Monday commentary: 6/9/2013
by Alemayehu G. Mariam
Just feeling proud and blue all over
“Everyday,
everyday I have the blues” sang B.B. King on his faithful guitar
Lucille. Everyday, everyday for the last eight years I’ve had the blues,
the “193/763 Blues”. “Ain’t gonna stop until the twenty-fifth hour,
‘Cause now I’m living on blues power,” belted out Eric Clapton. I am
feeling blue power too!
I am blue and happy as a blue lark. I mean
blue as in the Blue Party (Semayawi Party) of young people in Ethiopia.
They chose blue to symbolize their ideals of unity, peace and hope in
Ethiopia. Just like U.N. blue for all nations united in peace and hope
for the future. Like European Union blue, over two dozen states working
for a more perfect economic and political union. Like Ethiopian blue —
all Ethiopia united, peaceful and hopeful in the Twenty-first Century.
Go Blues! Onward!
Follow the blue line
Y’all
remember me talking, writing and raving about Ethiopia’s Cheetahs, the
young generation, for years now. (How hip is it for a venerable member
of Ethiopia’s Hippo Generation to rave about the Cheetahs?) Well, I want
to make it official. I done crossed the generation gap and gone over to
the Cheetahs’ lair. Yep! I sold out. Double-crossed them Hippos.
Hippos ain’t hip enough for me no more. I am now a “Chee-Hippo” (A hip
Hippo who likes to hang out with Cheetahs). Surprised?! Didn’t see it coming?
Here
is the deal. I saw them Cheetahs leaping and rising, rising higher and
higher. I recently watched them prowl the streets, but didn’t see them
growl or howl. I said, “What a beautiful sight!”
I heard them
purring though the streets. (Ever heard Cheetahs purr songs of justice,
freedom and human rights?) I said, “What a beautiful sound! They are
purring my song!”
I am with the Cheetahs. Well, actually, I am just tagging along. More like dragging behind the fast and furious Cheetahs.
Oooh! See them Cheetahs run! Watch
‘em rise and shine like the sun. Watch them Cheetahs “soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.” Imagine rising, flying Cheetahs with a Hippo in tow! Funny, I
know.
In my first commentary of the year, I declared 2013 “Ethiopia’s Year of the Cheetah Generation”.
This is their year, I proclaimed. Some hippos disagreed. “Ignore the
Cheetahs. They are into flash and cash.” I see look into the mirror.
I
asked Ethiopia’s Cheetah’s, “What time is it?” “It’s Cheetah Time!”,
they thundered. I can’t hear yoooou! “IT’S CHEETAH TIME!” Say it loud
and proud! “IT’S CHEETAH TIME!” RIGHT ON!
I said in 2013
Ethiopia’s Cheetahs will rise and shine and soar to new heights. They
will lift up and carry Ethiopia on their wings. They are doing just
that. Just who are these Cheetahs?
Ethiopia’s
Cheetah Generation include not only graduates and professionals — the
‘best and the brightest’ — but also the huddled masses of youth yearning
to breathe
free; the millions of youth victimized by nepotism, cronyism and
corruption and those who face brutal suppression and those who have been
subjected to illegal incarceration for protesting human rights
violations. Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is Eskinder Nega’s and
Serkalem Fasil’s Generation. It is the generation of Andualem Aragie,
Woubshet Alemu, Reeyot Alemu, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa and so many
others like them. Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is the only generation
that could rescue Ethiopia from the steel claws of tyranny and
dictatorship. It is the only generation that can deliver Ethiopia from
the fangs of a benighted dictatorship and transform a decaying and
decomposing garrison state built on a foundation of lies into one that
is deeply rooted in the consent and sovereignty of the people.
In
January, I made my own solemn “Chee-Hippo Pledge”. “I promise to reach,
teach and preach to Ethiopia’s youth in 2013.” I kept my promise. I
kept faith with Ethiopia’s Cheetahs even when they were down for the
count. 1-2-3… Rise Cheetahs, rise! Rise and shine bright on Ethiopia!
