The Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) is falling apart in the face of leadership crisis and an impending boycott. The 28-year-old organization has been confronted with numerous problems during the past five years after it was hijacked by the ruling party in Ethiopia through its money man Al Amoudi. The problems include corruption, declining attendance at the annual events, lack of discipline, and poor management.
ESFNA’s problems surfaced in the media when the executive committee arbitrarily reversed the 27-member board’s decision last October to invite Judge Birtukan Mideksa as a guest of honor at the July 2011 event in Atlanta and refused to have an independent CPA audit the organization’s finances.
Recently, the finance head of ESFNA, Ato Abework Abay, resigned after pointing out financial mishandling and lack of transparency on the part of the chairman and other members of the executive committee. The new finance head, Ato Million Gebreyesus, and other members of the board have also questioned the competence of the chairman and the secretary in a recent confidential memo. Some have called on the resignation of the chairman, arguing that it would be impossible to hold the scheduled July 2011 event in Atlanta unless solutions are found urgently.
Meanwhile, Ethiopians in Atlanta are preparing to boycott the July 2011 event. Community leaders have warned the executive committee that unless the board’s decisions are implemented, they will advise members of the Ethiopian community to stay away from the event.
To make matters worse for the ESFNA, the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel has canceled its $250,000 contract citing security problems that have occurred at last year’s event in San Jose where rooms had been vandalized and guests were harassed.
During the past five years, the ESFNA has become a source of embarrassment for the Ethiopian community in North America and a political tool for the Woyanne ruling junta. If there is any chance of salvaging ESFNA, the entire executive committee must resign and be replaced with competent individuals who are free of corruption and Woyanne connection.
By Alemayehu G. Mariam
Music as a Weapon of Protest
It is said that “music is a universal language.” Using a few notes and inspiring lyrics, musicians and song writers have waged relentless battles against the perpetrators of tyranny, oppression, inequality and injustice. Music is a divine language that can pierce through the stony walls of hatred in the heart, the irrationality and fallacies of the mind and the darkness of the spirit. Musicians and songwriters have used their lyrics and melodies to defend and uplift the downtrodden, the exploited, the oppressed, the needy, the persecuted and subjugated. They have pumped up the volume against colonialism, racism, tribalism, imperialism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, totalitarianism, individualism, militarism, sexism, adventurism, fatalism, hedonism, materialism, nihilism, pessimism, statism, corporatism and whatever else is left out. Where have Bob Marely, Fela Kuti,…. gone?
Protest songs have served as potent weapons of political dissent and nonviolent resistance in American history. There were “protest” and “freedom” songs that championed civil rights, women’s rights, labor rights, and human rights and challenged slavery, injustice, inequality, war and brutality. The ultimate American freedom and protest songs were disguised in the Negro spirituals, consisting of religious songs created by enslaved African people in America to protest their oppression, degradation and exploitation on the plantation. They sang about escape from slavery: “Wade in the water./Wade in the water children./Wade in the water./God’s gonna trouble the water./”, was the coded message for fugitive slaves to elude their captors and make it safely to freedom. They sang about slipping the slave master’s grip by hopping on the “underground railroad”: “Swing low, sweet chariot/Coming for to carry me home,/…/ If I get there before you do,/ I’ll cut a hole and pull you through.” They even described the map of the escape route in song: “When the sun comes back,/and the first Quail calls,/Follow the drinking gourd,/For the old man is waiting/for to carry you to freedom/…/ The river ends between two hills,/Follow the drinking gourd,/…/”
In the 1960s, freedom and protest songs provided the spiritual force for the civil rights and nonviolence movement. “We Shall Overcome” became the signature protest song of the U.S. civil rights movement: “Oh, deep in my heart/I do believe/We shall overcome some day/We’ll walk hand in hand some day/We shall all be free some day.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the protest songs of the day “invigorated and gave unity to the movement in a most significant way”.
