Photo courtesy of the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association (ECMAA) .
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
September 28th, 2019
New York (TADIAS) — This weekend the annual Ethiopian Day picnic is set to take place at Sakura Park in New York City.
Organized by the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association (ECMAA) the family friendly event includes fun outdoor activities and entrainment both for children and adults.
“Bring your favorite games, picnic tables, chairs, mat and music,” the announcement notes. “Refreshments will be served.”
ECMAA was founded in 1981 to serve the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Ethiopian Diaspora community. In addition to regularly hosting social, educational and networking events they also help “individuals to find ways to give back to their community by sharing their skills and experiences or by assisting financially.” Recently launched ECMAA programs also include weekend Amharic classes for children.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. plans to open its first hotel in Ethiopia by the end of the year as it seeks to double its African portfolio to tap growing visits by both African and Chinese travelers.
The property in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, will be followed by Hyatt’s first hotels in Algeria and Senegal in early 2019 and in Kenya the year after, according to Kurt Straub, the company’s vice president for the Middle East and Africa. Hyatt in October said it would invest an estimated $200 million in new hotels on the continent.
“Things are opening up in Ethiopia, it’s very exciting what’s going on there,” Straub said in an interview in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, referring to Ethiopia’s recent pledge to loosen control of the state-planned economy and invite more foreign investment. “It’s much easier now that it’s open, there’s a path.”
Hyatt will operate the Ethiopian hotel through a management contract with U.K.-based ASB Development Ltd., which already has business there, according to Straub. Hyatt is also looking into opening outlets in the Ethiopian cities of Awasa and Mekelle, he said.
Hyatt, whose portfolio on the continent includes hotels in Egypt, South Africa, Morocco and Tanzania, is open to franchising opportunities, Straub said. It also sees major opportunities from a growing Chinese market and intra-African travel, according to Tejas Shah, the company’s regional vice president for sub-Saharan Africa.
(Map: World Bank visualization based on data from various UN agencies)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
September 28th, 2017
New York (TADIAS) — For all of Ethiopia’s much talked about infrastructure building over the past three decades, such as highways and power supplies, to date only 22% of the country’s rural population has access to a properly paved road, which is a major hindrance to trade as well as social, political and economic development.
According to a World Bank study focusing on expansion of road density that was published online last week “changes in road density pointed to greater economic concentration towards the center of Ethiopia and the north of the country. These are also areas of greater population density. Between 2006 and 2016 the increase in road density was concentrated in certain regions, notably Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, as well as Tigray in the north of the country and in Oromia in the center.” The World Bank adds that “remote and economically lagging regions, and Amhara Region, see lesser increases in road density. Taking the development of roads as a proxy for the development of infrastructure, this suggests that infrastructure development has not been homogeneous across all regions. It also shows that road connectivity for some regions is poor, both within those regions and with other regions, with consequences for labor mobility, the transportation of goods and services, and for agricultural productivity as the distance and travel times to markets are longer.”
Figure 2b: Rural Access Index (RAI) and major roads in 2016 (World Bank)
Despite the large infrastructure investments undertaken by the Ethiopian government in the past ten years, accessibility by road to rural areas remains low in Ethiopia; we can see its distribution across the country in Figure 2b. The Rural Access Index was 21.6 percent in 2016, signifying that only around 22 percent of the rural population had access within a 2km distance of them to a decent road.”
In 1982, Girma Aweke arrived in the United States in search of a better life and education. After spending his early years in Ethiopia, he made his way to San Jose State University, where he studied engineering.
Seble Demissie, the second youngest of eight children, arrived in the USA in 1987 after earning her undergraduate degree in Ethiopia with the same goals. She did some short term training at the University of Pittsburgh and then earned her MBA at Long Beach State.
It was in Northern California, among the tight-knit Ethiopian community, that the two met, fell in love, married in 1995, and settled in San Jose. Living out their version of the American dream, he as an engineer in the medical field and she working in finance and banking.
Both became American citizens, and they had two children, son Nathaniel and daughter Naomi, who was born in 2000. Sixteen years later, the daughter of immigrants, a first generation American, is on the cusp of representing – and perhaps captaining — the United States in a youth Women’s World Cup.
