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teodroseIII
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Joined: 01 Aug 2015, 23:26

አደራችን: a Reflection about Suffering and Our Responsibility Going Forward

Post by teodroseIII » 26 Sep 2019, 14:32

This morning I received a question in my inbox from a young lady back in Ethiopia that has been weighing on me throughout the day. She opened up her query by first introducing herself in a most humble and graceful manner, a civility that is becoming all too rare given the age of anger we live in, and then noted that she too believes in unity and Ethiopiawinet above all but that I have to understand that Amharas are suffering and being brutalized back home and that we have to do more to speak up for “our people”.

People who read my articles and follow my work know by now that I abhor tribalism and am repulsed by those who peddle the nefarious snake oil of zerengnent. However, this young lady’s question and the conversation that ensued gave me pause not about the uselessness of pursuing justice through the lens of ethnicity but about the way I criticize those who gravitate towards those measures out of hopelessness. There is a difference between opportunists who incite hatred for the sake of cultivating an audience and the rest who are driven to factionalism due to extreme circumstances they are enduring on a daily basis.

Living thousands of miles away in the comforts of America without worrying fears of displacement or violence knocking at my door, it is easy for me to preach love and goodwill towards others. The truth is that we here in the United States and even those of us living in Addis Abeba and enjoy the privilege of indulging in Facebook/Twitter debates lead lives far disconnected from the vast majority of Ethiopians who...continued...

Read full article at: https://ethiopians4cm.org/reflection-ab ... g-forward/