Political protest and social activism were promoted in American pop music. The Soul music of James Brown electrified African American youth in the 1960s and 70s. “Say It Loud– I’m Black and I’m Proud” was Brown’s signature song. The “Godfather of Soul” used his lyrics and fame to speak out not only against prejudice and bigotry towards blacks in America, but also to inspire pride, self-reliance and empowerment among black people everywhere. Proudly defiant, Brown declared: “One thing more I got to say right here/ Now, we’re people/ Just like the birds and the bees/ We rather die on our feet, Than keep living on our knees.” The “Hardest Working Man in Show Business” followed up with “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself)”, emphasizing self-reliance and self-confidence among African Americans: “Don’t give me sorrow/I want equal opportunity/To live tomorrow.” Marvin Gaye asked, “What’s Going on?” in Vietnam. “Brother, brother, brother/There’s far too many of you dying/You know we’ve got to find a way/To bring some lovin’ here today.”
There were countless other musicians and songwriters who delivered their political messages of protest, peace, racial harmony, tolerance and reconciliation. The long list of the great ones includes Paul Robeson (“No more auction block for me”), Pete Seeger/Lee Hays (If I had a hammer), Bob Dylan (“Blowin’ in the Wind”), John Lennon (“Give Peace a Chance”), Nina Simone (“Hound dogs on my trail/School children sitting in jail”) and Buffy Sainte-Marie (“Now That the Buffalo is Gone”) who wrote songs about the plight and suffering of Native American peoples. Even Elvis Presley, the apolitical “King of Rock and Roll”, told the gut-wrenching story of American poverty and crime “In the Ghetto”: “On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’/ A poor little baby child is born/In the ghetto/And his mama cries…/it’s another hungry mouth to feed/…/ People, don’t you understand/the child needs a helping hand/or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day/…/
Bob Marley, Fela Kuti and Pan-African Protest Music
Jamaican Bob Marley used reggae music not just for entertainment, but to teach, preach and reach people’s minds, hearts and spirits the world over. He used his music and lyrics to promote love, understanding and tolerance while confronting racism, inequality and injustice with a defiant message. Marley sang about the struggles of black people in Babylon (The West) and the need for Pan-African unity to overcome oppression. As a member of the Rastafari movement, he deified H.I. M. Haile Selassie and saw Africa as “Zion”, the place of unity, peace and freedom. His message for Africans was unmistakable: “Africa, Unite/’Cause we’re moving right out of Babylon/And we’re going to our father’s land/…/ So, Africa, Unite, Africa, Unite/Unite for the benefit of your people/…/. He urged those suffering oppression to “Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!/…/Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!/…/Most people think,/Great god will come from the skies,/Take away everything/And make everybody feel high./But if you know what life is worth,/You will look for yours on earth:/And now you see the light,/You stand up for your rights. jah!” African liberation from colonialism and Western exploitation was Marley’s foremost concern: “Zimbabwe./Every man gotta right/To decide his own destiny/…/So arm in arms, with arms/We will fight this little struggle/’Cause that’s the only way/We can overcome our little trouble/ Brother you’re right, you’re right/You’re right, you’re right, you’re so right/We gonna fight, we’ll have to fight/We gonna fight, fight for our rights/Natty dread it ina Zimbabwe/Set it up… Mash it up ina Zimbabwe/Africans a liberate Zimbabwe.” (If Bob Marley knew what Bob Mugabe had done to Zimbabwe today, he’d spin in his grave.)