It was the Ethiopian community that first drew Naomi Girma to soccer. (In Ethiopia, the children take the first name of their father as their last name). Girma Aweke was one of the organizers of “maleda soccer” (maleda meaning “dawn” in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia), a gathering of Ethiopian families that served to strengthen the bonds of the community.
“I was five years old when I first started playing,” said Naomi, who heads into the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan as one of the USA’s starting center backs. “Girls and boys played together and they always divided soccer games into little kids, medium kids and big kids. I always begged to play with the big kids. Eventually, my parents let me.”
A starting center-back for the U-17 WNT, Naomi Girma has captained the USA on several occasions. (Photo: US Soccer)
Naomi Girma. (Photo: US Soccer)
Through these free play weekend afternoons, which also featured other sports and a big BBQ to end the day, Naomi’s love for the game was nurtured. At age nine, she started playing club soccer for the Central Valley Crossfire and grew into one of the USA’s elite female players for her age. She has committed to Stanford University for the fall of 2018 and has captained the U.S. U-17 WNT on several occasions.
ADDIS ABABA — Orthodox priests lit a bonfire in the heart of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday evening to mark the eve of Meskel, a festival to mark the finding of the cross of Jesus.
Tens of thousands of people, many holding up candles in the failing light as the sun set, crowded on terraces around the square where the ceremony was led by the head of Ethiopia’s Christian Orthodox church, Patriarch Abune Mathias.
Dressed in his golden ceremonial robes, the patriarch delivered blessings to mark what the church believes was the discovery in the fourth century of the cross of Jesus by Queen Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.
According to tradition, in 326 AD, Helena had prayed for guidance to find the cross on which Jesus was crucified and was directed by smoke from a burning fire to the location. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians believe she lit torches to celebrate.
The celebration, in which hundreds or orthodox priests and deacons take part dressed in white robes, starts in the afternoon and ends after sunset, bringing the capital to a halt around its biggest square, which is called Meskel, the word for cross in the liturgical Ge’ez language.
Meskel festival at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, September 26, 2016. (Photo REUTERS
Ethiopian Orthodox Priest holds a cross during the Meskel Festival at the Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, September 26, 2016. (Photo REUTERS)
The celebration has taken place in Addis Ababa since the city was founded more than 100 years ago.
Ethiopian Adoption Connection (EAC) is a searchable database, the objective of which is to match Ethiopian adoptees living around the world with their families in Ethiopia. (Image courtesy: EAC)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Monday, September 28th, 2015
New York (TADIAS) — The Board of the Ethiopian Adoption Connection (EAC) announced that it will be participating in the upcoming Cultural Exchange Family Day in New York City hosted by the Ethiopian Social Assistance Committee (ESAC).
“Ethiopian Adoption Connection is a free, grassroots effort to unite family members separated by adoption. EAC is an internet database containing adoption information provided by individuals who were adopted, adoptive families, and birth families who are looking for each other,” EAC said in a press release. “Full name and contact information is kept confidential unless and until a match is confirmed and then only released to involved parties.”
“The organization’s goal is to assist anyone wishing to make contact including Ethiopian mothers and fathers, adoptive parents, and adoptees,” the press release added: “It is a volunteer project and is free to use. Founder Andrea Kelley started the database as the result of an ongoing ten-year search for her own child’s family.”
Andrea’s two children, age 13 and 15, are also scheduled to perform traditional Ethiopian music on violin and cello at the NYC event on October 9th. Organizers of the Cultural Exchange Family Day, which takes place on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, say their event further features food and a coffee ceremony. In addition to Andrea, the Board members of the Ethiopian Adoption Connection include Kalkidan Alelign, Manyahilishal Madebo, Tracey Chambers, and Rachel Wentworth; Advisory Board members Rebecca Demissie and Alison Aucoin; and a special Advisory Board of adult Ethiopian adoptees. The group will be present at the New York gathering next week to provide information to attendees.
