March 1st, 1991 was the 95th Anniversary of the Battle of Adowa. In the short space available, it is impossible to do justice to Menelik II and his times. Many books and monograms have been written (mostly by foreigners and some by Ethiopians) dealing with various aspects of his rule, but none giving a balanced and a full picture of that glorious era. The aim and purpose of this short article, therefore, is simply to focus attention on some of the lesser known facts and present a slightly different perspective so as to nudge the curiosity of the younger generation, who might be spurred on to do some independent research on their own.
When one thinks of Menelik II what immediately comes to mind is Ethiopia’s great victory over Italy at Adowa in 1896. But, as all those who are familiar with Ethiopian history know very well, military prowess in Ethiopia does not date from the days of Adowa, but has been a characteristic feature since ancient times. Abraha Atsbeha (Ezana), Kaleb, Gabre Maskal, Amde Tseyon, Dawit, Yishak, Zara Yakob, Lebna Dengel, Sertse Dengel, etc. were all past Emperors renowned for their heroic military exploits.
But Menelik’s name conjures not only military victory, but other very important thoughts and ideas as well, which had far reaching effects and consequences on the succeeding generations. Ethiopia’s reunification and its real introduction into the modern age are regarded as the greatest achievements of his reign. Adowa was just the culmination and the crowning piece, which was made possible by his other equally superhuman achievements.
Menelik, who reigned as king of Shoa from 1865 to 1889, and as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913, was perhaps the greatest of Ethiopia’s Emperors in modern times. This is mostly because his long reign saw not only the resurgence of a true and genuine national spirit which touched every aspect of national life in a strong and reunited Ethiopia, but also on account of the great increase witnessed in Ethiopia’s position in world affairs during his time.
Menelik was particularly lucky to come after his illustrious immediate predecessors, Emperors Tewodros II and Yohannes II, who prepared the ground work for him. Ethiopia, though a powerful state in ancient and medieval times, had fallen on evil days in the middle of the 18th century. The powers of the Emperors had been usurped by the feudal provincial war lords, and centralized government had been replaced by the autonomy of the various regions whose rulers warred among themselves. Tewodros and Yohannes had partially succeeded in reorganizing and ressurecting the ancient state by eliminating the war lords and re-establishing central authority. But, it was left to Menelik to bring this task to fruition, as well as to withstand the tremendous pressure of the European powers in the scramble for Africa, and to lay the foundation of a modern state.
It looks as if fate itself had prepared Menelik to undertake this task from early life. He was only 11 years old when Tewodros came to Shoa in 1855 with his huge army to demand submission of the Shoans. Tewodros took the young boy and his mother, Ejjigayehu, and many other Shoan nobles with him to Gondar, where Menelik stayed until he was almost 22 years old. During those 10 crucial formative years, Emperor Tewodros acted and behaved as a true father to Menelik, and showered him with love and affection, and not only saw to it that his education was not neglected, but that he also brought him up with all due care and attention given to all sons of royalty and nobility – namely, a palace upbringing which meant a though training in the martial arts, particularly wrestling, hunting and horsemanship, and being adept at manners and general bearing which comes from observing and practicing palace etiquettes at GIBI or banquets, while serving as personal attendant and valet to the Emperor himself. His endearing qualities as a youngman brought him close to all those who constituted the inner circle of the Palace in Gondar, and the lessons he learned in that “University” seemed to have abided with him to the end of his life. He was so immersed in the Gondar culture and mannerism that even his native Shoans used to remark that when he spoke his mother tongue, Amharic, “he spoke it with a Gondar accent!”
The members of the inner circle in Tewodros’s Palace in those days were mostly self-made men like Fitaurari Gebreye, Ras Engeda and Fitaurari Gelmo, all renowned warriors, and pillars of the Emperor’s civil and military administration. There were also foreigners in this inner group, Englishmen like John Bell, Walter Plowden, Captain Speedy and others who all left a lasting impression on young Menelik’s mind. They kindled in him the love of mechanical contraptions of all sorts, from sewing machines and bicycles to pistols, rifles and cannons. His curiosity for things foreign was insatiable, and it was mostly directed towards new inventions, particularly in the field of armaments. We are told that he rarely missed opportunities to watch and participate in target shooting practices, and gunnery exercises frequently held by German, Austrian, Swiss, Turkish and Egyptian trainers in the service of Tewodros’s army.
Menelik also met his boyhood friend, and lifelong confident, Wella Bithel during this time, whose sister, Taitu, he married later in life. She was to add not only such a dazzling glamour and pizzas to his court, but that she almost literally transferred the entire ambience and refinement of the Gondar of those days to every aspect of life in the city she co-founded, and personally named “Addis Ababa” (the New Flower) in 1887.
Menelik’s personality, his innate intelligence and ability, his grasp of world affairs and his keen interest in modernization, all qualities which served him so well in later life, can be said to have been shaped and formed during the decade he spent in Gondar and Magdala in Tewodros’s Court. The remarkably talented and able personalities he gathered around him when he became King of Shoa, and later Emperor of Ethiopia, were all exact replicas of his role models of his youth.
He put a high premium on intelligence and physical fitness, and had no use for fools and weaklings. His palace, the old Gibbi in Addis Ababa, was a veritable training camp for promising youngmen whom he collected from all over Ethiopia during his numerous campaigns, and from all walks of life. They were all given rigorous training in the martial arts, and were expected to excel in athletes, especially Ethiopian style wrestling, hunting, shooting and horsemanship. Wrestling matches were held almost every evening in the Old Gibbi where these youngmen competed and displayed their muscles and skills, sometimes with Menelik himself in attendance. He immensely enjoyed watching the sport of GUGS, or a type of jostling on horseback, where opposing horsemen came at each other at full gallop, and threw spears (usually without the metal tips) at one another, while at the same time defending with shields. He also never missed the GENNA games, a sort of hockey, which was played every year at Christmas with all their younger people participating.
Needless to say, all these sport activities, where Menelik himself was a keen spectator, afforded ample opportunities for able and talented youngmen to catch the eye of the Emperor, and be selected by him personally for appropriate tasks in the military or other fields. Thus the Old Gibbi of Menelik was the spawning ground of all those who became future heroes of Ethiopia, most of them in his own life time. The veritable galaxy of stars we have come to know so much about, legendary names like Ras Mekonnen, Ras Gobana, Dejatch Baltcha, Fitaurari Gebeyehu, Fitaurari Habtegiorgis, Dejatch Gebre Selassie, Ras Abate, Negus Wolde Girogis, Dejatch Beshah, Dejatch Tchatcha, Dejatch Ibssa, Ras Tesema, Ras Nadew, Dejatch Anenew, Dejatch Atnafe, Azaj Zamanel, Dejatch Gesese, Kegnazmatch Tafesse, Balambaras Bante, Balambaras Ayele, Azaj Bezabeh, Azaj Aba Temsas, Bejirond Ketema and many, many others who cannot all be named here, are all graduates and allumni of Menelik’s Old Gibbi “University.” All graduates of the school of hard knocks.
It is true that most of these men proved their mettle at Adowa. But all of them, though still young in age, had undergone a thorough preparation for Adowa as veterans of Menelik’s numerous campaigns all over the country in bringing the various local chiefs to submission to his authority as Emperor of the land.(1) They had not only seen action in the various fronts, but had also distinguished themselves by showing exceptional courage and valor at those engagements. So, when the final test came at Adowa, the Ethiopian army could not have been better prepared or better led.
