representing more than 40 countries – including Ethiopia – gathered for the East Room event, where the President led a town hall meeting urging the attendees to focus on economic progress, fighting corruption, disease and extremism on the continent.
“We are rooting for your successes,” Obama said. “And we want to work with you to achieve that success. But ultimately, success is going to be in your hands.”
The young leaders were joined by a number of U.S. administration officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and others.
WATCH
According to the White House, the event, which was also designed to mark the fiftieth anniversary of African independence, “presents the U.S. government and American friends of Africa with an opportunity to deepen and broaden our understanding of the trajectories of African societies, and to reflect on how the next generation are building their communities’ and their nations’ futures – just as their predecessors did in the era of independence from colonial rule.”
In addition to the town hall meeting, the three-day forum features small-group discussions on topics such as transparency and accountability, job creation and entrepreneurship, rights advocacy, and the use of technology to empower individuals and communities.
The administration hopes the event will also serve as a networking opportunity between the African leaders and their American counterparts. “The U.S. government’s role in this gathering is as a convener, encouraging networks between young American and African leaders, and pursuing lasting partnerships on behalf of our common security and prosperity,” the White House said. “This dialogue and follow-up events in Africa will help the U.S. government better assess how to support Africa’s own aspirations going forward.”
Per the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, four young people represented Ethiopia at the forum, including Mahlet Eyassu Melkie, 29, a climate change activist; Meron Getnet Hailegiorgis, 27, an author; Salsawit Tsega Ketema, 30, Founder of Sel Art Gallery and Yohannes Mezgebe Abay, 35, Vice President of the Pan African Youth Union.
Cover Image:President Obama speaks during a town hall meeting with Young African Leaders in the East Room at the White House. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
Above:President Obama will convene a forum at the White
House next month with 120 young leaders from Africa and
their counterparts from the United States. – (Pete Souza)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Thursday, July 22, 2010
New York (Tadias) – President Barack Obama is set to play host to a large contingent of young African business and community leaders next month for a White House initiated effort to foster stronger partnerships in the years ahead.
Nearly 120 young leaders from civil society and the private sector representing more than 40 African countries will gather in Washington for a three-day conference scheduled to take place from August 3rd to August 5th, 2010.
“Together with American counterparts and U.S. government officials, the participants will share their insights on key themes of youth empowerment, good governance, and economic opportunity,” the White House said in a statement. “President Obama will host a town hall meeting at the White House with these young leaders to discuss their vision for transforming their societies over the next fifty years.”
According to the White House: “The President’s Forum with Young African Leaders presents the U.S. government and American friends of Africa with an opportunity to deepen and broaden our understanding of the trajectories of African societies, and to reflect on how the next generation are building their communities’ and their nations’ futures – just as their predecessors did in the era of independence from colonial rule. In addition to the town hall meeting with the President, the forum will include small-group discussions on topics such as transparency and accountability, job creation and entrepreneurship, rights advocacy, and the use of technology to empower individuals and communities. African participants will have an opportunity to meet with grassroots service organizations to share experiences and strategies.”
The administration hopes the event will also serve as a networking opportunity between the African leaders and their American counterparts. “The U.S. government’s role in this gathering is as a convener, encouraging networks between young American and African leaders, and pursuing lasting partnerships on behalf of our common security and prosperity,” the statement added. “This dialogue and follow-up events in Africa will help the U.S. government better assess how to support Africa’s own aspirations going forward.”
–
Update
Four Ethiopians To Participate in the Forum With U.S. Ambassador Donald E. Booth
Per the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the
following four young leaders will represent
Ethiopia at the upcoming White House forum.
Mahlet Eyassu Melkie, 29, Climate Change Activist
Meron Getnet Hailegiorgis, 27, Author
Salsawit Tsega Ketema, 30, Founder, Sel Art Gallery
Yohannes Mezgebe Abay, 35, Vice President, Pan African Youth Union
Cover Image:President Barack Obama listens during a meeting with residents at Carmandelle’s Live Bait and Boiled Seafood in Grand Isle, La., June 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
New York (Tadias) – Bernos, which we first featured in March 2008, is an upstart clothing company founded by young Ethiopian and Eritrean American entrepreneurs and artists. In recent months, celebrities were spotted sporting the label’s hip tees on media appearances. Earlier this year, a member of the music group started by Somali-born rapper K’naan was seen wearing the Bernos Made in Africashirt in their music video. And today, we discovered another series of videos in our inbox showing Damian Marley, the youngest son of the late reggae legend Bob Marley, wearing one of the company’s inaugural designs Addis Ababa Classic during his interview on Boston’s Hot 97.5 station. Enjoy the videos:
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: March 28, 2008
New York (Tadias) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
Above:Yehune and Tutu Belay take a seat in their new
restaurant, which is decorated with imported arts and
crafts. (Photos By Lois Raimondo — The Washington Post)
WaPo
By Tom Sietsema
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The co-owner of the Ethiopian Yellow Pages of the Washington area estimates there are more than 45 dining rooms serving doro wot and injera. So how does Yehune Belay, who just added the title of restaurateur to his résumé, hope to distinguish his place in Shaw from the pack? By re-creating the atmosphere of an Ethiopian home, he says. Read more.
Related from Tadias archives: Little Ethiopia in LA: How it happened
Tadias Magazine
By Azeb Tadesse & Meron Ahadu A perspective from the people behind the idea
Los Angeles (Tadias) – By now, most people have heard of Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles, a place named for its unique ability to put forward a serving of Ethiopia. Along with the news, there have been many speculations on how this event came about and what it took to visibly acknowledge the essence of the area. As with most things in this world, Little Ethiopia began as a notion. Over a 10-year period, a number of Ethiopian restaurants and specialty store businesses slowly began to relocate to a strip on Fairfax Avenue. The neighborhood was soon transformed from an abandoned boarded up drive-by strip into a hub for community life, buzzing with colors, aroma, and affability of Ethiopian’s ancestral home. As years passed, Ethiopians and Angelinos began to label the area as “Little Addis”, “Little Ethiopia”, and “Ethiopian Restaurant Row”.
The notion began to take hold after PBS aired a segment of Huell Howeser’s popular “Our Neighborhood” show entitled “Little Ethiopia”. Meron Ahadu, co-author of this article, was the tour guide for that segment and the show got its title from the fact that the strip offered visitors a slice of Ethiopia.
The chain of events that led to the fruition of Little Ethiopia began when Meron Ahadu and Tirsit Asrat organized a fundraising for Congressman Mervyn Dymally, who played a key role in the mid 80’s in helping Ethiopians get amnesty. At the time, he was running for a seat in the California State Assembly. Unfortunately, the turnout by the Ethiopian community was disappointing. Nonetheless, it was at this event that the idea of Little Ethiopia was put forth and the Congressman pledged his support.
Five women came together to plan another benefit for the Congressman with a goal to get better participation from the Ethiopian community. It was at this time that the need became apparent to form a non-partisan organization that stood for an increased involvement of the Ethiopian community in the U.S. democratic process. Hence, the Ethiopian-American Advocacy Group (EAAG) was established. In addition to raising funds for Congressman Dymally, the function held on July 26, 2002 was the launching ceremony of EAAG. Various city and state officials attended this highly successful event. One of the short- term projects presented at this occasion was Little Ethiopia and it won the support of Herb Wesson, Speaker of the House for the California State Assembly, and Councilman Nate Holden of District 10, where Little Ethiopia was proposed to be located.
