Most Memorable #Obama Moments

These are some of the Most Memorable #ObamaMoments for Me.

1. In 2008 as a college student, I knocked on one college mate’s dorm room and asked if he had registered to vote and if he has not if he would like to register? He said He has already registered. Then I asked if he had made up his mind about his choice for president? Besides asking people to register, we (with the College Democrats) were also trying to do some survey…

                  He said, “Yes. I am going to vote for the tall one.”

I said, Obama?

He said, "No. The White guy.” 

By that time, there already have been few presidential debates I believe, and it was obvious that then Sen. Obama was way taller than his opponent Sen. McCain. Why this college mate perceived the “White guy” to be the taller candidate never left my curious mind. 

2. Attending Obama’s 2008 inauguration in DC and separating from my roommate; despite our well thought-out strategy to stick together…and then sustaining some minor pain in my leg that lasted at least three months from the freezing cold temperature of that day.

3. Obama’s Presidential speeches...

 

#CampaignSpeech. It would been acceptable to hear a mediocre speech after losing the New Hampshire Primary in 2008, but Obama’s Concession Speech was one of the best one. It was so good that I thought, wow this guy plans to go all the way.

#GunViolence. Tearful and visibly angry Obama speaking after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Newtown, Connecticut

#OnRace. Obama singing "Amazing Grace" during his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney were some of his most moving moments for me. 

#Family. Obama speaking about his wife Michele and his children at his Farewell Speech and when Sasha reminded her dad to wave at his supporters who were seated behind him during his 2012 Victory speech in Chicago. 

4. This quote from the New Yorker Magazine, stating how “[Obama] sought to persuade by explaining and reasoning, not by simplifying or dramatizing—a form of respect that the citizenry didn’t always deserve."

5. My biggest disappointment with Obama will always be for choosing not to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for his the presidency.  He would have won and built on Obama’s legacy. In Sanders, with all his greatness and an admirable man of character, a man so cool, composed and measured, I saw the Promised Land in Bernie more than I ever saw in candidate Obama. Honest politician a genuine candidate who stood on the right side of history for justice and equal rights for all. As lofty as some of his goals might have been, I believe in them. Resetting our course in the right direction was important enough in itself regardless of how much was achievable. 

Now it’s Trump, and our work to right his wrongs by speaking and writing his wrongs has to be unrelenting. 

If you understand Tigrigna, here is my view on Obama Presidency, its a short few minutes interview with Betre SilTan of VOA Tigrigna. 

http://tigrigna.voanews.com/a/3683765.html

#PoliticsMatters

#DanielEthiopia

Ethiopia’s Problem #1: Inflexible Leadership

Source: bottom of the image

Ethiopia is such a beautiful country. It's a rare contrast of people and nature. I don't say this just as a

proud Ethiopian, I would say this just as a logical loving global citizen.  That beauty has always been there, though from time to time disintegrating from within. We are one proud people, partly due to our ignorance; partly due to the remarkable legacy our forefathers left us. Unfortunately for over half a century, we have been in a very dark era. Now what is certain is that, we are at a crossroad once again. On one side there seems to be a tangible and economically strong foundation to jump over our deeply rooted economic problems. On the other, we seem to be disintegrating at an alarming rate.

Last year during my 18-month stay in Ethiopia, I had the chance to travel to as many parts of the country as I could. I was able to cover 6 out of the 9 regional states. What I learned the most is that, no blanket statements define the problems. The possible solutions for one area are not the solutions for the other. From South Omo Valley to Konso, from Raya to Illibabur, from Harar to Dire to Afar.  There are a lot of problems, all with their own root causes. As a country, Ethiopia has a very long journey to travel and I hope we will get there together. 

When you are on the ground in Ethiopia absorbing everything through your senses, you realize (at least this was my personal experience) people's priorities and concerns vary tremendously from place to place. It might be freedom and democracy in bigger cities, in others, it's about the basic human needs, water and food.  