I made it “official” in late January and reclassified myself from a Hippo to a “Chee-Hippo”. I made my announcement in “Rise of the Chee-Hippo Generation”.
I sent out an urgent SOS. “Emergency! Cheetahs in peril! Need help
PDQ!” I was down on my knees pleading with them to restore faith with
the Cheetahs:
Truth
must be told: Hippos have broken faith with Cheetahs. Cheetahs feel
betrayed by Hippos. Cheetahs feel marginalized and sidelined. Cheetahs
say their loyalty and dedication has been countered by the treachery and
underhandedness of Hippos. The respect and obedience Cheetahs have
shown Hippos have been greeted with disdain and effrontery. Cheetahs
say Hippos have misconstrued their humility as servility; their
flexibility and adaptability have been countered by rigidity and their
humanity abused by cruel indignity. Cheetahs feel double-crossed,
jilted, tricked, lied to, bamboozled, used and abused by Hippos.
Cheetahs say they have been demonized for questioning Hippos and for
demanding accountability. For expressing themselves freely, Cheetahs
have been sentenced to hard labor in silence. Cheetahs have been
silenced by silent Hippos! Cheetahs have lost faith in Hippos. Such is
the compendium of complaints I hear from many Ethiopian Cheetahs. Are
the Cheetahs right in their perceptions and feelings? Are they justified
in their accusations? Are Hippos behaving so badly?
Perhaps they thought SOS meant Silence Over Silence?
When
I see Ethiopia’s Cheetahs today, I feel blue all over. Blue is my
favorite color now. Blue Cheetahs of Ethiopia, the rarest Cheetahs in
all of Africa. When I see the blue Cheetahs, I feel peaceful and
hopeful. When I feel Cheetah blue, I don’t see division. I see one
nation. I really like blue, but I love green, yellow and red in that
order a thousand times more. Check it out. It’s green, yellow and red,
all wrapped in velvet blue. I’m just loving it.
I say follow the
blue line crowd. Get on the blue train, y’all! First stop, Justice.
Second stop, Democracy. Third stop, Free Speech/Press. Fourth stop, Free
Political Prisoners. Fifth stop, Religious Freedom. Sixth stop… Seventh
stop… There is no stopping us now!
Them Cheetahs know where they
are going. They got GPS. We got old maps. They have a destination. We
have detour loops. We keep going in circles. Talk that way too. They
walk and talk straight. We talk riddles with forked tongues. They were
once lost, but now they are found. We are lost and never found. At the
end of the rainbow, we look for a pot of gold bleary-eyed. They are just
looking for a rainbow nation bright-eyed. Aarrgh! Old people, old
times, old maps.
It’s a new day, a blue day. The day belongs to
the Cheetahs with GPS. Let’s get the hell out of the way! Let’s follow
the Cheetahs. Let’s get on the blue train. Onward, Blue Cheetahs.
Onward!
Got to give credit where it is due
I have
often been accused of being unfair to the regime in Ethiopia. I have
been criticized for criticizing them “harshly”. They say I have never
given the regime a break. Never given them credit for anything. If that
were ever true, it has changed now. (A person who can’t change his/her
mind can’t change anything.) Just as I may have been “harsh” when I
felt they did wrong, I am unreservedly supportive when they do right.
They did right by Ethiopia’s young people when they let them have their
peaceful march on June 1. I give full credit to Hailemariam Desalegn and
his team for making possible what many believed was impossible. I
can’t imagine it was an easy thing to do. There must have been enormous
pressure on them. I can imagine the prophets of gloom and doom saying,
“Don’t do it! You’ll be sorry. If we let them protest, the sky will fall
and the stars will come down crashing! It will open the door for more
protests and there will be more trouble… Let’s crackdown like 2005.
Let’s teach them a lesson they will never forget.”
