Construct: Discussion about Race & Identity

Make sure you read the article below the Ghion Cast (YouTube clip) as the words below the video are more meaningful by magnitudes for what I write is closer to my heart than when I speak. Words are worth a thousand pictures in this way.

Nuance. This is the one word that radicals and demagogues detest the most. That is because close-minded firebrands do not want their likewise narrow-based followers to actually think things through and see that unity is the only way to overcome injustice. It is easier to peddle grievance and hatred—the better to take advantage of people’s pains—than it is to present a solution that actually takes thought and inclusion. The history of humanity thus has been plagued for centuries by cyclical violence where repression gives birth to revolution only for revolutions to devolve right back to repression.

I write this in light of the current state of affairs in Ethiopia, but really this applies to most nations where there exists a gap between the haves and the rest who suffer either in perpetual economic anxiety or are mired deep into indigence. So take what I write as a critique not only about the ruthless Ethiopian government who once called themselves the TPLF and have now have re-branded themselves the exemplar of Democracy in the continent we now imprudently call Africa. Headed by the piggish prime minister Desalegn Hailemariam, the TPLF junta has implemented a neo-Apartheid in Ethiopia where tribe determines almost every facet of life and is the basis of one’s opportunity or tribulation.

The TPLF—Tigray People Liberation Front—is a classic example of how revolutions always get hijacked by soulless goblins that leverage the sacrifices and blood of those who died for a cause in order to introduce oppression by another name. Meet the new tyrant; same as the old dictator. Every revolution in this way—including the American revolution of 1776—returns to the same homeostasis of despotism that served as the catalyst for the insurrection to begin with. The same people who fought for freedom are in time put right back into bondage as the new government implements draconian measures that the old rulers never dreamed of.

The only way that these despots get away with repression is because they find ways to splinter the masses into ghettos of grievance and animus. The excluded group stews in anger, the new ruling class are intent on remaining in power and the masses on all side end up blaming each other and perpetuating the very system of injustice that makes their lives miserable. Identity is the kiss of the devil for it is tribalism that prevents otherwise allies from working together and instead makes them see each other are enemies. Divide and conquer is ruthlessly pernicious; there has never been a more nefarious plan than that of pitting neighbor against neighbor in order for the ruling elite to take from all sides equally.

The schism that is created is one that is profound but takes a level of dispassion to truly understand. Too often though, the masses are caught up in the emotion and the mental scars injustice creates to understand how they are getting played by the status quo. Within the context of Ethiopia, the ruling class—which is comprised of mostly Tigray people—get caught up in the pride of being on top to have empathy for the folks who suffer like they once suffered under the previous system. In the same way, those who find themselves on the outside looking in, especially the ones who were once deemed the “elites”, are too infected with anger and enmity to rationally advocate for an inclusive approach to justice.

I am going to write something here that will get me branded as a “traitor to the Ethiopian cause” by many anti-government Ethiopian political “activists”. The truth is that Tigray people, for a long time, were in fact persecuted as their customs and cultures were relegated to the sidelines and they were forced to accept the language and heritage of Amharas in order to have a modicum of opportunity. In a lot of ways, the Amharas in Ethiopia were once like “white people” are in America presently, in that the center of gravity and the context of what it meant to be Ethiopian was viewed through the prism of the Ahmara tribe. I remember growing up and hearing jokes about the accent of Tigray people and the various crude ways Tigray people and non-Amharas in general were treated.

This is the reason that Tigray people rebelled against emperor Haile Selassie then against the dictator Mengistu Hailemariam and the ruthless Derg government. In fact, the word woyane means rebel as the commoners from the northern most parts of Ethiopia took to the gun in order to stand for dignity. Imperial powers played their hand as they supplied “rebels” and the government alike in order to foster a perpetual state of conflict and a continual dependence on western aid and weaponry. This is the blueprint of colonialism by the way; split the people along ethnic lines and then arm all sides to fight against each other as the resources of the land like coffee and teff is shipped off by cooperate pricks and colonial powers. If this sounds familiar, this same blueprint was used to kneecap Syria as Obama before and Trump now continue to kill in the name of globalist profiteering wrapped in the facade of “Democracy.”

It is for this reason that I do not dismiss the pains that Tigray people feel. Who are we to deny the suffering people felt without once walking in their shoes. Too many people are quick to elevate their struggles while devaluing the suffering other faced and in the process love to monopolize pains as if injustice only comes for their own. What should otherwise be an extended hand of friendship is turned into a closed fist of embi (no)—grievance is used as a roadblock to prevent a shared suffering. Eventually, with enough time and enough maltreatment against each other, various tribes end up fighting against each other as all are concurrently bludgeoned by the powerful. The victims become many for only a few from each tribe are able to live a life of success while the masses on all side, whether one is from the same tribe as the ruling class or the excluded tribes, end up living a life of perpetual hardship and continual anxieties.

Let me pause for a minute here and revert to the lexicon of some vacuous American politicians who are warning you they are lying to you when they speak these next four words. Let me be clear. Except I am saying this with full authenticity for I fear too many will read this article as an endorsement of the broken TPLF manifesto. I make a clear distinction between woyane and TPLF the same way I make a distinction between the peddlers of ideology and those adhere to them. The same way I refuse to label Trump supporters as one pejorative or another and I refuse to blame Obama supporters for Obama’s actions, I likewise refuse to blame the who fought against the Derg government from the TPLF leaders whose primary motive was power and self-enrichment. In every revolution, the masses fight and take bullets, the elites lie and make profits. The same way Democratic and Republican voters are tricked by the ruling class in America is the same way the Tigray people have been duped by the TPLF leaders.