On August 7, 2002, the motion to name Little Ethiopia was presented to the Los Angeles City Council. Consequently, as a result of aggressive lobbying of several political personalities by EAAG members, the City Council voted unanimously to designate the area on Fairfax Avenue, between Olympic and Pico, as Little Ethiopia. The enormous support and candid enthusiasm of the City Council members and the larger Ethiopian community came as a pleasant surprise to many, even to those who worked on the project. A highly successful street festival organized by the community followed on November 24, 2002, to inaugurate the area as Little Ethiopia. A one-block stretch of Fairfax was closed to through traffic for a street festival featuring children’s village, cultural dance and music, fashion show and contemporary Ethiopian music. Approximately 5,000 people attended the festival from all walks of life and congratulations were received from around the globe. City officials and community leaders unveiled the sign designating the place as Little Ethiopia and thus the area was renamed bearing Ethiopia’s name.
This event was truly significant in many respects; firstly, this was the first time in the entire history of the United States that a city has recognized an African country by naming an area after it. Secondly, Little Ethiopia is the only place outside of Ethiopia that bears the name of the motherland. As one drives through the area, it is difficult to ignore the official sign designating the area. In that respect, it indicates that Ethiopians have arrived, are here to stay, and have stood up to be counted as vibrant members of the City of Los Angeles. Finally, yet importantly, this is a legacy for the next generation of Ethiopian-Americans. They will not be burdened with the task of establishing their identity but will have a footnote in the history books to refer to as they strengthen and build their presence in the U.S. and aboard.
It is quite overwhelming to realize that a deed at the local level should have such a universal significance. However, this only bears witness to the importance of engaging one’s surrounding, and begs the question: what can be accomplished if we focus on our commonality by setting aside our differences? What could the 65,000 Ethiopians in Southern California do if they join forces? How about the more than 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.? Better yet, what could a coalition of a couple of million African immigrants accomplish? EAAG hopes we will find out in our lifetime.
Above:A microbiologist tests samples for Influenza
A (H1N1), also called swine flu, at the Dallas Department of
Health and Human Services laboratory in Dallas on May 1,
2009. (Reuters).
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
MAY 5, 2009
Texas state health officials have confirmed the first death of a Texas resident with swine flu. Few details have been released, but officials say the woman was in her 30s and lived in Cameron County, along the U.S.-Mexico border, and had other, chronic health conditions. The Texas Department of State Health Services said she died earlier this week. Read more.
New York (Tadias) – A little over a year ago, on March 28, 2008, we featured an upstart clothing company called Bernos, founded by young Ethiopian and Eritrean entrepreneurs and artists in the United States. And this morning, when we checked our inbox, we discovered an exciting short video in which Rayzak, a member of the Somali-born rapper K’naan’s crew, is shown wearing the Bernos Made in Africa shirt. Enjoy!
Bernos Tees blend hip and culture
By Tadias Staff
New York (Tadias) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above: “d’Afrique”, a more recent Bernos design. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
Genet Agonafer, chef and owner of Meals by Genet, holds a plate of traditional Ethiopian food offered at her restaurant in Little Ethiopia. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Fairfax Avenue seems to have crossed oceans when it reaches this flavorful and colorful stretch of stores.
L.A.’s Fairfax Avenue has long been a meeting place for diverse cultures.
It became an artery for the Jewish community in the 1950s, and the original Farmers Market has been a central gathering ground for Angelenos of every stripe since 1934.
The most recent arrivals to claim a slice of Fairfax as home are Ethiopians, who in the 1990s began forming a critical mass of restaurants, markets and service shops between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive.
In 2002, the city officially recognized this enclave as Little Ethiopia, and today the buzz of commerce — and coffee — transports visitors to Addis Ababa. Read More.
Related from Tadias Archives: Little Ethiopia: How it happened
Tadias Magazine
By Azeb Tadesse & Meron Ahadu A perspective from the people behind the idea
Los Angeles (Tadias) – By now, most people have heard of Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles, a place named for its unique ability to put forward a serving of Ethiopia. Along with the news, there have been many speculations on how this event came about and what it took to visibly acknowledge the essence of the area. As with most things in this world, Little Ethiopia began as a notion. Over a 10-year period, a number of Ethiopian restaurants and specialty store businesses slowly began to relocate to a strip on Fairfax Avenue. The neighborhood was soon transformed from an abandoned boarded up drive-by strip into a hub for community life, buzzing with colors, aroma, and affability of Ethiopian’s ancestral home. As years passed, Ethiopians and Angelinos began to label the area as “Little Addis”, “Little Ethiopia”, and “Ethiopian Restaurant Row”.
The notion began to take hold after PBS aired a segment of Huell Howeser’s popular “Our Neighborhood” show entitled “Little Ethiopia”. Meron Ahadu, co-author of this article, was the tour guide for that segment and the show got its title from the fact that the strip offered visitors a slice of Ethiopia.
The chain of events that led to the fruition of Little Ethiopia began when Meron Ahadu and Tirsit Asrat organized a fundraising for Congressman Mervyn Dymally, who played a key role in the mid 80’s in helping Ethiopians get amnesty. At the time, he was running for a seat in the California State Assembly. Unfortunately, the turnout by the Ethiopian community was disappointing. Nonetheless, it was at this event that the idea of Little Ethiopia was put forth and the Congressman pledged his support.
Five women came together to plan another benefit for the Congressman with a goal to get better participation from the Ethiopian community. It was at this time that the need became apparent to form a non-partisan organization that stood for an increased involvement of the Ethiopian community in the U.S. democratic process. Hence, the Ethiopian-American Advocacy Group (EAAG) was established. In addition to raising funds for Congressman Dymally, the function held on July 26, 2002 was the launching ceremony of EAAG. Various city and state officials attended this highly successful event. One of the short- term projects presented at this occasion was Little Ethiopia and it won the support of Herb Wesson, Speaker of the House for the California State Assembly, and Councilman Nate Holden of District 10, where Little Ethiopia was proposed to be located.
On August 7, 2002, the motion to name Little Ethiopia was presented to the Los Angeles City Council. Consequently, as a result of aggressive lobbying of several political personalities by EAAG members, the City Council voted unanimously to designate the area on Fairfax Avenue, between Olympic and Pico, as Little Ethiopia. The enormous support and candid enthusiasm of the City Council members and the larger Ethiopian community came as a pleasant surprise to many, even to those who worked on the project. A highly successful street festival organized by the community followed on November 24, 2002, to inaugurate the area as Little Ethiopia. A one-block stretch of Fairfax was closed to through traffic for a street festival featuring children’s village, cultural dance and music, fashion show and contemporary Ethiopian music. Approximately 5,000 people attended the festival from all walks of life and congratulations were received from around the globe. City officials and community leaders unveiled the sign designating the place as Little Ethiopia and thus the area was renamed bearing Ethiopia’s name.
This event was truly significant in many respects; firstly, this was the first time in the entire history of the United States that a city has recognized an African country by naming an area after it. Secondly, Little Ethiopia is the only place outside of Ethiopia that bears the name of the motherland. As one drives through the area, it is difficult to ignore the official sign designating the area. In that respect, it indicates that Ethiopians have arrived, are here to stay, and have stood up to be counted as vibrant members of the City of Los Angeles. Finally, yet importantly, this is a legacy for the next generation of Ethiopian-Americans. They will not be burdened with the task of establishing their identity but will have a footnote in the history books to refer to as they strengthen and build their presence in the U.S. and aboard.
