Teddy Afro: The Authentic Black Lion
By Lulit Mesfin
The quintessential icon of Ethiopian patriotism, Teddy Afro, who has always strutted on stage and off like a fearless young cub, wearing his signature arenguade, beecha and key (the beautiful color, of the majestic Ethiopian flag) has always appealed to the better angels of our nature through his soul stirring music. While always speaking truth to the thuggish power hiding in Menelik’s Palace, he has always sang about love, unity and love of country.
Like Barack Obama, Teddy Afro has inspired a generation of young Ethiopians and middle aged ones with his eloquent words urging us to have a sense of self worth and to dedicate our lives to a cause greater than ourselves. Sadly, Teddy’s audacity of hope has left him prey to the hateful, vindictive TPLF thugs bent on silencing anyone and everyone who stands up for Ityopiawinet.
As MLK Jr. noted, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
In that sense, Ethiopians at home and abroad are willing collaborators of the criminally insane Arat Kilo mafia. Apathy, greed, obscene opportunism and utter moral bankruptcy have gotten us to where we are today. Whether the fascist dicator, Meles Zenawi, gives away the land that our ancestors have bled for and died for, or he brutally maims, murders and imprisons thousands of innocent citizens nothing seems to shock us.
Instead, we come up with 101 lame execuses or whine pitifully over umpteenth cup of coffee as to why we can’t rise above our sorry human condition. I wonder, sometimes, if Reverend Jackson had slipped into Ethiopia a long time ago and fulfilled his secret desire. If he had I’ll arrest my case, if he hadn’t, enough!
Teddy Afro, our beloved Ethiopia, and its people deserve better and as Barack Obama has said, “I have unyielding faith that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.”
I, wholeheartedly agree with the President-Elect. And I, for one, will leave no stone unturned to affect change in Ethiopia. Our blessed Motherland should not be a living hell for its people. Neither should barbaric, criminal thugs, who should be sitting in hand cuffs at The Hague, be allowed to run roughshod anymore.
Only in Ethiopia is a murderer and traitor allowed to sit at the helm of State power while innocent citizens are forced to languish in numerous prison cells across the land. What kind of people, what kind of society puts up with a mad man and a coward like Meles?
May God bless and protect Teddy and his family from the jaws of the TPLF hyena.
Like Barack Obama, Teddy Afro has inspired a generation of young Ethiopians and middle aged ones with his eloquent words urging us to have a sense of self worth and to dedicate our lives to a cause greater than ourselves. Sadly, Teddy’s audacity of hope has left him prey to the hateful, vindictive TPLF thugs bent on silencing anyone and everyone who stands up for Ityopiawinet.
As MLK Jr. noted, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
In that sense, Ethiopians at home and abroad are willing collaborators of the criminally insane Arat Kilo mafia. Apathy, greed, obscene opportunism and utter moral bankruptcy have gotten us to where we are today. Whether the fascist dicator, Meles Zenawi, gives away the land that our ancestors have bled for and died for, or he brutally maims, murders and imprisons thousands of innocent citizens nothing seems to shock us.
Instead, we come up with 101 lame execuses or whine pitifully over umpteenth cup of coffee as to why we can’t rise above our sorry human condition. I wonder, sometimes, if Reverend Jackson had slipped into Ethiopia a long time ago and fulfilled his secret desire. If he had I’ll arrest my case, if he hadn’t, enough!
Teddy Afro, our beloved Ethiopia, and its people deserve better and as Barack Obama has said, “I have unyielding faith that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.”
I, wholeheartedly agree with the President-Elect. And I, for one, will leave no stone unturned to affect change in Ethiopia. Our blessed Motherland should not be a living hell for its people. Neither should barbaric, criminal thugs, who should be sitting in hand cuffs at The Hague, be allowed to run roughshod anymore.
Only in Ethiopia is a murderer and traitor allowed to sit at the helm of State power while innocent citizens are forced to languish in numerous prison cells across the land. What kind of people, what kind of society puts up with a mad man and a coward like Meles?
May God bless and protect Teddy and his family from the jaws of the TPLF hyena.
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