“After just a little over a year in operation, EAC has made eleven matches, helping Ethiopian adoptees to make contact with their families in Ethiopia,” the press release said. “The first match the organization made was the result of an Ethiopian father reaching out on Facebook.” EAC added: “His little boy had been adopted to a European family a few years earlier. Through EAC’s network of contacts all over the world, they were able to locate the adoptive family and provide assistance with translating so the Ethiopian father could communicate with them. He reported, “We started direct connection with the adoptive family. They sent me recent pictures and his current conditions.”
Yared Zeleke, Director of Lamb, premiered his film at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. (Courtesy Photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Monday, September 28th, 2015
New York (TADIAS) — Following the premiere of the first Ethiopian film, Lamb, at this year’s Festival de Cannes, Director Yared Zeleke recently screened his feature at Ethiopia’s National Theatre in Addis Ababa. Lamb tells the story of an Ethiopian boy, Ephraïm, who bonds with a sheep as he is sent away from home following the death of his mother. Ephraïm soon learns that the sheep he befriended may have to be sacrificed for a feast and plots a way both to save the lamb and find his way home again.
Zeleke’s film has received enthusiastic international reviews including being dubbed “sheer brilliance” by The Guardian, and won ‘Best Feature Film’ at the 2015 Milano Film Festival. Lamb is set to be released in theaters in France on September 30th, and while it was screened earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival, Zeleke says the U.S. premiere is “yet to be determined.”
Below is Tadias Magazine’s Q&A with Director Yared Zeleke:
TADIAS: You mentioned having been raised by your grandmother and reminisce about her coffee ceremony and storytelling skills. How did the communal experience of narrating stories over Ethiopian coffee influence your own storytelling passion?
YZ: My grandmother, Tafesech Zeleke, raised me in Mesalemia, Addis Ababa with lots of love, good food and great stories. She was known in the neighborhood for her kindness as well as terets. I think had she lived and been educated in the U.S., like I was, she would’ve been a filmmaker herself. And a great one! She was just gifted at capturing your imagination about places and people within and outside of Ager-bet (homeland). This left an indelible impression on me.
TADIAS: Your prior short films including Housewarming — highlighting the experience of an Ethiopian refugee in New York City — explore the challenges of migration and identity formation. You’ve also shared that Lamb “is a semi-autobiographical drama,” which ties to your own “personal and inescapably political” journey. How has making films helped you to navigate these themes? How do you feel now that you live back in Addis?
YZ: For me, it’s not only about cinematic art but your point of view as a citizen of the modern world. I am a “cultural omnivore” of Ethiopian origin who tries to make sense of this vast, complicated world through the work I do. Film is a powerful medium to get your point across and/or engage in a dialogue with a wider audience.
(Still image from Lamb film)
I chose to make Lamb my first feature, for both personal and political reasons. Although the story is close to me, I was aware that one of its core themes being loss — especially during childhood — is something many souls can relate to. The connection that people (from all walks of life) have had so far with first the script and now the film is a testament to my dream realized.
In the perceptions of many Westerners, Ethiopia has become synonymous with famine. This story, on the other hand, shows a boy obsessed with cooking. This is because, along with the problems of population pressure and changing climate, the country continues its ancient and rich culinary culture. As another example, Ethiopia is perceived to be a desert. Having shot parts of the film in the world’s only Afro-alpine forest (in the Bale Mountain region), the audience is in for a surprise as most of the mountainous country is far from being a desert. The art of cinema should take and engage an audience into the unexpected, be it geographic or psychic. I hope to continue making films that are more about connections rather than clichés, while revealing rarely seen worlds and faces in the global cinema.
(Still image from Lamb film)
TADIAS: Prior to obtaining an MFA at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts you had embarked on studying farming/agriculture in Norway. Can you tell us more about your original interest in farming?
YZ: That is a good question. Prior to pursuing film I was a young idealist who wanted to give back to my country of origin by working on an issue that is paramount to Ethiopia — farming. As what it means to be an Ethiopian to this day is, for the most part, a farmer, I wanted to work with agriculture in order to help the country ensure food security as well as sustainable farming practices to help develop its economy. I was very passionate about this, and after receiving my Bachelor’s degree in International Development with a focus on natural resource management in Sub-Saharan Africa at Clark University in Massachusetts, I went to get a Master’s at the Agricultural University of Norway. Deep down, however, I wasn’t happy with my studies and wished to do something else — to tell a story. One day I thought to myself if Ethiopia was as prosperous, peaceful and progressive as Norway what would I do with my life? And it became clear to me that film was my calling as a medium to share our stories with the world.
