On this day in Addis Ababa, a Star was born

On Meskerem 19,1933 E.C. (September 29, 1940G.C.) in Temenja Yazh neighborhood of Addis Ababa, the icon of Ethiopian popular music Tilahun Gessesse was born. No one has left a bigger mark on Ethiopian popular music than Tilhaun Gesesse. What Qidus (Saint) Yared is for Ethiopian sacred music, Tilahun is for Ethiopian pop. He was the most influential figure who dominated Ethiopian music scene for almost five decades. For generation of Ethiopians, he was the first celebrity we know of a humble background. Nowadays, a celebrity (even at times bad notoriety) status is followed by huge sums of financial gains. Tilahun earned love & revered status from large segment of Ethiopians across class, religion, ethnic background but did not translate his celebrity status to large financial wealth. As a celebrity, his adult life was in public domain and subject to all sorts of favorable & unfavorable rumors, inuendoes etc... Until recently not much was known about his early life and how he was discovered.



Tilahun grew up with his grand parents in Welisso, a small town about 120 km South West of Addis Ababa known for its hot springs. Tilahun discovered his calling early in his life. As a school boy in Ras Gobena School Welisso, he was encouraged by Sudanese headmaster of the school who recognized Tilahun's vocal gift that his future is in music. When a traveling musical troupe stopped by Welisso and performed a show at Ras Gobena school, the headmaster asked the leader of the travelling troupe to allow the young Tilahun perform with them briefly. Fortunately, the leader of the travelling troupe Ato Eyuael Yohannes, the then director of Hager Fiqir Theatre saw also the young Tilahun's gift. Ato Eyuael told Tilahun, if he ever makes it to Addis Ababa when he grows up, he can join their group. Tilahun made unsuccessful attempts to run away from his grandparent's house and to reach Addis Ababa. At the age of 16, he finally made it to Addis Ababa and went to Hager Fiqir Theatre. As promised, Ato Eyuael hired him as a singer for Hager Fiqir's Band. Soon after, he joined the newly formed Imperial Body Guard Orchestra as a civilian which was just formed under the leadership of Liutenant Afewerq Yohannes (later Captain), Captain Sahle Degago (later Colonel) & others with Armenia born Nerses Nabaldian as musical director. Together, they made history and Tilahun rose to become a star.
 To learn more about this extraordinary man, follow the links below and read the special tribute article written by Charles Sutton, a musician who learned playing Ethiopian traditional musical instruments while serving as Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s in Ethiopia and who knew Tilahun from the time he rose to stardom or watch the video documentary in Amharic about the life & musical works of Tilahun Gesesse.

http://www.tadias.com/06/12/2009/peace-corps-alum-pays-tribute-to-legendary-ethiopian-singer-tilahun-gessesse/

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=AL94UKMTqg-9AHhRrERqrl-R88PPoDTQV_

Got your Ethiopian New Year Calendar with Aptitude?

It is with great pride & excitement that we present to you this year's edition of our publication, "Ethiopian Calendar 2005E.C. (2012/13) with primary source materials." As you may know from past editions, our publication is one of a kind. It is not a regular calendar. In addition to its utility to look up for days, it comes with unique educational contents. That is why some call it 'calendar with aptitiude'. The calendar dates & months are used as a vehicle for telling stories from our rich & proud heritage. In the past editions, we featured biographical sketches & profiles of luminaries associated with Ethiopian history on each month's page of the calendar. In this year's edition, we focus on historical events and we believe that the primary source materials we have selected & featured provide essential information about those historical events. The primary sources range from historical speeches made by Emperor Haile Selassie or by Dr. Melaku Beyan etc..to transcripts of recorded voice correspondences between Emperor Menilik & Queen Victoria. From the letters of Alfred Ilg, the Swiss born advisor of Emperor Menelik to diary notes of two Americans who had been in Ethiopia at different times & participated in war and peaceful efforts.  

We are working on a website so that those interested in obtaining the publication can place orders & make payment through credit card & paypal etc. For the moment, orders can be placed by contacting the publisher at genaledc@gmail.com or adamou_g@yahoo.com  Retail price is $12. We are offering a 20% group discount as far as 10 or more orders are placed from the group.