I respect
Hailemariam’s decision to let the peaceful protest take place. He and
his team did the right thing. Fairness requires they be given full
credit. (If I cannot be fair to those with whom I disagree when fairness
requires it, then I don’t believe in fairness.) I commend Hailemariam
and his team for having the courage, foresight, and will power to let
the protest take place. It takes guts to do what they did. That’s what I
call leadership. Doing the right thing when it is easier to do the
wrong thing, that is real leadership! I wish them more power to do the
right thing.
The leaders and supporters of the Blue Party deserve a
whole lot of credit. The party leaders showed their mettle. They proved
they know what they want. They proved they know how to do it. They were
civil in delivering their messages. No angry denunciations or
recriminations. They played it by the book, by the Constitution. Their
attitude was not antagonistic or bellicose. They did not come to the
protest with a chip on their shoulder. They carried their cause on their
shoulder. They were not itching or sniffing for fights. They just
wanted to defend their human rights.
The party leaders, members
and supporters were exemplary in every way. They were well-disciplined
and well-regulated. There was no mob unruliness or hooliganism. Not a
single person threw rocks. Not a single fight occurred. Not a single
window was broken. No property was destroyed. Not a single crime was
committed. Not a single person carried a weapon. Protesters walked and
assembled and sang patriotic songs and chanted freedom slogans. Even the
police assigned to monitor them stood on the sidelines watching
nonchalantly. Some of them appeared to yawning, struggling to stay
awake. That’s how peaceful the protests were. I lack the words to honor
and complement the leaders, members and supporters of the Blue Party.
They have shown the world it is possible to protest peacefully and with
dignity. Yes, with dignity! They have affirmed my fundamental belief
that the peaceful path is always better than the violent path. Always.
Think (human) right, do (human) right
I
am on the side of right regardless of who does right. I am against the
side of wrong regardless of who does wrong. For me, it is about the act,
not the actors. It’s about the deed, not the doers. It’s about the
“sin, not the sinners.” Good deeds deserve appreciation and
encouragement. Bad deeds deserve condemnation and discouragement. On
June 1, 2013, both the Blue Party and the regime did the right thing.
Both deserve appreciation and encouragement. You can’t go wrong doing
right by human rights!
I care about doing the right thing so much
that I believe it is okay to do right even for the wrong reasons. I have
my dear naysayers telling me I am naïve. They say I “don’t understand
these people.” They are playing games. I should not trust this one
gesture. I should sit, wait and see what they will do next. Hell, I am
not going to wait. I call it as I see it, when I see it. If and when
they crackdown, then I will speak my peace.
I say, “So, what if
they are playing games?” Action speaks louder that thoughts, intentions
or words. Perhaps this is their trial balloon to see how change on their
part will be viewed by their own supporters and reciprocated by their
opponents. I can speculate about their reasons for letting the Blue
Party members and supporters have their protest until the cows come
home, but won’t. That is their business. In my view, letting the Blue
Party conduct its peaceful demonstrations is a good first step to build a
teeny-weeny bit of confidence between those in power and those on the
outside. Where absolute distrust and mistrust rules in the relations
between opponents, the tiniest gesture that appear to dispel doubt and
plant the seeds of trust should be nurtured. When Neil Armstrong stepped
on the surface of the moon, his first words were, “One small step for a
man, a giant leap for mankind.” I hope and pray that the fact the Blue
Party protested peacefully on June 1, 2013 will be one small march for
the Blue Party and a giant leap of faith for all parties in Ethiopia.
“Hope always springs eternal in my breast”, to paraphrase a line from
Alexander Pope’s verse.
When the Blue Party members successfully
held their protest, it was a moment of truth for the Blue Party and the
regime. They had their test and both passed with flying blue colors!
Plan for peace, not strife; plan for “radical improvements in terms of good governance and democracy”
I take pride in speaking my mind and in speaking the truth. That’s why my blogsite proclaims, “Defend human rights. Speak truth to power.”
The truth — as I see, hear, speak and feel it — is my sword and shield.
The truth can sometimes be a bitter fruit. It can also be painful. It
does not have to be that way. The truth can be sweet, liberating,
enlightening and fulfilling. The truth can set us all free.