Besides, by this time, contrary to all expectations in Europe, Menelik had succeeded in uniting under his authority all the principal seats of power in Ethiopia. Ras Mengesha of Tigrai, Ras Teklehaimanot and Ras Mengesha Atikem of Gojjam and Damot respectively, Ras Mikael of Wollo, Ras Welle of Begemidir and all the potentates of Jimma, Kaffa, Harar, Lekemt, Kellem, Walamo, Gurage, Sidama, Kambatta, Bale, Borana, Gimmira, Kulokonta, Benishaigul, etc., you name it, all stood solidly united behind Menelik.
Suffice it to say, Italy in 1896 faced a united and determined Ethiopia. The people of Ethiopia rose as one man to support the Emperor against a common enemy, and the result was spectacular.
Prelude to Adowa
Much has been written about the battle of Adowa. How “a ragtag native army” of peasant levies from a backward African country defeated “a well equipped and disciplined modern European army” is even now regarded as somewhat of a mystery to many people. No wonder it is still a subject of debate in well known military academies like Sandhurst, Saint Cyr and West Point. Military historians, tacticians and strate gists are still puzzled as to what exactly went wrong. What happened at Adowa was something extraordinary. It did not fit the existing stereotype. In fact, at Adowa Ethiopia broke the mold.
And what was that stereotype? Native “ragtag armies” of the third world were no match to “modern disciplined, well equipped European armies.” At that time there were plenty of examples to support that type of thinking. Apart from the native American Indian experience, and the Maharajahs of the Indian states in India, Europeans cited the then fresh examples of the Zulus in South Africa and the Mahdists in the Sudan to prove their point, and asked the question: What was so different about Menelik’s army? Well, they got their answer pretty soon afterwards. In fact a lot was different about Menelik’s army!
The Treaty of Wuchiale
Meanwhile, the scramble for Africa had brought the Italians to the shores of the Red Sea. As a late comer to the colonial game, they were keenly aware that they had lagged behind Britain and France in acquiring African colonies, and they were in a hurry to make up for lost time. From their newly acquired foothold on the Ethiopian Red Sea coast of Bahr Medir which they promptly named “Eritrea” (after the old Latin name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythrian) they were determined to push and expand their power and influence over the rest of Ethiopia. To this end they signed a treaty with Menelik soon after he became Emperor in 1889. This was the infamous Treaty of Wuchiale, which later became the immediate cause of the war with Italy.
According to the terms of this treaty as stated in Article 17, the Italians thought that they had put the seal on Menelik’s subjection to them.
In Italian the Trattato di amicizia e commercio tra il Regno d’Italia e l’Impero Etiopico, the “treaty of friendship and commerce between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia,” states in Article 17 that S.M. il Re dei Re d’Etiopia consente di servirsi del Governo di S.M. il Re d’Italia per tutte le trattazioni di affari che avesse con altre Potenze o Governi. (His Majesty, the King of Kings of Ethiopia, agrees to make use of the government of His Majesty, the King of Italy, for all dealings with other Powers or Governments.)
But the Amharic version of the text did not say the same thing. It simply stated that the King of Kings might make use of the government of the King of Italy. When the Italians claimed that Ethiopia was now an Italian protectorate, Menelik naturally objected. How could a king of kings be a vassal of a mere king? He wrote to the king of Italy, and these were his words: “When I made the treaty… I said that because of our friendship, our affairs in Europe might be carried on by the sovereign of Italy, but I have not made any treaty which obliges me to do so.” Less than a year after signing the treaty he also wrote to the other European powers, saying, “Ethiopia has need of no one; she stretches our her hands to God.”
With that, the die was cast, and Ethiopia and Italy were set on a collision course.
At last when all peace overtures failed, and the Italians continued advancing into the interior and entered deep into Tigrai and reached Amba Alagai, Menelik dispatched his war minister, Fitaurari Gebeyehu, to dislodge them from their heavy fortification, which was promptly done. Though at a heavy cost, this was the first taste of victory for Ethiopians.
Previously, the war drums were brought out to the main public square in Addis Ababa, and to their accompaniment on AWAJ or proclamation was made in the name of the Emperor.
Menelik issued his mobilization proclamation on 17 September 1895: “Enemies have now come upon us to ruin the country and to change our religion… Our enemies have begun the affair by advancing and digging into the country like moles. With the help of God I will not deliver up my country to them… Today, you who are strong, give me of your strength, and you who are weak, help me by prayer.”
In characteristic humor, which at the same time revealed his serious intent at toleration of all creeds and styles of life in the country he ruled, be it Muslim, pagan or other, he added the following terse coded words in the proclamation:
Literally translated this means, “Keep your habit concealed in your armpit, and load the food stuff you need for the hard days ahead on your donkey, and follow me wherever I go.” But these words in Amharic had other more important hidden meaning. This coded message, while on the whole emphasized the need for secrecy in the general mobilization, the actual meaning of the word “Amelkin” here which is translated as “habit” encompasses anything from faith or belief to socially unacceptable behaviors and taboos like tobacco chewing and smoking, and using snuff, TCHAT or other drugs. Menelik’s predecessor, Emperor Yohannes IV had prohibited such practices and violators were severely punished. But by this funny interjection in the middle of a serious proclamation, which made people laugh, Menelik in one stroke released all his subjects from all unnecessary restraints on matters of personal nature, so long as they were practiced in private. These words had an electrifying effect on the general population, and the response was automatic, spontaneous and overwhelming. The words of Menelik were gleefully repeated from mouth to mouth, and became the most popular slogan in the days, weeks and months just before Adowa. Enthusiasm for the war caught on, and it swept the country like wild fire.
Inspite of the many spies and agents they had in the country, as George F. H. Berkeley wrote soon after Adowa in 1902 in his book: The Campaign of Adowa and Rise of Menelik, the Italians “had no inkling that the emperor was gathering a force of well over 100,000 soldiers. His mobilization was proceeding ‘with extraordinary deliberation and secrecy.’
“Never, probably, in the history of the world has there been so curious an instance of a commander successfully concealing the numbers of his army, and masking his advance behind a complete network of insinuation, false information, and circumstantial deceptions… Every tucul and village in every far-off glen of Ethiopia was sending out its warrior in answer to the war-drum.”
In his proclamation Menelik also warned ominously those ablebodied youngmen who, out of laziness or cowardice, might try to avoid the war by shirking their duty to the nation or what we call today draft dodgers: “I swear by St. Mary, I will not be lenient with you, if you are caught loafing around and idling away your time, instead of bearing arms and defending your country in her time of need.” Everybody knew this was not an idle threat coming from Menelik!
When he took a casual oath, which is common among Ethiopians, Menelik usually invoked the name of the Ethiopian saint, St. Teklehaimanot, which was also the name of the church in Gondar where he received his early church education. He also quite often casually swore by the name of his surrogate or foster father, Emperor Tewodros. But this time, as he did in all particularly solemn occasions, he invoked the name of St. Mary, the Mother of God, thereby affirming his unbending determination in the pursuit of the goals of the coming war with Italy. It was clear he meant business. Needless to say, everybody got the point, and from that time on all roads led to Adowa.
This was not all. Menelik’s life long investment in arms and weaponry also amply paid off now.
Menelik never allowed any opportunity for purchasing or acquiring arms to slip by without taking full advantage of it. In fact, as every foreigner who visited Ethiopia during his time knew, a sure way to Menelik’s ear was through the gift or sale of arms. Gun runners, arms merchants, big game hunters, explorers and adventurers, all entered into this lucrative business with him sooner or later. Even the famous French poet Arthur Rimbaue could not resist the temptation during his 11 years stay in Harar (1880 – 1891). Thus, unknown to the Italians, over the years Menelik was accumulating arms from wherever he could get them in Europe.
