For Immediate Release
Contact: Gabe Hamda, (Phone: 904.645.6954. Email: [email protected])
Jacksonville, Fla. (October, 2, 2005) – While many of the local Jacksonville Jaguars fans were watching and agonizing over the loss of their favorite team to the Denver Broncos Football team, approximately 50 or so Ethiopians, Ethiopian-American and friends of Ethiopia were praying and rallying in support of a peaceful democratic transformation in Ethiopia.
The crowd who met on Sunday afternoon at the University of North Florida was hosted by The Florida Center for Public and International Policy. The hosts, Dr. Henry Thomas and Laura D’Alisera, were a lot more than passive hosts. Dr. Thomas, who many Ethiopians think is their “homeboy” due to his Ethiopian features, joined the panelists, offering expert analysis of why the western nations do not have Ethiopia’s cause as one of their top priorities. D’Alisera passionately read Dr. Donald Levine’s recent letter to the Ethiopian Ambassador defending the long democratic Ethiopian culture. D’Alisera’s pronunciation of some not-so-easy Amharic words was pretty impressive and pleasing to the Ethiopian crowd.
The prayer and rally was a moment of eye-opening cultural exchange among Ethiopian natives and the local friends of Ethiopia. Claud Myers’ rendition entitled “Africa” was crowd-pleasing and fairly new to Ethiopian ears. On the other hand, Zemene Gollas’ patriotic Ethiopian songs connected the Ethiopians and the Americans in a common feeling of euphoria.
The star of the day was Dr. Fassil Gebremariam, who eloquently spoke about the struggle of the Ethiopian people under the current dictator regime. Gebremariam, a well-respected community leader around the Tampa area and the entire State, drove from his hometown of Tampa to inspire and educate the cheerful crowd. Gebremariam performed superbly with a style that rivaled a defending attorney with a great case. Fassil expertly expounded on the vast natural and human resources that Ethiopia possesses as well as its strategic importance to winning the war on terrorism. He exposed the lack of action on the part of the western leaders when it comes to issues that are important to the real needs of poor countries like Ethiopia. Gebremariam, who has incessantly lobbied for Ethiopian causes at the U.S. Congress, expressed his hope for the continued involvement of Ethiopians in their local political process.
Other Ethiopian scholars who joined and spoke at the rally included Dr. Tsehay Alemayehu, an Economics professor at Savannah State, and Dr. Mogus Mochena, a Physics professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Both echoed the importance of advocacy of Ethiopian causes to congregational leaders who allocate U.S. aid to nations like Ethiopia. The Ethiopian professors believe that U.S. foreign policy should
-more-
link directly to human rights and democratic governance of the recipient nations. The ironic parallel between the democratic transformation in Ethiopia and the Sunday afternoon Jacksonville rally was the fact that scholars are the main catalysts and supporters of both the current Ethiopian Transformation as well as the UNF-hosted Ethiopia forum.
The prayer and rally was dubbed as a victory celebration of Ethiopians back home who are claiming back their country from many generations of selfish dictators through a dramatic and democratic revolution. The recent Ethiopian election scored an unprecedented 90 percent voter turn out to vote out its current rulers, only to find out that the losing party declared itself a winner through election fraud & manipulation. The election was deemed not meeting international standards by both the European Union and the Carter Center election monitors.
All speakers and singers expressed their hope and optimism about the triumph of the Ethiopian People over tyranny and dictatorship. While the crowed was ushered to a delightful cuisine of Yeshi Café Ethiopian Restaurant, it was exuding confidence in the Ethiopian People’s resolve to take their country back and their confidence in Kinjit and Hibret, the two political coalition parties who are leading the popular uprising.