The path to solving Ethiopia’s problems isn’t as simple as those of us in the Diaspora make it sound to be. Ask the Ethiopians who live and breath in its abyss. Ask a lot of the Ethiopian Diasporas who either travel to the motherland frequently or have completely relocated there. Many of them will tell you, the process of democratizing and developing will take time. We need steady and stable forward motion. The need for a policy that is inclusive of all Ethiopians home and abroad to get involved is a must. The fastest and safest route will be when enough Ethiopians have a stake in the stability and continuity of their country. Then, for their own self-interest they will fend of external forces that do not have their best interest at heart.

So What Are The Solutions and How Do We Get There?

The short answer is slowly but surely, one step at a time. The challenge is bringing millions to work together and develop a working relationship and eventually build a trust bond among very different groups including those in the Diaspora? Let us put everything on the table for discussion. The winner-take all mentality and sacrificing our own fellow citizens to negotiate from a position of strength is unacceptable.  

What Should Our Step #1 Be?

For starters, you look up to your leaders to set an agenda, to bring you together and lead their followers. Unfortunately right now, we don't have that. Almost every year we hear about Gimgema and how this one is different than the previous one. Yet, when it really comes down to it, it is a mere recycled previous memo of issues and priorities discussed, with almost no one to be held accountable for their shortcomings.

So, relieve many of the old guards from their duties and replace them with younger and dynamic technocrats. The old guards have been in power for so long there shouldn’t be much of new idea left that they haven’t shared by now. Stop reshuffling them from one ministerial or advisory post to the other. If that is meant to provide them with a source of income to support them and their families, just give them a great retirement benefits and bid them farewell with respect.   

The country needs leaders who are not only able to react quickly to current events, but are able to read the mood of the people they lead. The current leaders’ old school mindset of resistance to change is incompetent and stubbornly inflexible to address the problems people are continuing to raise. I will give one specific example. When so many university students were killed by security forces at the outset of the #OromoProtest against the Addis Ababa City expansion plan, almost a year a go, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn did not even speak about it for days. Such tragic events require just and assertive address from the proper authority timely. Unfortunately to our surprise, the course of action the Prime Minister followed seemed as though ignoring the problem would make it go away.    

What is your step #1 action point to address Ethiopia’s ongoing problems?

Soon I will share what I believe step #2 should be. Until then, I will leave you with the following two quotes from President Theodore Roosevelt and author Dean Koontz respectively.   

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care” 

“Some people think only intellect counts: knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion, and empathy.” 

Having a stake in Ethiopia’s well being is taking ownership of its problems.

#DanielEthiopia

Do All Lives Matter?

Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer

Before attempting to answer the question, lets just agree that, as a society, there is absolutely something wrong with us. In 2016, for the first time, we have built a spacecraft that reached Jupiter’s orbit. That is 1.7 billion miles away. Our moon is only about 239K miles away from Earth if that gives you any helpful visual. The unbound human ingenuity is unfathomable to most of us. Yet, in a shamefully disheartening way, we continue to kills our fellow humans callously; as though, it carries no value. All the while we cheerfully invest our time, our labor of love and ultimately our life for decades on end to search the vast unknown universe in hopes of finding anything of a value.

One morning last week, my coworker, looked at me and said, “Daniel, are you alright?” I replied, yeah why wouldn’t I? He responded, “You look sad…” Right away I turned around to say something, but I couldn’t formulate sentences to explain my thoughts and feelings. What I wanted to say was something along the lines of, yes I am sad, I am angry, I am disturbed, I am discouraged and so many other different feelings in between. Is it is not obvious, that we as a country are reaching a tipping point? Haven’t we reached a collective breaking point?

I feel insecure, like I am walking on a field of landmine forced to be cognizant of what lays on my periphery. I feel fearful like I am walking on a shaky ground that’s shifting beneath my feet, way faster than I am able to cope with. Don’t you feel that? Don’t you feel the same?