I
have sought for some signs that Meles at least believed in human rights
in the abstract. I shall give him the benefit of doubt that he did. In
an interview with Al Jazeera in 2007, Meles said, ‘I’d hope that my
legacy would be one of sustained and accelerated development that would
pull Ethiopia out of the massive deep poverty that it was mired in, full
and total stabilization of the country, radical improvements in terms
of good governance and democracy. I’d hope by the time I retire, we’d
have made significant strides in all of those in the future.’
It
is time now to make “radical improvements in terms of good governance
and democracy” had seen a radical regression into tyranny and despotism.
The “future” Meles spoke of is now. We should all work collectively to
implement his aspirations for “radical improvements in terms of good
governance and democracy” now.
This is Meles’ legacy his surviving
officials should acknowledge openly and work with others to implement as
the ultimate tribute to Meles’ leadership. The ‘radical improvement
in good governance and democracy’ begins with the release of all
political prisoners, repeal of antiterrorism and civil society and other
oppressive laws and declaration of allegiance to the rule of law. As
the Ethiopian new year is just around the corner, we can all begin
afresh on the road to “radical improvements in good governance and
democracy.
The Blue Party seeks the same goal of radical
improvements in terms of good governance and democracy that Meles
wanted. I have no doubts Meles’ successors want such improvements as
well. So do all others in the opposition. There is perfect consensus
about what needs to be done between those in power, those out of power,
the powerful and the powerless and those who couldn’t care less about
the powerful or the powerless. So, why is it not possible to put our
collective noses to the grindstone, shoulders to the wheel and work for
radical improvements in good governance and democracy?
The simple
question is how to bring about “radical improvements in terms of good
governance and democracy”? How do we bring about change?
Change
comes whether we like it or don’t want it. Change can come the right or
wrong way. It is wiser to come to change before it comes to us. Change
in Ethiopia is now inevitable because the young people are demanding it.
They have changed their minds and hearts about their own situation.
“They can’t take it anymore!” No force can stop them because they are
commanded by history to take charge of the destiny of their country.
Change
is unkind to those who fear it, reject it. Those who feared and
rejected change ultimately became the architects of their
self-destruction. H.I.M. Haile Selassie was advised to change and he
steadfastly refused. His regime self-destructed. Junta leader Mengistu
Hailemariam was advised to change. He turned arrogant. His regime also
self-destructed. Meles was advised to change. He too refused. Now it is
up to his successors to make the choice he wanted and yearned to make
but couldn’t. Their choice is clear: Make radical improvements in terms
of good governance and democracy or face the verdict of history. “Those
who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
It is in
human nature to fear change. People once feared electricity and machines
that fly in the air. Those riding horses and buggies said, “If man were
made to fly, he would have wings.” Once they overcame their fears, they
made those changes part of their lives.
Many of those in power in
Ethiopia today are afraid of change because they feel they will lose
their power and privilege. (Some truly believe they can remain in power
for one hundred years by sheer force. What a pity!) They are not willing
to take any chances. Those who are demanding change also have their
own fears and anxieties. They don’t know what change will bring, but
they are willing to take a chance. Neither those in power nor those out
of power should be prisoners of fear of change. They must break out of
their prison of fear and cross the threshold of courage holding hands
with faith in their hearts.
Rarely does change come by accident.
As Dr. Martin L. King said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of
inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must
straighten our backs and work for our freedom.” Ethiopia’s Cheetahs have
launched their peaceful struggle for rights and against wrongs. Change
will not be easy, but “The harder the struggle [for change], the more
glorious the triumph.” We cannot afford to be paralyzed by the fear of
fear. We have brave young Ethiopians ready, willing and able to build a
brave new Ethiopia. With them out in full force, we have nothing to
fear but the fear in our own hearts.
Africa is littered with
stillborn change. We see change without a difference all over Africa
every day. African dictators come and go like the seasons. Some move
like hurricanes destroying everything in their path. Others burn like
the desert sun. A few hang around like blinding fog. But real change
remains elusive in Africa. Real change is not mere regime change. It
requires heart and mind change.
