As I scan the globe for communities that believe and practice Hebret—the concept of helping each other out—there is none that come to my mind more than the Jewish community. Whether in the United States, in Israel, or anywhere throughout the world, the Jewish community understands the essence of collaboration instead of competition. Perhaps it is because they faced such an existential threat in the past or continue to feel pressures from the outside world that they are so wedded to the idea of communal success.
Like every community, there are some bad apples that don’t believe in this concept within the Jewish community. I do not endorse the extremists in any community that harbors success through the plight of another—such is the case of the continued expansion of settlements on Palestinian land. However, outside of the hardcore elements within the community, the Jewish community is overwhelmingly are kind in nature. During the Civil Rights campaign, it was Jewish brothers and sisters who marched hand in hand with…
Read More »
This Sunday, May 23rd marks the onset of an election in Ethiopia. There is a part of me that is hopeful that violence will not flair up again, engulfing Ethiopia’s citizens with yet another round of violence and chaos. Part of me hopes that the election is free and fair, where citizens are able to express their desires and vote their conscience, but recent history has taught me to be less hopeful—taught me to be a cynic. I have come to the sad realization that Ethiopia is not ready for democracy, democracy through guns is not democracy at all, it is a rouse perpetuated by those in power to cloak autocracy with a venire of a ballots and election sloganeering.
Now before you think I am off on a tirade aimed solely at the current government, let me stop you there. My position on the current Ethiopian government is not easy to figure out. In Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia has a president that is more intent on balkanizing Ethiopia than leading her people. I am confronted by a lot of Ethiopians who tell me that Meles is better than what we had before. However, I do not judge leaders based on who came before them but…
Read More »
Home may seem like a simple and straightforward word, but actually it can be quite a complicated concept. Those of us who have had to leave the land of their birth either willingly or forcibly to find safety or economic upward mobility can attest that “home” is a word that is difficult to define. Often much more than a place of residence and entangled in recollections of youthful exploits, intimate relationships, and heartfelt memories, this word invokes powerful emotions. We distant wanderers try to recreate this sense of “home” by gravitating towards each other and building new communities in far-away lands. We search for the lilts and tones of our mother tongues in the voices of strangers and the tastes and smells that titillated our palates and stimulated our senses in the land we left behind. Like dessert nomads in search of water, we travel to oases like Washington DC and LA’s Little Ethiopia where our countrymen have congregated for a momentary taste of home.
Twelve years, an ocean, and five residences removed from my childhood home of Addis Ababa, home for me is embodied in fleeting moments of familiar tizita songs, the smell of roasting coffee beans as they rattle back and forth in an aluminum pan over an open flame, the feeling of injera against my…
Read More »
There are two types of people in this world, those who play it safe and those who gamble. There are two types of gamblers in this world, those who gamble recklessly and those who gamble discerningly. To those who play it safe, those who gamble are reckless regardless and no amount of convincing can change their minds. However, to those who gamble discerningly, those who gamble recklessly are fools that are doomed to failure.
For too long in my life I have taken my turn playing it safe and being a reckless gambler. I was afraid of taking chances on those things which I thought I might fail at while gambling recklessly while calling it spontaneous living to make myself feel better. I wanted to go to law school, but I played it safe and worked at a telecommunications company instead. I wanted to get an MBA, but told myself that I was not ready yet. I wanted to start countless companies yet I got caught up in the details of its perfection to such an extent that I never…
Read More »
Throughout Africa, the one thing that is abundant above all is political factions with acronyms and “liberation fronts” that espouse to “liberate” people. Acronyms and liberation fronts are as African these days as the Nile River itself. I could list hundreds of political factions and liberation fronts that fight for one cause or another, seeking to oust an entrenched power only to impose the same tyranny that they fought against to begin with.
Travel to Africa, whether you find yourself in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Eritrea, Kenya, Liberia or any other country you can throw a dart at on a map of Africa, and you will find wars and conflicts being fought on behalf of a…
Read More »
On Wednesday, May 05, Congressman Jim Moran, Representative of the 8th Congressional District of Virginia was interviewed LIVE on Brown Condor Radio by Teddy Fikre.
There are some politicians that will say anything to get elected by staying clear of the truths that need to be told. Then there are public servants like Jim Moran who speak the truth that needs to heard irrespective of the consequences. The interview with Congressman Jim Moran on BC Radio is the embodiment of this notion. Congressman Jim Moran did not bite his tongue when it comes to issues that impact all communities, issues such as…
Read More »
Full Archives
