UNDETERRED
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
by Teddy Fikre
EA4C Guest Blogger
I want to believe, I truly do. I want to believe that Ethiopians, Eritreans, the African Diaspora can throw off the collective chains of self imposed poverty and work together to a collective prosperity. I have the Audacity to think that we can actually work together—you thought Obama was hopeful! But it gets harder and harder each day, for each day I am proven one step closer towards the realization that Obama’s election was an ephemeral moment of bliss.
Why so jaded? Before I go forward, let me go back. Back to 2008, when Obama frenzy was at its peak—at least it was on November 4th 2008. However, the months leading up to that moment was arduous at best. We—Ethiopians for Obama—had our own audacious goals. Sure we were enamored with the idea of an Obama administration, but most of us were in love with an idea way bigger than that. We saw, through the image of Obama, a vision of our own where we could organize our community.
What we imagined was a bloc of Ethiopian voters (now expanded to voters from the African Diaspora) that would vote on issues that matter to our community. During one of our first meetings, we instantly settled trying on attempting to turn the Ethiopian community in Virginia into the same voting force as the Cuban community in Florida. Supposedly, there are well over 120,000 Ethiopians who reside in Virginia. No one really knows, nonetheless, there is a significant population of Ethiopians in the Old Dominion that has the potential of becoming a potent voice—if we band together. So that was our hope; a vision to give the Ethiopian community a megaphone.
Thus, as we set out to organize for Obama, we were also organizing for Ethiopia. We were taking notes for our community, we learned about phone banking, about networking, about viral marketing—we took a lot of notes. And our aim two years ago was to register 10,000 Ethiopians in the span of 8 months in the state of Virginia and thousands more elsewhere. Sure, a high number, but about 1,100 Ethiopians per month, I thought it was at least semi-realistic. So we set out to various churches, coffee shops, held debate watching parties—all for the purpose of registering 10,000 Ethiopians in Virginia and thousands more elsewhere. It was a slow and steady process; 10 here, 7 there, 12 elsewhere. But we kept faith, we thought in due time our community would catch on.
So we were ecstatic when the Ethiopian Soccer Federation North America (ESFNA) gave us the approval to hold a registration drive during the soccer games in DC. We thought we hit the jackpot, with over 30,000 Ethiopians slated to attend the games throughout the week, surely we could register at least 5,000 people in one week—Right? To make sure we could accommodate everyone, we had registration forms from Virginia as well as a generic registration form that anyone from any state could fill out. We were ready for a stampede of new registrars.
What unfolded throughout the week was enough to put despair in anyone’s heart. We had to cajole and coax folks to register. We were not selling t-shirts or injera—we were just selling hope. So we stood there in the heat, in the rain, in the dark, registration forms in hand. We were happy with each voter we registered, but for every one that stopped by, hundreds would look at us curiously and keep moving by. In the span of 6 days, we registered a grand total of 125 voters. That is 125 voters out of 30,000+ who attended the soccer games. I tried to tell myself that maybe the majority were already registered or were not eligible to vote yet. The things we do to deny the existence of the truth aydel?
We kept pushing on, UNDETERRED was our motto. So we kept holding town halls, registration events and the like. Another highlight was when we had Obama’s Constituency Director for the State of Virginia came specifically to ask for our votes. Again, we thought jackpot! An Obama official coming to speak to our community; surely this would lead to a packed house! Apparently, there is a thin line between hope and naivety—we made sure we had enough seats for a capacity crowd as well as standing room. The moment of truth, we had 45 people come out. Forty five people, despite, or is that in spite, of the fact that we made well over 4,000 phone calls to folks in Virginia to come out to this event. So people knew; people just did not care—YOU did not care.
Last year, Ethiopians for Obama, through months of working with the Obama campaign was able to get a letter released thanking the Ethiopian community for our contributions in America and asking for our votes. This was a truly historic moment, never before has a Presidential candidate reached out to the Ethiopian community to thank us and ask us for our votes. The letter sent shock waves as people were overcome with joy and enthusiasm that Obama actually released a letter to our community. Again, we thought this would generate a massive turnout to our following events. Instead, the letter was picked up by most Ethiopian publications, yet when the time came to get a perspective about the letter, the people interviewed were not the organizers with Ethiopians for Obama; rather, it was Doctors and Professors who were contacted to give a perspective about this historic moment. To their credit, Tadias Magazine reached out to us to get our feedback and included the “kids” behind Ethiopians for Obama in a feature article.
Magically, November 4th comes around, all the sudden it’s party time. Now all the sudden, there are Obama posters everywhere. Eskesta, musica, beera, buna, whulum neger amta! We disbanded Ethiopians for Obama that day; most of us thought that it was simply impossible to get our message through. But a couple of us stayed behind, and we formulated, we studied what went wrong, we thought maybe we did not do enough to reach out to the older generation, we thought we had failed to make a bigger connection. Thus, after 8 months of planning, we rebranded ourselves and started the organization we always aimed to start two years ago—Ethiopian-Americans for Change arrived!