Marley took part of a 1963 speech by H.I.M. Haile Selassie and made it a powerful song against war: “Until the philosophy which hold one race/Superior and another inferior/Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned/Everywhere is war, me say war/That until there are no longer first class/And second class citizens of any nation/Until the colour of a man’s skin/Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes/Me say war/That until the basic human rights are equally/Guaranteed to all, without regard to race/Dis a war/That until that day/The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship/Rule of international morality/Will remain in but a fleeting illusion/To be pursued, but never attained/Now everywhere is war, war/…/ Marley understood the daily struggle of the poor to find enough food to eat: “Them belly full but we hungry./A hungry mob is a angry mob./A rain a-fall but the dirt it tough;/A pot a-cook but the food no ‘nough./You’re gonna dance to JAH music, dance./…/ Cost of living get so high,/Rich and poor, they start a cry./Now the weak must get strong./They say, “Oh, what a tribulation.” In “Who the Cap Fit”, Marley warned against hypocrisy and duplicity in everyday relations: “Man to man is so unjust, children/You don’t know who to trust/Your worst enemy could be your best friend/And your best friend your worst enemy/Some will eat and drink with you/Then behind them su-su ‘pon you/Only your friend know your secrets/So only he could reveal it/And who the cap fit, let them wear it/…/Some will hate you,/Pretend they love you now/Then behind they try to eliminate you/But who Jah bless,/No one curse/Thank God we’re past the worse.”
Nigerian songwriter, singer and musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti was an equally talented and inspiring musical innovator and political advocate. He was inspired by the protest songs and political upheavals in the U.S. in the 1960s. For three decades, Fela became the musical voice of Nigeria’s poor, downtrodden, unemployed and marginalized. He sang about the abject conditions of existence in one of the richest African countries. His “Afrobeat” music was a combination of blues, funk, jazz and African rhythms. His lyrics are in pidgin English (“broken English”) and local languages. He relentlessly criticized government corruption, multi-national corporations, and police brutality in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. He used music as a weapon to promote human rights, good governance, accountability and transparency in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
In “Zombie”, Fela criticized Nigeria’s military as a bunch of mindless brutes who follow orders to shoot, kill and plunder: “Zombie no go go, unless you tell am to go/Zombie no go stop, unless you tell am to stop/…unless you tell am to turn/… unless you tell am to think/… Go and kill!/Go and die!../Joro, jaro, joro../ (Zombie)”. In “Authority Stealing”, Fela compared the Nigerian kleptocrats to armed robbers for stealing the nation’s resources to enrich themselves using their “magic pens”. “Authority people them go dey steal/Public contribute plenty money/…/Authority man no dey pickpocket/…/Armed robber him need gun/Authority man him need pen/Authority man in charge of money/Him no need gun, him need pen/Pen got power gun no get/If gun steal eighty thousand naira/Pen go steal two billion naira/Thief, thief, thief!”
In “I.T.T.”, Fela satirized the multinational corporation International Telephone and Telegraph and condemned foreign companies for sucking dry the Nigerian economy and spreading confusion, corruption and inflation: “Many foreign companies dey Africa carry all our money go/…/ Them call him name na I.T.T./ Them go dey cause confusion (Confusion!)/Cause corruption (Corruption!)/Cause oppression (Oppression!)/Cause inflation (Inflation!)/Oppression, corruption, inflation/…/Them go pick one African man/A man with low mentality/Them go give am million naira breads/To become of high position here/Him go bribe some thousand naira bread/To become one useless chief…/ Like Obasanjo and Abiola.”
After travelling the world, in “Upside Down”, Fela sang that things are organized and planned well everywhere except in Africa where there are villages, but no roads, land, but no food or housing. Africans don’t even have knowledge of African culture: “Open that book dem call dictionary/…/Upside down na there dey proper/Dem recognize the word for sure, yes/…/People no know their African name/People no dey think African style/People no know Africa way/For Africa man house, I don’t see/…/Communication Disorganize /…/Agriculture Disorganize/Electric Disorganize/ Everything Upside Down” in Africa. In “Beasts of No Nation”, Fela criticizes corrupt leaders in Africa and elsewhere and focuses on how certain governments have helped apartheid thrive in South Africa for so long: “Many leaders as you see dem/…/Animals in human skin/Animal-I put-U tie-oh/ Animal-I wear agbada (traditional Nigerian robe)/Animal-I put-U suit-u.” In the must-see documentary “Fela: Music Is the Weapon,” Fela said “the situation here [Nigeria] is worse than in South Africa.”