TADIAS: Who were your primary role models when you shifted your career from agriculture to film directing? Which individuals inspire you in your craft?
YZ: I am not only inspired by film directors (Robert Bresson, Stephen Frears, or Shekhar Kapur), but by writers (Tolstoy), musicians (Muluken Melesse) and political activists (Mandela) as well.
TADIAS: What are the joys and challenges of participating in the film industry in Ethiopia?
YZ: The joys of filmmaking in Ethiopia are primarily that the country remains untouched culturally and untapped in potential talents. There are so many stories to be told in the country. And there are growing opportunities.
Like any film, each and every process was just an absolute challenge in every way. But the most difficult for me was the Ethiopian bureaucracy. One can control most factors of filmmaking, more or less, but a bureaucracy is beyond me. The ultimate threat being that your project is in a constant state of danger from being shut down over the smallest issue. The authorities did however allow us to make the film. We also obtained sponsorship from Ethiopian Airlines, which is government owned. The airline moreover provided an enormous amount of logistical support with the transportation of both crew and, especially, equipment to and within the country. Without this help, we certainly would not have been able to make the film on time.
What I learned from the experience can be summarized by one of the traditional female names in Amharic as well as the title of my first documentary project— “Tigist Means Patience”. To make a meaningful film in a place like Ethiopia, you will need an enormous amount of patience and time. Be prepared to invest years of your life there. Be prepared for a lot of explaining. Be prepared for a lot of suspicion. Both the government and people are sensitive about their image, and rightly so, after decades of bad publicity, which has been primarily about political upheavals, war and famine with nothing being told about the positive aspects of the country.
I also discovered many new things. It is a very interesting transitional period right now as the nation fast forwards into the future, leaving its traumatic past behind. The economy is booming and the Diaspora who once risked everything to escape are coming back to rebuild. There is an awakening taking place there, as in the rest of the continent. This homecoming is the time for Africans to redefine who we are for the world and, especially, us. Re-appropriating our memory and what it means to be a citizen. Being a filmmaker at this point in Ethiopia’s (3,000 year) history is, therefore, extremely important. The entire process of making LAMB was made within the conditions of a country trying desperately to pull out of poverty and transcend into something new. I am, of course, very proud to be part of that wave of change.
TADIAS: You recently successfully premiered Lamb in Ethiopia. What was the audience reaction? How did it feel to bring your journey back home?
YZ: At the world premier of Lamb in Ethiopia at the National Theater, about half of the audience were international while the other half were Habeshas. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there was virtually no difference in the response and reaction to the film between both audiences. Ethiopians who approached me after the screening were just as appreciative and positive about the film as “Ferenges” have been around the world. And as an Ethiopian, the reaction of my people is much more significant to me. So it meant a lot that they were so encouraging.
Congressman Mike Honda represents California's 17th Congressional district in Silicon Valley. (AP photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Sunday, September 28th, 2014
New York (TADIAS) – Few politicians in America could claim as close a relationship with the Ethiopian community in their district and beyond as U.S. Congressman Mike Honda of California. Mr. Honda, who is the Founder of the Ethiopian American Congressional Caucus, was also one of the keynote speakers at the recent Ethiopian soccer tournament held in San Jose. Tadias Magazine has learned that Congressman Honda, who is up for re-election in November, will be endorsed by the Ethiopian American Council (EAC) in his bid to retain his seat, which he first assumed in 2001.
In a letter sent to Mr. Honda’s office this week, and shared with Tadias, EAC informed the Congressman that given his “long years of service” to the community the Ethiopian American organization is prepared to back his campaign both in fundraising and voter drive efforts.
“The Ethiopian-American Council of North America wishes to thank you for your past service, and your record holds vast evidence that you are concerned with the rights and general welfare of all Americans – with a keen eye on immigrant and ethnic communities,” stated the letter. “We will endorse you and we will lend as much financial and social support as we deem appropriate to ensure that Ethiopian-American voters, and any other citizens we are able to encourage, will go to the polls for you.”