In the span of 5 months, we implemented our lessons learned. We reached out in different segments of the older generation; leaders, activists, media, radio stations. We have and continue to do so, but I realized recently that we were not the ones to blame for our “failures” two years ago. The failure resides in our community, the failure resides in a generation—not all, because we have some unbelievable supporters, mothers and fathers who encourage and prod us—but a generation generally who does not give a damn about what we are trying to do—the failure resides in YOU.
Then I started to think about it some more. And now I think I know why. You look at us as “lijoch”–kids. Unless we are in our forties, unless we have a Doctor or a Professor in front of our names, unless we are part of the institutional structure, unless we have money—you don’t pay attention to us. We are your kids, literally and figuratively, thus you ignore us even when what we are trying to do is truly visionary. If we had your support, if we were able to deliver on our effort to organize our community, Ethiopians could be a powerful voice in America and Ethiopia herself could be transformed. If we succeeded in our effort, we could literally transform the Ethiopian community in Virginia into a powerful voting bloc, a bloc which could command respect and attention for the needs of our community nationwide. A bloc which could be more powerful than a thousand marches and would be heard a thousand times louder than 10,000 protests.
But we stay a mere potential. Two weeks ago Ethiopian-Americans for Change sponsored “Real Talk-Freedom of Speech and Democracy”. We figured this would be a great way to attract folks who are passionate about events in Ethiopia. Thus, we sent out 10,000 emails, facebook, twitter, text messages, the whole works—not counting the thousands of people who visit EA4C.org on a daily basis. Over 40 people RSVP’d, when we arrived, one person showed up. That’s right, and sew becha! UNDETERRED! That motto has not left us to this day. We had a great event nonetheless. However, I go down to the local Starbucks the very next day, and there sit 12 Ethiopian men, sipping buna, talking about politics in Ethiopia. I shake my head and walk out thinking to myself “thanks for the Hebret”.
This was also the case last November, when we organized a “Meet the Candidates” forum at Meaza Restaurant. We invited both the Republican candidate McDonnell and the Democratic Candidate Deeds. The Democratic Party accepted our invitation and came out with Deeds, the DNC Chair Tim Kaine, Jody Wagner, state delegate Herring, and a representative from Moran’s office. This was not some back door meeting seeking donations, this was an open event where the whole of our community was invited where Deeds came seeking our votes. We made phone calls to over 4,000 Ethiopians in Northern Virginia. Thus, on Saturday morning, again, being hopeful, or naive, we expected a full house. When the event started at 12:00 PM, 35 people came out to listen to Deeds and Kaine ask for our votes. Yet, a mile down the road, at a coffee shop, the place was packed with people sipping buna and talking politics.
This lack of Hebret is not indicative about the lack of support for EA4C events only. It is an endemic that infects and impact everyone. If you step back for a moment, you would realize that there are thousands of young and amazing Ethiopians who are toiling in the shadows and accomplishing great things. The list is too far to recount, Liya Endale in Atlanta, Addis Embiyalo in Canada, Thomas, Wayna, Zewdy, Ellias Fullmore, Beshou and the Bernos crew, MGMP, Blen Inc, Paradigm 84 to name just a few. These are some of the most AMAZING Ethiopian and Eritrean young men and women who are visionaries. If even a tenth of our community banded to support them, they could be powerful forces and voices for our community. Yet, sadly, they get more support from nechoch, Croatians, Russians, Moroccans, French, or insert any other community here than they do from our own.
They are young, they don’t have a doctor or professor in front of their names—so you ignore them, you ignore us. I look at various publications who have their yearly nominations for outstanding contributors to our community, and it’s usually the usual suspects—again, doctors, lawyers, professors, and mostly in their forties and fifties. Don’t get me wrong, I revere the accomplishments of the generation before us; I revere the sacrifice that my father and mother went through so I can today write this article. I am by no means writing out of jealousy, I am writing out of despondency. Why not shine the light on those who are younger, why not shine the light on those who don’t have a doctor in front of their names–young entrepreneurs and performers—so that you can encourage others to follow in their footsteps.
Let me give you another example. Last year, when Teza was released, I attended the last screening in DC. The organizers of the movie were having a hard time getting a massive support from our community. Keep in mind that this is a movie that documented the reason why most of us immigrated to America. When Haile Gerima took to the microphone to take questions from the audience, one person asked him why there were not more Ethiopian movies like this. His answer was succinct, precise, and heartbreaking. He said “if people put down the cup of coffee and a drink from a local bar and instead came out to support movies such as this, Ethiopia could have her own Hollywood”. Sad but true, we have in our hands the potential to be a powerful economic and political force; instead we keep drinking buna and lamenting the events in Ethiopia.
