Selassie Research Articles

Ethiopia and the Middle East

Part 1 From Muhammad to Iyasu - Political Islam and the Uniqueness of Ethiopia: Muhammad's Message - leave the Abyssinians Alone Relations to the 16th Century - Isolation, the Nile, Muslim Sultanates The Trauma of Gragn and the diplomacy of Habesh The Beginning of Modern Times, Muhammad 'Ali and Tewodros Yohannes, Isma'il, amd the Ethio-Egyptian Conflict Yohannes and Menelik - Between Religious Confrontation and Diplomatic Dialogue Iyasu, the Somali Mawla, and the Demise of the Ottoman Empire. Part 2 Ethiopia and - From Arslan to Nasser: The Arabs, Mussolini, and the Abyssinian Dilemma Pan-Arabism, arslan, and Conquered Abyssinia Nasser, Haile Selassie, and the Problem Egypt's View of Ethiopia During the Nasserite Period The Arabs, Ethiopia, and the Arabism of Eritrea Israel and the Fall of Haile Selassie. Part 3 The Struggle for Diversity.

Rastafari: roots and ideology

Interviews with 30 converts from the 1930s and 1940s are a component of Barry Chevanne's book, a look into the origins and practices of Rastafarianism. From the direct accounts of these early members, he is able to reconstruct pivotal episodes in Rastafarian history to offer a look into a subgroup of Jamaican society whose beliefs took root in the social unrest of the 1930s. The little that most people know about Rastafarianism has come through the Jamaican music, Reggae, which resonates with the contemporary social and political struggle of the poverty-stricken cities of Trenchtown and Kingston. Bob Marley and the Wailers, for instance, with their politically charged lyrics about the ghetto, became emissaries for the Jamaican poor. Here Chevannes traces Rastafarianism back to 1930's prophet Marcus Garvey and his mass coalition against racial oppression and support of a free Africa. Before Garvey, few Jamaicans, the overwhelming majority of whom had been brought to the island from Africa and enslaved by Europeans, held positive attitudes about Africa. The rise of black nationalism, however, provided the movement with its impetus to organise a system of beliefs. Likewise, Chevannes explores the movement's roots in the Jamaican peasantry, which underwent distinct phases of development between 1834 and 1961 as freed slaves became peasants. The peasants established themselves in the recesses of the island and many eventually moved to cities, where the economic and social hardship already inherent in Jamaican society, was even more desolate. Between 1943 and 1960, detrimental social changes transformed Jamaica's rapidly expanding cities. Kingston's population grew by 86 percent, and crime and disease were rampant. It was under this severe social decay that became a hospice for the uprooted and derelict masses. As a spiritual philosophy, Rastafarianism is linked to societies of runaway slaves or maroons and derives from both the African Myal religion and the Revivalist Zion churches. Like the revival movement, Rastafarianism embraces the 400-year-old doctrine of repatriation. Rastas believe that they and all Africans who have migrated are but exiles in Babylon and are destined to be delivered out of captivity by a return to Zion or Africa - the land of their ancestors and the seat of Jah himself, Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia. Rastafari is a work with an historical and ethnographic approach that seeks to correct several misconceptions in existing literature - the true origin of dreadlocks, for instance. It should be of interest to religion scholars, historians, scholars of Black studies, and a general audience interested in the movement and how Rastafarians settled in other countries.

A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1974 (review)

