Based on the title, I know what you are thinking. Here he goes again on his “soap box” talking about Ethiopians who sip buna right? Well today, I am going to throw you a curve ball. In this article, I will do no such thing; I write today not out of frustration, I write today out of a place of hope.
So now you are asking yourself, “OK, so what’s up with the title of the article”. Well I speak of Buna today because I have done my fair share of criticizing some in our community of being “buna sippers”. And this statement has been taken out of context and perceived by some as defaming people who enjoy a cup of buna. So first and foremost, let me admit, I am…
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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…
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Hair is such a cultural symbol that it truly plays a much larger role in our lives than we realize at times. I cut my hair off around the same time as Brittany Spears. I looked in the mirror one day and realized I did not know what I was truly meant to look like because I had been perming my hair since I was eight years old. It was one of the best decisions I have made. I learned so much about myself through the reactions of others.
Often times, some of us have a quality or trait that society values, having nothing to do with who we are as individuals. Because of this one trait, people treat us completely different. Take away this trait, and we are left to contend with a new environment where our personalities play a much larger role in how others see us. First, I learned that…
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Throughout the Democratic Primary and General Election, we–Obama supporters–chanted loudly and proudly “Yes we can” and believed wholeheartedly that “We are the ones we have been waiting for”. However as soon as we helped put Obama in the White House, we all decided to return to our life and daily programming. We changed the “Yes we can” to “Yes he can” and “We are the ones we have been waiting for” to “He is the one we have been waiting for”.
With these two fundamental mind shifts, the amazing grass root organization that was built during the Primary and General Election came to an…
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Every once in a while, I come across a submission that raises the bumps on my arms as my mind wraps around the message of its writer. A young Ethiopian writer who grew up in the United States or Canada like I did. A writer whose calling is so loud it screams from the words on my screen, illuminated from behind by the bright, eternal white that seems to stretch into the computer and into another parallel universe; one where we never left home and we learned to cook doro wut and drive a stick shift at a young age. What gave this person the courage to follow their fingers on a keyboard instead of the warnings of a community who believes success is measured by the number of letters that come after your name, M.d, PhD, M.Ed.
For those who do not know, my sister and I are publishing a book together about
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In this difficult time for Haiti I want to share with you why I am fully supporting Partners in Health: it is because I want to Give Well and not just give Dead Aid. With all the heartbreaking images from Haiti the compulsion overwhelms to help. And yet, with recent discussions surrounding aid, I was especially weary about giving; even reconsidered other ways I could contribute because I either wanted to be extremely conscientious or not give money at all.
You see, I have witnessed the…
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