Mereja Forum

[teodroseIII]

On this day that we celebrate the life and legacy of Emperor Haile Selassie, it is worth revisiting the vision of a United Africa that Selassie articulated. Though the last king of Ethiopia had many achievements to his name—including stitching my homeland back together again after Italy committed a chemical holocaust against my grandparent’s generation and fostering a vibrant relationship with the United States that paved the way for countless hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians to immigrate to America—it is his pursuit of Pan-Africanism that points to the North Star of restoration for Ethiopia and Africa as a whole.

When people hear the term “Pan-Africanism”, most automatically assume it to mean African nations overcoming their differences and working together for the betterment of all her children. But Pan-Africanism is a lot bigger than geopolitical relationships, nation-to-nation exchanges or trade agreements. At the most fundamental level, “Pan-Africanism” is about reducing humanity’s tribal instincts and learning to value cooperation. In an age where technology has made the world a lot smaller and made the value of reciprocity gain a lot bigger meaning, it is an imperative to value collaboration instead of competing with one another.

While most of the world is moving towards this spirit of togetherness and building bridges between disparate communities, Africa is the one continent that has yet to fully grasp and adopt the importance of collaboration. Though there are pockets within Africa where teamwork is valued, in far too many corners, “go at it alone” and protecting turfs is sought more than forming relationships and building coalitions for the...continued...

Read full article at: https://ethiopians4cm.org/haile-selassi ... rosperity/