{"id":219719,"date":"2018-05-04T15:22:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T19:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=219719"},"modified":"2019-02-10T09:35:17","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T14:35:17","slug":"groovin-and-jammin-with-teddy-ethiopiawinet-kassahun-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/219719","title":{"rendered":"Groovin\u2019 and Jammin\u2019 with Teddy \u201cEthiopiawinet\u201d Kassahun in Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in my day, it was James Brown. Down in Augusta, GA where I went to college. \u201cIn my hometown where I used to stay, The name of the place is Augusta, GA.\u201c sang it J.B.<\/p>\n

We all did the \u00a0Boogaloo with J.B.<\/p>\n

Who is the hardest working man in show business today?<\/p>\n

I say, it\u2019s none other than Teddy \u201cAfro\u201d Kassahun.<\/p>\n


\nWho\u2019s is the hardest working man in show business?<\/p>\n

Back in my day, \u201cWe (be) jammin\u2019 \/ I hope you like jammin\u2019 too\u2026\u201d That is to the freedom songs of Bob Marley.<\/p>\n

Or when we were chillin\u2019, we be grooving to\u00a0King Floyd<\/a>, \u201cGroove me baby\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, I am just groovin\u2019 and jammin\u2019 to Teddy\u2019s \u201cEthiopia<\/a>\u201d. \u201cGroove me, Ethiopia\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Teddy Afro to me is Teddy Ethiopiawinet. I\u00a0wrote all about<\/a>\u00a0it in May 2017.<\/p>\n

Teddy lives by a single maxim: Ethiopiawinet.<\/p>\n

For him, Ethiopiawinet means, \u201cLove conquers all. One Ethiopia. God makes all things possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For me, Ethiopiawinet means love of the humanity of the Ethiopian Beloved Community.<\/p>\n

Ethiopiawinet is the Ethiopian version of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. \u201cBeloved Community\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr. King imagined a Beloved Community where racism, discrimination, inequality will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.<\/p>\n

Ethiopiawinet to me and Teddy means a Beloved Ethiopian Community where ethnic division, sectarianism, linguistic differences, class inequality and gender subordination is replaced by an all \u00a0inclusive spirit of Ethiopian sisterhood and brotherhood.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Teddy says \u201cLove conquers all. One Ethiopia. God makes all things possible.\u201d, he is simply practicing Dr. King\u2019s philosophy of \u201cAgape\u201d. (Listen to Dr. King\u2019s definition of Agape\u00a0HERE<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Back in my day, we\u00a0sang it<\/a>: \u201cOne Love! One Heart!\/ Let\u2019s get together and feel all right. Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right\/ Let\u2019s get together and feel all right.\u201d That was what Bob Marley taught us.<\/p>\n

Today, Teddy is teaching us to sing, \u201cOne Love! One Heart! One Ethiopia\/ Let\u2019s get together and feel all right. Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right\/ Let\u2019s get together and feel all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, yeah! I am feelin\u2019 alright. We are on the right track. The love track, that is.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare in the opening lines of \u201cTwelfth Night<\/a>\u201d wrote, \u201cIf music be the food of love, play on; \/Give me excess of it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

That was what Teddy gave us in L.A. last Saturday. Excess of music and love.<\/p>\n

It was a full house at Club Soho in downtown L.A. Young Ethiopians were raising the roof.<\/p>\n

Back in my day, we\u2019re like, \u201cThrow our hands in the air. And wave \u2019em like we just don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young Ethiopians were throwing their hand up in the air jamming to Teddy\u2019s music like they just don\u2019t care. They were diggin\u2019 Teddy\u2019s songs.<\/p>\n

They sang it with Teddy. \u201cEthiopia! Hagere! Anch aydelesh kibre\u201d.<\/p>\n

That is our new anthem, our national song. Our spiritual mantra. \u201cEthiopia! Hagere! Banch aydel wey kibre\u201d. (Ethiopia, my homeland. You are my honor.)<\/p>\n

I joined in at the top of my lungs. \u201cEthiopia! Hagere! Banch aydel wey kibre\u201d.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t carry a tune. It is a good thing nobody could hear me singin\u2019 because the club would have been empty in a New York minute.<\/p>\n

Teddy belted out one hit after another. The young crowd just loved it. They were hopping and jumping. Some were doing small group traditional eskista dance. Others were just moving and groovin\u2019.<\/p>\n

I was just diggin\u2019 Teddy\u2019s music, like we used to say back in my day.<\/p>\n

Everybody knows I am Teddy\u2019s No. 1 fan. For years, I have challenged anyone who says otherwise to arm wrestle me. No takers yet. That means I am still Teddy\u2019s No. 1 fan.<\/p>\n

The first time I saw Teddy perform was in 2011 in L.A. during his \u201cLove Conquers All<\/a>\u201d concert tour at the Proud Bird. That show was something else. This is how I described my feelings at the time: \u201cIt is really great to be young; but for those who are not, the next best thing is to be at a Teddy Afro concert and jam late into the night with a ballroom full of irrepressible and euphoric young Ethiopian Angelinos.\u201d I still feel the same way.<\/p>\n

I am a couple years older, in a manner of speaking, since then but time has done nothing to Teddy except make him better, stronger, and a true master of his craft.<\/p>\n

Back in 2011, I wrote Teddy is hopelessly in love with Ethiopia. In 2018, his situation has worsened. He is completely under Her spell and has made sure everyone, including myself, falls under Her spell too. Teddy cast the Ethiopiawinet spell on all of us.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like Diana Ross\u00a0sang<\/a>\u00a0it, \u201cIf there\u2019s a cure for this [Ethiopiawinet]\/ I don\u2019t want it\/ I don\u2019t want it\/ If there\u2019s a remedy\/ I\u2019ll run from it\/ From it \/ I\u2019ve got the sweetest hangover\/I don\u2019t wanna get over\u2026\/<\/p>\n

Yeah, I don\u2019t want a cure for this Ethiopiawinet love hangover!<\/p>\n