The letter mentions Honda’s commitment to provide “a meaningful path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented immigrants” and his heritage as a third generation Japanese American and his experience in an internment camp in Colorado where his family was sent when he was only one year old. “With people such as yourself in office, hope remains that such an egregiously wrong action will never happen again to any ethnic or immigrant community in the United States of America,” wrote EAC.
In a statement posted on his website Congressman Honda, who is now 73-years-old, explains his early life as follows: “Though I was born in Walnut Grove, California, I spent my early childhood in a Japanese American internment camp in Colorado. It was there that I experienced first-hand the injustices that many minorities face in the United States. Even though my family and I were law-abiding citizens of this country, we were treated like enemies of the public solely because we were of Japanese descent. When I returned to California in 1953, I attended Andrew P. Hill High School and eventually graduated from San José High Academy. While attending college at San José State, I heard President Kennedy’s call for young Americans, like myself, to serve their country, and I joined the Peace Corps. As a volunteer in El Salvador, I spent two years building schools, constructing bridges and roads, and providing vaccinations to children. My Peace Corps experience sparked my lifelong passion for teaching and education. After completing my B.S. in Biological Sciences and Spanish and my Masters in Education, I became a science teacher, working my way up to becoming the principal of two schools and conducting research at Stanford University.”
California’s 17th congressional district, which Mr. Honda represents, is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and companies such as Apple, Intel, Yahoo, and eBay are all members of the district’s constituency. The area comprises North San Jose, the cities of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Fremont, Newark, and Milpitas.
In the upcoming election Congressman Honda faces fellow Democrat and Indian American attorney, Ro Khanna, who is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Commerce.
EAC added that it will issue a press release in the coming days to announce its endorsement.
— You can learn more about Congressman Mike Honda at honda.house.gov.
Reykjavik Geothermal, the Icelandic company that’s helped build power plants in more than 30 countries, agreed to develop as much as 1,000 megawatts of projects in Ethiopia over the next 10 years.
The company expects to spend a total of $4 billion and will begin drilling test wells early next year, Chairman Michael Philipp said in an interview today in New York. About 10 megawatts will be in operation by 2015, with a total of 500 megawatts by 2018. A second phase may include as much as 500 additional megawatts of capacity. Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. has agreed to buy all the electricity under a 25-year contract.
“This is the kind of commitment you need to get the financial backing to finalize the development phase,” Philipp said. About one-fourth to one-third of the project will be financed with equity.
The Great Rift Valley in East Africa, which spans eight countries, may have as much as 20 gigawatts of potential geothermal energy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The agreement between Reykjavik Geothermal and Ethiopia may be the first of many on the continent, said Mark Taylor, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, pictured at the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting on Friday, September 28, 2012, spoke to VOA's Peter Heinlein in New York a day ahead of his UN speech. (Photo: UN/Marco Castro)
Tadias Magazine
Editorial
Updated: October 1st, 2012
New York (TADIAS) – In his first interview with Voice of America since he was sworn into office, Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn suggested that he will be doubling down on the government’s controversial policy of jailing journalists and opposition leaders.
In a wide-ranging 30-minute discussion with Peter Heinlein conducted in New York, where the PM was attending the U.N.’s General Assembly meeting last week, Hailemariam defended the continued imprisonment of several journalists, including Eskinder Nega, on the basis of national security, repeating the state’s claims that the journalist had been living a “double life,” or as he called it, “wearing two hats.”
“Our national security interest cannot be compromised by somebody having two hats. We have to tell them they can have only one hat which is legal and the legal way of doing things, be it in journalism or opposition discourse, but if they opt to have two mixed functions, we are clear to differentiate the two,” he said.
It is disingenuous to silence critique by journalists and opposition members while maintaining that the nation exercises a “multi-party system.” The PM’s comments remind us of a poster by the provocative Chinese artist Ai Weiwei responding to a similar accusation by the Chinese Communist Party authorities who called him a dissident artist. Weiwei retorted back: “I call them a dissident government.”