By the time the battle of Adowa was fought Menelik had collected an enormous quantity of arms of all types and makes. Surprisingly, while a significant number were imported from France and Russia, most of these arms came from Italy itself! In addition to that, though in smaller quantities, he had an assortment of arms from England, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Benelux countries and even from the USA. His arsenal was a veritable museum of modern arms from everywhere. In this collection while Italian, French and Russian muzzle loaders or Fusil Gras (to Ethiopians, WUJJIGRA, WOTCHEFFO, NAAS MASSER, MESKOB) dominated the scene, the American Remingtons and the British Sniders (breech loading guns known to Ethiopians as SANADIR, which were mostly leftovers from Napier’s Magdala Expedition of 1868) held special pride of place. Wetterleys and Martinis were a common sight at Adowa. Besides Menelik’s formidable arsenal included Napoleon and Krupp artillery, no less than 40 canons in all.
So, when the battle of Adowa opened in the early morning of March 1, 1896, Emperor Menelik had well over 100,000 men equipped with modern arms at the ready, not counting soldiers armed only with spears, swords and daggers, and ordinary folk, stragglers and camp followers armed only with sticks, and other crude homemade weapons and missiles.
NOTES
1) Menelik’s nation-wide effort for the reunification of all the scattered regions of Ethiopia, and the ingathering of all its hitherto unjustly separated component parts, has been a target of unfair component parts, has been a target of unfair criticism from certain quarters. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear disparaging remarks, or to
read uncomplimentary writeups about Chellengo, Imbabo, Kaffa, Kambatta, Walamo, Hadya, etc. all decisive battles fought by Menelik and his brave generals in the campaign for Ethiopian unity.
Much is made of these campaigns by those who want to distort and bend history to suit their own narrow ends. These are modern day revisionists who have completely lost sight of the forest which frantically picking on the trees in Menelik’s policies. However, cleverly they disguise their real motives and intentions, in manipulating, twisting and distorting facts, their attempts to denigrate and defame the participants in those legendary campaigns must be dismissed outright as futile exercises and sour grapes. Yet, the fact remains and the record amply testify that. Once Menelik aims and objectives were made clever, and that nothing short of the reunification of Ethiopia would satisfy him, most local and regional potentates saw the writing on the wall and complied with his wishes voluntarily. Of course, the fact that he had the will and the means to enforce this policy also played an important role. Like his contemporary in the U.S., President Teddy Roosevelt, Menelik believed in the policy of “speak softly, but carry a big stick”!
Wollo’s Ras Mikael, Jimma’s Gullin Aba Jiffar, Lekemt’s Dejatch Moroda, Kellem’s Dejatch Jyothi, Beni Shangul’s Sheikh Hajjale, Gammuz gubbas Sheikh Banjaw and Danakil’s Sultan Hanfare all submitted peacefully to Menelik with little persuasion. the few who refused and posed a military challenge to Menelik left him with no choice but to make them feel the brunt of his “big stick”. These were Abdullahi of Harar, Baksa of Surage, Enjamo of Hadya, Diguye of Kambatta, Tonna of Wollamo and Shennacho of Kaffa.
Thus, thanks to the gigantic efforts of Emperors Tewodros, Yohannes and Menelik, the balkanization of Ethiopia which actually began in the 16th century with the uprising of Ahmed Gragn, and continued through the “Zemene Mesafint” for nearly 300 years was largely stopped with what looks like a lightening speed at the close of the 19th century. During these three centuries of great changes which transformed the country, great migration and movements of people took place which brought about tremendous demographic and social change all over the nation.
In many ways America is a nation of immigrant entrepreneurs. However, only recently have Ethiopians focused their interests in small business entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur helps you achieve a level of personal satisfaction you may never have experienced before. It gives you an enormous sense of independence and a feeling of self-confidence. The frustration of working for others is not there. The work of course is hard and endless.
Business provides freedom from being confined to an assembly line type of job. It lets you make your own decisions without having to go through channels and frequently being turned down.
Being an entrepreneur opens the doors of power and influence to you. Owning a business involves you in every aspect of the operation, and correspondingly commands the respect of others. You are now in charge of the whole machine.
In a business of your own, you don’t face the risks of layoffs, mandatory retirement, being fired from a job, and you have a direct and clear voice in assuring your own well being. You create your own security. While working toward profitability, you will experience the gratification of seeing your efforts produce rewards.
Your new venture will be more enjoyable and meaningful. You set your own schedules and forget about previous restraints. As a result, the time clock is no longer a driving force in your life.
There is one limitation on this extraordinary new freedom. No matter how high you rise in business, you will always have an ultimate boss — your customer. Your customer covers your payroll and provides your income and profits. As long as you meet the needs of your customers and give them the best possible service, you really cannot fail in a business of your own.
If your enterprise happens to be a family business, it can provide employment for some of your family members. Aside from the financial advantages, this arrangement provides a business training ground for children and a place to teach and test family a values. What better way to teach cooperation, the value of hard working, honesty and basic job skills?
For most entrepreneurs, their business is an extension of themselves. It provides a way to test and re-test their self-worth and ability to use skills.
Risks
Contrary to popular opinion, statistics show that a large percentage of new businesses fail in their first year of operation. After five years it may reach 50% to 60%. Depending upon the nature of the business, the total failure rate may reach 80% after ten years. However, your business may survive, but not show any profits. Your long-term success depends on its profitability. Even by showing profits, there are no guarantees that they will be sufficient to give you your projected income. You may be frustrated in trying to reach your personal financial goals if your business grows more slowly than you had expected. On the other hand, rapid expansion and uncontrolled growth (such as premature opening of additional location) can present a serious problem, too. It can lead to a shortage of working capital and loss of managerial control over the operation.
Many entrepreneurs are initially thrilled when their business suddenly expands beyond their wildest dreams. But, unless they obtain the right kind of financing and qualified personnel, they can find themselves unable to cope with that growth.
Another factor in a fast-growth situation is that it could put more stress on the entrepreneur affecting his health and family life.
Studies by business research firms tie greater than 90% of business failures to poor management and in experience. An individually owned and operated business is also more sensitive to the economy.
A recession, can devastate small businesses. You will need to carefully plan ahead and do all the research necessary to anticipate trends in order to help insure your venture’s survival and success.
Initially, while the business develops, finances may be strained. Your family will need to set priorities for spending, and understand that sacrifices and belt-tightening may be necessary. They must realize that operating a business means working long hours and little family time. You will need their full support.
This picture may seem rather stark, but it is part of the reality of owning your own business. With careful planning and preparation, problems can be turned to opportunities.
Research and Planning
Spend enough time to research your proposed business. A great deal can be learned by joining trade organizations in your chosen field.
Make a realistic estimate of your start-up and continuing capital requirements and stay within budget limits.
Plan ahead by preparing a formal business plan. Such a plan gives you a useful summary of goals and keeps your business growing within your financial capabilities. By spelling out your objectives in writing, you will gain a better insight of what you want to accomplish now and in the future.
How you manage your time is a critical factor. You have to decide on the areas you can personally impact the most to make your business function best.
Also to set priorities that you and your employees must follow to achieve maximum results. It is the ability to decide who does what and to schedule the sequence of steps that must be taken to accomplish tasks.