The sins of the excluded class is compounded by the arrogance of the ruling tribe and those who empower them. It never fails, the same people who were once bashed with the cudgel of oppression turn to the same tactics as their oppressors as they unleash iron fists and lead bullets on the tribes who are not in power. This is what happens in Ethiopia as the TPLF has rained down death and destruction on one tribe after another as their myopic tribal backers refuse to speak up against the hell that is being unleashed on their fellow countrymen and women. Tribal affinity so deep and ingrained in the mind, people who otherwise suffer themselves ignore their suffering as long as they have the privilege of being the same tribe as the ruling class.

On all sides are the politicians and pundits who fan animosity and leverage the suffering of the masses in order to live a life of depraved opulence. Bankrupt groups like Ginbot 7 and ESAT pop up to supposedly speak truth to power but all along they are eating the finest kitfo and injera in the poshest hotels from DC to New York. A symbiotic relationship is formed between the ruling government and duplicitous political parties who pretend to be speaking against them. Democracy thus becomes a means to hide the true source of injustice as the masses are led by prevaricating jackals who are all thriving within the very system that they pretend to be fighting against.

Now go back and re-read this article and you would see that what I wrote about Ethiopia is the very same thing that is going on here in America and most of the world. Tribalism and hatred rule the day as people are splintered based on race (a made up construct that does not define us), religion (which is the complete opposite of faith) and the endless ways we are told we are different is nothing more than a means of planting us into prisons of labels and dismissing the pains of “others”. The way to subdue, and in time enslave, a people is to shatter them at the foundation—to convince the masses that they don’t have common aspirations and common hopes. This is how the continent of Ethiopia was colonized and later renamed to Africa and how a billion people became the property of a few depraved souls.

The way that Ethiopia is being bled into famines and hopelessness is the same way that America and countless other nations are mired into a life of perpetual economic malaise as opportunity is swallowed whole by a widening chasm between the haves and the rest. Tribalism is more lethal than Ebola, Zika and Avian flue combined for antipathy and hatred inverts the empathy of people into an empty space of resentment and acrimony. The same way the pains of one tribe or the other are dismissed and blame that should be reserved for a few is assigned indiscriminately to the masses based on tribe is done here in America as well—people either disregard the suffering of “black folk” in the cities or blame “white privilege”. Meanwhile more and more people are treated to poverty and hope sandwiches as their new normal.

There is nothing as vacuous as people who think they are intellectual while peddling narrow minded and racist garbage. Breaking news people, racism inundates many and likewise flows out from more than just one source. If you want to assign blame to everyone for the treasonous acts of a few, you are peddling racism and the same bankrupt ideology as those who solicit “the bell curve” or the TPLF monsters who sell neo-Apartheid as “ethnic federalism”. Hatred knows no bound and ignorance is universal when it comes to those who wish to elevate their kind as the cost of others. Either speak up for justice on a universal basis or be revealed as part and particle of the very same injustice that too many are quick speak against.

As for my fellow Tigray people, I have nothing but love for you the same as I do for my Amhara ancestors. The truth is that I have Tigray blood in me from my father’s side as my great grandmother was Tigray as evidenced by the family tree below. The same can be said of all Ethiopians; I sure wish we would stop fighting over ethnicity and race for the notion of purity is about as foolish as the idea that a mosquito can defeat an anbessa (lion). The only solution—and the only way to free ourselves from the pits of oppression—is through unity. We call it andinet in Ethiopia; the concept that the people are one united by blood and by our common dreams. Justice is not a finite source; we do not get more of it if we hoard if for ourselves. In fact, justice only flourishes when and if the tent of equity and equality includes all without regard to labels we call ourselves.

Ethiopia once defeated a colonial power Italy in 1891 because they were united as one. So we can follow one of two Ethiopian models. We can continue bickering and fighting each other like modern day Ethiopia and consequently suffer as a people here in America and beyond. Or we can unite like Ethiopian jegnoch (heroes) did and repel the neo-colonization that is bleeding the world.We have a choice; we can be the anbessa within and stand up for justice or we can revert to mosquitoes and reside in narrow lanes. The former frees us and gives us a better tomorrow, the latter confines us and lessens justice. We can choose andinet (unity) or we can choose nullification. #AndinetUnity

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you understand the message behind this article and believe in your heart that the only way to eradicate injustice is through unity and love, share this article on social media using #AndinetUnity

Say hello to the pugnacious rat so-called “doctor” Tedros Adhanom, who is the mouthpiece and shill of the TPLF government. Laughably he ran to be the director of the World Health Organization—an equal joke of an non-governmental organization. NGOs and political doctors, two devils who bleed the continent of Ethiopia working for their imperial masters as they pretend to be helping the masses. When you get a chance, send a tweet to “Doctor Mot (death) Tedros (who dishonors the name Tewodros) @DrTedros (or click on his picture below) and tell him Teodrose Fikre says hello.

A personal note to Dr. Mot, take that demonic pentagram off our sendek alema hodam::

History Can Be Erased with Lies; Until a Writer Erases the Lies::

Be selam, desta ena fiker; zelalem tinur Ethiopia.

“Servants will come out of Kemet; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.” ~ Proverbs 68:31

Tags: Adwa, Atse Tewodros II, Axum Empire, Barack Obama, Berhanu Nega, Colonialism, Desalegn Hailemariam, Donald Trump, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, ESAT, Ethiopia, Ghion Cast, Ghion Journal, Ginbot 7, Teodrose Fikre, Tigray People Liberation Front, TPLF, woyane