We must embrace change for the
good, not fear it. Ethiopia’s young people are rising for good and
necessary change. Today Ethiopia is poised for a special kind of change.
It is change that flows form the fertile imagination of the youth. They
are imagining a brave new Ethiopia. They don’t want the old Ethiopia
built on a foundation of ethnic division, tribal affiliation, religious
sectarianism and communalism. They want gender equality. They have their
own blueprint for the kind of Ethiopia they want. Why shouldn’t they
have their Ethiopia? We had ours, isn’t it time they have theirs? It’s
just fair.
Regardless of what we do or don’t, the ultimate triumph
of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation is assured. The numbers are on their
side. Seventy percent of Ethiopia’s population is under 35 years of age.
History is on their side. Millions of young people before them spilled
their blood and poured sweat and tears to build a democratic and just
Ethiopia. The forces of our universe — justice, freedom, democracy —
are on their side. We should be on their side too.
Change cannot
be stopped by guns or tanks. “Nothing can stop an idea whose time has
come.” The time for fresh ideas, fresh young faces, fresh leadership for
a refreshed Ethiopia is now. Though change can be delayed, thwarted and
deferred, it can never be stopped. To paraphrase one of my favorite
poets, Langston Hughes:
What happens to a change (dream) deferred? Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Those
who survive change are not those with the guns or the money. They are
those who can adapt to change, roll with the punches and prevent an
explosion.
I can spend my time thinking and worrying about things
that can go wrong. Could there be a 2005 in 2013? It is easy to think
about how things that can go wrong. It is far more difficult to think
about how things can go right. We must think right not because it is
easy, but because it is hard. Doing right is often harder than doing
wrong.
It is my duty as a human rights advocate to promote and
support right and oppose wrong. That is a choice one has to make in
becoming a human rights defender. I care about human beings, not
parties, politicians, ideologies or whatnot. Power is a means not an end
in itself. It is neither good nor bad.
I believe in using power
to do good; to protect the powerless from the powerful; to use power to
prevent the abuse of power; to use power to bring together the
powerless with the powerful; to use power to empower the youth. I
believe in the irresistible power of ideas and have little faith in the
power of gunpowder. I believe in the use of power to heal, not to kill
or to steal. I believe in the power to give people hope. I believe in
the power of peace.
I am told I will eat these words I have
written soon enough when “they start cracking down”. If I am proven
wrong in my optimism, it won’t be the first time. But I am an
incorrigible optimist. I shall maintain a fixed gaze on the “long arc of
the universe that bends towards justice.”
When I got involved in
human rights advocacy headlong seven or so years ago following the
killings of the young unarmed protesters, I gave the longest speech I
have ever given (nearly eight thousand words). It was titled, “Awakening Giant! Can Ethiopians and Ethiopian Americans living in America make a difference in their homeland (also available here)?”
I could summarize it all in one sentence. “We prove the righteousness
of our cause not in battlefields soaked in blood and filled with
corpses, but in the living hearts and thinking minds of men and women of
goodwill.” I am still guided by those simple ideas.
There are
great lessons to be learned from the Blue Party protests. The biggest
one is: Peaceful protest need not be feared; it must be embraced. We may
not be able to march the streets with the Blue Party members and
supporters, but we should not hesitate to declare our solidarity with
their peaceful movement. They young people in the Blue Party cannot do
it alone. They need us all as partners and helpers. “We” are those in
power and those out of power. We should not only rise with the rising
Cheetahs, we should also stand by them!
Ethiopians are at the
crossroads. We can choose to remain stuck in the crossroads nursing our
bigotry, stewing in our hatred and sizzling in violence, conflict and
strife. Or we can choose the blue line, join the blue crowd and head in
the direction of reconciliation, accommodation and consultation. I say,
we should all get on the blue line because it is the road less
travelled, the road of the future. To paraphrase Robert Frost’s verse,
We shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and we—
We took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Ethiopia’s youth united can never be defeated. Power to the youth! Blue Cheetah Power!
“Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent change inevitable.” JFK
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