It is quite overwhelming to realize that a deed at the local level should have such a universal significance. However, this only bears witness to the importance of engaging one’s surrounding, and begs the question: what can be accomplished if we focus on our commonality by setting aside our differences? What could the 65,000 Ethiopians in Southern California do if they join forces? How about the more than 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.? Better yet, what could a coalition of a couple of million African immigrants accomplish? EAAG hopes we will find out in our lifetime.
Above:Winner of the title of Miss Ethiopia 2009 Chuna Okaka
(C) poses with the first runner-up Meron Getachew (L) and the
second runner-up Samrawit (R) during the Miss Ethiopia 2009
Beauty Pageant in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 18, 2009.
(Xinhua Photo)
A 22-year-old university student from Gambella won the title of Miss Ethiopia beauty competition held here on Saturday.
The winner, Chuna Okok, a sophomore at the faculty of business and economics, Addis Ababa University, outranks all of her 20 competitors.
She won Miss Ethiopia 2009 contest and received an award of diamond ring worth 60,000 Birr, according to competition organizer Ethiopian Village Adventure Playground.
The 1963 Miss Ethiopia winner Ejigayehu Beyene has put the crown for this year’s Miss Ethiopia winner, Chuna Okok.
Winner of the title of Miss Ethiopia 2009 Chuna
Okaka (R) wears the cordon during the Miss Ethiopia
2009 Beauty Pageant in Addis Ababa, capital of
Ethiopia, Jan. 18, 2009.(Xinhua Photo)
After being named Miss Ethiopia of 2009, Chuna said that she was excited to win the title as it would leave a message that Ethiopia is a home for beautiful people in its all regions.
Girls attend the finals of the Miss Ethiopia 2009 Beauty Pageant in Addis
Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 18, 2009. Chuna Okaka won the title of Miss
Ethiopia 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
Chuna is to take part in Miss World Cultural Heritage of 2009 due to be held in Namibia this year, according to the organizer.
She would have great contribution in promoting her homeland Ethiopia, the organizer said.
Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Sounds of Africa (The Four-Hour Mix) – NYT
Cultural exchange rarely gets more rapturous than it did on Wednesday night at Damrosch Park, in a free concert of African music presented by Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Over the course of about four hours, an overflow audience beheld the efforts of several imposing legends from Ethiopia; a raucous art-punk band from the Netherlands; a jazz combo from Cambridge, Mass.; and a group with roots in Kenya and Washington. The show started strong and never flagged, helped along by an enthusiastic crowd.
The show’s biggest stars were Mahmoud Ahmed, a transfixing vocalist, and Getatchew Mekurya, an authoritative saxophonist. Both artists have reached global audiences through “Éthiopiques,” the acclaimed reissue series on Buda Musique, a French label. And both artists used their stage time to evoke the exuberance of Addis Ababa in the 1970s. But they appeared in separate sets, and with two strikingly different groups. Read More.
New York (Tadias) – Wow, what an event! On Wednesday evening, Damrosch’s Park was packed with Ethiopiques enthusiasts and curious New Yorkers who were treated to an astonishing concert of fusion rock, jazz and Ethiopian music. The historic event at the Lincoln Center’s out of doors concert, one of the longest-running free summer festivals in the U.S, featured Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete accompanied by the Either Orchestra, and the legendary saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya in collaboration with Dutch band the Ex. The trio performed for the first time at Damrosch’s Park.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos
by Trent Wolbe
Alemayehu Eshete and Mahmoud Ahmed (Wednesday, August 20, 2008.
Damrosch’s Park, NYC. (Photos by Trent Wolbe)
Getatchew Mekurya (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
(Photos by Trent Wolbe)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe
Getatchew Mekurya (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photos by Trent Wolbe)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe
Tinos and his son Liben. (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photo/Tadias).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe
Tseday, Asse, Meron, and Negus (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s
Park, NYC. Photo/Tadias).
Maki, Feven, and Maro (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photo/Tadias).
Mickey Dread and Betty (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photo/Tadias).
Adam Saunders & Lydia Gobena (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s
Park, NYC. Photo/Tadias).
Jessica Beshir (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photo/Tadias).
Sara Menker & Zelela Menker (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park,
NYC. Photo/Tadias).
Dave and Tseday (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC.
Photo/Tadias).
Christopher Demma and Elias Kedir (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s
Park, NYC. Photo/Tadias).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photo/Tadias.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos by Trent Wolbe.
Mahmoud Ahmed (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos
by Trent Wolbe.
Mahmoud Ahmed (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos
by Trent Wolbe)
Alemayehu Eshete (Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Damrosch’s Park, NYC. Photos
by Trent Wolbe
Ethiopian immigrants who live here and back Obama include Mike Endale, left, and Teddy Fikre, right, with youngsters, left to right, Ye-Amlak Zegeye, Leyu Negussie and Yared Zegeye. In the background are Yemiserach Endale, left, and Mistella Mekonnen. (Photo Credit: Richard A. Lipski -- The Washington Post)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Friday, August 8, 2008
New York (TADIAS) – The U.S. State of Virginia, which is home to one of the largest Ethiopian American communities in the country, hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in four decades, but some say it might turn blue come November.
“I really believe for the first time in 44 years that we have a great chance of getting the electoral votes in a blue column for Sen. Obama this Fall,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine recently told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
And, if the predictions hold true, the Ethiopian American vote could become the deciding factor in November that would deliver Virginia to the Democrats in a close general election.
“In states like Virginia, Ethiopians are in a unique position to swing the vote”, says Selam Mulugeta, a Field Organizer with Obama for America campaign in Northern Virginia. “If all of us who are eligible to vote do so, then we could potentially win the state.”
Obama himself is not taking any chances. “Ethiopian Americans have contributed so much to
our country and our culture, and it is an honor to have so much support from your community,” he said in a recent letter directly appealing to Ethiopian American voters. “We are working to break all records for voter participation in this election, and I hope you’ll become a part of that effort by registering and voting.”
“I read and reread the letter Barack Obama wrote to the Ethiopian American community. I am delighted that Obama clearly acknowledged the contributions of the community to the country and to the culture,” said Ayele Bekerie, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University.
“He also hinted that, if elected, he is going to have an active foreign policy with the intent of helping people in Africa. That means we should exert even more efforts to make sure that he is elected. By supporting his candidacy and by actively participating in the political process, we are empowering ourselves.”
Of course, not all Ethiopian Americans are crazy about Obama. “What bothers me about him is his extreme leftist position on almost all issues,” writes one person with the alias Aris Tatalis on the Tadias blog. “He was rated the most liberal Senator in the year 2007 by the trend of his vote in the senate. For some reason, I don’t trust these leftists that keep on endorsing him.”
“The brother is doomed,” writes another reader. “There is no way that this country will elect a black man to take over the White House.”
But, most Ethiopian Americans agree that registering to vote is the key.
Meron Wondwosen
Meron Wondwosen (courtesy photo)
“Why should Ethiopians register and vote this November?”, asks Meron Wondwosen, a lawyer who lives in Washington, DC, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama (E40). “The vote determines who gets what, when, where and how. Quite simply, your vote is your voice in a democratic society. While it is not a panacea, it is one of the many strategies we must employ in order to organize ourselves and ensure that our needs are met.”
Mike Endale:
Mike Endale (courtesy photo)
For Computer Programmer Mike Endale, 26, from Maryland, another member of E4O, voting is not only a right, but also a responsibility. “Voting is the ultimate expression of an idea,” he says. “Many Ethiopians who have migrated to the United States never had a chance to vote once in their life time. This is their opportunity to redeem themselves for the lost time.”
