A Declaration in Defense of Human Rights in Ethiopia

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  2/7/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/africas-youths-united-can_b_822702.html John F. Kennedy said: Those who make peaceful change impossible, make a violent revolution inevitable.” The English colonial government made peaceful change impossible in the American colonies leading to the American Revolution in 1776, an event memorialized in the American Declaration of Independence and celebrated annually…

After the Fall of African Dictatorships

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  1/31/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/after-the-fall-of-african_b_816140.html After the Fall from the Wall What happens to Africa after the mud walls of dictatorship come tumbling down and the palaces of illusion behind those walls vanish? Will Africa be like Humpty Dumpty who “had a great fall” and could not be put back together…

As African Tyrants Fall

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  1/24/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/as-african-tyrants-fall_b_812880.html The Invincible Dictators Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi (The Mahatma or Great Soul) is today revered as a historical figure who fought against colonialism, racism and injustice. But he was also one of the greatest modern revolutionary political thinkers and moral theorists. While Nicolo Machiavelli taught tyrants how…

Referendum for Sudan, Requiem for Africa

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  1/19/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/referendum-for-sudan-requ_b_809803.html Sudan’s Best and Worst of Times It is the best of times in the Sudan. It is the worst of times in the Sudan. It is the happiest day in the Sudan. It is the saddest day in the Sudan. It is referendum for the Sudan….

Looking for Bob Marley and Fela Kuti

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  5/25/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/looking-for-bob-marley-an_b_806568.html Music as a Weapon of Protest It is said that “music is a universal language.” Using a few notes and inspiring lyrics, musicians and song writers have waged relentless battles against the perpetrators of tyranny, oppression, inequality and injustice. Music is a divine language that can…

Why Do Things Always Fall Apart in Africa?

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  1/3/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/why-do-things-always-fall_1_b_803445.html Copycat Dictators and Cartoon Democracies in Africa Ivory Coast, December 2010. Laurent Gbagbo says he won the presidential election. The Independent Ivorian Election Commission (CEI) said former prime minister Alassane Ouattara is the winner by a nine-point margin. The African Union, the Economic Community of West…

Ethiopian Groundhog Year 2010

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  12/27/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopian-groundhog-year_b_801384.html Groundhog Year in Prison Nation In December 2008, I wrote a weekly column entitled “Groundhog Year in Prison Nation” summarizing some of my weekly columns for that year. I used the “groundhog year” analogy following the title of the motion picture “Groundhog Day” in which a…

Ethiopia: “So What!”

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  12/20/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-so-what_b_798882.html “So what! Soo what!! Sooo whaaat!!!” was the repetitive mantra of dictator Meles Zenawi recently in response to pesky questions lobbed at him in parliament about his so-called Growth and Transformation Plan[1] (GTP), which will presumably make Ethiopia self-sufficient in food production in the next five…

Ethiopia: The Anuak’s Forgotten Genocide

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  12/11/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-the-anuaks-forgo_b_795330.html A Conversation With Obang Metho[1] Note: A report by the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program on the Anuak concluded[2]:”From December 2004 to at least January 2006, the ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Forces) attacked and abused Anuak civilians in Gambella region – wantonly killing, raping, beating,…

The “Fantastic Somalia Job”

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  12/5/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/the-fantastic-somalia-job_b_792234.html The Tangled Web of Lies “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive,” said Sir Walter Scott, the English novelist and poet. It looks like the U.S. of A is really in a pickle tangled in a web of lies, deceit…