Here are some of the reviews we have received for the new edition as well as for past editions:
 
Reviews of 2005 edition:
“This year's calendar introduces users to notable primary sources.  Anyone who is interested in Ethiopian history will find the calendar a wonderful document that educates and opens new venues for further research..[Publisher] effectively uses the pages of the calendar to provide a variety of sources that tell interesting stories about Ethiopia and Ethiopians.  Indeed, the 2005 E.C. calendar is a wonderful piece of work and I invite fellow Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to get their own copies...” Ato Tewodros Abebe

"..It is a very [good]instrument that indicates an interesting event that has occurred in Ethiopian History during each month, in addition to the photos famous protagonists and their birthday. It shows the richness of Ethiopian society and culture as well as the diverse personalities that have represented its politics, arts, and many aspects of its makeup. I recommend it highly and because it useful at home and working place for its practical use and as a reference when some aspects of Ethiopian history and personalities are discussed." Ambassador Imru Zelleke


Reviews of past editions:
 “..The well written biographies, complete with illustrations, based on first rate sources take up a page for each month. Subjects reflect a variety of backgrounds and time periods extending from Dr. Charles Martin (b. 1865) to top model Liya Kebede (b. 1980). Here is the perfect gift for an Ethiopian friend or a friend of Ethiopia!"  Dr. Ted Vestal, Professor Emeritus Oklahoma State University.
 
“Ethiopian calendar…sprinkled with the biographies.. of notable Ethiopians in all spheres of life… (leaders of yesteryear, artists, scientists, etc.) who have rendered significant contributions to the progress and culture of our proud and historic nation. It also reminds one, of the various key holidays in Ethiopia; the calendar for each month is juxtaposed with Gregorian calendar for cross referencing, which is a useful aspect of the calendar.”Dr. Fekadu Fulas. Sioux City, Iowa

 
"..The Biographical Calendar …stands alone in its quality. Each month carries a marvelous biographical piece on one great Ethiopian, you wish there were more than 12 months per year!!..The calendar is a great piece of work that reminds us the many great lives in our Ethiopian past. It gives us an opportunity to talk to our kids about their work be it in literature, art and patriotism.” Dr. Araya Amsalu. Cincinnati, Ohio. 

 

 

In remembrance of Ba'alu Girma - Distinguished journalist, martyr novelist

 Blogger's Note: On facebook, I change my profile from time to time to those I consider heroes. These are people who showed exemplary dedication to Ethiopia or luminaries who have enriched the lives of Ethiopians through their literary, artistic or scientific works. Recently, I changed my FB profile to the picture of Ba'alu Girma anticipating his birthday was approaching. A facebook friend asked who that was and whether he is of mixed race. I promised then to the young lady that I would post his extraordinary story in the coming days. My intention was to post on September 22 which is his birthdate, the following biographical sketch that I included on past years edition of my publication . Because I was working frantically to print the new edition before MESQEL holiday, I did not get time to post what I had promised.  Now the new edition is out on the market, here is the extra-odrinary story of an extra-ordinary talented man. Apologies for the delay in posting this.
Baalu Girma: Distinguished journalist, martyr novelist
1932- 1976 E.C. (1939-1984)

Baalu Girma was born on September 22, 1939 in Supe, a small town in Illubabor province. His father was from India and his mother was a local woman from a wealthy family. His parents‘ marriage ended when his father decided to move his family to Addis Ababa, and his mother‘s family refused to permit them to leave. Baalu was young when his father returned to India for good. Later in life, while Baalu was in India on a business trip, he made an unsuccessful attempt to find his father. Baalu changed his last name to Girma, after the family who brought him up in Addis Ababa since the age of 10. His excellent grades at Princess Zenebework School earned him a scholarship to General Wingate high school, a top boarding school jointly run by the British and Ethiopian governments. At Wingate, Baalu found his calling in creative writing.