This is precisely why Ethiopian-Americans for Change came up with our own award last year called Eyasu Generation Award. An award designated to highlight the accomplishments of those who toil in the ignominy instead of the spotlight. A main requirement was that the nominees had to be 30 or younger; we caught a lot of grief last year when we announced this award. One person wrote and said “how dare you not acknowledge the work of those in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond”. To which we responded that there are countless organizations that already do that while hardly acknowledge the efforts of those in their 20s and younger.
The thing is that Eyasu would not have been able to lead his people to the promise land without the help and teachings of Moses. We need our Moses, we need those older than us, with more experience than us, who are wiser than us to teach us, to support us, to guide us and stop treating us as “lijoch”. Someone in her 50s recently told me “forget our generation, we are lost, focus on the younger generation”. I wanted to heed her warning, but I still hold out hope. Hope that the generation before us can support us, so that we can support our own and those that come after us. I desperately want to believe in Hebret, though it gets harder and harder each day.
Just remember what it felt like when you came to America in the 70s and 80s, how you felt alone in a new world, how you wished for someone to support you. How you longed for your people yet again, how you longed to feel connected. Well guess what, we feel the same way you did in the 70s now in this new century. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It is my hope that one day soon, our Moses generation will start to support us, to stand behind us, because one day soon we will be the Moses generation that will lead the way for a new Eyasu generation. Until then, I hold out hope that eventually—soon enough—we will get the support we have been waiting for.
We will continue pushing in the dark, knowing that we are the change that Ethiopia can count on. We will not give up, we will not go silently into the night, for one day, our people will wake up and start to support us instead of dismissing us. For we are the ones that “she”—Ethiopia—has been waiting for. Never give up on your light, don’t let the antipathy of others extinguish your flame or passion. And when we, the Eyasu Generation become the Moses Generation, I pray that we never become so jaded that we don’t support those that come after us. Until that time comes, remain forever—UNDETERRED!
This blog submission was written by Teddy Fikre. The views of guest bloggers are not the views of Ethiopian-Americans for Change. Guest bloggers represent the broad dissection of views and outlooks within our community.
Undeterred is a good motto! I think what you are doing is great and commendable. It’s important not to be discouraged. This is likely the first time, anyone has made an organized effort to involve Ethiopian- Americans in the US political discourse and it’s going to take various attempts, including reaching out to people in the coffee shops and wherever else they like to hang out. Keep up the good work!
Let me tell you something,i just came to the Us recentely and trying to undrestand how things are working here.i was in South Africa for more than 5 years,i saw the same problem back there.I thought ppl[Ethiopians] here are more educated and use their huge number to their and their country advantage,i guss i am wrong.Brother let me tell you something you have one big supporter with you here.I have understood you completelly.I am ready to help you in whatever way i can.I wish you allthe best of luck in your endvour.
take care
I will support you 100%, don’t stop pushing. It is sad we have to go trought this but i think you might be the reason we have been waiting for who knows.
It is agood call. But we need to act together. Eritrea is a soverign country as is Ethiopia. But, there is no reason why we could not work together for the common good. Otherwise we both are doomed to failure.
Dear Teddy,
I am so happy you brought this up. The lack of Hebret/union in the Diaspora and yet we expect America to bring democracy to Ethiopia. Indeed, we really have to look ourselves in the mirror before complaining. This lack of interest has to do with:
1. Weyane’s not only succeeded dividing our ethnicity in Eethiopia, they also have succeeded in the Diapsora.
2. We believe it has nothing to do with us and why we should care.
3. The disconnect among ourselves without outside influence. We have to change our lack of interaction. People even don’t acknowledge eachother when they pass by. Very sad. That by itself also have exacerbated it with ethnicities being OLF member vs the rest of Ethiopians. We have to accept eachother.
Be relentless, mobilize the new and the old generation and in fact really talk about this issue.
Best of luck and long live Ethiopia
what does it take for you to understand Eritreans don’t want to associate with you? keep ethiopian issue ethiopian.
Not so, we Eritreans support what you are doing. Obama is a false hope,
for Africans and African Americans. My Ethiopia friends voted for him in
large numbers, but what do they get for it? More military and foreign aid
to Woyane. Eritrea gets sanctions under a black president, the first time
an African country to be sanctioned and it is under again a black
president. Eritreans have no problem with all Ethiopians, the only time we
will have an issue is when anyone in this planet try to get an inch of
Eritrean land.
Long live Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Dear Teddy,
Convenient isn’t it? You, the young knight in shining armor toiled night and day to get us to see the light but we failed you. It is therefore not YOUR fault but OURS that we did not show up obediently and in droves to the many worthy events. Remind me again, when was it that we signed up to heed your call, worthy or not? Even better, when was it that we asked you to pick up this or that cause? Was it not out of your own free will that you chose to do the very things that bring meaning to your life? How is it then that the reason for your poor results is that WE don’t care and that failure resides in US? Isn’t your job to make us care? To eliminate the failure that you conveniently labeled as residing in us?
