We have short memory
About a year ago, a message was posted on one of the discussion forums claiming that Ethiopians would forever remember those students who lost their lives resisting the EPRDF regime. I was doubtful about the veracity of the statement. Almost a year has passed and the only ones who probably remember those students are their poor mothers and families.
It seems EPRDF had counted on our short memory when it decided to brutally crack down on those who tried to resist it. Not a bad gamble considering the fact that the protests (abroad and at home) have virtually stopped, the leaders of the main opposition are in jail, and, people have resigned to accept few more years of dictatorship.
I sometimes wonder whether the protests, rhetoric, and, rage displayed by those of us in Diaspora helped to instill a false sense of security and hope in those youngsters back home encouraging them to sacrifice their lives. Did we do more harm than good? Those of us in Diaspora can choose to express our rage whenever it suits us and go on with our lives at other times. Temporary rage, rhetoric, and, protests may not do much for our people back home. Perhaps if we are truly interested in helping our people, we need to remember and sacrifice a bit more.
Perhaps it will be wiser to keep in mind in our struggles the nature of the Diaspora's response to currrent affairs - which is very bog-CHilim. Perhaps using that energy to march infront of the Ethiopian Embassy is not the best route to expend it. Perhaps the flurry of articles that say the same thing over and over and flood Ethiopian websites and stay in the front pages for 3 weeks, before their links start to give way to 'document not found', messages is not the place to place our penmanship. I mean, where exactly are actions of the Diaspora directed towards? Does the American gov't or Ethio embassy actually give a damn about our marches?
Not too long ago I heard Ethiopians marched in Minnesota and no news crew showed up. So habesh marched over to one of the TV stations and started changing 'We're here, can you hear us?' 'Can you hear us?' 'Can you hear us?' 'Can you hear us?' The station sent down a few people to 'record' the event, and the crew promised they'd put a storty on the 10 o'clock news, which of course, they didn't. (Comment this)