Before I uttered these words, I realized of course he doesn’t. He is not Black, he does not know what it is like to be a young black man. I contemplated for a bit, but realizing the time and the environment does not suit the kind of conversation I would like to have with him, I took the easy way out. I responded to him saying, hhmm nah I am doing just fine and walked away. For me, this was a sudden realization that the unsettling feeling inside has managed to manifest itself involuntarily into my body language and my daily interaction as a consequence.     

We all have different perspective on life, take the following for instance…

You are looking down at the street from a third floor window and see a police officer approach a young man. The officer says something to the young man and an altercation ensues...you can see everything, but you can't hear the exchange. Unfortunately things escalate and the young man is shot and falls to the ground. 

Now, without having any more information about this incident, it is not hard to imagine the conclusion the individual watching this from the third floor would reach. That conclusion is greatly influenced by the individual’s previous experience and existing internal biases. A Black person and a White person are most likely to differ in their interpretation of the reason for the escalation in this situation. Blames will be attributed ranging from disobedience to use of excessive force.  

No matter who you are, we all have built-in implicit biases to a varying degree. That degree depends on a lot of factors including our experience, upbringing and exposure to diversity (in a deep and indispensable connection to people who are different from us). For example, in the incident described above, you visualized the altercation between the young man and the police officer right? Was the officer wearing uniform? What did he look like? How about the young man? Where did you get these images? What is the information that led you to create these images? 

We have a huge trust gap in this country between races, especially between Blacks and White police officers that stems from decades of perpetual systemic injustice. As such it will take decades to understand, admit and solve the stigma and animosity. 

Reducing racism and other complex issues require long-term policy and intentional efforts on all sides to address the roots of the problem. White peoples' internal bias and perceptions of Black people and vice versa, need to be dissected and explained in a psychological and sociological way. 

So, do all lives matter? Well, we know for sure, White lives matter. As Jesse Williams put it, "We have been looking at the data and we know, somehow police manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill White people everyday!" Now can we say black people are treated the same way by the police? Or is it time to admit, "Some are more equal than others"? (Quote from Animal Farm, by George Orwell).

For those people who say all lives matter, I invite you to watch the video 23 Ways You Could be Killed While Being Black and then try to learn more in detail how each of them lost their lives. Then ask yourself, does this happen to White people at the same rate by police officers? You should find the answer to be unequivocally no. Hence why people have found the need to state and remind people, dark skin people’s lives matter too.    

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2016/07/these-celebrities-powerfully-described-23-ways-you-could-be-killed-while-black

Hopeful,

Daniel

Love

A woman carrying a heavy load in Konso, Ethiopia

LOVE at its core is strength, courage and sacrifice. 

 > Strength is not only the presence of unwavering loyalty, unflinching grip and steady pace at the crossroads, or impermeable and stubbornly sturdy physique, but of unconditional love against all odds.  

 > Courage is to be vulnerable at the hills of mountainous pride and at the trough waves of norms. 

 > Sacrifice is to be of service to others before self, the yearning to give, to please and nurture; the ultimate definition of a woman. 

Women, you are love.

I sat in front of a great woman last year, with a table full of food between us in a fairly remote place. Right next to us, a man in his 50s sitting in the next table with another man. Boastfully he started expressing his interest and waving hundred dollar bills at a young lady. He was trying to convince her to go with him for the night. The young gal seemed as though trapped between two hard rocks. For her, the distance between yes and no, seemed light years away.

In that moment, helpless shiver took over me, as the great woman in front of me, started to choke in her own words. Indignant at what was happening. Her solidarity in sisterhood, her love burning inside, her sympathy rolled up in tears, her courage to stay still and allow the young woman to decide for herself, while her empathy raced down her tender cheeks…its magnetic force so strong, impossible to resist it pulled me in.

Women, you are love everyday.

We celebrate you on this International Women Day and everyday.

Daniel: March 8th, 2016 

Travel Resolution

My old passport expires exactly today, luckily its replacement has arrived just in time to begins its life

cycle. There is a quote from Horace Greeley on the new passport that reads, "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country." But I am thinking, I will go East and rise with the Sun!