If you are truly undeterred in trying to bring about change, show me you can inspire and lead and I will gladly ask you “How can I help?”
But if this is nothing more than what it appears to be on the surface, an undeterred ability to transfer responsibility, I ask you to please grow up.
Hi Teddy,
Well written article!
Yes, Ethiopians are very successful as individuals in America. But, as a community we have failed miserably.
Go around in the USA … in all states … the moment there are 2 or more Ethiopians, there is quarrel and fight. To my surprise, even churches are not immune to the fights.
I heard that Ethiopian Orthodox churches in Canada have been plagued by internal fights to the point that police were dispatched to the church many times. The case is being handled by the courts and their money, that many have contributed, is being squeezed by the lawyers!
The Ethiopian Pentecostal churches around the world are also experiencing similar fights.
So, if such UGLY events are taking place in places of worship (which God they are worshiping, I am not sure – perhaps Satan the Devil), then do you expect any thing different in a new organization, working hard for change, like yours.
I appreciate your UNDETERRED motto. Please never quit. One day, the eyes of all of these blind people will open and they will appreciate you.
Regarding education: please never think about not being Doctor or Professor. Some of these so called “educated” individuals actually have no idea about politics – they only know what took place in 1974 in Ethiopia – and they are very much afraid about getting involved because of what took place then; like what EPRP has done to Ethiopia and what Derg has done to EPRP members.
So, my hope is that the Eyasu generation will make us proud say 20 years from now. Perhaps, one of you will make it to the white house.
Peace and love to our motherland, Ethiopia.
to 7
I can understand your desperate attempt to woo ethiopians to your side against their country when you say “we Eritreans have no problems with ethiopians”" wow I am touched…regardless of the fact that your Identity is in fact born and breed out of hatred for ethiopia.
secondly, you said,”The only time we have a problem is when some one tries to touch an inch of our land” well, same here! but i don’t think barging would solve those problems. ethiopians have dealt with it in a way we thought is appropriate and you should do the same too reclaim what ever you think is yours. it is that simple! don’t put yourself and your people in danger by assuming nationalism is unique to eritrea. after all, we all have interests to protect.
for more information on how to be independent, refer to a fillet in your independence package.
Dear Teddy,
Interesting article but what can I say, been there, done that. I was part of a wonderful organization called ‘Ethiopian American Constituency Foundation ‘ (EACF) during the 2004 elections and we thrived in getting the vote out! I have to admit that failure was not getting Ethiopians to vote but rather the charisma (or lack of ) of John Kerry.. Anyway, that being said, we can all agree that there is no solidarity amongst Ethiopians, but more than solidarity (or hebret), there is no set in stone priority.. what is a priority for me today might not be same for you and vice versa, so don’t take that against people. Or if Mohammed does not come to the mountain then move the mountain to Mohammed. I mean if people don’t want to come to those places to debate then why don’t you set up your discussions in a Starbucks?? About the number of voters for Obama, I have never witnessed so many Ethiopians that have voted for the first time, if they did not register in your booth, they registered somewhere else, maybe just maybe they came to the stadium to watch football or mingle or Tebesa?
My message to you: Assess what went wrong and see if you can make improvement for next time.. Concentrate on what you can change (your approach) instead of shifting blame on what you don’t have control of (people’s reactions and motivations).
Good luck
I thank everyone for your input. Specifically, let me address some points that Almaz made.
Almaz,
You are right, no one asked me and no one asked us (Ethiopian-Americans for Change collectively) to do what we are doing. And I will not paint a dire scenario whereby I am breaking my back, suffering, and not sleeping for my people. I am blessed, I am healthy, I have a great family supporting me, and friends that are behind me.
Moreover, I know that I–because of the labors and sacrifices of my father and mother–do not have to hustle night in and night out to pay the bills, to feed my family, or to pay the doctor’s bills. See, I know what it is like to live in a household were life is a constant struggle. My father worked multiple jobs (taxi, security guard, 7-11, post office, parking lot attendant to name but a few). My father literally gave up his life so that I can have a better quality of life than what he had. That is what parents do, that is what we all strive for, to provide for our children and give them a chance to have a better life than we did right?
So I understand that the struggles of life preclude some from attending all of our events or even one of our events. My ire is not aimed at the taxi driver or the parking lot attendant who is struggling to pay the bills–for him or her, political organization plays second fiddle to job number one–feeding his/her kids.
No, my ire is aimed at those who find the time to “chill out”, who complain constantly about the state of Ethiopia, yet do nothing about it. It’s like complaining has become a cottage industry. Moreover, overall, it is the lack of solidarity–Hebret–that disturbs me more than anything else. Like I said, if we banded together, we have the ability to hold one mighty megaphone in our collective hands, instead, we shout in the night, invisible and mute, no one hearing our empty words which are often followed by vacuous deeds.
