With love to Ethiomedia and the wonderful Ethiopians in Seattle

By Fekade Shewakena; August 17, 2006

Writer/Commentator Fekade Shewakena (right) - a guest of honor to Ethiomedia Festival 2006 - is accompanied by Ethiomedia Executive Editor and Publisher Abraha Belai while on a visit to Alkai Point, a popular tourist destination to the west of Seattle, Washington (Photo: Yilikal/Ibex Restaurant: August 18, 2006)

And of course my beef with Seattle is that it is home to thousands of Ethiopians who I went to see and join in the celebration of Ethiomedia Day, the 5th year of its anniversary. I found many Ethiopians who have conquered life and succeeded in making it. I was proud to see block after block of beautiful Ethiopian restaurants many of whom I was not able to visit because of my short stay. Ibex and Meskel Restaurants and a couple others that I visited in the beautiful city of Seattle make any Ethiopian proud. Yilikal, the owner of Ibex Restaurant, is a wonderful person whose killer smile seems to be a permanent fixture on his face. I was told he would do anything you ask him if it is for his country and people. I was told his spacious restaurant is always ready whenever you want to do something good for Ethiopia. I also visited a home of an Ethiopian by the name Woynigus (isn’t this a beautiful name?) who single handedly turned and remodeled a dilapidated old house into a beautiful mansion. He showed me the before and after pictures of it and could not believe my eyes. I can’t tell you how proud I am of him of his imaginativeness and craft. I was told this hard working and innovative successful businessman has time to run a television program for the community while at the same time doing such a magnificent work. He was there filiming the celebration of Ethiomedia day with a huge Camera.

What added to my falling in love with Seattle is not the physical beauty of the city alone. It is the Ethiopians that I met while celebrating Ethiomedia Day on August 13, 2006, including the many who drove miles to celebrate Ethiomedia Day from as far as Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Colombia in Canada. I have rarely seen a wonderful, loving, cooperative and patriotic community of Ethiopians who value the contribution of one another to their country. For those of you who are consumed by the negativisms about ourselves and that “Abesha is this and that” cynicism, you have to see some Ethiopians in Seattle and find out that we Ethiopians are also good people, capable of doing random acts of goodness and cooperation. I am amazed to see so many whose lives are touched by CUD-Kinijit and the vision of its imprisoned leaders. I was proud to see a community of Ethiopians who are determined to see democracy and the end of tyranny in their country. Many told me that they pray for the prisoners everyday and write to their congressmen and senators about the plight of Ethiopia and the incarcerated leaders.

And there in Seattle you have Abraha Belai, the pride of the community, whose presence in their midst makes everyone of them feel proud. Everyone talks of Ethiomedia and its chief host and editor Abraha as their son, brother, friend, idol and what have you. I asked one individual, whose name I forget for now, about Abrha’s role in the community. He told me that Abraha for them is like the Space Needle Tower in Central Seattle, a 670 feet tower from where you can see a 360 degree panorama of Seattle and is also visible from all vantage points in city. Abraha is like that tower in our community, he told me. He helps us see ourselves, our country and the pain and life of our people back home. He gave us a forum where we can do one of the fighting against the tyrants destroying our country. Another one told me that they are proud of Abraha for his breaking that cheap woyane formula of putting us in ethnic bags and reducing us to manageable units rather than the proud sons of a historic country whose history and pride we all share together. Abraha is a Tigrean who represents the best of the wonderful people of Tigrai and stands out against the narrow tribalists whose world revolves around the woyane. He is our hero, he told me. Another one told me that they keep 24 hour guard of him and everybody makes sure that he is safe and home everyday because, he said, he is one who the woyane love to hate. I don’t normally check anyone’s ethnicity but I found out that the people who came on Ethiomedia Day were as diverse as it could possibly be.

I was amazed by the energy and passion of young men like Shakespear Feyissa and Muluneh Yohannes, who were hosting the celebration of the Ethiomedia day. I was proud to find out our famous young lawyer Shakespeare Feyissa is also a famous lawyer even outside of our community in Seattle. He was on occasions featured in the city’s papers and other local media. In Shakespear I saw a first class lawyer and the first Ethiopian American Congressman. Mark my word. Comfortable in his skin, full of wit and humor, Shakespear’s presence around you makes you comfortable. Members of the community refer to him as “our lawyer’ and they say he is the first person to call at the slightest sign of a legal question in their life. They say Shakespear will always be there to help. Muluneh, another young man in the Ethiomedia family and who, like Shakespear, was among the organizers of Ethiomedia Day is an energetic young man who fled his country after having participated in student activism at Addis Ababa university in the early 2000. Abraha told me that Muluneh’s endless energy and commitment to his country is unbelievable. And among the women coordinating the program were people like Metti, the lady with a disarming and radiating smile. Metti was being joked at on the night of Ethiomedia Day for having ransacked her jewelry boxes and the artifacts in her house to give for auction to raise fund for Ethiomedia. This is in addition to giving her husband, Getachew, to work day and night for the local Kinijit Support Chapter. And there is the beautiful and intelligent Lulit Mesfin from Portland, Oregon, who along with her wonderful friends from Oregon drive three hours to every major event in Seattle and shouldered the work of supporting Kinijit in the state of Portland. I only wish there are more of her kind of people in our community.

It is hard to remember everyone who made me proud and gave me an undeserved honor and privilege and the many young friends like Trengo and Admasu who made me feel at home and offered to drive me around Seattle and show me places. A million thanks to all of you. Mestawot, the young lady who gave me an armband made of the Ethiopian tricolor, I treasure your gift so much. Abraha, the taste of that wonderful Sushi that you drove miles to feed me to the brim is still in my taste. You have almost killed me of overeating

Abraha, as I said goodbye on my way back to Washington DC on the night of August 15 and the plane roared into the sky in the dark hours, I looked out through the window and saw the flickering lights radiating from the Space Needle Tower in Central Seattle and was fascinated by the poetic expression of that young man who likened you to the tower. Friend, I am so proud of you too. I hope we can make the dream of publishing a first rate Ethiopian international magazine a reality. With people like you and the strong patriotic people like the ones behind you in Seattle, it should not be difficult. It should not be difficult because our strength comes from speaking and writing about the truth. The liars who tell us tyranny is democracy and patriotism is a crime, murder is justice cannot make our job difficult. We are more united today than yesterday and tomorrow we will get stronger, believe me. I already see the number of people who refuse to live in humiliation of the poverty and dehumanization of our people increasing by the day. And one day not very far from today, there will come a day of the perfect storm; freedom will ring in Ethiopia from Zalambessa to Moyale and from Jijiga to Akobo and our beautiful country will be free at last. I will dream celebrating an Ethiomedia Anniversary in the middle of our people, the very people who are denied access to Ethiomedia.com by the cowards who fear our ideas. The cowards who are afraid of ideas and who think hiding the truth from people will save their rear cannot shut us out indefinitely.

Thank you for giving me an undeserved honor and hospitality.
Thank God for all the Ethiomedia family in Seattle.

There is nothing noble and human like fighting for freedom and justice.