Mereja.Forum

It always happens this way in Africa, a new day that arrives with the toppling of a brutal regime quickly turns back into the darkness of nepotism. Though the faces in power change, the injustices of exclusion and ethnic persecution continue without skipping a beat. Such is the case in Ethiopia; las...

We are scattered to the wind, a savage act of brutality in the 1970’s shattered the Ethiopian monarchy and induced a horrific bloodletting throughout the country that turned millions of Ethiopians into asylum seekers. The Derg’s “Red Terror” not only eradicated more than 500,000 Ethiopians, it also ...

Our stories are often told by others. The significance of Ethiopia, the profound aspects of our history and the contributions that we have made to civilization is frequently conveyed through the eyes and pens of outsiders. Though we do a great job of passing down our narratives from generation to ge...

On a balmy night in Temple Hills, Maryland, two key voices within the Ethiopian community steps up courageously to speak against the ongoing ethnic strife taking place back home and among the diaspora. In a time when tribalism and inciting hatred have become norms, it takes courage for people to spe...

Two days ago, the Addis Abeba police announced that the carrying of any other flag besides the “constitutional flag” and the carrying of signs during the holiday of Meskel are prohibited. Yesterday afternoon, after a social media firestorm was created over this act of blatant censorship, the edict w...

The soul of Adwa is still in us, it has just been beaten into a state of comatose by decades upon decades of tribal politics and the ghettoizing of Ethiopia at the hands of despots and their foreign enablers. The zeregnenet (ethnonationalism) that is rampant throughout our country is a manifestation...

Too often, we let the fear of failure dictate our actions only to miss out on the thrill of achieving unimaginable success. As a result, we take safe measures and walk paths that others have paved for us. In a lot of ways, our community does not encourage risk taking; visionary thinkers are dismisse...

There is a wealth of knowledge within our community, enough to change the direction of our homeland and Ethiopians living abroad away from struggle and towards prosperity. All throughout Ethiopia and around the world, there are endless number of Ethiopians succeeding in a plethora of professions and...

After emerging from 27 years of TPLF repression in Ethiopia, the best way forward would have been for all aggrieved parties to work together towards inclusive justice. Alas, this is not the case in Ethiopia and Africa as a whole; we have been so conditioned to view human rights through the lens of e...

In yet another move that is at once baffling and negligent that is endemic of governance in Ethiopia, the Addis Abeba City Administration Transport Bureau issued a directive banning the use of commercial cars for ride-sharing services. Over the past two years, home grown companies like ETTA, Zayride...

Exactly forty-five years after the last emperor of Ethiopia was deposed by lawless criminals who went on to commit a genocide against our people, Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy’s website was indexed (included) in Google News. This is a big development, one that confers an additional layer of...

We become our names. That is why one of the most important decisions parents make is what to call their children. This truism became glaringly evident two days ago as a young Ethiopian lady claimed the microphone with the soul of arbegnoch and spoke defiantly in defense of Ethiopiawinet. In a paradi...

The City of Alexandria, at the behest of Mayor Justin Wilson and the City Council proclaimed Thursday, September 12th as “Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) Day. This is yet another milestone for the Ethiopians in America, one that marks our growing presence and influence in Virginia and America as a w...

A torture center that was once used to incarcerate political prisoners, interrogate dissenters and torment anyone who spoke a little too loudly against the excesses of the EPRDF government was shuttered last year and recently reopened as a museum. Instead of housing prisoners, Maekelawi now showcase...

Politics is the art of division; that is why it is so hard to find politicians who speak to our humanity and seek unity. All too often, those who take the mantle of leadership do so by picking up the baton of polarization and splintering our communities apart. There is a reason why so many Ethiopian...

Here is an undeniable truth: the root cause of suffering—ranging from destitution, internal displacement and growing sectarian strife—is not ethnicity but economics. The lack of a coherent economic policies and the focus on “economic development” driven by debt and foreign exploitation has created a...

What started off with ethnic politics has slowly crept into every facet of our nation. “Ethnic federalism” was a veiled attempt to divide and annihilate Ethiopia, a plan drawn up by outside forces who realized a long time ago that the only way to destroy our homeland was by turning Ethiopia’s childr...

It’s worse than voodoo economics. At least in America, supply-siders made a pretense of society benefiting by derivative and stuck to their talking point that money would trickle down to the proletariat from the overflow of riches given to the plutocracy. In Ethiopia, the government and the benighte...

In a time where more and more people are running to their tribal corners and standing up for justice through the narrow prism of intolerance, it is refreshing to hear a voice who speaks of unity and inclusion. Sure there are others who have slicker productions and expensive studios, but one who spea...

A most shocking video has emerged from Addis Abeba this morning that is jarring to watch. After two police officers arrest a man and put shackles on him, one of uniformed goons starts to violently beat the man. Amid a sea of onlookers, a brave Ethiopian woman ran to the defense of the man who was vi...