So you are right, no one asked me to do this. And yes, maybe this does bring meaning to my life. We all have our own ways of bringing meaning to our lives, for my parents, it was providing for their children, for some it is sipping buna and talking politics at Starbucks, for me, as long as God determines, this is the meaning to my life, hoping against hope that Ethiopians can unite as one.
And you are right, it is my job to make you care, and I will keep trying. Whether or not you know this, but this article was one of those attempts. Look at the majority of the responses, they were positive in nature, and maybe, just maybe, out of these responses, next time we have a workshop or a town hall meeting with a politician, a few of them will show up. Or out of the more than 10,000 who have read this article to this point, maybe a few of those will buy into the concept of what we are trying to do–that of trying to organize the Ethiopian community into a political voting bloc in the United States.
Transferring responsibility would be an indication of quitting, of being deterred, of passing on the torch to someone else for I tire of this job. That is precisely why the article is called UNDETERRED, I am not going anywhere, Ethiopian-Americans for Change is not going anywhere. And if I did not reach you today with this article, I will be tenacious in reaching you in another method another way, and maybe, as I grow up, I will find wiser approaches and not be so demoralized when developments don’t take place at the pace that I want them to. Until then, I will remain–UNDETERRED.
I look forward to meeting you soon,
Teddy Fikre
Organizer
Ethiopian-Americans for Change
Teddy,
What you are doign is realy great and someday bear some fruit. But if you want to make the realization day faster, focus your activity on the younger generation. They are more for CHANGE! I am with you!
thanks
The African issues in general and the Ethiopian in particular is complicated. However, we all have to do our part because; 1) for the right reason, 2) without blaming others who do not support our outlook, 3) like you did with hope and focusing on ideas that bigger than us.
Nonetheless, I appreciate your effort to date, please count on me Ethiopia, Africa, humanity at large is always in my mind. I will support in any capacity I can.
Glory is to God and prayerfully, Lemlem
Let me just say that I understand your frustration in regards to the lack of adequate participation of Eth-Americans in the Obama presidential campaign waged by your organization. But I do not fully subscribe to the reasons you have outlined for this failure.
I will just site a few examples that you have not adequately addressed that might shade a better light on the subject.
1. From what I have gathered from your article, your mission was two fold; the first is to register as many Ethiopian to vote for Obama and, secondly, utilize that voting bloc to address issues that are dear to that particular voting group. Although I have no hard facts to base my assertion, African-Americans including Ethiopians have voted overwhelmingly for Obama like never before. And judging from the talk of the town, Ethiopians who have never voted before did so for Obama in a big way. Ethiopians might not have registered with your organization, but the low level of participation in your organization does not tell the whole story about the Ethiopian turnout for Obama on election day. Having said, would it have been better for Ethiopian to register with your organization to vote for Obama in order to address issues that are dear to them? I certainly see and support your point on the importance of organization in order to maximize our benefits in the context of the American political system and achieve the same effect as the Cuban vote in Florida. And my advice to you is simply not to abandon the mission you have embarked upon. Again, I believe it is not correct on your part to conclude that Ethiopians would prefer to waste their time in coffee shops chit chatting about politics rather than getting involved to change the state of affairs that affect their lives.
2. If you have followed Ethiopian politics closely, you would have no doubt seen the excitement and the huge turnout that we have all witnessed to welcome and hear the leaders of the Kinijit when they were here after being freed from prison. Thousandths of Ethiopians have contributed both in terms of time and money to further the cause that Kinijit stood for. Definitely, that is not a sign of being apolitical. It does not serve your purpose to generalize and put down a whole group of people because you have not seen tangible results for the fruits of your labor. In fact, I will strongly argue that a good percentage of Ethiopians spent a great deal of their time being involved in Ethiopian politics in stark contradiction to your assertion that they would rather waste their time in cafes. You do not have to go any further than visiting the popular Ethiopian web-sites and following the numerous demonstration that are held in western nations to see the involvement of Ethiopians where it counts.
3. Successive American administrations have ignored the plight of Ethiopians and the region and have sided with the powers that be to further their interest. And so far, judging from the actions of the Obama adminstration, the change I am witnessing is just the rhetoric, everything else is business as usual. Going forward, if the present policy continues, I am sure this will dampen the enthusiasm of Ethio-Americans towards the Obama administration and make your endeavor more difficult. Therefore, do not be hard on older Ethiopians if they see the US policy for what it is and are not so excited to participate in the political process. Although I believe we should participate in the political process to maximize our gains and benefit Ethiopian everywhere, your challenges are manifold and you should make your case in order to win all Ethiopians to your cause.
Dear Teddy,
Thank you for responding.