Special Challenges for Immigrants Entrepreneurs
In order to succeed you may sometimes have to work harder than other entrepreneurs. One problem can be that of communicating. A good working knowledge of the English language is essential if you expect to deal with English-speaking customers and suppliers. Most community and junior colleges have low-cost (and sometimes free) English language classes that can be helpful.
Financing is another concern. One barrier you may face in obtaining financing is not having a credit rating in the U.S. You must also be a lawful resident of the U.S. with permission to work.
It usually takes a good credit history to borrow. How do you deal with this? One way is to get a cosigner. This person can be a sponsor, a relative or an organization that signs with you for your loan and guarantees payment.
Another way is to offer collateral. Collateral is something you own that can be sold, traded, or given to the lender to cover the amount of your loan if you fail to make your payments.
A third way is to offer a lender matching funds. You will take a loan for the same amount of money as you have on deposit with the lender.
Finally, your credit history is also built on how well you take care of current expenses such as rent, telephone bills, car payments, credit card payments and other obligations. If you are a homeowner, you can borrow against the equity in your home.
You may look into the kinds of financing open to other entrepreneurs, including programs for minority entrepreneurs and financial help from other immigrant business owners. Service Corps of Retired Executive (SCORE) counselors can help you plan for your financing.
Call your local Small Business Administration branch office. It is listed in your telephone book under “United States Government Offices”.
Special Programs for Immigrant Entrepreneurs
We do not know of any special financial programs for immigrant entrepreneurs at this time. If you are in a large city, your local branch of the Small Business Administration (SBA) may have a special Minority Enterprise department. Service Corps Of Retired Executives (SCORE) counselors also work with these departments.
In preparing this article Ephrem Aklilu has talked to several Ethiopian entrepreneurs and used as a reference “Handbook on Building a Profitable Business” by Fred Klein (1990).
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Ato Ephrem is a regular contributor to ER.
The demonstrators holding placards outside the Royal Court Theater in London on 16 March 1987 were made up of Ethiopians and Ras Tafarians (the sect originating in Jamaica that reveres Haile Sellasie I.) They were protesting the denigration of the deceased monarch of Ethiopia in the play, “The Emperor,” which was about to open in the 50- seat, Theater Upstairs. They warned theatergoers not to believe everything they heard in the play.
Putting historical figures and events on the stage or in film has been common since both art forms began. The question becomes “Is it good theater?” not “Is it true?” In this case it was very good theater, and played to sold-out houses.
As the historian C. Vann Woodward has said, “….Far surpassing works of history as measured by the size of their public and the influence they exert, are the novel, stage works, screen and television… From these sources millions derive…conceptions, interpretations, convictions… about the past.”
My aim here is to focus on dramatic efforts in the English-speaking and romance-language worlds whose content was inspired by Ethiopia. Ethiopian playwrights and filmmakers are not included and the ubiquitous “Queen of Sheba” genre will be slighted. Country of origin obviously colors the slant of the creative effort.
ITALY
The Italians peripherally involved in Ethiopia since the 15th century and deeply involved from 1885 onward account for many contributions. “La Figlia di Ras Alula” was presented in Milan in 1885. A romance between “Sheba” (not the name of any of Alula’s daughters) and an Italian explorer is the background against which Alula is the heartless villain and Debebe the admirable collaborator with Italy. It ends with the actual event of the ambush of 550 Italians by the forces of Ras Alula. The next year, a five-act play about a Catholic missionary in Ethiopia, “Il Seminarist in Africa” was performed and in 1890, Corazzini’s play “Pantera nera; scene Abissine.” Twenty years elapsed after the defeat of Italy at Adwa (1896) before another drama based on Ethiopia was created. It was the story of the Ethiopian converted to Catholicism, Gabra Mika’el.
After the conquest of Ethiopia in 1935-’36, Italian filmgoers saw “Il Grande Appello” which was shot entirely in Ethiopia and Djibuti. It was the story of a father, Bertani, an innkeeper and gunrunner in Djibuti, who had deserted the mother of his son, Enrico, years before. Enrico turns up as a radio operator with the Italian army in Addis Ababa. Obese, unkempt, disloyal father, Bertani, is contrasted with youthful patriot son who is wounded in an Ethiopian attack by weapons traced to Bertani’s arms sales.
“Scipione, l’Africano” won the Mussolini prize at the Italian film festival of 1937. This was an allegory comparing the Punic Wars to the war in Ethiopia, with the Carthaginians depicted as impotent aristocrats contrasted with the benevolent and dynamic Roman legions. Years later, in 1979, “Eboli,” adapted from Carlo Levi’s novel with an anti- fascist theme, showed a village lad going off to the Ethiopian war; he is singing the tune, “Facetta Nera” in which there is the verse, “I’m coming to love you, little Ethiopian girl.” Mussolini had banned this song because it implied miscegenation. A film about Father Gugliemo Massaia, important to Emperor Menilek, was made, but the print has been lost.
An Italian-French production called “Una Stagione all’Inferno” (Season in Hell) was filmed in 1970-’71, half of it in Ethiopia. It told the story of the French poet Artur Rimbaud, as an arms merchant dealing with Menilek II and Empress Taytu. Terence Stamp played Rimbaud. Mulu Mesfin played Empress Taytu, Debebe Eshetu acted Menilek, and Wogayehu Negatu was cast as Ras Mekonen – one of the rare times that Ethiopian actors were employed by foreign film makers. The film was a flop.
FRANCE
Two dramas about Emperor Tewodros were performed in France, one in 1868 and the other in 1869, both drawing on the British expedition to Magdala. Seventy years later, in December 1935, the word “Ethiopia” resounded on the French stage. At the “Festival Noir” Louis Aragon read “Ethiopia” by the American poet Langston Hughes.
GERMANY
With all the colorful German characters that have walked through Ethiopian history, it is disappointing that there is only one play on record, “Der Prinz von Abessinien,” performed in 1913.
GREAT BRITAIN
Only “The Emperor” mentioned earlier has appeared, although a million pounds was invested and lost in an effort to make a film about the 1868 Napier expedition.
UNITED STATES
In 1918 a feature film called “The Savage Woman” was made by silent film star Clara Kimball Young. A ludicrous plot unfolds involving Prince Menilek falling in love with an abandoned French girl whom he believes is “his” Queen of Sheba. He gives her up to the Frenchman who has also fallen in love with her.
The stage debut for Ethiopia opened in January 1936, “George White’s Scandals,” in its 12th year as a singing, dancing and comedic melange. The week it opened, Haile Sellasie was on the cover of Time magazine as “Man of the Year.” The hit of the show was a skit by “Sam, Ted and Ray.” “They are three Ethiopian hoofers,” Time wrote, “one of whom impersonates the emperor, singing “Boy, our country am menaced; what is we gwine do?” Negro dialect, as this was called, reflected the national perception that if Ethiopians were people of color, they talked like American “negroes.”At that time this cliche about the way American black performers talked was not recognized as offensive. A regular column in a black newspaper was written in this dialect, and one of them began, “Good mawning, Mistah Selassie.”
In rehearsal in New York at the same time was a production called “Ethiopia.” It embodied a new theatrical idea, the “Living Newspaper.” The exact words of Mussolini, Hoare, Eden, Laval and Litvinoff would be used and the play would end differently each night according to the news from the war front in Ethiopia. Suddenly, on 24 January 1936, the production was canceled. One performance was given for the press that day and at the final curtain, Elmer Rice, director of the Federal Theater Project announced his resignation in protest against censorship from Washington. He had requested a transcript of President Roosevelt’s “neutrality” address and was refused with the rebuke that the words of living heads of state could not be used on the stage. This was nonsense. The American president did not want to offend either the appeasers or the aggressors.