In the following report aired on WAMU, Dereje Desta explains why pastry shops and Cafés are part of the Ethiopian Diaspora lifestyle. (Photo credit: Andrea Wenzel)
In the D.C. area, many restaurants offer immigrants a taste of home, but as communities adapt to new countries, so do their palates. At one Ethiopian cafe in Northern Virginia, that dynamic is playing out every day.
You can almost see the Pentagon from Dama Café in Arlington, Va., but when you walk inside around lunchtime, you could be in a café in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It’s crowded, and Ethiopians sit around small tables talking and enjoying a taste of home.
Guitarist Selam Woldemariam (left), former member of legendary Ethiopian bands, Ibex and Roha, with New Yorker Tomas Doncker (front) performing at the City Winery in Manhattan last year. (Courtesy photo)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Sunday, October 9, 2011
New York (TADIAS) – Brooklyn based musician Tomas Doncker’s new album entitled Power of the Trinity, which features well-known artists hailing from Ethiopia including Gigi and legendary guitarist Selam Seyoum Woldemariam, is as much a tribute to Ethiopia and its history as it is a soulful blend of R&B, spoken word and global urban sounds, reflecting the culturally eclectic neighborhood where he grew up. The CD also features Grammy award winning producer and bassist Bill Laswell, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and Electro-dub specialist Dr. Israel as well as reggae artist Tsegaye Selassie.
“Musically speaking, being able to work with Bill Laswell and Selam Woldermariam was like taking a journey into the heart and soul of Ethiopian groove, ” Tomas Doncker said in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine. Bill Laswell was the producer of Gigi’s 2001 album, which propelled the vocalist to worldwide acclaim. Selam Woldermariam, also known as Selamino, was a member of the storied Ibex and Roha bands.
According to Tomas, a theater production about Emperor Haile Selassie and his role during World War II, following the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, gave impetus to his new album. The drama was never staged but he said it inspired him to learn more about the Emperor. “I was asked to score a play called Power of the Trinity by New York Playwright Roland Wolf and in my research I realized that collaborations with this particular group of artists would really capture and enhance the feeling that I was looking for,” Tomas said. “It was the most rewarding artistic experience of my life.”
Tomas said he fell in love with Selam Woldermariam’s work long before he met the guitarist, whom he said he discovered through one of the earliest editions of the Ethiopiques series – number seven – which spotlighted the award-winning singer Mahmoud Ahmed and the historical band Ibex.
“Tomas Doncker had this CD and was searching for musicians that played with Ibex in those days,” Selam told Tadias. “A common friend knew where I resided and told Tomas about it, that’s how we connected.”
The name of the album, Power of the Trinity, is the English translation of Emperor Haile Selassie’s name. The CD cover shows a globe embedded with a giant map of Africa filled with a photo collage of the late emperor. Tomas Doncker’s own name is written using a combination of English and Geez alphabets. “Graphic Designer Michael Luciano and I worked very closely on this,” Tomas said. “We wanted to highlight Ethiopia as being one of the most important places in world history, perhaps even the cradle of civilization. You can’t do that without making H.I.M. a focal point.”
Selam, who majored in History at Addis Ababa University and is currently researching “the music history of the Horn of Africa,” says the collaborative project is more than a nod to the former king. “As we all know Ethiopian music is now a fashion throughout the world,” he said. “It is not surprising to see bands whose members are mainly western musicians playing Ethiopian music repertory of the 60s and 70s.” He adds: “This phenomenon was partly the result of the distribution of Ethiopiques CD series, produced by a good friend, Francis Falceto. And, fortunately, I was part of the group known as ‘Ibex’ that performed during the early 70s at Ras Hotel. It included the renowned performer Mahmoud Ahmed and we recorded his Ere Mela Mela on LP which later became Ethiopiques number 7 in 1989.”
For Tomas, it is also about crossing cultural boundaries. “I grew up in Brooklyn NY, in Crown Heights” he said. “I attended St. Ann’s school from 1st grade until the 12th grade. Crown Heights at that time was a very dangerous neighborhood. Lots of gangs and violence, but we still managed to maintain a sense of community, at least among the families on my block. Receiving a scholarship to attend St. Ann’s made it possible for me to meet people and learn about other cultures. It changed my life and helped to mold me into the artist that I am today.”