Emebet Bekele:
Emebet Bekele (courtesy photo)
Emebet Bekele of Alexandria, Virginia, an insurance agent who works for a family owned agency, says the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the current economic downturn are good enough reasons why Ethiopian Americans should vote in November.
“We are in a war and yes there are a number of young Ethiopian-Americans serving in Iraq & Afghanistan. We need them to come home before they die or get injured. There are a lot of Ethiopian-Americans losing their homes in foreclosures, there are a lot of Ethiopian Americans uninsured because they cannot afford it, there a lot of Ethiopian Americans who cannot send their children to college because it is too expensive,” she said. “The only way we can overcome these obstacles is if we get involved in the political system and get our voices heard. Voting is a right given to us, but it is also a responsibility, we need to exercise that right to protect our community and the larger society.”
Lulit Mesfin:
Lulit
Lulit Mesfin, a small business owner who lives in Portland, Oregon, agrees:
“We cannot afford to remain silent. We must make our voices heard this year. We must vote, and make our votes count. Let’s all remember that African adage it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a whole village to elect a president,” she said.
Mistella Mekonnen:
Mistella Mekonnen (Courtesy photo
Mistella Mekonnen who works as a Licensed Professional Counselor and a member of Ethiopians for Obama adds:
“American citizens of Ethiopian descent are invited to exercise their right to vote as it will enhance our ability to fully participate in this Democracy and voice our concerns in our new home. Voting is a precious right that was bestowed on us citizens through a lot of struggle and we owe it to ourselves to register and to vote in order to participate in the decisions being made that will affect our lives, our families, and our communities at large.”
Teddy Fikre:
Teddy Fikre (Courtesy photo)
“Ethiopians for Obama has been active for the past 12 months working hard to ensure that Ethiopian-American turn-out in record numbers for Senator Obama. We have seen an overwhelming enthusiasm for the Senator; however, we have to turn this enthusiasm into action”, says Teddy Fikre, a business consultant who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and a member of Ethiopians for Obama.
“In battleground states such as Virginia, Minnesota, and Georgia, a large turnout of Ethiopian-American votes could be decisive. It is for this reason that we have been conducting registration drives on a weekly basis for the past three months and registering hundreds of Ethiopians. Our vote is precious, Senator Obama says that this campaign is more about us than it is about him. Now is our time to act, we have to register and vote in order to help elect Obama our next president.”
Team Obama has gotten the message. The campaign has hired an Ethiopian American as a Field Organizer in Virginia, which coupled with the letter from the Candidate, is a clear sign that the Democrats are taking the Ethiopian American factor in the state seriously.
“The letter is historic. This is the first time that the community has received a letter from a presidential candidate”, Professor Bekerie reminds us. “It is indeed a great achievement for the community to be recognized in such a manner. I think we should take his advice seriously regarding voting. We should stand up and ‘be counted as Americans demanding change’, as he puts it. That means those of us who have not registered to vote should immediately register to vote in the coming crucial presidential election. Our voices are being heard and that indeed is good news.”
– Related: African Immigrants Among Obama’s Enthusiastic Backers (The Washington Post) Obama Team Hires Selam Mulugeta (TADIAS)
Washington, DC (Tadias) – North America’s largest African soccer tournament, hosted by the Ethiopian Sport Federation of North America (ESFNA) was held in the nation’s capital this year. The Washington D.C. Metropolitan area is home to the second largest Ethiopian population outside of Ethiopia, and tens of thousands of Ethiopian immigrants attended the event on July 4th weekend.
This year’s vendors were particularly enthusiastic about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Products sold in booths at the tournament site ranged from Obama t-shirts, a photo booth with Obama wearing a traditional Ethiopian shawl, and even Obama juice.
Other vendors used their booth to host traditional coffee ceremonies, sell children’s books, and food while music blasted simultaneously from competing vendor booths. A large tent had been set up at the center of the vendors area where people would flock to take cover from occasional rain.
Friday nights line-up of music artists at RKF stadium included Tilahoun Gesesse, Mahmoud Ahmed, Kuku Sebsibe, Gossaye, and Mike-E.
Here are hot shots.
Above:Ababa Tesafye attended the event as guest of honor. He celebrated his
birthday on July 4th. The announcer did not mention the beloved children’s television
entertainer’s age. People familiar with Ababa Tesfaye say he does not know the year
he was born. At the Ethiopians for Obama booth. We even spotted a vendor selling Obama Juice. At the international Ethiopian Women Association booth. From Left:Meron, Asse, Tseday (Tadias), Liben (Tadias)
New York (Tadias) – The NYC Ethiopian Millennium celebration kicked-off with a concert at Joe’s Pub on Saturday, May 31, 2008. Here are hot shots.
Rising star Mimi (Asresash Meshesha) from Washington, D.C. perfroms at the
Millennium kick-off concert at Joe’s Pub on Saturday, May 31, 2008.
Photo by Rodney Zagury.
Over 200 people attended the the NYC Ethiopian Millennium celebration kick-off
concert at Joe’s Pub on Saturday, May 31, 2008. Photo by Rodney Zagury.
The Ethiopian Millennium celebration concert at Joe’s Pub featured Abebe Teka.
Saturday, May 31, 2008. Photo by Rodney Zagury.
NYC Ethiopian Millennium celebration concert at Joe’s Pub. Saturday, May 31, 2008.
Photo by Rodney Zagury.
New York’s own DJ Sirak (left) entertained the crowd with world music in between
performances at the NYC Ethiopian Millennium celebration concert at Joe’s Pub.
Saturday, May 31, 2008. Photo/Tadias.
Beejhy Barhany (left), Director of BINA and the millennium events coordinator with
her husband at the Ethiopian Millennium celebration concert at Joe’s Pub.
Saturday, May 31, 2008. Photo/Tadias.
Backstage at Joe’s Pub Abebe Teke and Assefa Fanta. Joe’s Pub. Sat., May 31, 2008. Photo/Tadias.
Abebe Teka, Meron Dagnew, and Assefa Fanta. Joe’s Pub. May 31, 2008. Photo/Tadias.
—- Learn more about upcoming Millennium events at: www.binacf.org
New York (TADIAS) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above: “d’Afrique”, a more recent Bernos design. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
Above:Norman Perdue at the Mesgana Dancers New York
Premier. The event was held at NYU’s Skirball Center for the
Performing Arts on Sunday, August 13th, 2007. Photo by
Maki for Tadias Magazine.www.MakiLive.com.MySpace:
makilivecom.
BY STAFF WRITER
New York – Norman Perdue, a former photographer for the Utah Jazz and founder of the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund, the caretaker of the Mesgana Dancers, apologized on Sunday following a Tadias article that raised questions about the kids dizzying travel schedule and his failure to acknowledge the support of the Ethiopian-American community in New York.
“Due to a huge oversight on my part I failed to recognize, on the stage, all the individuals and businesses that had a part in the New York City stop of the Mesgana Tour”, he said in a comment posted on the Tadias blog.
“I publicly apologize for this mistake on my part and would hope that we can move on positively from this time forward.”
Although the apology did not address the children’s busy schedule, it was welcomed as a positive first step in the right direction.
“It is a welcome news in healing the rift with the Ethiopian-American community”, said Meron Dagnew, member of the NYC premier coordinating committee.
“But, at the end of the day, the safety of the children is the number one priority, and I hope COEEF will make the appropriate adjustments to make sure that they are treated properly.”
