What’s up with Al Mariam’s Temper Tantrum?
With great patience we have watched the haters of Ethiopia and those haters are none other than people like Al Mariam. Al Mariam is outraged and he is having temper tantrum. He goes berserk and demands an apology. To make matters worse, he asks an apology on our behalf.
Al Mariam who elected you to represent us Ethiopians in the Diaspora? Who in his right mind would go wild demanding an apology as if we Ethiopians in the Diaspora have delegated him to be our spokesperson? Al Mariam has the audacity to demand an apology from Senator Inhofe. Why should Senator Inhofe apologize? Who is Al Mariam? Why has he put himself on a high pedestal? What seems to be missing in his life for him to demand so much attention? Yesterday it was a law firm he was badmouthing and today it is Senator Inhofe.
What is eating Al Mariam? He is ready to hit the roof and I wonder why? Why such frenzy? This is an individual who left Ethiopia in his teens and has never been back since. He never uttered a word when Mengistu literally wiped out thousands of youth. If he is a man of justice how come he never said a word about the tyrant Mengistu Haile Mariam? Or could there be a relation to Mengistu Haile Mariam? Could he be trying to hide something and is going all over th e map to distract us from seeking out those that are in their hide outs? Is he trying to divert the issue so beneficiaries of Mengistu Haile Mariam won’t be sought out? If one propagates to be a man of justice how come he does not seek out those individuals that mutilated and tortured so many youth and is still in hiding in Washington DC and elsewhere? How come he is not gung ho to expose the many crimes of Mengistu? There cannot be any parallel to Mengistu Halie Mariam, a brutal leader that was known as a man of terror. What seems to be Al Mariam’s beef? These are answers that only Al Mariam could answer and we will not even attempt to speculate.
What is so mind boggling and really tickling is Al Mariam’s consistent demand for attention? Is he by any chance trying to build up his resume so he could be hired as a lobbyist in Washington DC ? Could it be possible that he fantasizes to be planted as a leader of Ethiopia by some outside force? What on earth seems to be in his mind and why is he so mad at the world? If it were up to Al Mariam he would do anything to bring Ethiopia under a foreign tutelage. He has no pride of his heritage.
Ethiopia the only country in Africa that has remained independent is the land of gallant fighters that put an end to tyranny. It is these very gallant fighters and the many diverse nationalities of Ethiopia that celebrated the millennium by planting trees in every corner of the country. Al Mariam and his likes shiver when they hear of “Abay”, the first car being manufactured in Ethiopia . Al Mariam has nightmares when he hears one of the finest son’s of Ethiopia , Meles Zenawi, standing among world leaders and speaking on behalf of Africa not asking for pity but standing upright like his forefathers eloquently stating that it is Africa ’s right to sell its resources. Our home grown Prime Minister Meles Zenawi echoes Africa ’s right to fair trade and not aid. It displaces Al Mariam and his likes when our leaders in Ethiopia talk about producing electricity to sell to neighboring countries.
It so happened that Ethiopians are many in number in the US and that is as a result of the many that fled or remained in the US because of the horrific crime that was being executed by Mengistu Haile Mariam. However, to the ignorance of Al Mariam the majority of Ethiopians living in the Diaspora go back and forth to Ethiopia . Al Mariam and his likes that live in doom and gloom are the few that have not set foot in Ethiopia for some thirty-five years.
Al Mariam like an imbecile tries to play the racism card. Give us a break! He writes and in his fantasy tries to seek support from the Black Caucus and NAACP in order to change the whole HR2003 issue as if it is a race issue. He is the one who is selling out his country. As if Ethiopia has not been independent and as if Ethiopians are going to give up their sovereignty he is demanding that decisions on Ethiopia ’s democratic process be determined by outsiders.
Who in their right mind will plead to have interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country unless one is blind to how democracy is created in a country. Democracy in Ethiopia is the way not because the US or any other power wants it but because Ethiopians have decided that it is the only way. Democracy is an optionless route for Ethiopia .
Irrespective of who says what Ethiopia and Ethiopians have vowed to make education available to all nationalities in Ethiopia ? Ethiopians and their leaders are home grown and are in the process of creating democratic institutions. The process of building democracy is not like getting instant coffee. It has its own process and this process requires each and every one to re-educate and transform the country so the great majority of Ethiopians of diverse nationality benefit from it. It is a process where every one with diverse religion fi nds room to practice his religion. It is a process where both genders will be the beneficiaries of the development process. It is a process unlike any other that is making history and demonstrating the thirst and eagerness of Ethiopians to bring about change.
By the way Al Mariam, how many elementary schools were in Ethiopia when you left? What was the number of Universities? What was the number of hospitals and clinics? Do you know anything about Gilgel Gibe I, II and III? No it is not a mystery book it is the hydroelectric power plant project. Read up on it, maybe it might shed some light as to where the country is heading.