I am glad to learn you are healthy, blessed, and hopefully, happy. I am also very happy you enjoy the love and support of your family and friends. If you are indeed to actually deliver on your promise of “UNDETTERED”, trust me, you will need all the health, faith, support and love you can get. So, it is all good, but frankly (and I don’t mean to be disrespectful here….) all beside the point.
The point is: Let’s start with paragraphs three and four of your response. It seems you are not upset with all of us. Those of us who are gainfully employed in demanding jobs and are struggling to make ends meet are thankfully excused for not showing up at the events. But those of us who have found the meaning of life addictively brewed in steaming coffee and idle talk are the guilty targets of your justified ire and fury. Now let me ask you this. Which group has the most to gain by showing up? Or better still, who would you rather have show up?
I don’t know what you’d answer, but this reminds me of my grandma and the life lesson she taught me. You see, a very loooong time ago (and I mean really, really long time ago), I was sobbing all over telling my grandma about some heartless, careless, no good, jerk of a boyfriend who dumped me. There I was firing away the long laundry list of heartless injustices when my grandma, barely looking up from her needlework, flat out told me not to waste her time. We have established the man has no heart, she said, so unless we are to somehow miraculously extract some love and care from his liver, I suggest you stop wasting my time.
You may very well have a decision to make here – find the poor heart that is currently under caffeine assault or declare it liver and move on. No amount of proclaiming ire is going to boost your grassroots efforts. While you are at it, it may make sense to engage those rich old geezers you kindly told to go string themselves on their Phds and MBAs. Good thing they are a forgiving bunch, show them a little respect and you will be surprised how generous they can be with their time and resources– really, some of them are my friends.
Lastly, you said transferring responsibility would be an indication of quitting. I disagree. But how I wish you were right! There are those of us who are forever parked on an endless conveyor belt dishing out guilt and blame, all in the name of this or that cause. In any case, I am glad you are staying put, for despite your ire and unhappiness with us caffeine addicts, you at least want to educate us.
Almaz,
Do I come across as a bit condescending? Maybe. Do I come across a bit judgmental? Probably. Do I come across as a bit impatient? Most likely. And based on your response, I am sure that this is the totality of what you think of my article. You have a keen ability to write effortlessly, behind beautiful prose is devastating truth, and because of that, I am truly amazed by your writing, no I say that with all sincerity.
Now, let me respond to some of your explicit points as well as to some of your more subtle and nuanced thrust and parries. First, my role is not to educate anyone, I have way too much learning and way too much undoing some of my “miseducation” before I can ascend to the position of “teaching” others. I do not mean to preach, I am not a sage for my people, nor am I seeking the role of a leader—we have enough leaders in our community. My role starts and ends as that of a simple organizer, an organizer who also happens to be addicted to buna—thus when I blast buna sippers, well sadly I am also blasting myself.
My voice is no more important, and a thousand times less powerful, than thousands of others who have been at this a lot longer than I have. Pillars in our community who have been waging the same battle to unite our community since before I was born. So really, I don’t have any right to be upset or be impatient, there are hundreds of others who would rightly tell me “what do you know about the struggle, you are but a rookie to this game”. And I would bow my hat and defer to their wisdom.
And these leaders come in all forms and shapes; some have a Doctor in front of their names and a Phd after their last. Some are taxi drivers and others are parking lot attendants; who you are as a leader is not determined or constrained by your station in life. My letter was not aimed at dismissing the contributions of the older generation—if anything, I was beseeching that they help to push the younger generation towards a greater purpose and a great success. Does that mean that all of the older generation does not do that; of course not, we would not be here if it was not for the older generation. However, collectively, is the older generation M.I.A. when it comes to supporting the endeavors of the younger generation with respect to supporting various entrepreneurs, political organizers, artists, ect—that is debatable. I think you know where my answer is already in this area.
Neither am I being derisive of Doctors and those that have attained their MBA. I am not telling people that have MBAs to string themselves by their degree—for I would be telling my own self to do the same with my MBA if that was the case. However, I am saying that folks that have advanced degrees have an advanced level of responsibility. WE.B Du Bois said it best:
“All men cannot go to college but some men must; every isolated group or nation must have its yeast, must have for the talented few centers of training where men are not so mystified and befuddled by the hard and necessary toil of earning a living, as to have no aims higher than their bellies, and no God greater than Gold.”
So yes, I am saying that those that have an advanced degree do have a responsibility to Ethiopia and her children beyond aims higher than their bellies and a God greater than Gold.
Lastly, with respect to those who sip buna and talk idle chit chat. Well let me say this, what seems like idle chit chat to me might just be a way of coping to those who have been plucked out of Ethiopia and find themselves in a strange and foreign country. Maybe, just maybe, the idle chit chat in Starbucks with some friends reminds them of the buna bet in Addis. Maybe the idle chit chat is a form of therapy for the daily struggles to keep up with their bills and to feed their children.