Ethiopia Reads, another non-profit organization led by the celebrated children’s author Jane Kurtz, which also benefits from the tour, said mistakes were made in over scheduling the children and it will be corrected.
“It’s true that some early legs of the tour were intense — probably too much so”, said Laura Bond, Ethiopia Reads’ director here in the US, who represented the organization at the NYC and New Jersey performances.
“In the future we will not schedule more than two performances in a row. That’s a lesson learned.”
The Mesgana Dancers, who performed in Colorado this weekend, have eight more shows in their sixteen cities U.S tour.
The young girls are scheduled to perform in St. George on August 24th and on August 29th in Murray, Utah, the hometown of the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund.
Controversial Mesgana Dancers Tour Continues in Colorado this Weekend
Aug 17th, 2007
BY STAFF WRITER
New York - The dark light concealing the stage brightened slowly, traditional music flowing gently; a group of beautiful Ethiopian princesses appeared. Walking out in small graceful steps, they started dancing delicately. The audience roared into loud applause.
Less than twenty four hours after they performed for 800 people in Washington. D.C., the Mesgana Dancers dazzled a diverse audience in New York City with an exhilarating display of youthful artistry.
The spectacular presentation at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts showcased a mosaic of Ethiopian culture, music and dance in an inspiring performance that kept the audience on its feet.
Photo by Philipos Mengistu
Photo by Philipos Mengistu
The New York premier was the third event for the young dancers’ sixteen cities U.S tour.
Sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines, the aim of the tour is to raise money for the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund, a Utah Based organization founded by Norman Perdue, a former photographer for the Utah Jazz.
Concern Raised Over The Kids Busy Schedule
Norman Perdue with Mesgana Dancers in New York. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
The dizzying travel schedule, however, is showing signs of stress and fatigue not only on the young dancers, age 7 to 13, but also on the adult chaperons of the group.
Mr. Perdue told the audience in New York that the kids are “tired and groggy”.
The children had to wake up at 3:00 A.M on Sunday (few hours after their performance in Washington, D.C.), to catch a plane to New York. Their busy morning schedule included a promotion appearance at the the Abyssinia Baptist Church. The troupe’s itinerary also listed the Riverside church as one of the kids destinations. After few hours of rest, they were back on the road for their 7 PM show.
Mr. Perdue, who ordered the kids to be “quarantined” (in his words) at the COEEF safe house in Addis Ababa in order to clean them up in preparation for their U.S. tour, enjoys telling American audiences that the kids have fallen in love with McDonald.
“Their favorite food is McDonald’s Happy Meal”, he said during his stage appearance in New York.
On Sunday, August 13th, however, the only happy meal the kids seemed to enjoy was an Ethiopian food provided by the Ethiopian-American community in New York, which the children were observed devouring on the city sidewalk outside the theater after their performance.
“Clearly they are very tired and hungry”, said Meron Dangnew, member of the NYC premier coordinating committee, who helped feed the young dancers. “They told me that they didn’t even have enough to eat that day.”
“These kids are not machines, they need to be treated like children”, she said.
Lack of sleep Blamed for Lack of Recognition of the Ethiopian Community
At the conclusion of a breathtaking performance by the Mesgana Dancers, Mr. Perdue handed out gifts of Ethiopian scarves to select non-Ethiopian members of the group that coordinated the NYC premier, but failed to acknowledge Ethiopians and the generous support of the community.
He told Tadias Magazine that exhaustion is to blame for his insensitivity.
“I am very tired, I don’t know what happened”, he said. “I am exhausted.”
So too are Ethiopian members of the NYC coordinating group and Ethiopian-American business owners who gave generously and even hosted the Mesgana Dancers and Mr. Purdue in a show of traditional Ethiopian hospitality in New York.
Philipos Mengistu, owner and Executive Chef of Queen of Sheba restaurant (who attended the show), hosted the Mesgana Dancers for a free lunch at his mid-town eatery. Mr. Perdue and his wife Ruthann were present.
Mr. Perdue and his wife also attended a dinner for the Mesgana Dancers hosted by Etiye Beke of Merkato in Harlem. Her restaurant also provided the food for the VIPs reception at the SKirball center for the Performing Arts.
Meron Dagnew, member of the NYC coordinating group, was in charge of arranging hotel and transportation for the young dancers. Her other responsibilities included flyer design and distribution, reaching out to the Ethiopian community, and accompanying the children during their historic tour at The Harlem Dance Theater.
“Really, this is lack of sleep”, Mr., Purdue said. “I will make sure to recognize them in other cities”.
Lunch at Queen of Sheba. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
Lunch at queen of Sheba. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
Etiye Beke greets the kids at Merkato. Her restaurant also provided the food for the VIPs reception at the Skirball center for the Performing Arts. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
Meron Dagnew with the kids at Merkato. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
Mr. Purdue at Queen of Sheba. Photo by Steve Dyer of VicRae Inc.
New York - The Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia continuing their tour of New York have met with their peers at the world acclaimed Dance Theater of Harlem. Here are images from their visit.
The Girls itinerary in New York also included a Radio Interview, tour of NYC (where the temperature reached over 90 degrees), lunch at Queen of Sheba (Mid-town, Manhattan), and dinner at Merkato (Harlem).
Radio interview on IRIE JAM 93.5 FM, Link-Up New York
With Meron Dagnew & Lynda James, members of the Coordinating committee for the NYC premier
Above:Historian William Scott (left) & Beejhy Barhany (right),
director of the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation.
By JODY BENJAMIN
Photos by Jeffrey Phipps & Meron Dagnew
NEW YORK – A revealing look at the multi-billion dollar coffee business and the compelling story of how Ethiopia, led by Emperor Menelik II, defeated invading Italians bent on colonization were the main features of the 4th Annual Sheba Film Festival that took place June 9 and 10 in Harlem, New York City.
The festival, which seeks to promote greater awareness of the Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, as well as the history and culture of Ethiopia in general, has been drawing larger audiences each year, said its founder and director Beejhy Barhany.
“We are trying to show more aspects of Ethiopian culture and history,” said Barhany, director of the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation, Inc. which sponsors the festival.
Above:Historian William Scott (left), Beejhy Barhany, director of the Beta
Israel of North America Cultural Foundation, Inc. (middle), Liben Eabisa,
Founder & Publisher of Tadias Magazine (right).
Over the years, Barhany has screened film and videos by and about the Beta Israel community in Israel, Ethiopia, and other places worldwide.
On Saturday night, festival goers saw a preview of a new work in progress by film-maker Avishai Mekonnen, who left Ethiopia for Israel as a child during Operation Moses in 1984.
Mekonnen’s documentary, tentatively titled Judaism and Race, chronicles his journey from Africa to Israel, and finally to the U.S. Along the way, he begins to learn the intimate and inspiring stories of other African, African American, Asian and Latino Jews struggling against invisibility.
“This is so great,’’ said Mekonnen, 33, in speaking about the Sheba festival.
“This festival shows how diverse Africa is. My experience in the US is that most people here don’t understand that. They only know the negative things about Africa — that they are poor, they need money and stuff like that — but nothing about the culture or the positive things.”
On opening night, Barhany served coffee spiced with cinnamon and cloves to movie goers arriving for the screening of Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee outside the Faison Firehouse Theater. The documentary follows the manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative, Tadesse Meskela, in his efforts to improve living conditions for 74,000 Ethiopian farmers. The worldwide coffee industry, worth $80 billion, according to the filmmakers, is dominated by multinational corporations while farmers and growers in many countries around the world face near starvation. Nowhere is this more true than in Ethiopia, where coffee first originated in the Kaffa region, according to the film-makers.
