Saturday, April 26th, 2010

by Teddy Fikre

Last week, I wrote about the inclination by a large swath of our community to be suspicious of anyone that comes around advocating an initiative or pushing an effort.  I guess you can say that this is part II of that story; this is an example of words that are used to label people that seek to make a difference.

There is no word that comes to mind that exemplifies the suspicion that some Ethiopians have towards other Ethiopians.  This word is “Leba”.  By definition, leba means a thief, someone who steals money from a business or a people.  In our community, this word has taken on a special meaning of its own.  In our community, anyone that is perceived to be taking advantage of an organization or a cause is labeled a leba.

The key word is perceived.  The mere perception of someone doing something wrong is enough to get someone labeled a leba.  Is there proof?  Not needed.  Is there reasonable cause?  Not needed.  Have you seen this person stealing?  Not needed.  In our community, one is guilty until proven innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt.  The shame of it is that people’s names are often ruined by careless whispers of careless people.  This phenomenon is not only counterproductive, it is dangerous.  A lot of people in the past have been driven to dire straits and worse because their reputation was ruined without any due process.

Let me give you a prime example.  Last year, as a new organization, we organized the Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day.  This was an effort that took months of back breaking work, the event was financed mostly out of our pockets and we ended up losing money on the event.  But our objective was never to make money, our aim was to celebrate our community and the contributions that we make to America.  To that end, we were able to get a letter released by the DC City Council and Mayor Fenty’s office thanking the Ethiopian community for our vast contributions.  So we were elated that hundreds of people were able to take part in an event that featured a concert by Mahmoud and free Ethiopian food.

However, one of the things that is etched in my mind from that day was an occurrence of sheer ignorance that almost ruined my day.  As you know, parking in DC is a nightmare, and this was the case at the National’s Baseball Stadium where the event was being held.  As an organization, we had nothing to do with the parking situation.  So we were dismayed to find out that parking inside the stadium was $40 for the day.  Again, we had nothing to do with the parking situation and we were not getting a cent from the parking revenue.  I want you to keep this fact in mind.

I saw one gentleman who was irate that he had to pay $40 for parking, so I went to talk to him.  Of course, he did not know I was with the organization, so speaking my broken Amharic, I asked him what was wrong.  His response grates me to this day.

“Eneze Lebaoch, yesew genzeb eserkew ye Ethiopian Appreciation yelelew, Ezgyaber germachew”

I decided to walk away rather than get into a debate with an ignorant man.  He had no proof that we were stealing money, he had no proof that the parking money was benefiting us, he had no proof that we had anything to do with the parking situation.  Proof? Not needed.  Of course, he stayed behind and listened to the concert and ate his injera only to go tell his friends how much of a leba we were.

I talk to people all the time about doing things for the community and the response I get is disheartening.  Most tell me it is not worth it, most tell me to work with ferenji instead.  Words matter; careless words and innuendo matter even more.  Idle chit chat has a way of destroying people’s lives; calling someone who is not a leba is destructive to the core.  In America, it is called libel, in our community; it’s accepted as fact until it is proven to be false.

I guess this explains why the United Apart Scholarship Fund—which would benefit some high school senior on his/her way to college—has only raised $95 to this point.  Over 10,000 people read the email or the website article, yet we have yet to raise $100.  Is it because you think that we are leba, is it that you think we are going to steal the money?  Last year, during the screening of Teza, a woman asked Haile Gerima why more Ethiopian movies are not made.  He said, and I paraphrase, because more people drink Johnny Walker instead of supporting Ethiopian film producers.  “If you put down the liquor and spend that $10 on buying an Ethiopian movie or supporting a producer, we can have our own Hollywood in Ethiopia”.

Some might ask me why it is that I continue doing what I do if I have nothing but bad things to say about our community.  The truth is I love my community; I love Ethiopia to the core of my heart.  And I will continue to do what I do because in the essence of it all, we are a kind people who have suffered in the past but continue to make it in this world against all odds.  We are resilient, we are caring, and above all, we smile through it all.  However, I point out the things that I do not because I am bitter but because I see these things are roadblocks to us attaining a level of success as a community that is beyond imagination, if we only learned to trust one another—if we only learned to stop calling each other leba.

“We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone – but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy”

To read more about the Scholarship Fund, go to:  http://www.ea4c.org/2010/04/898/

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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