In a cool and breezy New York evening, having just gotten out of an art exhibit, I was still trying to appreciate what I had seen when the decision was made to conclude the evening by having some Ethiopian food. Never the "nay sayer" to food, especially Ethiopian, I jumped on the opportunity to treat my palate to some spicy, savory, delicious grub. A few minutes into the ride to this delicacy, however, I found myself in a crammed back seat of a New York City cab being accused of tribalism, ethnocentrism and all the other "isms" I couldn't even attempt to pronounce. I was even told in a very stern manner, “....... such a statement is not expected from an intellectual such as yourself.” Naturally, I was offended for being mistaken for an intellectual. I have never been one and if things go according to plan I shall never become one either. Of course, there was the other half of that accusatory statement which was just hilarious. What was funny about it was that the statement itself was just as guilty of the very concept it was meant to criticize. Wait, wait, wait, I am getting way ahead of myself. Let me retrace how we got here in the first place

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By Wegesha

I wrote this article a few months back for a magazine and I am very thankful that abesha women haven't stopped talking to me yet. Still, I have become so paranoid, every abesha woman that engages me in a conversation appears to me as a potential avenger deserving of the evil eye.

Abesha Women

            "Capitalize on this day" I told myself. It is always a momentous occasion whenever I get inspiration to write. It seldom happens and when it does, I'm usually not in a position to put my thoughts down on paper. Today was different. I had woken up thinking about what I had told a friend the night before. I thought about it again and grinned. I could hear the squeaking noise as the Pandora box cracked open. I peeked inside only to see all that has been waiting to come out. I grinned again.                                 

            She was standing at the end of the sidewalk. Perhaps waiting to cross the street or just standing there for the sake of using her feet what they were made for. It didn't matter why. She was there and so we both looked at her. She was a black woman of average build and average height with a skin complexion that announced an abesha sighting. I felt the familiar nudge from my right side followed by "She is abesha, right?"  I have lived in New York city long enough not to make that mistake again. This melting pot  spits out shades of every color. I call the several Dominicans I've offended as witnesses. I leaned over to my friend and whispered "I will let you know if she is abesha after I check her out from behind." I chuckled at my own comment and made a note to self to remember this moment the next morning. Now, it is that next morning and I remember.  

            My laptop is only a good stretch away but it is still early. I was taught never to start writing before peeing. I strained hard to eliminate every drop from my bladder and customarily stepped on the scale. It read 230 pounds. Yeah, baby! Not too bad on a 5' 5" frame. I haven't even showered yet. Finally, I felt ready to dive into the abyss from which there is no return: to divulge the distinctive traits of abesha women that have been kept under wraps for fear of retaliation.

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By Wegesha

The dedicated "yekolotemari" blog has been very lucky so far in securing interviews with prominent members the Ethiopian government.  To see the classic interview with the ex-information minster CLICK HERE.  Not to be outdone by his own puppet, his excellency tried to explain how he views the Ethiopian political crisis. The interview was done in a very Ethiopiansque way as you will see below.

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WE HAVE A NEW CONTRIBUTOR TO THE BLOG!

In a time when all talk seems to have focused on politics, the writer of this article seems to quesiton if our basic morals are to blame for the problems. Admittedly, she feels hopeless and confused and thus we have named her "Hopefused."

By Hopefused

As I sit here thinking, reflecting on the things around me, all I can say is ‘What is going on?’ I know it sounds like a cliché since almost everyone is saying and singing it. But what else is left to say? Every time I watch or read the news all I can say is ‘What is going on?’ Whenever I hear about what is done in countries around the world, under the guise of accepted norm or even considered heroic in most countries, all I can say is ‘what is going on?’

            Recently at work, my colleagues and I were discussing about the countries of our origin. When our conversations ventured to the area of “crime and punishment” a co-worker proceeded to inform me that,  criminals from a neighboring country cross the border to his country, kill the women and ‘scoop’ out their private parts in order to use them for black magic. In the particular spree he was talking about fifteen to twenty women were killed and mutilated. I was really shocked by their careless disregard for human life but as if that wasn’t enough, I was told something else that shocked me to my core. I was to find out that there are some people who kill babies and stuff them with drugs to be able to smuggle the drugs undetected. I don’t know if I’m being naïve but what kind of a person would kill a baby and stuff him/her with the drugs and hold that baby throughout the journey and feel no remorse?