In 1964/65 (1957 E.C.), Baalu joined Haile Selassie I University. There, Baalu was a prolific writer & contributor to News & Views, the university‘s bulletin for which he became editor-in-chief. After obtaining his Bachelor‘s degree, he began his career in the Ministry of Information as a correspondent for the Ethiopian Herald, a prominent English-language daily newspaper. Then, Baalu earned a scholarship at Michigan State University where he received his Master‘s in Political Science and Journalism. Baalu returned to Ethiopia and started to work for Ye'Zareyitu Ethiopia, an Amharic weekly newspaper. Soon after, he became editor-in-chief of the magazine Menen and the popular English weekly magazine Addis Reporter. After some time as editor-in-chief of Ye'Zareyitu Ethiopia, & then Ethiopian Herald (the English daily), Baalu became editor-in-chief of the largest daily Amharic language newspaper Addis Zemen in 1970/1 (1963E.C.).

Around the time, he was editor-in-chief of Addis Zemen, Baalu published his first novel, Ke‘Admas Bashager (Beyond the Horizon), and later, his second novel Ye'Hillina Dewel (The Bell of Conscience). In 1974 Baalu left Addis Zemen to become Deputy General Manager of the Ethiopian News Agency, and later, General Manager. At the end of 1977, Baalu became the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, and guest lecturer of creative writing at Addis Ababa University.
Baalu wrote six highly acclaimed novels, four of which – Ye'qey Kokeb Teri (Call of the Red Star), Haddis (titled after the main character of the book), Derasiw (The Writer), and Oromay (The End) – were written during the military regime. His last novel Oromay was unprecedented in Ethiopian literature in its boldness, in creating characters similar to the then high-ranking government officials apparent to his readers. As the second highest official at the Ministry of Information, he had access to & knowledge of the inner workings of the regime and the regime‘s vigorous campaign to weed out separatist movements in the country. In the process, he stumbled across corruption of unforgivable magnitude and started writing the book - Oromay.
The book doesn‘t mention any government officials by name, yet it exposes their wrongdoings quite skillfully. It illustrates what was done in the name of "working for the country". The courage he had shown in that novel made him increasingly popular with the general public but also earned him quite a number of powerful adversaries within the regime. The officials‘ anger toward the book was so intense, Baalu was summoned by Dergue strongman Colonel Mengistu Haile-Mariam. Mengistu reportedly asked Baalu how could he write such a book which put "the revolution in danger?" Baalu did not retreat and defended his work in front of a man no one dared to talk back to. He courageously told Mengistu that he would take responsibility for his work. Afterwards, the book was banned and copies of the book were removed from all bookstores& libraries. Yet the book circulated widely underground. Baalu was dismissed from his position in the Ministry of Information for 'betraying the revolution'.
One Thursday in February 1984, Baalu left home around early evening and has never been seen or heard from again. Many believe that he was abducted by the military regime‘s notorious security forces and murdered.
This biographical sketch is compiled from the following sources:
Biography. Baalu Girma Foundation.. http://www.baalugirmafoundation.org (Accessed 07/31/2009)
Fate of an Author Who Dared Ethiopian Herald. August 21, 1991
Molvaer, R. K. – Black Lions: The Creative Lives of Modern Ethiopia‘s Literary Giants and Pioneers.
Red Sea Press, 1997.
Bealu Girma now at this moment. Carpe Diem Ethiopia. http://
carpediemethiopia.blogspot.com/2007/01/bealu-girma-now-at-this-moment_30.html

Voice from the past: Recorded voices of Emperor Menelik & Etege Taytu

For the first time Ethiopians and admirers of Emperor Menelik  are able to hear the voice of the Emperor as well as that of his wife Taytu thanks to recent finding at the British Library Sound Collection. The Ethiopianist scholar Dr. Edward Ullendorf has written article about it on SOAS Bulletin back in 1969. The artricle is entitled Emperor Menelik’s phonograph message to Queen Victoria. With the help of the late Dr. Abraham Demoz, translation of the message was included in the article. According to sources close to British Library, the message sent to Queen Victoria by Emperor Menilik and Itege taytu was sent years before the Emperor died. In the message, the Emperor speaking in Amharic laid out plainly the issue of Metema, border town between North West Ethiopia and the Sudan. More transcripts of the recorded voice messages correspondence between Queen Victoria on one side and Emperor Menilik & Itege Taytu on the other, can be found at my annual publication which was just released. To obtain the publication write to the following e-mail addresses:  genaledc@gmail.com or lesyaan@yahoo.com

http://youtu.be/7qV27-OT5IE

ps.The quality of the sound is very low. It may have deteriorated due to old age or perhaps it is because of the way it had been recorded. 