On Sunday, the festival continued with a re-screening of Adwa by the independent director Haile Gerima, first released in 1999. A diverse audience of about two hundred people attended the free screening in the Langston Hughes Auditorium of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Gerima narrates the film in Amharic with English subtitles. It opens with a dramatic shot of the jagged mountain range that in 1896 was the site of a climactic battle between Emperor Menelik II and Italian forces, with Gerima explaining that he learned the story of Adwa “while sitting at the knee of my father.” It continues by elaborating the story of a conflict that started with a treaty that the Italians tried to make with Menelik that the Emperor rejected because he felt it impinged on Ethiopian sovereignty.
Adwa also portrays the impact the battle had outside Ethiopia, noting its influence on the nascent Pan African movement across the African Diaspora. Gerima flashes photos of the first Pan African Congress and some of the major figures later associated with that movement such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey.
During a brief panel discussion after the screening, Howard Dodson, director of the Center for Research in Black Culture, said the battle was “one of two critical moments that transformed the consciousness of the African world.” The other was World War I, he said, which sparked the movement of black folks toward decolonization. “No battle had the impact that Adwa had,’’ said Dodson.
Historian William Scott, who has written extensively about the Italo-Ethiopian conflict of the 1930s, pointed out that the earlier battle of Adwa is less known today. At the time, however, its significance was not lost on many African Americans. According to Scott, the battle was mentioned in a popular 1906 play titled ‘Abyssinia’ that starred the legendary vaudeville performer Bert Williams. The scholar W.E.B. DuBois also incorporated elements of the Adwa story into pageants he organized to educate people about the battle against colonialism in Africa, he said.
When Italy invaded the country a second time in 1936, there were large rallies, marches and efforts to raise funds in support of Ethiopia – mostly in black communities across the United States.
“These pivotal points in our history have tended to be forgotten,” said Scott. “But the entire African world raised up in support for the Ethiopian cause. The epicenter of this rising up was right here in Harlem.”
Scott noted that African American awareness of Ethiopia was not new: it stretched back to at least the 18th century and the association enslaved Africans made with the biblical Psalm that “Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand unto God.”
Picking up on that theme, the third panelist, rabbi Hailu Paris, noted that Ethiopia had long been an important symbol for African American Hebrews. Paris was born in Addis Ababa and adopted by African Americans that had emigrated to Ethiopia but who were forced to flee because of the second Italian attack when he was just a baby. For that reason, he was raised in New York City where he has since become a leading figure among black Hebrews.
He spoke of two early leaders among the Hebrews: rabbis Arnold Ford and Wentworth A. Matthew.
“Because of Marcus Garvey’s predictions and prophecies, Ford and Matthew saw fit to join his movement,’’ said Paris. “Matthew had a church that turned into a synagogue and the beginning of a connection between African Americans and Ethiopians, at least within a religious context, began with these two men.’’
Above:Rabbi Hailu Paris (left), Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture (middle), Historian William Scott (right).
After the panel discussion, folks lined up in the Schomburg lobby for an Ethiopian snack of injera bread with lentils and a cup of Tej honey wine. Drummers played in the background while people mingled. There was a palpable excitement in the room.
Above:Monica Wiggan (left) & Liben Eabisa (right)
Above:Benniam (NYC), Meron Dagnew, and Mesfin Addi
“I was very, very moved,’’ said Nemo Semret, as he lined up for food. “I really liked the chanting of the warriors and the singing afterwards, which is like a recounting. Just to hear the names of the heroes and what they did and the language with which they were described was inspiring. That is what it is supposed to do, no?”
Other viewers described similar reactions.
“I enjoyed the film immensely for the historical content that was given,’’ said Bakbakkar Yehudah, of Newark. “I wasn’t familiar with this story, so I am pleased to know this history.”
One of the many smiling faces in the crowd belonged to 26 year old Ayda Girma, a graphic designer who volunteered for the festival and who was dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing.
“I’m not Jewish. I’m not religious in that way,” said Girma, of Brooklyn. “But it is important to encourage and support events like this for Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians that are curious,” she said.
“It was very important to show this film,’’ said Dr. Faye Bennett Moore, of Harlem. “Very few young people have read or envisioned any of this information about Adwa.”
Near the drummers sat two well-known and respected elders of the Harlem community: the Ethiopian-born historian, Yosef ben Jochannan and Mother Kefa Nepthys.
Above:The Ethiopian-born historian Yosef ben Jochannan (left), Jeffrey Phipps
- (middle) and Mother Kefa Nepthys (right).
Asked for a comment on the day’s activities, ben Jochannan said: “It is important that Africans recognize themselves and learn from each other first.”
Mother Kefa said she was particularly pleased with the panel discussion.
“This is a beginning and I hope it will continue and that we’ll get more people to come and view these films and to hear the lectures, which are excellent.”
A New Mom Celebrates Her Ethiopian Daughter’s First Birthday in America
BY JILL VEXLER
Barely unpacked from Addis, with Tibarek, my newly adopted, almost six year old daughter, she was invited to two birthday parties for children in our building, a boy’s eighth and twin’s sixth. Speaking minimal English, their parents and I marveled at their unique way of communicating after just a few afternoons of play. I was overjoyed.
Above:Pre-party nosh: Jill ties
an apron on Tibarek’s dress.
Photo by Jeremy Scharlack.
The first party arrived, and Tibarek went to help decorate. The party was a production. Helium balloons, magicians, balloon sculptures (her favorite), face-painting, games, gift bags, pizza, and cake. Tibarek joined in the high energy as if she had been reared on New York birthday parties. I started thinking about her fast approaching birthday. When I told her she, too, has a birthday, her expression was as if it suddenly hit her: EVERYONE has a birthday and would have a party. In my limited Amharic, I told her, her birthday was soon, “negge…negge….” (tomorrow.…tomorrow). No language gap here. Yes, friends! Yes, balloons! Yes, pizza! We listed children to invite. We knew seven kids from our building, and the Washington Square playground where I saw her gregariousness in action the first day we came.
Above: Tibarek wearing sunglasses
like those in the gift bags she gave to her
friends on her birthday.
Photo by Jeremy Scharlack.
Entertaining is my second nature, and our loft lends itself to great parties, but a child’s birthday party was daunting. I plunged into calls to other mothers, balloon artists, and magicians. I wanted a memorable party: not too indulgent, expensive, or programmed. I was petrified by the seemingly superfluous gifts other children received. The idea: “in lieu of gifts, please make a donation to Worldwide Orphans Foundation in Ethiopia,” entered my mind but felt self-righteous and pretentious. Tibarek had not been in the US two months, maybe she should plow through wrapping paper like all the other kids. Friends might give her things that would never occur to me, and they were also “Welcome to America” gifts. I still felt I had to counter-balance the possibility of a “Barbie Invasion,” with a clever, fun, homemade celebration.
Above:Tibarek opens gifts.
Photo by Jeremy Scharlack.
My anxiety reflected my self-consciousness about American abundance, and my newness as a mother, more than it did Tibarek’s possible temptation to materialism. I reflected on her kindness and generosity. I had seen her on the playground, giving her bubble wand to a little boy, caring for an infant as she went down the spiral slide, making sure everyone had a turn with the ball. She would easily incorporate this special day into the vast newness that engulfed her life. Deep down, then, it must have been my own pressure to make MY daughter’s party fun, “cool,” and approved of by parents who had already been to dozens. The individualist in me did want not a “cookie-cutter” occasion. A unique party for a unique daughter.