NBC radio presented a one-hour drama on 23 November 1938, based on the threat to the American legation in Addis Ababa in 1936. As Italian forces neared the capital, angry mobs threatened any white person who appeared on the streets. Unable to contact the nearby British legation, the Americans sent a message on short-wave radio which was picked up in the Philippines, relayed to Washington, thence to London, Cairo, and the British in Addis Ababa–within half an hour. Sikh soldiers were dispatched to the American legation. This radio play, “Messenger of Peace,” pointed out the obvious– communications are basic to the conduct of foreign affairs.
Fleeting references to Ethiopia appeared in the movie “Too Hot to Handle” when the character played by Clark Gable admits faking the burning of a hut for a newsreel of the Italian invasion; and in 1942, Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca” is portrayed as having smuggled arms to Ethiopia. Two feature films with an Ethiopian angle have been “Shaft in Africa” (1973) and “Exorcist II: the Heretic” (1977). In “Shaft” the actor Richard Roundtree helps to stop slave traders and in “Exorcist” James Earl Jones plays an Ethiopian doctor. Simulated scenes resembling Debre Damo and Lalibella were used and Ethiopians living in Los Angeles played Amharic-speaking roles, with Fiseha Demetros receiving a credit as “young monk” and as “African technical consultant.”
The television series “St. Elsewhere,” throughout 1985-’86, had a doctor character who often referred to his voluntary relief duty in Ethiopia. In March 1987, ABC offered a two hour television about a relief worker in Ethiopia, “We Are the Children.” It was marred for those knowing Amharic by having “Ethiopians” speaking Swahili.
The Ethiopian immigrant experience may become a new category. Sean Harris and Joe Englert of Washington, DC have just made “Woobie’s Geography Lesson,” an 84-minute video chronicling the adventures of “Wube” (played by Wube Assefa) as he stumbles through a series of ill- fated encounters with women, bosses and loan sharks in the Adams- Morgan area of Washington.
If, as the historian asserts, people learn more history from movies and dramas, the public still has a lot to learn about Ethiopia. Will there be a film about 20,000 orphans in a children’s village told in the style of “Boys Town”? Will the hi-jacking of a relief convoy make an Ethiopian “western”? Will the trek of an Ethiopian dissident through the Sudan make a “Great Escape”? The creative writers of films and plays may yet be inspired despite the devastating realities of present-day Ethiopia.
This article is adapted from a paper the author gave at the International Conference of Ethiopian Studies in 1988 in Paris.
____________________ Chris Prouty is the author of Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1990. (Red Sea Press). She is currently working on a catalogue of documentary films about Ethiopia.
As opposition forces ringed Addis Ababa, Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam boarded an Ethiopian Airlines plane on May 22 and fled Ethiopia for a ranch in Zimbabwe. State-run radio announced Mengistu’s unceremonious departure without comment. After 14 years of iron-fisted rule, Mengistu left behind a demoralized army, a shattered economy, and an ethnically fragmented society.
In his last days Mengistu desperately sought to shore up his regime. He offered to negotiate with opposition forces in peace talks spon sored by the U.S. He attempted cosmetic changes for his regime by reshuffling his cabinet.He even promised to stray away from his Marx ist policies by relaxing control over the economy and allow more personal freedoms.In the end, as one observer noted:”Mengistu left power as stealthily as he seized it.”
Mengistu remained messianically defiant to the end. He deluded him self into believing that he was the linchipin of Ethiopian unity. He refused to believe that he could be an obstacle to peace and national reconciliation. Recently, he responded to a proposal for his resignation by scornfully instructing the petitioning university professors that he could only be removed by the masses who elected him. He sought to rally public support by raising the specter of secession and national fragmentation. He blamed western powers, particularly the U.S., for plotting his overthrow and undermining his regime both at home and abroad.
Many Ethiopians had long been resigned to the fact that Mengistu will remain in power indefinitely through brutal repression. Few Ethiopians had expected Mengistu’s stealthy departure. Even fewer expected that he would escape for a luxurious lifestyle on a large colonial ranch in Zimbabwe. It is rumored that he bought a ranch previously owned by Ian smith, the former outlaw Rhodesian prime minister. Mengistu’s departure was received with muted jubilation. The imminent siege of the city dampened any large-scale public expression of merriment.
There is divergent speculation on the factors leading to Mengistu’s sudden departure. Some observers suggest that the U.S. helped to secretly facilitate Mengistu’s unobstructed departure in anticipation of a peaceful transfer of power. Others suggest that the inexorable military pressure by the opposition forces convinced Mengistu that there was no hope of saving his regime. Still others speculate that Mengistu realized that he could no longer command the forces or adequately resupply them to continue the fight. Commanding officers reportedly deserted their troops and joined opposition forces. Others demoralized over recent defeats simply did not have the will to fight. The decline of socialism globally and changes in the Soviet foreign policy are also said to be responsible for the overall decay and disintegration of Mengistu’s government.
Mengistu’s Legacy
As the head of a semi-literate military governing structure, Mengistu ruled by Praetorian and military rhetoric. He believed that Ethiopia’s social and political problems could be solved by the forced application of Marxist policies. Both Mengistu and the Derg, the governing body, were often oblivious to the intricate and complex problems in the country’s economy and ethnic structure.
During Mengistu’s regime Ethiopia became synonymous with famine and a global symbol of poverty. Mengistu embraced socialism and experimented with voguish socialist policies nationalizing private property and collectivizing agriculture. He proclaimed a people’s republic and ordered the establishment of a working class party over which he reigned as chairman. He also established urban and peasant associations to maximize his political control at the local level.
Mengistu also left a bitter legacy of ethnic strife and political repression. He refused to negotiate meaningfully with opposition groups. He imposed military solutions to political problems. He ruthlessly eliminated political opposition and periodically purged the military and the derg. Occasionally he personally executed opponents. During the “Red Terror Campaign” in the late 1970,s, he ordered his loyalist cadres and militiamen to conduct political witch hunts resulting in thousands of deaths. In 1978 Amnesty International reported 8,000 political prisoners in Ethiopia.
Mengistu established the third largest military force in Africa with Soviet support. He spent over $10 billion to purchase arms. The military budget exceeded seventy percent of the country’s operating budget by the late 1980s.
Mengistu’s repression caused the largest exodus of Ethiopians in history resulting in the most acute refugee problem in Africa. International sources reported nearly a million Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan in 1985. Hundreds of thousands of other Ethiopians also fled the country to all parts of the world to escape Mengistu’s repression.
Mengistu will most likely be remembered for his depraved indifference to the millions of famine victims. According to Dawit Wolde Giorgis, formerly Mengistu’s commissioner for relief and rehabilitation, Mengistu and his Marxist coterie “either refused to believe (famine) existed, implying it was an insult to suggest such thing could happen in a Marxist-Leninist society, or they asserted if it did exist, it was best to let nature take its course.” Mengistu angered international donors by using food aid as weapon against opposition forces.
Current Situation
Mengistu appointed former defense minister General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan as acting head of state just before making his furtive exit. General Tesfaye had served as the military governor in Eritrea and reportedly opposed Mengistu’s decision to execute 12 generals two years ago. Mengistu later removed him from office.