Blame it on these trio - Susan, Vickie & Gayle

I suspect Obama will lose the votes of significant Ethiopian Americans especially in key battle ground states like Virginia, Nevada etc.. I am not saying this out of nothing. It is based on what I was told by volunteers from Continental Africans for Obama who had met lots of Ethiopians at large events in Washington, D.C. area. They said to me "your people seem to favor Republicans.We are getting lots of push backs saying they are angry at Obama." I told my friends at the group, "what they see among some Ethiopians is raw emotion because of the disappointment they feel about Obama's policy toward Ethiopia. They may not vote for Republicans but they might sit it out and if that is the case and Obama fell short of votes for winning critical states like Virginia, these three trio Obama Administration officials have lots to do with it." Then I explained how these trio Clinton era State Department staff who have joined the Obama Administration as Senior officials are responsible for the disappointment many Ethiopian felt.

One is Susan Rice who cast herself as a leader in the efforts of bringing dictators to ICC and who does not mince her words in castigating such as the late Colonel Gaddafi & General Omar al-Bashir of Sudan or Mugabe of Zimbabwe. But, when it comes to friends of America dictators such as Legesse Zenawi the same Susan Rice has nothing but praise like the overboard eulogy she delivered in Addis Ababa during the funeral of the late dictator. Unfortunately for Obama, come election time, some Ethiopian Americans who were incensed with her recent remarks might want to prove that the "idiots" she and Legesse Zenawi were talking about would be the one who would determine the fate of her boss as well as her bully pulpit at the UN.



One can smell same type of hypocrisy in Vicki Huddleston. This lady who is now serving as Senior Official at the Pentagon after serving as senior diplomat in U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa used to meet & give open defiant support to Cuban political dissidents when she was posted in Havana. When it comes to Ethiopian political dissidents &  opposition politicians, she tells them to lay low and dare to threaten them with dire consequences if they do not accept the terms laid out by the late Ethiopian dictator.

Gayle Smith, the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director, National Security Council is an old pal of Legesse Zenawi and the party he led from the time she spent time in DEDEBIT desert with them. She was journalist who worked for several years covering Africa and it was in Cairo where she was stationed at the time that she established contact for the  first time with EPLF & TPLF functionaries. After several contacts, EPLF & TPLF succeeded in soliciting her support for their cause. She was persuaded to go to their offices in Sudan and their bases in Eritrea & Tigray. Since that time, it is believed that she played key role in creating connections between TPLF and the Western world, especially the U.S. Officials. It is even alleged that she later joined them, stayed in the desert with them, took Tigrigna lesson and advised in the formation of Tigray Women forum. That is the reason some in the political circle call her "TEGADALIT Gayle". It is even rumored that prior to joining the Clinton Administration, she had worked as advisor to Meles.   You can't find more intimately close to TPLF and the late autocratic ruler of Ethiopia than "TEGADALIT Gayle". 

Coming back to the issue of Ethiopian American voters in key battle ground states like Virginia,  I am not saying it is the rational thing to do but I have strong feeling that  there will be Ethiopian Americans who will be sitting out if not vote against Obama. Anger is strong emotion not bound with rational thinking. Stay tuned and you will see some movement or actions among Ethiopian Americans who are feeling empowered to make their statement. The fact that many political pundits predict that this year's election is going to be determined by how much the Obama campaign is able to get voters in Northern Virginia turnout in mass & vote for the democratic ticket is god given opportunity fallen to those who were referred as "idiots" by Meles in his conversation with Dr. Rice.