I am not callous or indifferent to these possibilities, like I said, I grew up in a house where my father struggled to pay the bills and feed his children. However, I do know this, if we are able to unite and participate politically in the United States, the things that we sorely lack in our community could be addressed. Maybe there is a particular sickness that impacts our community disproportionately, if we organize, we can seek funding to study this issue, and then find an effective way to mitigate this risk. Maybe more of our children can go to college, maybe the cab drivers in DC can get their voices heard, maybe the Doctor or professor who is writing a book can get more readers or reach more students to learn at his/her lap.
So while I understand the underlying cause, there is no excuse to not take action. We can sit down and explain away why things are why they are, but there is no reason not to vote, there is no reason not to organize, and there is no reason not to support the next generation, for Ethiopia’s future is through those that come after you and come after me.
Now Almaz, I will give you credit, you are a brilliant writer, and again, I say this with all sincerity. You have managed to turn the tables on me. You have managed to make me the story. So I will admit, just like you, I too am a buna addict, I too love to talk about politics, I too enjoy drinks at a bar with my friends, I too do not support my own generation as much as I should—though I try. Thus, they say, when you point a finger, there are three pointing back at you. I am not innocent of the charges I blast others for, however, occasionally, I like to think that I go beyond sipping buna and actually get in the trenches to make change happen instead of wishing for it or debating about it—and based on what I glean from your writing, I am sure that you are of the same cloth.
Somehow, I suspect that you are a lot more than a buna addict. I suspect that you have a doctor in front of your name or a PHd after your last. And I suspect that your writing is not so much to expose me as a fraud rather to give me encouragement through eloquent words, if that is the case, I thank you. I shall be more patient, I have a lot to learn, but occasionally, I will get irritated, but whenever I talk about buna sipping, idle chit chatting Ethiopians, just keep in mind that I am a person who is casting stones from a glass house, but maybe the glass house is a prison and the stones I throw are ways to break down the walls of our mental imprisonment.
All that said, I ask one last thing of you Almaz. You obviously have a gift to write, we at Ethiopian-Americans for Change are continuously looking for guest bloggers to write about our community. Maybe you can balance my ire and offer a different perspective to our readership. Most likely, you already have countless efforts that you are working on—a lot more than sipping buna I am sure—but we would love for you to be a guest blogger with EA4C. If the answer is yes, you can email us at info@ea4c.org and will follow up with additional info. I’ll even throw in a free cup of buna to sweeten the deal.
Regardless of your answer, I do thank you for giving me pause to think, I appreciate your honesty and candor. We hope you continue to follow the various events that we are planning, and will always look forward to your responses. Lastly, leave you with one thought, this was my response to an activist who was beseeching me two years ago to leave Obama alone and talk instead about Ethiopia only. To which I responded, “two streams follow different paths but invariably meet at a lake named Tana” No matter what our aim, our strategy, our age, our status, our profession, our calling, our ambitions, we all share the same ideal—the enrichment of Ethiopia and her children.
To that, I toast my buna to meeting at Lake Tana, may we all succeed in our mission and may we all work as one people.
Teddy Fikre
Loving Ethiopia as my own home by marriage and business ties, but being born in the States and white, perhaps my view is different, but may be of interest. I have seen what some might call apathy on the part of the disapora toward the plight of Ethiopia and its people, but many forget the depth of control exercised by the current government. Do you not think that photos taken in Pittsburgh have not been given up? I see many dissatified people who fear what might happen if they raise thier voice to high. They fear for thier family still in Ethiopia. The fear for whatever interest they may be vested in there. The author of the book “The Wonderful People of Ethiopia” mention a strange reaction by modern Ethiopians faced with a displeasurable situation…essentially they will move off the path and wait for it to change. Surprising behavoir for a nation rich in it history of standing strong and fearless. I see some, but I do not see the support, or unity amongst the people as a whole to bring about the change all seem to desire.
John
Teddy,
It is payback time, eh? I was wondering how many more highfalutin posts you were going to take from me before the gloves came off… didn’t take all that many! I swear there must have been a half chewed cigar hanging off your molars when you snarled at your laptop “Awwwright lady, put up or shut up!” All in clean MBA speak of course…
And thank you for that trap door, in case I needed to quietly melt into the cyber ether. You know, like the countless PhD type efforts that I am involved in. I have to tell you it was an attractive cop out, except I would have had to doctor up a few facts – like the PhD, for starters. But don’t even think I didn’t think about it. OK, now that I have that off my chest, on to the hard stuff.
Um, so you think I should write. Here we go again, payback time – big time. After piously posting about frauds on conveyor belts, I have had a sleepless night facing this one. Do I just say ok and subject your readers to prose sans substance, or do I come clean in front of (how many readers did you say? 10,000?) people? Better come clean.