At fifty-seven, I had plunged into a wonderful, dramatic life change: creating a family. My world opened to new people, new culture, new worries, and new learning. My inner anthropologist loved the challenges culturally, and linguistically that a child from Ethiopia presented. I fell in love with the culture during a three week trip volunteering at the AHOPE Orphanage. I met Tibarek, and immediately set the adoption procedure in motion with the Minnesota Children’s Home and Family Service. New Ethiopian friends in Addis, and through them, others in New York, enriched the experience in ways that I never imagined. And here she is – charming, energetic and learning English at break-neck speed.
Creativity set in. I asked my cousin Jeremy, a professional photographer in New York, to set up a studio in the loft. I asked Eddie, who has framed ten exhibitions for me, to give me leftover matte board for kids to frame for Jeremy’s instant photographs. I went to the hobby store for glitter, glue, and treasures for collages on the frames. I called Peter and Diana, who have every costume under the sun, and the dress-up corner was born. The party was shaping up but not enough kids and way too many adults!
My dear Israeli friend and caterer Chava, has a daughter about Tibarek’s age. Chava offered to make cupcakes for kids to decorate. With Chava, they would squeeze bags of icing! I was excited when I realized that the party was the week-end after the Gala for Worldwide Orphans Foundation and the fabulous Dr. Sophie, the pediatrician who checked Tibarek’s health in Addis, would still be in New York with her two young nephews who live in New Jersey. Then, Tibarek’s New York pediatrician, the divine Dr. Jane and her terrific partner Diana would bring their two sons, one Ethiopian, one Vietnamese. Young twins of new Ethiopian friends in New York agreed to come, as well as Meron, an Ethiopian little girl adopted by kind Irene. A little boy from Djbouti and his sweet, supportive father, Angel from Mexico in Tibarek’s ESL class, and a cute Japanese two-year old from the playground were other guests. Tibarek’s god-mother, Terrell, would take the train from Washington. From five children, we ended up with 16, and 38 adults!
The day before the party, Saturday, was Tibarek’s “real” birthday. We went apple picking with a group of kids visiting from Ethiopia, and to a surprise party for our friend George who turned 70. He and his wife Joelle had greeted Tibarek, her godmother, and me, after the flight from Ethiopia. Tibarek adores them. As George uncovered his surprised, teary eyes, he picked Tibarek up and announced, “our newest friend who just arrived in America turns six today!” Seventy-five strangers instantaneously sang “Happy Birthday” to my child. Now I was the one with tears in her eyes.
Above:Tibarek holding her
birthday cupcake.
Photo by Jeremy Scharlack.
After putting Tibarek to bed Saturday night, I decorated the hallway and blew balloons, wanting her to awaken to ambiance that said, “Today’s the day!”
The morning before the party seemed to last forever. Finally, Jeremy arrived with camera, lights and printer; friends brought food; we put music on. As each guest came, Tibarek became the hostess with the mostess- directing adults to go “down to that part of the house” and, with her arm around each child, she escorted each to the crafts and photography areas. She amazed us all as we watched her grace and ease as a social butterfly, speaking non-stop English! Over two hours later with more glitter on the Turkish rugs than on the photo frames, consuming of countless cupcakes, pizzas, juices, hummus, cheese, bread, and wine (adults only!), the party was a success. New friends, families of every imaginable configuration, had celebrated Tibarek’s first birthday in America. Generous and thoughtful gifts that honor her are treasures. She plowed through the wrapping paper like a natural.
She is already talking about her next birthday. Thank goodness it is still nine months away!
Above: Tibarek and Dr. Sophie Mengistu, the pediatrician who
checked Tibarek’s health in Addis. Photo by Jeremy Scharlack.
—– About the Author: Jill Vexler is a cultural anthropologist who does field work in Latin America, North Africa , Israel, Greece, Asia , Eastern Europe and New York City. She designs cultural heritage and social history exhibitions. She volunteered at the AHOPE orphanage, where she fell in love with Ethiopian culture.
Hot Shots from Tadias Magazine 12th Issue Release Party @ Tsinoa Gallery in Harlem, New York
Photos by Teseday Alehegn Event Name: Tadias Magazine 12th Issue Release Party City: Harlem, New York Venue: Tsiona Gallery Hosts: Linda & Yohannes with Tadias Magazine
Email your hot shots to hotshots@tadias.com
Above – Left: Meron Tesfa Michael & friend, Tony Kassa, Henock Temesgen, Right: Mesfin Addi and friends
A Review of two films: 'Kezkaza Wolafen' and 'Etse Beles' (Courtesy image)
Tadias Magazine
By Meron Tesfa Michael
Updated: March 24th, 2007
New York (TADIAS) – Kezkaza Wolafen (2003) by Tewodros Teshome and Etse Beles (2004) by Kidist Bayelege are two blockbuster movies that were released by the recently blooming Ethiollywood film industry. By design, the women of Etse Beles are survivors, independent, and in charge of their destiny; while the women of Kezkaza Wolafen are mainly victims, dependent, and vulnerable, whose existence is defined by the men in their lives. Between Kezkaza Wolafen’s reductive and Etse Beles’ superwoman representation these two films brilliantly identified areas where modern feminism meets traditional values in Ethiopian society. While the commonality of these links is obvious, the interpretation articulated by the filmmakers’ depiction of gender roles draws one’s attention to the discourse of womanhood in contemporary Ethiopian society.
Kezkaza Wolafen is a story about an educated and professional young woman whose middle class lifestyle has been sustained by men who sought to marry her. First, we are introduced to the “bad guy” who financially supported the family because the young woman’s hand was promised to him by her late father. What is supposed to be evil about him is his insistence of marriage against her will, and his plan to avert her from her higher education, and impregnate her – in other words he symbolizes an obstacle to the idea of progress. Later, we are introduced to another man – the lover boy who rescued her from the bad guy. He helped her to finish school, found her a job in his company, provided for her family, and even taught her how to drive. The young woman of Kezkaza Wolafen is portrayed as a good student, obedient daughter, and loyal friend. She is also timid and passive; rage is not in her nature. At one point when the going gets tough, she is seen attempting to commit suicide.
Etse Beles is about the life of undocumented Ethiopian immigrants in America. The story revolves around a young woman and her three roommates – two girls and a guy. Disillusioned by the harsh reality of life as illegal aliens, where dreams are crushed and fantasies unfulfilled, these four turn to alcohol and drugs to fill the void in their lives. Before long, scoring, apparently a very expensive habit, becomes the highlight of their bleak existence. If you thought a marital fall-out, or being an illegal immigrant, or HIV positive are the worst things that can happen to these characters, you would be mistaken. For these four, once the habit kicks in, life spirals downward until they hit rock bottom and their miserable lives crumble. Etse Beles is about choices, adversity, despair and endurance. The main character is not an intellectual and she doesn’t represent any moral superiority. On the contrary, she lies, cheats, and steals. There is also no doubt that she is in charge of her existence, and blunt, brash, dauntless and dopey all at the same time, owns her virtues and shortcomings. In Etse Beles, when the going gets tough, the woman’s task is not to coil-n’-hope to die, but to play the card she has been dealt with and fight it out.