Initially, there was some speculation that Tesfaye may be able to revitalize the army and successfully repel opposition forces. In a 15-minute televised speech shortly after Mengistu’s departure, Tesfaye expressed his desire to negotiate at an upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace talks.He pledged to carry on with the fight if political settlements could not be achieved.
Buoyed by recent military successes opposition forces seemed determined to vanquish the Derg. They quickly rejected Tesfaye’s interim appointment and declared that Mengistu’s departure in itself will not lead to national reconciliation or peace. They insist on the removal of all officials associated with Mengistu, and the establishment of a transitional government.
Tesfaye was unable to reverse the gains made by the opposition, and government forces lost ground. It had been expected that the elite forces deployed in the capital could indefinitely forestall capture of the capital. Within days the military situation for the government proved hopeless. Less than a week after Mengistu’s departure, the Eritrean People Liberation Front (EPLF) seized Asmara and the port city of Assab. Opposition forces had completely encircled the capital. The city’s defenders were in disarray leaving Addis Ababans wondering what might happen next. On the eve of the scheduled peace talks, the government did not appear to have much negotiating strength and was reluctantly willing to turn over power to the opposition forces. At the conclusion of the first day of talks, mediator and U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Herman Cohen somberly announced: “After consulting with all parties, the U.S. government is recommending that the forces of the EPDRF enter the city as soon as possible to help stabilize the situation.” On May 28 EPDRF forces secured the capital after a brief battle. The government called on its soldiers to surrender. And thus ended a seventeen year nightmare.
Following the conclusion of the London peace talks, EPDRF Chairman Meles Zenawi responding to a reporter’s question on the organization’s presumed Stalinist tendencies stated:
“The EPDRF is for the formation of a broad based coalition government as soon as possible. After the formation of such a broad based government, there will be an internationally supervised elections in the country to form an elected government. If that is Stalinism, I am afraid that is what we are working for.”
Meles further indicated that the maintenance of law and order facilitation of the peace process will be high EPDRF priorities. Other EPDRF spokesmen have further indicated that elements of the Mengistu government will be “determined and tried as war criminals and international humanitarian organization will be able to visit them.”
Calm before the storm?
Addis Ababa remained outwardly calm in the week following Mengistu’s departure. There was not much joyous celebration either about Mengistu’s departure or the imminent takeover by the opposition forces. Remarkably schools and shops remained open although there was a 9 pm to 5 am curfew. Thousands gleefully witnessed the dismantling of Lenin’s statute two days after Mengistu left. Close associations of Mengistu and other party members were reportedly arrested or killed while attempting to escape. Most foreigners left the country; the U.S. and Israel coordinated the airlift of nearly 15 thousands Fallashas in 33 hours.
Addis Ababa was described to be in a state of nervous anticipation following Mengistu’s departure. While there was no perceptible panic among city residents, there was grave concern that anarchy could result when opposition forces began their advance on the city. It was also feared that Addis Ababans may turn against remnants of Mengistu’s regime to settle old scores. However, after the EPDRF moved into the city and suppressed pockets of resistance the city regained its calm. EPDRF elements appeared to be highly disciplined; and some were seen casually chatting with city residents on the streets.
Short-term Scenarios
Various scenarios appear to be possible in the short-term. The Derg and the political machinery established by Mengistu are certainly doomed. Tesfaye’s government neither had the opportunity to propose new initiative or the time to pursue negotiations to achieve a political settlement with opposition forces. In fact at the end of the first day of the peace talks Tesfaye had been served with the ultimatum: surrender immediately or face immediate attack. With the U.S. blessing EPDRF launched at attack on government position at dawn and quickly captured the city.
Many Ethiopian appear to be perplexed about the meaning of an out right victory by opposition forces. The Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPDRF) purports to be an umbrella organization with multiethnic and multiregional composition. It is believed that the core leadership of the EPDRF. But little is publicly known about the leaders or their political and economic programs. Often spokesmen are assigned the task of articulating the coalition’s military objectives. There is also little that is known about the internal structure of the EPDRF or the multi-ethnic coalition it purportedly represents. This has fueled considerable speculation. The leaders have also been described as “Albania-type communists,” “Maoists,” and “EPLF front.”
Recent statements by EPDRF spokesmen add to the mystery and uncertainty about the composition of the organization’s leadership or its political orientation. The EPDRF has not made clear its political objectives beyond general platitudes about multiparty elections and the establishment of a provisional government to replace the Derg. It appears impractical to believe that the mere promise of democracy could hold together a nation so deeply racked by ethnic division and longstanding political antagonisms. Observers suggest that the EPDRF by being reticent about its political programs may be missing a critical opportunity to establish itself as a viable alternative to the Derg. Some Ethiopians seem to be fatalistically resigned to the metaphor or the “old wine in a new bottle.”
It is likely that EPDRF will seize the moment and announce its short- and -long-term plans for the country and present its leaders to the public. U.S. officials at the peace talks have indicated that the EPDRF will form a transitional government for about 10 months until national elections could be held. If this coalition seeks legitimacy and credibility and ultimately succeed where Mengistu has failed, it must speak for itself and be prepared to discuss its political orientation, plans for the establishment of a democratically elected government and openly share its proposals for a provisional government.
Failure to do so is likely to foster distrust and fear and ultimately promote further ethnic strife.
There are late reports indicating that the smaller ethnic groups in the country feel left out of the negotiation process and fear that they will be left out of the political process altogether. Some observers suggest that unless the provisional government makes a determined effort to be inclusive and conciliatory, it will find peace to be elusive. There are late unconfirmed reports of clashes between EPDRF forces and local elements in Gojjam and Gondar, and an effort by forces still under Tesfaye Gebre Kidan and Tesfaye Dinka to regroup and retake Addis Ababa. Reportedly there are about 100,000 troops still under General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan in Harar, Sidamo, and other provinces that is not captured by the EPDRF.
The provisional government will be facing extraordinary problems. It must first seek to structure a genuinely representative government and quickly stabilize the anarchic conditions throughout the country. During the period of transition, a breakdown of law and order should be expected. Unless the provisional government quickly establishes order and moves on a political agenda that is sensitive to the multiethnic demands of the nation, it is likely to find bogged in the same abysmal morass that trapped Mengistu’s government.
The provisional government will have to quickly reactivate the civil service and the bureaucracy. It may find itself administrative paralyzed if it should attempt to remove existing civil servants and replace them with combat veterans. It must avoid intimidation of the bureaucracy and seek to overhaul it over a longer time period. It is instructive note that Mengistu succeeded in consolidating his power by reorienting the existing bureaucracy to his advantage. Of course, those guilty of crimes during Mengistu’s rule should be removed or disciplined
To allay public uncertainty the provisional government will have to make its political programs and orientation early on. The politics of silence and ambiguity will prove to be counterproductive. The new leaders must come out openly and share their vision of Ethiopia and concrete proposals for change. It indeed the new government is genuinely democratic, it should clearly spell out its proposals for a representative government and a timetable for multiparty elections. It should state unambiguously that it sees itself as a provisional and transitional government until elections are held. EPDRF’s current pattern of behavior is inauspiciously reminiscent of the early days of the Derg – anonymous leaders, platitudinous declarations about democracy, “provisional government,” inability to articulate a clear political direction, preoccupation with seizing power without contemplation of a vision to channel this power, messianic pretensions to save the country and so on. Ethiopians must not be quick to judge; and the provisional government must be given a chance to succeed.
