Saturday, February 20th, 2010
by Teddy Fikre
EA4C Guest Blogger

BANG!

In a flash, a bullet tears through the flesh of another Ethiopian.

BANG!

In an instant, the heart of an Eritrean is ripped asunder by the menace of an imported AK47.

There is a famous saying in Africa, a saying that sums up the insanity of hatred and vitriol that eats at the souls of Africa’s children.  This is Africa—TIA.  While the rest of the world continues to realize the concept of unity, Africa stands apart, holding on to the inane precepts of ethnic exceptionalism.  From the Horn of Africa to the  western edges of Liberia, from the majestic river Nile in Egypt to the diamond mines of South Africa, the concept of ethnic exceptionalism rips apart nations—brothers fighting with brothers.

This is the very essence of insanity—TIA.  Africa is the poorest continent on this earth, you would think in Africa—more than any other place on this earth—we would believe in Hebret, that we would put aside differences and work together.  Instead, we fight over bullshit ideas of “meism” and hatred.  Africa is blessed with an abundance of natural resources; oil, diamonds, gold, coffee, bananas to name a few.  Instead of replenishing our sisters and brothers with the bananas and leveraging resources like coffee to enrich Africa, we instead talk about banal ideas of tribalism while sipping the very coffee which is being exploited from Africa.

I want to understand, but I can never appreciate the menacing voice of hatred that is omnipresent in too many quarters.  And boy, there sure is a great PR job done to cover up the menace of this hatred.  I can’t count how many liberation fronts exist in Africa; no really, I now hate acronyms precisely because I recognize this germ for what it is.  I hear the praising of virtues such “democracy”, “freedom of speech and the press”, and “human rights” all the time.  But I wonder, are those catchy words really a place mat for those out of power to regain power?  Would the same people who fight vociferously for the tenant of “human rights” extol those same virtues once they gain power?  Would they be equally strident in defending “freedom of the press” if the voice that is expressed is one that is opposed to their thought, their ethnic group, and their dogma?

Of course, this is mostly a rhetorical question.  TIA!  TIA, where hatred festers like a rotting corpse.  TIA, where hypocrisy runs unchecked by supposed leaders and educators.  TIA, where violence begets violence and reason is drowned out in a cacophony of loathing.  Do you know that the number one symbol in Africa for flags is the AK47?  The AK47 was invented by a Russian named Mikhail Kalashnikov; it was and continues to be a ruthless weapon, cheap to produce yet efficient in gunning down Africans in every corner of the continent.  What was the weapon of choice in the Congo where over 1,000,000 Hutus and Tutsis mangled and maimed one another—the AK47.  What is the weapon of choice in Nigeria where fellow countrymen continue to mow each other down—the AK47.  What is the weapon of choice in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where we fight over a senseless border—the AK47.

While we continue the atrocities against our own, outside nations benefit at our expense.  We fight over stupid borders while the natural resources of Ethiopia and Eritrea continue to be exploited.  We fight over brainless thoughts of ethnic exceptionalism while the oil of Nigeria is pillaged by Exxon and BP.  We fight over centuries old grudges and injustices while Africa continues to be colonized.  Oh really, you thought Africa is no longer colonized?  TIA, we are colonized, except we are our own colonizers.  So we continue to fight over crumbs while the pie is being shipped in the dead of night—then plead like beggars for rice to be dropped from the sky.

We don’t need to beg; if we unite, we could take care of our own.  If we unite, we can have a United Africa and we could revolutionize the black mind and liberate ourselves from self hate.  If we unite, we could wipe out disease and famine. If we unite, we could educate our children about the rich history of Africa.  If we unite, Ethiopians and Eritreans would not have to greet each other with cold stares while passing each other in DC.  If we unite, we could deliver Africa from self genocide to a place of hope and prosperity.  If we unite, the number one African import would be ideas instead of guns.

But this is too hard; it is so much easier to fight each other, to form yet another stupid four letter liberation front.  It is so much easier to demonize the Eritrean or the Ethiopian, so much easier to demonize the Hutu or the Tutsi.  In the process, the fertile soil of Africa continues to be soaked with the blood of her thoughtless children who would rather grasp on to ethnic exceptionalism than to come together as one and unite.  The blood of the Eritrean that you lust after is that of a son or a daughter.  The scalp of the Ethiopian that you seek is that of a father who is trying to take care of his family.  I know one thing, no matter who is in power, the people will continue to suffer, the people will continue to starve.  What we need are not more four letter acronyms and dogmas, what we need are not more guns and bullets, what we need are more ideas based on the precepts of inclusion and unity–e plurbis unem.

I was asked recently to send money to Ethiopia so that “freedom fighters” could purchase arms to liberate Ethiopia. NEVER! I will not send one penny to Ethiopia so that Africa’s children can continue to exterminate my Eritrean brothers or my Somalia sisters.  I will not export my money to fund yet another four letter acronym that would fight for supposed human right.  I will export ideas; while despots and dictators will always ward of the hostility of western arms they cannot defeat ideas.  What we need in Africa is not more AK47s; we need more compassion and an honest dialogue so that we could work towards true inclusion and UNITY.

“United we stand divided we fall”

While Europe and Asia realize the value of Unity, Africa continues to value the inanity of individuality.  One day soon, TIA will be replaced by a HOPE.  One day soon, we will be able to stand as one instead of falling as pawns.  One day soon, we stand together as one and replace borders drawn for us by outsiders and join hands with our supposed “enemies”.  One day soon, we will recognize that we are brown snowflakes, each one of us having our own unique traits and names, but when we unit having the ability to bring the world to a standstill in an avalanche of self love.  One day soon, we will have a United Africa. Until that day comes….BANG!

There will be a nationwide conference call today, Saturday, February 20th at 4:0o PM EST.  The point is to have an open and honest dialogue about how we can get past our differences and work together for a collective prosperity.  The conference call will be broadcast LIVE on BC Radio.  You can call into the conference call at:

Conference number: (218) 936-7979

Access Code: 699381

You can listen to the conference call on BC Radio by going to www.browncondor.com or by clicking on the link below:

click to listen to BC Radio LIVE

click to join the discussion

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.

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