With the old one, I have been briefly detained in some rural Ethiopia between Shire and Gonder because local authorities could not either verify its legitimacy, or because they couldn't read English, but were to prideful to admit it smile emoticon

I have been striped down to my underpants in Dubai, at which point I offered to take that out too if it helps lol. I unintentionally offended two civilian closed officials, because I refused to be taken away and questioned from the middle of the airport unless they showed me their credentials smile emoticon

I had it taken away for a bit in Mexico...some good times, but not enough.

Now, my goal is to put the new one to a good use by visiting more places. In my wildest dreams I would ran out of space for visa stamps before it expires in another 10 years. Although that will be unlikely as the pages has increased from 24 to 51.

Let's see how I do. I am sure by then, Facebook will have evolved to track my 10 year travel resolution. Counting on the endless possibilities of human imagination.

Cheers,

Daniel 

Will Russia’s Unilateral Decision on Syria Pull in the US?

Source, Aljazeera

With over 4 million people having fled their country, and close to 8 million people internally

displaced, the Syrian Crisis is one of the worst crises in recent memory. We have not seen a coherent American leadership on the crisis. The blame for that has been directed at Obama and his administration for lack of leadership and forceful intervention. In hindsight, it might seem clear the US should have gotten involved during the earlier stage of the conflict. But Obama truly believes in diplomacy and got elected emphasizing on the importance of soft power.

There are three main reasons why the US didn’t intervene forcefully from the onset.  

1. Majority of Americans had lost appetite of leading global wars

2. US has limited national interests in Syria (mainly containing Iran’s influence in the region)

3. Fear of a power vacuum in Syria.

Ousting Assad is also risking of turning the country into ISIS and Al-Qaida’s playground. As one writer noted, “…toppling Assad will mean a victory for jihadists. So better to let both sides bleed for as long as possible, turning Syria into Iran's Vietnam.”

Some may say, what about the humanitarian aspect of the Syrian people? Sure, that is a worthy cause of intervention, but that would be acting on morality. And, let Us not kid ourselves; morality does not govern Washington politicians. If moral values were of consideration, Guantanamo would have been their first stop. Where at least “53 men have been recommended for release by high-level governmental review processes” at the prison. Yet, they are still held in imprisonment of which some of them have been there for over a decade.

Meanwhile, Russia’s bold and shrewd strategist President Putin is coming out as the man with the plan to save the Assad regime against America and its allies wishes. Now, Russia’s latest unilateral decision to bomb the various anti government forces in Syria will likely force the US to reevaluate its resistance to get involve in the conflict in an impactful way.  

Cheers,

Daniel

Ethiopian Airline Capitalizes on the Growing China – Africa Relations

A pic that I took in 2014 on arrival from DC

Note: A translated version of this article into Mandarin was published on the July issue of The Eminence magazine. You can find the link is at the bottom.

Ethiopia’s private investment ranks as one of the lowest in the world, while its public investment is one of the highest. Despite continuous criticism by international institutions for lack of private investment, the Ethiopian government takes pride in its course and economic achievements. Though the complaints are not without their merits, the government has the numbers to prove why its strategy is working.

Ethiopia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world for over a decade now. The state owned Ethiopian Airline (ET) often referred as Ethiopian in short, leads the way of proving state owned companies and enterprises could be profitable. In recent years, Ethiopian generated more profit than the rest of African airlines combined.

Winning award after award at the international level, Ethiopian does not look it will slow down anytime soon. Considering its ambitious “Vision 2025” growth plan, ET looks well placed to outperform and lead the continent’s airline industry for years to come.

Under its 15 year Vision 2025 plan, Ethiopian aims to become a world class African airline with more than 140 fleet. The additional 60 aircraft fleet will help ET transport over 22 million passengers world wide and meet its 15-year targeted goal. According to ET staff, the airline hopes to reach 146 destinations by 2025 and earn up to $10 billion in revenue and $1 billion dollars in profit.