Tomas Doncker and Selam Woldemariam at the Blue Note in NYC on April 12, 2010. (Photo courtesy of Selam Woldemariam)
Regarding his new album Tomas said: “It is what I like to call a global soul meditation about Ethiopia and how I feel that we are all connected.”
Selam, who also served as a Production Consultant, worked on the Amharic translations for most of the compositions on the album. He described the genre of the new CD saying: “It is mainly a fusion work of Tomas’ compositions with Ethiopian rhythm and sounds. He uses the slow and fast Chik-chika rhythms on most of his compositions. This rhythm is extensively used in most Ethiopian music. Moreover, most horn sections on some of the tunes resemble the unique sound of Ibex Band from the Ethiopiques number seven volume. Therefore, I think we can safely label the new album as ‘global soul,’ a fusion of western R&B and African and Ethiopian music.”
Selam adds: “I would like to thank Tomas for dedicating his song, Seven Sons, in memory of Ibex.”
— Thomas Doncker’s “Power of the Trinity” is now available for purchase on I tunes. You can learn more about the artist at www.tomasdoncker.net.
Watch: Tomas Doncker introduces guitar hero Selam Woldemariam at the Blue Note in NYC
Watch: Inside Tomas Doncker’s “Power of The Trinity Project”
Above:President Obama will travel to Copenhagen to make a
personal pitch for Chicago to get the 2016 Olympic Games.
NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports. (Watch the video below)
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark this week to support Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president, told The Associated Press on Monday morning that Obama will leave Thursday and join his wife, Michelle, in Copenhagen, where they’ll make the pitch to the International Olympic Committee. Obama would be the first U.S. president to take on such a direct role in lobbying for an Olympics event. The International Olympic Committee is meeting in Copenhagen to select a host city for the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago faces tough competition from Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo. The IOC is scheduled to decide the site on Friday.Read more.
APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) – Ethiopia on Saturday launched a new strategy that seeks to place the country among Africa’s top ten in tourist attraction as citizens commemorate this year World Tourism day.
During the event, Ethiopia’s Minister of Tourism, Mohammud Drir expressed disatisfaction over the low number of tourists visiting the country in spite of the wide range of attractions.
In 2008, he said the country expects around 400,000 tourists to visit the country.
He said government will rope in around 170 million dollars and expressed optimism that this number will steadily increase as a result of the strategy.
He put the number of tourists who visited Ethiopia during the past few years at around 150,000.
The recently re-erected Axum obelisk, which was returned from Italy after 67 years is among the strategies that will boost the number of tourists to the country.
Tadias Editorial Above photo: President Kennedy and Haile Selassie during
a parade honoring the Emperor. Washington, D.C.
(Date Photographed: October 1, 1963)
New York (Tadias) – 2008 marks the 105th year since the commencement of official diplomatic relations between the governments of the United States of America and Ethiopia. The forging of these relations was all the more historic in that viewing Africa as within the European sphere of influence, the US had virtually no relations with the continent at the time, and would not until well after World War II. With the exception of Liberia, founded in 1847 by freed American slaves, and white-ruled South Africa, no other black African country was on the U.S. diplomatic radar at the time. In this sense, then, Ethiopia really was the first black African country that the United States ever befriended.
For over a century now following the signing of a commercial treaty between President Theodore Roosevelt and Emperor Menelik II on December 27th, 1903, close relations between the two countries have endured nearly uninterrupted. During the long reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia, the country accounted for about half of all the military and development assistance lent by the United States to Black Africa and often hosted the largest detachment of Peace Corps volunteers on the continent.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Haile Selassie at Hyde Park, New York, 05/30/1954
(National Archives and Records Administration)
Even during the seventeen-year reign of the now-deposed Mengistu Haile Mariam, Ethiopia was the beneficiary of the largest disbursement of food aid extended by the U.S. to Africa. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the United States brokered Ethiopia’s transition to the post-Cold War world order and has remained its closest and most influential western ally since.