In retaliation for his songs, in 1977 one thousand of General Obasanjo’s “zombie” soldiers attacked Fela’s compound (“Kalakuta Republic” established to protest military rule), beat him to a pulp, and burned his house and everything in it. The soldiers literally threw out his 82-year-old mother, one of the notable anti-colonial figures in Nigeria, from a second-story window. She died from her injuries a few months later. Fela launched his own political party (Movement of the People) and ran twice for the presidency. His confrontational messages always got him on the wrong side of the military dictators who tried to find reasons to put him in jail. Fela also had his eccentric side including marrying over two dozen women at one time.
Music as a Weapon Against Dictatorship and for Human Rights
Fela titled his 1998 album “Music is the Weapon of the Future”. I believe African musicians could play a pivotal frontline role in the struggle for human rights, the rule of law, accountability and transparency in the continent with their lyrics and music. Africans today need new sounds against home grown dictators and tyrants who cling to power like barnacles to a sunken ship. In the mid-1980s, Fela sang about leaders who are “animals in human skin”. In the second decade of the Twenty First Century we know the actual physical form of the “animals” Fela was talking about. They are hyenas that sip on the blood of Africans like wine and dine on their flesh and bones everyday. Shakespeare wrote, “If music be the food of life, play on”. If music be the weapon of the future, I say sing on until we chase the greedy and corrupt scavengers out of the continent. Africa needs a new generation of Marleys, Felas, Makebas… to give them a new message hope, faith and charity; and Africa’s youth need new battle songs and hymns to fight the hyenas in designer suits and uniforms.
Prof. Ted Vestal is releasing a new book titled The Lion of Judah in the New World: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Shaping of Americans’ Attitudes toward Africa
The book relates how Emperor Haile Selassie helped shape America’s image of Africa and how that image continues to evolve in the United States today.
Haile Selassie was the first African head of state to be honored with a tickertape parade in New York City and the first African head of state to spend the night at the White House. What was it about this charismatic leader that so captivated Americans? How did he become a symbol of all Africa?
The book tells the story of a dynamic ruler who influenced the perception of an entire continent. Documenting the Emperor’s state visits to North America, the book explores U.S. foreign policy towards Ethiopia and Africa over two decades. At the same time, it seeks to understand why Haile Selassie enjoyed such celebrity in the United States and how he became so important in determining U.S. attitudes toward Africa.
The book includes a brief biography of the Emperor and also explores the geography and long, colorful history of Ethiopia. The tensions and contradictions that marked Haile Selassie’s life are highlighted in significant episodes that underscore his astute use of public relations and personal diplomacy. His leadership of postcolonial Africa during the Cold War is examined, as is his ultimate rejection by the United States in 1973 that marked the end of the monarchy and ushered in the tragic fratricide of Ethiopian civil war.
Highlights
• Analyzes how Emperor Haile Selassie shaped Americans’ perceptions of and attitudes toward Africa and its people, shedding light on U.S. relations with African nations today
• Covers two decades of U.S. policy towards Ethiopia and Africa as reflected in the six state visits of Emperor Haile Selassie to the United States
• Delves into the personality of Haile Selassie, one of the 20th century’s most charismatic figures, and explains why he enjoyed such celebrity
• Explores the fascinating history of Ethiopia, one of the world’s oldest civilizations
To order the book, call 800 368 6868
ISBN: 0-313-38620-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-38620-6
Price $44.95; £31.95
The disgraced chairman of AEUP and Kinijit, Ato Hailu Shawel, and his deputy, Ato Yakob Likie have been attacked by AEUP members at the party’s office in Addis Ababa yesterday. The 76-year-old Hailu Shawel sprinted to his car and escaped while Yakob, who couldn’t run as fast, was caught and pummeled by angry AEUP members who accused them of handing over the party to the ruling party, Woyanne.
The problem started when Hailu Shawel manipulated the AUEP election and got himself elected two weeks ago through bribery after previously announcing his retirement.