Reaching those ambitious goals will not come easy to ET, but a closer look into ET’s past five years record proves, it can accomplish its 15-year ambitious growth plan. The next few years will see Ethiopian add dozens of ultra-modern fleet to its collection; including A350-300 Airbus and Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes. The airline has already started taking huge infrastructure expansions projects to accommodate its ever-growing services and meet ever-increasing demand.

Among ET’s mega projects are a USD 7 million worth Light Aircraft Maintenance Hangar project to be financed by the airline itself; a USD 92 million worth Wide Body Maintenance Hangar to be financed by EX-Im bank of China and a cargo terminal with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, which will be one of the largest cargo terminals in the world. The construction of the cargo terminal is expected to be completed in the next four years and is estimated to cost USD 150 million. 

China’s increasing presence and influence in Africa has transpired to more than trade and investment. The growing interconnectedness between China and African countries has been a topic of passionate debates for many years. China’s intentions and its long-term plans are both derided and embraced at the same time.

Ethiopia is one among many that has embraced a lot of the Chinese developmental state policies and models. There is no surprise then, to see one of Ethiopia’s most successful state owned company leading the way in tending and catering to its Chinese customers. It was six years ago that ET hired its first Chinese cabin crew. Now, in addition to continuing to recruit Chinese flight attendants, ET has added in-flight announcement services and various writings in Mandarin (Chinese) to exceed its growing Chinese customer satisfaction. The infusion of Chinese culture in Ethiopian is beyond the airline and its airport terminals. Here in Addis, new Chinese authentic restaurants and gift shops can be seen sprouting in various corners of the city.

In hindsight, the USD 200 million worth African Union (AU) building that was built and give to Africa countries as a gift was just a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money and resources China and the Chinese are committing themselves for the continent. Looking at the recently inaugurated building of the Chinese Mission to the AU building in the center of Addis, there is no doubt that the Chinese are here to stay.

Forwards thinking companies and organizations are positioning themselves to tap into the Chinese market; and ET seems to be doing exactly that. Ethiopian discloses that, although currently approximately 70% of ET passengers are transiting within the Africa continent, at the rate at which the trade relations is increasing between China and African countries, it is strategically aligning itself to win and retain Chinese customers.    

http://www.theeminencemagazine.com/index.php/component/k2/item/662-2015-07-30-07-43-08

You might also find this interesting http://afkinsider.com/102462/ethiopian-airlines-make-more-profit-than-all-other-african-carriers-combined/#sthash.3CdrD4m5.dpuf

Cheers,

Daniel 

Three Years After Meles

Meles was a transformational leader for Ethiopia. But his influence reached far beyond Ethiopia’s

boarders. He was a leader who deeply cared about the poor and less fortunate. Always showing signs of brilliance at whatever corner and whatever topic he turns out to be. He was an outlier amongst his peers with superior knowledge and deep understanding of local and international sociopolitical issues. Ethiopians will forever be grateful for all the sacrifices he made and for inspiring them to put their country back onto its glorious past.

His shortcomings, perhaps two things: first, having died in office, not being able to really call it quit and prove his opponents and naysayers he was not clinging to power, but rather trying to push this agenda and that agenda forward for the betterment of his people. I suspect in the grand scheme of things, he probably believed he had plenty of time. Unfortunately the unexpected death came too soon.

Second, failing to include strong willed people who don’t necessarily fully agree with his politics or policies; people who have their own vision on how Ethiopia should develop. The lack of ‘team of rivals’ in key posts and in his circle if you will. I assume he took a calculated risk of surrounding himself with a lot of Yes Men in favor of developmental expediency. Because, it was clear to him what was needed to be done and he needed people to do what he asks of them; minimizing and shortening the long zigzag path that a true democratic process often requires to reach a decision point.

This in hindsight however, in the absence of a visionary leader, has left us with a lot of Yes Men, who lack vision and a sense of clear direction; aside from their constant empty rhetoric of staying the course and implementing Meles’ policies to reach his goal of Ethiopia achieving middle income country. But, they have excelled at one thing for sure, labeling anyone who questions their ineptitude and lack of commitment as detractors of the grand vision. Thus far no one has been able to reframe that defensive argument and tell the Yes Men, no that isn’t so in a manner that resonates with the masses.