The provisional government must make extraordinary efforts to limit political and vendetta killings. It should quickly establish investigative commissions to look into government misconduct and abuse during Mengistu’s regime. It should resist the impulse to execute or imprison suspects without the due process of law. Even those officials accused of the most heinous crimes should be given a fair trial before punishment is imposed. For in upholding the rule of law and resisting the temptation to act arbitrarily, the new government will have established its legitimacy not only in the of its own people but also before the court of world public opinion. If the rule of law is ignored, the provisional government will have begun its journey on the same irreversible course Mengistu followed to oblivion.
The provisional government should move quickly to demilitarize the capital and mop up pockets of resistance. It should reconstitute the existing military structure and integrate a segment of the large number of guerrilla fighters into a disciplined military organization. It may be impractical to maintain a large armed force given the apparent democratic orientation of the new government. It may be necessary to decommission a sizable part of the guerrilla army and plan for the return of these individuals to their homes and farms. The new government, unlike Mengistu’s, must be frugal in its allocation of scarce resources to maintain a large military establishment. The new military must be small, professional and multiethnic. It must have a clearly defined mission and should be depoliticized. The new government must strive to establish a tradition of civilian supremacy over the military. A large politically active military will pose a permanent threat to the growth of democratic institutions in Ethiopia.
The provisional government must act quickly to respond to the dire famine situation in the country. The harvest this year has been disappointing with shortfalls reported throughout the country. The current political situation is already having severe impact on famine relief efforts. The war has disrupted food deliveries and an estimated 7 million Ethiopians are facing the threat of starvation. Failure to quickly organize international famine relief efforts will almost certainly result in heavy loss of life.
The provisional government must learn from the basic mistakes of the Mengistu regime. It must unambiguously renounce socialism and declare its support for private entrepreneurship as strategy for economic revitalization. The record of socialism in Ethiopia is uncontroverted–apocalyptic famine, dismally inefficient state and collective farms, chronic shortages of basic staples, unemployment, inability to attract external investment, inflation, asphyxiation of natural human impulses and aspirations and so on. Ironically, even Mengistu made a deathbed conversion when he ordered the reinstitution of capitalist forms complete with private ownership of small plots of land, unrestricted capital investment and even closure of inefficient state farms.
Revitalization of private enterprise in agriculture should be a first priority for the new government. Policies and strategies that spur individual entrepreneurship in agriculture should be implemented in the short-term and extended to all sectors of the economy. All artificial controls on agricultural commodities should be removed. In the long-term the government must aid private producers in the form of agricultural subsidies, low interest loans, price support and other financial incentives to insure high productivity. It is instructive to note that the former proselytizers of socialism have a record written in blood. There is no need to repeat it.
The provisional government will face its first test when it unveils its policy on the question of Eritrean secession. It is widely believed that the EPDRF does not oppose Eritrean secession but does favor any formal separation to be preceded by a referendum. However, given the EPLF’s recent military successes the new government may be powerless to influence events it the EPLF oppose any such precondition.
The viability and survivability of the new government is likely to hang on its approach to the Eritrean secession question. For in shaping its policy towards Eritrea it must carefully weigh the ramifications for Ethiopian unity and possible dismemberment. The provisional government must deal withy the thorny nationality question and come up with a plan in which the country’s multifarious ethnic groups could freely unite or go their own way. It will be untenable for the provisional government to look approvingly on Eritrean secession yet deny the same consideration to the other nationalities should they seek it. This in turn will determine whether Ethiopia will continue as a geopolitical entity.
There have been recent reports of fighting in Gojjam between EPDRF forces and elements of the local population. Similar reports have also come from Gondar and Wellega. Such flareups may be portentous particularly if such incidents are ignored. The government must act decisively to peacefully resolve local level conflict. The provisional government must tread carefully and avoid provoking or arousing ethnic antagonisms. It must be measured in its use of force. It must be willing to negotiate with those who disagree with it. It must be prepared to give a large measure of local self-government.
Most importantly, the provisional government must instill a sense of confidence in the Ethiopian people based on a commitment to the rule of law, individual dignity and liberty, respect for ethnic and political differences and a solemn covenant that Ethiopians shall not draw the sword to settle their differences. It must now seize the moment and build a new Ethiopia on the ashes of socialism. Ethiopia must now look forward into the 1990s as it must shoulder this awesome responsibility.
The U.S. role in the negotiations has also become much clearer. Mediator Herman Cohen announced:
“The U.S. here is serving not only as the U.S. representative but as the conscience of the international community which is saying to them you must go democratic if your want the full cooperation to help Ethiopia realize its full potential. The EPDRF, ELF, and OLF will welcome the presence of the U.S. and other international observers.” Cohen, however, warned: “No democracy, no cooperation.”
A massive anti-American demonstration has been reported in Addis Ababa. Apparently, demonstrators were angered by the U.S.’s recommendation that the EPDRF forces enter Addis Ababa before some kind of peaceful transition of power is arranged. In the U.S. in Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, Ethiopians held demonstrations opposing the Eritrea’s separation from Ethiopia. Eight people have been reported killed.
Some frictions among the coalition has also already started when the EPLF declared its intentions to establish its own provisional government.
The expectation that peace may not have been achieved yet at the end of the London peace conference strengthen when General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan, and Tesfaye Dinka rejected the recommendation by the U.S. the the EPDRF forces enter Addis Ababa and maintain order. General Tesfaye declared himself a rebel and vowed to fight the EPDRF. Also the expectation that the EPDRF can maintain order in Addis Ababa did not materialize so far. People have been killed while domonstrating against the EPDRF and the U.S., and violence is erupting throughout Addis Ababa when the Tigreans play their traditional victory song and dance. Apparently the Oromo and Amara polulation in Addis Ababa is provked by such celebration in the street by the Tigreans in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) and the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionalry Party (EPRF) began to fight in Gondar and Gojjam. These two organizations were shunned the EPDRF and their request to participate in the London peace conference is rejected by both the U.S. and the EPDRF.
Quo Vadis Ethiopia?
Mengistu’s legacy will have incalculable impact on generations to come. But where is Ethiopia going? It has been said that those who do not learn form the past are doomed to repeat it.
It is folly to believe that force of arms alone can bring about a permanent and durable solutions to Ethiopia’s multifaceted problems. Neither the present nor any future government could expect to use violence as means of governing this multiethnic, multilingual society. Leaders on all sides must share a common desire for peace based on genuine compromise and accommodations. They must also show a genuine commitment to the rule of law and respect for the individual’s freedom and dignity. Ethiopia’s leaders must strive to promote ethnic diversity and cast away outdated notions that one or another ethnic group is entitled to rule.
Ethiopia is poised in the twilight of a new era. Whether she will begin a new era of reconciliation and reconstruction or open another dark chapter is in the hands of its leaders and people. Wrong choices and miscalculations by its leaders can yet plunge this desperate nation into irretrievable misery. The leadership on all sides should not miss the opportunity to open a new chapter of peace and prosperity.
Ethiopians have many problems when they arrive in the U.S. Usually their expectations are shattered by the realities of life in the U.S. Ethiopians coming to America face the same problems that African Americans do. Wouldn’t it be nice if Ethiopians first coming to the U.S. were welcomed, helped to get adjusted, and immediately employed by African Americans? Wouldn’t it be great if Ethiopians and African Americans jointly started profitable businesses? And wouldn’t it be nice if we could all sit down and drink coffee and talk together? Why doesn’t this happen?