           It seems nowadays all I’ve to do is read a newspaper or watch a news broadcast and my hope in humanity starts to waiver. Before, whenever I watched television shows and movies about serial killers and psychopaths, I used to always say to myself at the end of the movie, ‘there can’t be anyone this cruel and this heartless in this world’, and I meant it. I had a deep-seated faith and belief in basic human conscience and I always believed that human beings were inherently ‘good’.

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By Wegesha

As a concerned Ethiopian living in the U.S, I wrote to my representative (senator Hillary Rodham Clinton) regarding the situation in the motherland. I know others are also doing the same and it is my hope that our efforts won't be in vain. Below is the letter I wrote:

 Dear Senator, 

I am writing this letter to bring to your attention the recent events that unfolded in Ethiopia. As you recall, the highly contested elections of May 15^th, 2005 resulted in the deaths of 36 civilians and mass arrests of thousands of opposition supporters. The continued repression has now taken the form of indiscriminant killings of civilians as young as 10 years old. The evidence is out there for all to see and has been reported by local and international news media. Ethiopians in diaspora have held rallies protesting these killings in every part of the world including New York . Unfortunately and regrettably, the Ethiopian people can not turn to their government neither for protection nor to be served justice and hence we have been forced to ask the international community not to turn a blind eye to the dire situation in Ethiopia.

Shortly after the May 2005 elections, two independent election observation groups (the European Union election observation unit and The Carter Center) described the process as “not having met international standards.” Since then the government sanctioned repressive machinery has been rolling in full force, initially banning the right of the people to assemble and consequently initiating the first wave of killings only to be followed by the second wave during the first week of November 2005.  The government sponsored ethnic tension has reached its zenith and has been used as a reason to justify mass killings in the rural areas of the country. All opposition leaders have been stripped of their parliamentary immunity and are now detained facing charges of treason and the death penalty.

I will refrain from listing the myriad of atrocious actions that are being taken against the people of Ethiopia for it would seem pure fabrication and unsubstantiated exaggerations on my part. I would rather have a neutral and objective body look into the facts to see the degree of despotism, the surface of which I have only scratched here. It, however, gives me no comfort to see all the evidence accumulate to realize tyranny, in any disguise, is still tyranny. It also gives me no comfort to wake up every night drenched in sweat wondering if today will be the day when all my family will be wiped out, whose crime so far has only been to be born Ethiopian. 

I hope the international community will be cognizant of the repercussions of the tense situation in Ethiopia and will provide due attention. Fresh in our memory is the genocide that took place in Rwanda only a decade ago while the U.S. took the stance that “African problems should find African solutions.” In all the rhetoric of politics, I hope there still remains some element of international morality, the center piece of which is humanity. It would be too easy to speculate “what went wrong?” from the vantage point of hindsight.  

Thank you.   

Sincerely

Friends:

Please write, email, call your congress representatives. Here are some links that can help you. This is the least we can do. Show that you care by acting now! "kenfer memTeT bechawen waga yelewem.

http://enset.blogspot.com/2005/11/letter-to-send-to-your-representatives.html

http://www.weichegud.blogspot.com

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/letters/

For those celebrating

Eid Mubarak!

The killing of protesters and other innocent bystanders has continued. The latest reports claim that 23 to 40 people have been gunned down. According to friends I spoke to, the sporadic protests of Tuesday had spread to the whole city by Wednesday afternoon. There are no taxis and buses running.

-----

Here are a couple of incidents that epitomize the situation on the ground:

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/34517.html

5:51 am: At least 33 killed as protests against rigged election continue in  

By ANTHONY MITCHELL | Associated Press

November 2, 2005

...

Victims included Arabia Abdul Fatah, 13, who suffered shrapnel wounds to her stomach and legs. "The police were looking for rioters and burst into our compound. They fired tear gas and then threw a grenade," said her father, Abdul Fatal, a 44-year-old daily laborer. "The police then started shooting in the compound. My daughter has never been in trouble with anyone."

Tigist Daniel, 16, said she brought her 50-year-old mother to a hospital after police shot her in the stomach. "All my mother was trying to do was save my brother because he had been caught up in the fighting. She ran out of the house to grab him and the police just shot at her," Tigist told The Associated press. "They are shooting anyone who comes out of their house."

...

Other eye witness accounts:

http://www.ethioindex.com/email2us.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4400270.stm