Three years without Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia is certainly still making a lot of positive progress, but not as much as it should. I say this because with some changes and genuine commitment, we could achieve so much more than what we are currently achieving both on the economic and democratic fronts. Ethiopia’s biggest problem is the lack of leadership and good governance.

One of the best things Meles did was telling us time and again that our country is poor and accepting that very fact and taking that understanding to heart was the foundation of it all. There is nothing more moving and captivating than watching Meles discuss about poverty such as in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T17u05ENHnw 

Let me finish by quoting one of the things he said, while speaking to thousands of people gathered at the Millenium Hall.  

“የሚሰሩ እጆች ይዘን

የሚያስብ ጭንቅላት ይዘን

የወጣቱ መንፈስ ይዘን

ስንዴ የምንለምንበት ግዜ መቆም ኣለበት!”

ጠቅላይ ሚንስተር መለስ ዜናዊ።

May his soul rest in peace.  

Cheers,

Daniel 

Debre Libanos, a Mosaic of Religion and History

Known as the cradle of humanity, Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent countries in the world. Its rich cultural and historical significance is often applauded as an example on the world stage. It is a country where different faith groups have lived in peace and tolerance for centuries. The Debre Libanos Monastery is one example that entwines the mosaic of culture, religion and the country’s magnificent geographic features. Read this full article that the talented Ikram Said and I co-wrote for The Eminence magazine. You can also read on the issue.com here. 

Cheers with love,

Daniel

A Friend Indeed

Despite Ethiopia’s concrete economic achievements, millions live in impoverished conditions, many helplessly homeless. They have no support system except the benevolence of passersby who are willing to spare some leftover food or some coins here and there. The state does not have social safety net programs that can’t support its vulnerable citizens such as the elderly or mentally ill population. If there is, it certainly is not something that most people know about.

Read the full article at Addis Fortune here. Or Simply click the following link http://addisfortune.net/columns/a-friend-indeed/

Cheers,

Daniel

Is African Democracy Hopeful?

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame seems to be hinting for a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for a third term. Here is my opinion on the importance of constitutional term limit and why it must be respected by all if we wish to see a more democratic Africa. 

This applies to Ethiopia as it does to any other African country. Read the full article at Addis Fortune here. Or Simply click the following link http://addisfortune.net/columns/is-african-democracy-hopeful/

President Kagame, you have done a wonderful job we would love to salute you goodbye with respect.

President Kagame, you have done a wonderful job we would love to salute you goodbye with respect.

Cheers,

Daniel 

Resurging Dire Dawa

Inside one of the train repair shops

The rustic trains at the old train station in the center of Dire Dawa, the liveliness of the open market in Kezira and the locals’ extremely calm attitude cannot be fully explained in texts or justified in snap shots. One must walk through it all to appreciate Ethiopia's resurging trading hub.

Read the full version of my Op-Ed Column on Addis Fortunehere published on Apr 05, 2015. Or simply click the following http://addisfortune.net/columns/resurging-dire-dawa/

Cheers,

Daniel

Harar: City of Wonders

A sample of a Harari living room. I took this picture at Sheikh abadir's family home.  

Each step taken within the ancient walled city of Harar is a humbling experience. The Harari’s warm hospitality, their old-fashioned robust local market exchange, taste for vivid and vibrant colors with high regard for intellectual philosophy will leave any visitor mesmerized. Strolling between centuries old ancient architectural structures and narrow alleyways, visitors are quickly reminded the city has refused to be defined only by its fascinating past. 

Read the full version of my Nothing But Equality Op-Ed column on Addis Fortune here published on Mar 29, 2015. Or simply click the following http://addisfortune.net/columns/harar-city-of-wonders/

A restored old house that belonged to the French fugitive poet Arthur Rimbaud, now serving as a museum. 

  

Cheers,

Daniel