The person who was favored by most members to take over as chairman was Ato Tadios Tantu, who was not Hailu Shawel’s choice. Hailu wanted Yakob Likie to become the new chairman. When the members rejected Yakob, who is accused by AEUP activist of having close ties with Woyanne, Hailu Shawel’s employees hijacked the election process and demanded his reelection.
Hailu’s action angered most of the senior members of the executive committee, including Ato Mamushet Amare, and Wzr. Mesobework Kitaw.
During an acrimonious meeting that was held last Saturday, Mamushet Amare told Yakob, “You can inherit Hailu Shawel’s personal properties, but not AEUP.” When the meeting became hard to control, Hailu Shawel called Woyanne police and removed several senior AEUP members from the meeting.
The members who rejected Hailu Shawel’s actions and his return to AEUP held their own meeting and formed an emergency committee to be chaired by Wzr. Mesobwerk Kitaw. The emergency committee has released a statement explaining its objectives (click here to read).
By Elias Kifle
The latest news that came out of Eritrea regarding Ethiopian resistance fighters sent shock waves through Ethiopian communities all over. The report, which is posted on Ethiomedia last night, says that 17 members of the Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF) have been executed following the organization’s general assembly in February 2010. The executions were carried out on the orders of Col. Fitusm Yitshak, Eritrean adviser to Ethiopian opposition groups in Eritrea, the report adds. The victims are:
1. Adane Mekuannent (former secretary general)
2. Alemu Melkamu
3. Desse Abera
4. Gashaw Babel
5. Melaku Abera
6. Alemseged Tekhest
7. Fekadu Endalew (Division Commander)
8. Shumet Sisay (Division Commander)
9. Asmare Zewde
10. Getnet Feseha
11. Tekle Gebru
12. Esubalew Hailu
13. Beshaw Dube
14. Yaregal Asmare
15. Mohamed Molla
16. Adem Getahun
17. Fentahun Alemshet (Force Commander)
I have met some of these individuals at the Feb. 2010 general assembly. One of them, Esubalew Hailu, was sitting in front of me. He was asking tough questions and taking the leadership to task on a number of issues. Adane Mekuannent, the former secretary general, is a highly respected fighter and an outspoken person. He was prevented from attending the general assembly. When we asked where he is, we were told that he is on a mission.
I have known and repeatedly asked explanation about the disappearance of most of the individuals in the list, on top of several others, including Shibabaw Abebe, who was a well known anti-Woyanne rebel leader in Wolkait before joining EPPF.
There were several incidents of mutiny following the disappearance of these EPPF fighters, most of whom are central committee members who were elected at the Feb. 2010 general assembly. Subsequently, the rank-and-file members started to desert in droves, and according to my sources inside EPPF, only about 70 fighters left now.
I’ve been trying to verify the authenticity of the Ethiomedia report from multiple source. What I have been able to confirm so far is that the individuals in the list have indeed disappeared without a trace, but not all of my sources could tell me that they have first hand information on whether they have been executed.
Due to the extreme gravity of the report, I urge the Government of Eritrea to launch an investigation without delay. Since many of the individuals in the list are members of the EPPF central committee, it will not take long for the GOE to find out what happened to them.
When I traveled to Eritrea last February, I, along with others who went with me, had called for the creation of an inquiry panel composed of 3 individuals from EPPF and 3 individuals from the Government of Eritrea (GOE) to investigate the alleged corruption inside EPPF and the disappearance of members. The request was shot down and we were accused by Col. Fitsum, through his puppets, of trying to cause friction between EPPF and the GOE.
Because of Ethiomedia’s strong anti-Shabia stand, I have heard some Ethiopians expressing doubt about the report. Ethiomedia’s editor Abraha Belai may have anti-Shabia bias, but as a professional journalist who takes his profession seriously, I don’t think he would post such an extremely shocking news without doing due diligence. The issue at hand is not the messenger of the news, but what happened to these 17 individuals and many others, including Col. Tadesse Muluneh, who have disappeared following the Feb. 2010 general assembly.
