By Valita Walston
Among the many groups that make up Washington’s diverse community is it’s Ethiopian population. For over 20 years this community has left a unique and culturally enriching impression on the city.
“Ethiopians are adventurous by nature. You will always find an Ethiopian anywhere in the world where there is opportunity,” said Wondimu Assemnew, head of Public Relations and Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Ethiopia. [The stupid Woyanne cadre at the embassy is lying. Ethiopians are not being adventurous. They are fleeing the terrorist regime in Ethiopia.]
Deeply entrenched in the history and cultural landscape of Washington, D.C. – most noticeably the Shaw area – the Ethiopian community has prospered in small businesses and entrepreneurship.
Through store and restaurant ownership, many Ethiopians have incorporated specific aspects of their culture into mainstream D.C.
“I think the two cultures are interchangeable and they influence each other,” Assemnew said.
In 2005, members of the community petitioned to have a section of the city given the name “Little Ethiopia.”
Although the petition, which was supported by Ward One Council Member Jim Graham, did not pass in council, it stirred up controversy within Shaw’s African-American community.
Assemnew, a diplomat who resides on the city’s Embassy row, said both African-American and Ethiopian cultures work together to represent the District’s cultural identity.
However, in a city whose cultural identity is rapidly changing, the Ethiopian community has managed to keep hold of their businesses throughout the transformation of the District’s physical and demographical landscape – something Assemnew credits to Ethiopian cultural values.
“Ethiopians are successful people in general as a culture, wherever Ethiopians go they bring with them value, culture and identity,” Assemnew said.
Large numbers of Ethiopians began to migrate out of Africa during the 1970s due to war violence.
Many within the Ethiopian Diaspora settled all over the world with a significant number coming to the Washington area.
Assemnew believes it was the city’s African-American community that drew so many Ethiopians to the Washington area.
“I think the amount of economic activity and a level of comfort with the cultural diversity especially the African-American demographic probably had an influence with the Ethiopians that settled here,” Assemnew said.
The Washington area has been speculated to have the largest population of Ethiopian immigrants; however, according to Andrew Laurence, head of the Ethiopian-American Cultural Center, an “exact number for the Ethiopian population cannot be given,” due in large part to a lack of documentation.
What can be noted, however, is the business ownership throughout the trendy shopping district of the U Street Corridor where there are restaurants such as Dukem and Dynasty that have become culinary destinations for many Washington visitors and residents.
Source: The Hilltop Online, Howard University