What is hilarious is Al Mariam accuses Senator Inhofe of not providing facts. Who is far from the reality Senator Inhofe or Al Mariam? To hide his ignorance he floods the pages with empty words, which is typical of someone that has no authenticity. He reduces himself as if he has been dehumanized and only he knows why he feels that way. Al Mariam in his many articles of doom and gloom tarnishes the name of Ethiopia and Ethiopians and one could only conclude that he is projecting his own world outlook onto Ethiopia and Ethiopians. His arrogance is only a reflection of how Al Mariam’s world is seen through his own cloudy eyes.
To negate the many gains made since EPRDF came to power only shows the “banking education” he has acquired and shows no originality. To sound like an educated man he quotes great individuals in history as if greatness will rub on to him. He torments himself to be in the league of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln.
Al Mariam must have the kind of education that Paulo Freire talks about in his book the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Here is a glimpse of what the likes of Al Mariam might have acquired as Paulo Freire puts it:
“Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits, which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. They do, it is true, and have the opportunity to become collectors or cataloguers of the things they store. But in the last analysis, it is the people themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system. For apart from inquiry apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through i nvention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry, human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
Now that answers it. Al Mariam is not at fault it is the way he has been taught. He cannot fathom how in such a short period of time Ethiopia has gained progress. Since Al Mariam has no clue on how a system is created and because he lacks knowledge on how something comes into being he accuses the developmental process of not being fully mature. Hello, it has taken the US some 200 years to get where it is. You don’t expect a child to start walking the moment it is b orn but you very well know that it takes a process for something to come into fruition. But then again, we can’t expect much from Al Mariam since he has never been involved in the creation of something. For him being educated is putting some flowery words on paper and filling pages after pages with fantasy. He needs to be acknowledged for the great imagination that he has and maybe he might consider writing fiction since that is all he offers to us all. He is very good in spitting out what he has deposited and very good at that indeed.
Al Mariam lacks authenticity and creativity. Because he is in la la land he has decided to pull the card of racism for he knows not what the objective reality is. Poor does not mean to be bullied or dictated by an outside force. However, for Al Mariam, he has it all figured out and desperately tries to smear the image of our country and our people and has now gone to great lengths to accuse Senator Inhofe of racism. What has Al Mariam done to even be part of the democratic process in Ethiopia ? Al Mariam, just because you have not done a thing for Ethiopia please do not undermine the efforts of genuine individuals like Senator Inhofe’s daughter for having given an opportunity to an Ethiopian child.
It is the sons and daughters of Ethiopia who have not lost their authenticity that are investing in the country. The many educated creative thinkers are the ones designing the many roads in our country. It is those that want democratic Ethiopia that are creating employment in the country. The many committed businessmen are the ones that are inventing and encouraging our young to innovate. It is the many farmers that are engaged in learning new ways of tilling the land. </ SPAN>It is those young vibrant graduates that are unstoppable that are going into the outskirts of the country to align themselves with their people and sharing their knowledge. Al Mariam, just for your own good, go and see your people and maybe it might open your mind to learn from them and then it might dawn on you that you have it all wrong and it is you that needs to transform and not Senator Inhofe.
Just for your own good and your own identity just for a change read up some on your country. Bring yourself up to speed and maybe and maybe you might have the capacity to talk about Ethiopia and be part of the change instead of standing by the sideline and criticizing. The most outrageous line was when Al Mariam suggests for Senator Inhofe to talk to the “opposition” leaders from Ethiopia . Which “opposition” leader is he recommending? Is it the Birtukan Mideksa or the Engineer Hailu Shawl group?
What do you say, Al Mariam, when you hear some three thousand youths after having met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gave him the picture of King Tewodros? These are youngsters that are our future that were bold and creative enough to associate an Ethiopian hero with a homegrown hero. The youth as critical thinkers sought out their own treasure and reiterated that the spirit of vibrancy still lives in the hearts and mind of Ethiopians. It is this homegrown heritage that you, Al Mariam, have buried. There is no rhyme or reason in being restless and writing feverishly to get acknowledged. Don’t sell out. Be proud of your Ethiopian heritage and for a change accept your identity. Only a sell out without being voted in will kick and scream and pretend to speak on behalf of us the great majority of Ethiopians. For your own good please buy “The Wretched of the Earth” by Frantz Fanon and read it.
The mantra today in our country is “Yichalal” which means it is possible. Al Mariam, in spite of your many attempts to undermine Ethiopia and Ethiopians, our country is going through transformation and the only thing we could say is please get over your temper tantrum.
S.Habtewled 10/23/2007