It is incontrovertible that both Kezkaza Wolafen and Etse Beles carry deep and valuable social messages by addressing human torments and dilemmas that are common in the community they are targeting. In both films male and female characters suffer from the consequences of their choices as well as from social injustice. However, the apparent difference between these movies lies in the degree to which roles are defined by the characters’ sexuality. Ethiollywood’s response to gender is not outright offensive, brutal, or degrading. Nevertheless, in most cases Ethiollywood films are full of subtle insinuation and stereotyping that are to the detriment of womanhood. In a social environment where there is no defined collective awareness that is guided by gender-just concerns, the message that movies convey may be crucial because they depict the institutionalization of ideas and meanings. Neither of the two films discussed here claims to be blatantly propagandist for one cause or another when it comes to “the battle of the sexes.” All the same, when viewed from a female perspective, it is clear that one is ostensibly progressive but conformist and the other truly but silently radical.
Subtle stereotyping, relatively invisible, is insidious because it is still demeaning and patronizing. In Kezkaza Wolafen, the heroine is mostly portrayed as someone striving for some sort of intellectual enlightenment, first as a university student and later as a professional woman. Such generous attribution is obviously an attempt to bring the stereotype of modern woman into the discourse. However, the unfortunate aspect of this is that the addition may not be as progressive as one could imagine, because the young woman’s own competency is never allowed to be established by her actions. For example, not once has she been allowed to take the higher moral role within her community. Rather, the source of her “progressiveness” is trivialized by her total lack of control over her destiny. In spite of all the effort made to glorify her as an intelligent woman, toward the end she is diminished by a Shakespearean suicide-plot over something that may or may not have happened – once again providing an opportunity for her lover boy to rescue her. The act of suicide instead of promoting fortitude, conveys the idea that she is an incompetent quitter, who is for someone in her social position, extremely naive.
The other danger of subtle stereotyping is its power to promote masculinity as a value. In both films the norm of male power is projected through roles of bosses, fathers and other authority figures. By depicting these male-roles as something to be feared, admired or sympathized with, honor and glory are linked to masculine identity. For instance, all of the young woman’s achievements in Kezkaza Wolafen are due to the intervention and generosity of men. This undercuts any notion that we could have had of her capability as a competent member of society, and we are led to assume that she is not an independent young protégé, but rather a person in need of protection and help. We may initially assume that this is a gender-neutral manifestation of the power-mongering that is common in traditional and underprivileged societies. But then again, the fact that in Kezkaza Wolafen the message ‘manly men control and protect their women’ floats effortlessly, and the fact that characters and roles were not allowed to grow beyond the customarily defined boundaries promotes the operating assumption that men are the real wielders of power and women are passive dependent bodies to be possessed.
On the other hand, Etse Beles, ingeniously questions this notion by offering an alternative reality, where there are no defined roles or boundaries and women are active participants in their own destiny. The women of Etse Beles do not claim to represent progressive or traiditional social roles. By distributing power and guilt equally among the male and female characters, by allowing the female characters to live in their own world, make their own choices, fail and survive on their own terms, the film weakens the force that promotes chauvinism.
While Kezkaza Wolafen invokes a superficial gestures towards progressive attitudes in women, in hindsight it is not as revolutionary as Etse Beles. Rather, it is a film that engages with the legacy of our socio-cultural chauvinism in a non-confrontational way. Thus, while Kezkaza Wolafen constructs a somewhat positive view of women, the overall image of victimhood and incompetence promotes existing ideas of woman’s disparate position in society. In contrast, Etse Beles – certainly not a 21st century feminist manifesto – is a breath of fresh air to this notion of womanhood. What is revolutionary about the main character of Etse Beles is that in the process of performing her roles as a sister, wife, daughter and girlfriend, the plot allows her to play the often forgotten but most vital role — herself. With no man to be blamed for her failures or come to her rescue, she is allowed to be a being with a soul – reckless, vital and competent – a woman determined to claw her way out of the pit she has dug herself into.
We watch movies because we find them interesting, not because we find them particularly useful or relevant to our personal lives. But then why should we care about the images portrayed by something that is purely meant for entertainment purposes and only requires a couple of hours of our time? We care because films are to society what candy is to our teeth — though sweet, a diet in excess will rot one’s perception of reality. Popular culture’s entertainment is escapism and voyeurism. Concern with popular culture arises when people realize that a movie is a snapshot of reality that is extracted, recast, and marketed. Even when we recognize them as unrealistic, continued exposure influences our view of reality.
In Kezkaza Wolafen both the heroine and the hero have close friends. These brilliant supporting actresses and actors party too much and are irresponsible in their sexual quests. From various dialogues we are made to believe that he does it for fun, and she is just a gold-digger. Later we watch the female character’s health deteriorate and eventually die of HIV/AIDS. On the same token, we are presented with a scene where the male character learns of his HIV positive status. Interestingly, rather than watching him die, within minutes of finding out his status, he declares that he is going to teach the public how to protect itself from the disease. While the idea of his transformation is commendable, the disgraceful death of the woman’s faith and nobility to him is open to a number of interpretations. Should her death be perceived as a woman’s due for flouting the code of social conduct?
The point here is that filmmakers are in a unique position to selectively appropriate gender issues contextually in conjunction with the dominant socio-political norms, and gender representation is open to the influence of competing tendencies, be it the market, cultural capital, communalism, or women’s empowerment articulations. However, with the shortage of female-centered films in the Ethiollywood, with the dearth of positive role models and the brute reality of hundreds of millions of women internalizing the roots of their own destruction, would not a film that plays down the negation within female consciousness be more useful? The danger with films like Kezkaza Wolafen is that a sympathetic representation leads the audience to empathize with, rather than question, such negations. It begs the question: Is Ethiollywood ready for strong, free, unique female characters?
Ethiollywood filmmakers are currently standing at the crossroads between modern feminism and traditional values and are confronted with two possible routes when it comes to designing our symbolic reality. Either they will challenge our attitudes with the possibility of a reality that exists outside past legacies, or reinforce the patriarchal chauvinism attitude that denies a woman’s right to be recognized as a proactive entity — with more options than suicide. Unfortunately, Kezkaza Wolafen is careful in looking after the comfort of its audience and misses an opportunity to articulate the forward-thinking that society would expect from its intellectual women. Etse Beles, while it certainly is not making any cognizant claims within a feminist emancipation context, by allowing the heroines to take center stage, allows us to take a peek at a world where women – even those that are social outcasts – have freewill and, somewhere between the good and bad, have an overwhelming desire to live onscreen.
My agenda is not to challenge the legitimacy of either one of these films on moral grounds. On the contrary, it is to uphold their efforts and to highlight the ways in which their formal preoccupations reflect the obsessions of the society which produced them. Filmmakers, without being obnoxious, can question these obsessions. Between these two films, to which category an Ethiopian woman identifies herself with is entirely up to her perception of self. However, promotion of stereotypes and symbols by drawing from a ready reservoir of gender differentiating myths and legends is not going to help anybody, especially when it is projected by a medium that is considered egalitarian, secular and, in many ways, larger than life.
—————– About the Author:
Meron Tesfa Michael is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science. Her area of research interest includes the politics of gender identity, ethical partiality, and social stratification in new-fangled democratic states. She lives in Harlem, New York.
Meron Hadero's winning short story is about an Ethiopian boy called Getu, who has to navigate the fraught power dynamics of NGOs and foreign aid in Addis Ababa. It impressed the judges who found it "utterly without self-pity" and said it "turns the lens" on the usual clichés. The author was born in Ethiopia and raised in the US by parents who are both medical doctors. Her sister is the singer Meklit Hadero. (BBC News)