The reason it doesn’t happen is that African Americans think that Ethiopians and all other Africans don’t want anything to do with them. They think Ethiopians hate and feel superior to them. African Americans believe that they are not considered to be Africans by Ethiopians and other Africans but rather as some good-for-nothing, mixed-down, lazy, poor American bums. Thinking these things causes African Americans to disassociate themselves from, and even dislike Ethiopians and other Africans. Being an African American myself, I remember believing these things.
African Americans are constantly subjected to movies, television programs and TV commercials depicting Africa as the so-called “Dark Continent”. African Americans see TV programs like “Feed the Children” which gives the impression that all of Ethiopia and the rest of Africa is starving and doesn’t have food. The information from magazines like National Geographic seem to imply that Ethiopia is a starving desert and Africa is one big jungle. Movies such as Tarzan have led African Americans to believe that whites are the “Kings of the Jungle” and that everything in Ethiopia and elsewhere i Africa is controlled by non-Africans.
There is no representation of cities or industry. Traditional doctors and natural medicine is said to be witch doctors and voodoo medicine. Languages are presented as the chatter of wild savages with the intelligence of baboons. Nothing is said about the fact that there is regular furniture in the huts of the villages. There are even people said to be “authorities in the field” who will say Ethiopians are not Africans! And the innocent cartoons get the children while they are young. Cartoons that African Americans have grown up with such as Popeye, Yogi Bear, Bugs Bunny, and others, at one time or another have depicted Africa as the untamed jungle. So from birth to death, African Americans learn to accept these false ideas as fact and are not quite able to escape them. I am sure that Ethiopians and other Africans are tired of being seen as poor, backwards, and uneducated by African Americans.
But Ethiopians, like all other continental Africans, too, receive and often believe misleading information about African Americans. They are subjected to the Western mass media both in Africa and here in the U.S. I have talked to Ethiopians and other Africans that did not even know African Americans existed before they came here. Some Africans believe the myths that African Americans are “lazy bums.” Ethiopians and other Africans see the news, TV shows, and movies which seem to portray African Americans as the country’s thieves, drug users, drug dealers and irresponsible drunken bums. There is no representation of African American as politicians, businessmen and women, engineers and designers, caring parents, happy children, concerned citizens, or even passionate lovers.
The result of believing untrue things about each other is that when we see each other we say and think bad things about each other. Because of this we decide not to acknowledge each other. We fail to talk to each other and miss out on the to find out who the other really is. We help the untrue information to live on, only to be believed just as easily by the next.
In order to solve the problems we have, we must begin to talk to one another to personally find out who the other really is. We have to visit places where the other goes such as clubs, restaurants, and churches and talk. We must visit each other at our homes. Ethiopians can show African Americans photographs from photo albums, and video tapes taken in the cosmopolitan cities, important towns, and of the beautiful countryside in Ethiopia.
A single picture placed in your wallet or purse can destroy all myths and misconceptions that African Americans have of Ethiopians. And I know this works because I keep a picture of an African country’s city in my wallet at all times. Realize that nobody else is trying to educate African Americans about Africa. African Americans need your help. Neither the library nor the schools offer the type of information that Ethiopians can give their country and continent. Once Ethiopians, other Africans, and African Americans begin helping each other understand who they are, we all can then live in co-operation and harmony together.
Mr. Jegede Legesse Allyn is an African American and founder of United African International, a newly national organization to teach African Americans about the culture from the cities of African countries.
I was banished from home and went from fairy-tale fortune to bare and continual poverty. I had spent a decade in Germany before I came to US; and now I am earning my daily bread in pettiness. To be frank, I am working any job to get nowhere. Why?
How long have I been here?… emh… a good while, a year and half. It is not big deal. What is the difference between yesterday and today? Ugly enough, time is recorded on my face, in my muscles; I see its shadow moving across my childhood friends. I suspect there would be many areas in which I wouldn’t grow; my spirits remain childlike.
Not long ago, I traveled to Washington D.C by Greyhound bus. We were driving on a free way. Life would be interesting if there were such kind of free way for each of us.
My mind is always filled with different questions that need to be answered. I like simple questions, though. Do I like it here? How can I tell myself how I should like it? The passenger who was sitting beside me on this bus stared me up and down.
Pretty soon, he turned his face away as if he thought I didn’t realize he was staring. The fact of the matter is he saw my cloth. I never wore fancy clothes because I am not a person who wants to conceal his true self. Why do you judge a people by their clothes?
Do you have time to think about your life? Who said ‘life is too short’? I have plenty of time to contemplate my life.
I am like a boat which starts sailing without an engine or boat-hook. Even now I don’t know who placed me in the middle of this big ocean, nor who put my head into the lion’s mouth.
Can you imagine a person who doesn’t have the slightest idea where he is heading? After all, nobody knows where he is going or whether the worth of his actions are worthwhile. Why?
What have I gotten from life? I couldn’t say I have gotten money, house or authority. My conscience needs something totally different. Of course, until the age of 26 I didn’t know specifically what I really wanted. I was too ambitious to pursue a profession.
Once in a blue moon, my voice burst with joy, then life and death mingled together; that is why I love life.
I always listen my inner voice as if someone is there. I have been told that there is a drop of hope that keeps our lives going. Only God knows how long we should hope.
To be honest, this idea was shaped for me as result of a conversation that I had long ago with an old woman in church. She was 90 years old, but looked young, energetic and healthy. I believe that something other than medicine has enabled her to live such a long life. If I were her, I would be bored. You know? I went to church to prepare myself for life after death. She was praying aloud, and her loud prayers attracted my attention. She was praising and thanking God; I couldn’t see what this woman could possibly have to be thankful for. I wondered whether she had been promised a place in heaven. I had asked myself – did she get promise to have a place in heaven?
“Why do you thank God?” I asked her. Interestingly enough, she smiled at me.
“Because he has given me what I wanted!” she responded.
“Did you get money, a house, what?” I asked.
“I don’t have all those things, but my son, I am a happy woman!” she said.
Why?”
“My son” she said, “don’t equate my happiness with material possessions. I have never asked God to give me money!”
“So what did you ask?”
“I asked for pure conscience!”
Her words convinced me, and have been instilled in me ever since.
The bus stopped somewhere for an hour layover, and I was brought back to the present. As did many of the other passengers, I went to the bar and ordered a beer.
Why do I drink beer?
I wanted to get drunk, not to forget, but to tell the truth if there is such a thing. I sometimes deliberately try to create misleading impression of myself; because I want to rise above depressing, wretched facts of life.
Do I sound pessimistic? I am and proud of it. If anyone examined life realistically he would say the futures will be darker and worse than today. You know what makes some of my friends blind to the reality? Hypocrisy! They see themselves the end of the downward progression. These hypocritical delusions can be perilous.
After my second beer, I ordered some food. Hey! … why do you eat alone!? Because I was born alone! Of course, if I had true love for any one, I wouldn’t have eaten alone. I have both material and spiritual poverty. The most disgusting thing in this unjust and unfair would is that there are families who have no food as well as those who have food no community. Both cause me great pain. One is the copy, the other is the original. How could the family eat together if secret police knock at one’s door and taken away one’s daughter or son to God-knows-where. In my lifetime, I have seen both dying mother giving her last bits of food to her children and desperately poor parents selling their daughter into prostitution. Both are a daily reality.
Are your bored?… me? Yes! I am sorry… mankind is bored! Perhaps this is the principal cause of all our problems. We no longer know what to do with ourselves.
Am I really a man? I am like the character Ivan in The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoveskey who wanted not a million dollars but an answer to his question.
I would be better off to turn a deaf ear to any question.
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Written in Ohio, June 1991