So, after I came to terms with all of that, I actually started thinking about this. You’ve been, shall we say, less than impressed by the efforts of the old geezers in encouraging and supporting the up and coming. I’ve maintained the old folk are actually generous with their time and resources once you get them cranked up. Why don’t I find you six ancients who may actually have something to say and you find me six young’uns who may also have something to say? We pair ‘em up and they each co-author one article for your blog. Space this out say every two months, and you have six articles over the course of a year.
Substance or not, this is definitely a WHOLE lot more than you will ever get out of me. Also, if it succeeds, you would have inched towards Hebret, and if it fails, you can legitimately be pissed off and I promise to shut up.
What do you say? Deal?
I believe we have a deal Almaz {{cyber shake}} I don’t have your email address, but I don’t have any problems giving mine out, my email address is teddy.fikre@ea4c.org. I look forward to hearing back from you so we can work out the logistics…and if the effort fails, I promise I won’t be pissed off, I will just have to revert to sipping some relaxing buna or two
Teddy Fikre
Almaz,
While I admire your humility, I am sure your prose has substance, the measure of substance is not in what you write but in the way it is processed by the reader. Thus, I will lay down one more trap door for you, how about you and I be the guinea pigs on this and we co-author the first article, you pick the topic and we can figure out the rest. In the meantime, I look forward to you wrestling up some wise sages and I will try my best to identify six wide eyed youngsters to team up with them.
Teddy
Deal.
I hate to rain on our fledgling partnership, but what do you mean by “I will try my best to identify SIX wide eyed youngsters…” You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You just arm wrestled me into writing an article, much to the chagrin of your poor readers. We are ONE down and FIVE to go.
I’ll email soon.
Selam: Teddy: I have read your article with great interest, more on the history making effort you attempted. I think you are doing great. You are ahead of the curve in many ways (dreams, hopes and aspirations for our Ethiopian-American community). Your article reflects a lot of the problems (or no problems) we have as a growing community in America.
It will take a whole book to write about the Ethiopian Diaspora (specfically in US), so I should be humbled by yor insights, and limit myself to a few generalizations (at the risk of offending someone). Here are my observations.
1. The problem with Ethiopians is not political apathy, in fact, it is the opposite. It is obsession with “politics”. Almost every Ethiopian in the Diaspora thinks they are “politicians”.
2. We come taditionally from an authoritarian society (though a beautiful country). Many still believe in “leaders” to win. They look for someone to lead them (collect $, say hateful words and raise emotions). The politics we know is so destructive and backward in many ways filled with hatred and sectarianism (local, ethnic, political background etc).
3. We are a young community and are embroiled with so much nostalgia about our native country, the motherland we left (except the young generation, which includes you)
4. Ethiopians inherently have become suspicious and don’t even a concerted effort by forming alliance to safegurad their common interests
5. We are not used to positive feelings, and self assured confidence to work hard and win. Many still like short cuts to win or look for someone to do it for them
Above are some of the negative traits we have as a young community, whch hopefully will overcome in due course of time, especially with young and dynamic youth like you (the young generation of Ethiopian-Americans).
How about the positive things for energy to change? What good traits we have?
1. We all love our native country (I mean all, but with exceptions), Ethiopia
2. Many Ethiopians are not lazy. We are hard working people, full of good faith and hope to change our lives and raise good citizens (like yoyur great father!)
3. We try to help our country in our own way (like sending $ to family) and there are many Ethiopians who quietly do miracles to help their country. Most of these people don’t waste their time in unproductive politics (like the Buna sippers you mentioned).
4. It could be difficult and laborious to organize Ethiopians for a cause, but it is easy to rally them (e.g. famine relief, fund raising funerals, short-run politics etc). This could be transformed into great energy, if one finds the centrigual force. That is the main challenge.
Recommendations:
1. Focus your mission – e.g. the Obama campaign was good but you should have known it is transient. After all thousands of Ethiopians voted for Obama, but for many reasons, primarily because he embodied our difficult history as balacks, gave us hope for a new era, inspired our youth and children etc
Now, you should make yor goals clear and focused. Most importantly, develop a good strategy.
2. Show the community what services you can bring to them. “What is it for me” is a tough questions you need to address continuously to attract supporters. Don’t be naive, and don’t lose hope. Tackle the problems by making a critical assessment of your strategies and goals (short and long term).
3. Finally, don’t blame the community. That is not a good strategy. You will be shooting yourself on the foot. Learn from gallant leaders like Mandella, Dr. King and others, what made them do lasting noble causes and succeed.
4. Remember, you are doing the right thing and you are on the right track. Your journey is difficult, winding and ups and downs, but you will win! Keep that in mind!
I will keep looking out on your progress and I will try to do my best to help you, because I believe in your great cause!
Best of Luck
Fikir
Teddy,
You listen to Fikir, she/he makes a lot of sense.
On a side note, Teddy, is your email teddy.fikre@ea4c.org? I seem to have trouble reaching you.