Hebret.

I love this word. However, as an Ethiopian who lived the overwhelming majority of my life in America, I did not understand that this word has been tainted due to the origins of a propaganda campaign back in Ethiopia. Ironically, this word represents the very essence of a regime that forced my family to immigrate to America back in 1983 at the age of seven. This very word—Hebret—is a word that represented the suffering of countless many and the reason why Ethiopians are the second largest community of immigrants from Africa. But still….

Hebret.

The word, irrespective of history…

By Liya Endale

Monday, November 16, 2009

I must have been 21 when I first sensed the peculiarity of the context in which we normally find the word ‘ferenj’. Growing-up in the States, I heard this term used when talking about the strange encounters associated with adapting to a new environment. Due to the redundant insistence of its use, I grew to accept its oxymoronic connotation; the same way we do not question jumbo shrimp, civil war, and bad luck. We re-apply a meaning to these words which have nothing to do with their literal translation. You know what I’m talking about. “Ye ferenj tata aytawekim”, “ye ferenj libs, migib, segur ina qwanqwa”.

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