While the geo-strategic significance of the Horn of Africa has always constituted an important consideration in the launching and maintenance of these relations, some of the country’s unique attributes, like its primeval Judaeo-Christian and Moslem roots and nearly all-encompassing socio-cultural heritages have also endeared the country to Americans inducing strong people to people bonds that go well beyond formal state to state relations. Today, Ethiopians in the U.S. make up one of the largest groups of African immigrants.
Equally important and of particular historical note are the past and continuing bonds between Ethiopia and the African American Community. Relations between the African-American diaspora and Ethiopia predate 1903. The nation’s triumph over Italian colonial aspirants at the battle of Adwa in the nineteenth century inspired black nationalist leaders and advocates of freedom throughout the continent and the new world. While some founding pan-Africanists and pioneering black scholars raised slogans like “back to Ethiopia”, and the only independent black country in the western hemisphere at the time, Haiti, established contact with the Empire early on, at every challenging turn during the nation’s troubled entry and ongoing transition to modernity in the 20th. and 21st centuries, African Americans have stood by them, whether it be to fight fascism or to combat famine and AIDS.
A series of articles to commemorate 105th anniversary of U.S. – Ethiopia relations will be published on Tadias Magazine between now and January 2009. The papers are primarily designed as a review and rerecording of the remarkable historical ties between the two countries and a dialogue to pin point areas where continuing cooperation can yield beneficial results. It will include reflections by former Ambassadors/Diplomats from both countries and discussions by several scholars from across the country. If you feel you can contribute an article to fit the editorial calendar, please contact us at info@tadias.com.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/European Pressphoto Agency
Published: September 28, 2008
Filed at 6:17 a.m. ET
BERLIN (AP) — Haile Gebrselassie broke his own marathon world record on Sunday, becoming the first runner to finish under 2 hours, 4 minutes.
The Ethiopian clocked 2:03:59 to win his third straight Berlin Marathon, beating the mark of 2:04:26 he set last year over the same flat course. He also became the first runner to win the race three times.
”Today, I’m so, so, so happy. Everything was perfect today,” Gebrselassie said.
Running under clear, sunny skies in mild temperature, Gebrselassie paced himself well and controlled the race from the start.
The 35-year-old Gebrselassie was way out front as passed through the Brandenburg Gate and ran to the finish line to applause from the crowd lining the route.
Gebrselassie said his training in the buildup to the race was hindered by an injury.
”I had a small calf muscle problem and I stopped for a week, and then I started again a week ago,” he said. ”Then today I had, you know, some doubts … but it was really very good.”
Los Angeles Times
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Photo: Ahmed Mohamed Abdalla, 80, farmer in Wad Rawah,
Sudan. (Edmund Sanders / Los Angeles Times)
September 27, 2008
WAD RAWAH, SUDAN — Africa’s abundant natural resources have long invited foreign exploitation.
Over generations, foreign empires and companies stripped the continent of its gold and diamonds, then its oil. Rubber and ivory were plundered from Congo. Even Africa’s people were exploited: captured and sold into slavery abroad.
Now foreigners are enjoined in a new scramble in Africa. The latest craze? Food. Amid a global crisis that for a time this year doubled prices for wheat, corn, rice and other staples, some of the world’s richest nations are coming to Africa to farm, hoping to turn the global epicenter of malnutrition into a breadbasket for themselves.
Ethiopia, for example, is marketing its farmland to Saudi Arabia, yet the Horn of Africa nation has a history of famine and is currently combating serious drought. Under such circumstance, foreign growers planning to export food could face potential protests, even riots, from hungry locals, experts said. And even as it tries to lure the foreign investment, the government recently slapped a ban on all food exports in response to domestic shortages.
“It would be unimaginable for a foreign investor in Ethiopia now to simply ship out large amounts of grain,” Von Braun said.
But he stressed that the foreign partnerships should benefit everyone by increasing worldwide food production. “We should not look at this trend with alarm. The more capital that finds its way into agriculture, the [bigger] the total pie.”
Photo courtesy of the Ethiopian Community Mutual Assistance Association (ECMAA) .
(Still image from Lamb film)
(Still image from Lamb film) 