182 Book Reviews The authors believe that "Ethiopia's socialism has important achievements to its credit (literacy campaign, land reform, bureaucratic reorganization , etc.) and will be a viable system if the government creates a popular foundation for institutional change, removes fear and repression , resolves the question of nationalities, creates a genuine representative government and raises the standard of living of the people." However, the authors fail to see that these reform proposals are modernization imperatives with which socialism or a socialist government is incompatible. In general, the book is a welcome addition to survey books on Ethiopia . It can be a valuable source of information for students of Ethiopia and others who are interested in Ethiopia. Daniel Teferra Ferris State University A History ofModern Ethiopia 1855-1974 Bahru Zewde London, Athens and Addis Ababa: James Currey, Ohio University Press and Addis Ababa University Press, 1991. 244 pp. + ? This book serves its purpose well for its intended audience—university undergraduates and generalists. It is an excellent synthesis of the scholarly work that has been produced over the last 30 years, not all of it published. Primarily a political history, it does drift off occasionally to tie in social and economic events. Not unexpectedly, Bahru draws heavily on the works of Sven Rubenson (to whom he extends greatest gratitude ), Zewde Gabre Sellassie, and Harold Marcus (all of whom have produced major political and/or biographical works on the period) in addition to a broad array of lesser known scholars and students, some curiously unacknowledged. Bahru brings them all together into a broadsweeping , well-focused, and readable work, one which the field has greatly needed. For Bahru, modern Ethiopia is defined as the time period from Emperor Tewodros II on. He chooses to stop with the deposition of Haile Sellassie I in 1974, and thus his work becomes a study of leadership in Book Reviews 183 Ethiopia from the time of monarchy's revival after the decentralized and chaotic period known as the Zamanamesafint to the abolition of monarchy as a consequence of the Ethiopian Revolution. Bahru is interested in the leadership style of each emperor and, in particular, in their various approaches to nation-building. For him, Tewodros was the intractable centralist, struggling after the Zamanamesafint to reunify the state and strengthen the power of the monarchy, opposition be damned. Yohannis IV was the federalist, open-minded in his support for local autonomy , although uncompromising in matters of religion. Menilek was the practical eclectic who dramatically expanded the empire into areas never before controlled by the Ethiopian state. In some fields like revenue collection and communication, he furthered the process of centralization while recognizing that indirect rule in many conquered areas was the most efficient and inexpensive way of administration. Haile Sellassie I was the most successful centralist and modernizer that Ethiopia had known, but unfortunately his vision of the modern state was limited and he endeavored instead to centralize Ethiopia's tradition of feudalism. Each approach seemed to have had its deficiency, which may have lain in the unique leadership style of the particular emperor or in the times in which they ruled. Bahru unfortunately does not bother to assess this. Bahru reserves the highest praise for Iyasu, who, among modern emperors , had the shortest reign. Maybe he was the Ethiopian Kennedy, a young man of broad vision, who did not have the religious or ethnic hang-ups of the others, and who held the greatest potential for "fashioning " modern Ethiopia had he not been deposed by his detractors. To paraphrase Bahru, Iyasu had great ability to make Ethiopia's diverse peoples feel at home in their own nation, something other emperors had not. Scholars might wonder where Ethiopia might be today had Iyasu been allowed to rule unhindered. Bahru develops his arguments in generally convincing fashion, although it is hard to refute generalizations. It is also evident that there is little here that is dramatically new. The reader may be a bit disappointed that Bahru chooses to examine this time period in isolation. Readers deserve to have the main themes, as defined by Bahru, set into some historical context. Even more disappointing is the fact that Bahru fails utterly to...

The Haile Sellassie I Prize Trust

The Haile Sellassie I Prize Trust

Meaza of Ethiopia (review)

Book Reviews 97 Meaza of Ethiopia Kevin O'Mahoney Kuraz (dist.): n.p., 1991. 178 pp. Meaza of Ethiopia is a historical novel about Ethiopia (Tigre in particular ) during the rule of the Derg. The central character is a young lady named Meaza. As the author points out, the name Meaza means "fragrance ." Thus the title of the book contains a second meaning: "Fragrance of Ethiopia." As a historical novel, this book can be judged from two different perspectives—its quality as a novel and its historical accuracy. As a novel, it is better than I expected. The author does have genuine writing skills. He weaves characters and subplots together over a period beginning in the latter days of Haile Sellassie's reign until the downfall of the Derg. His characters are generally consistent in their personalities , and dialogue is handled well. One does wonder, though, at the high degree of virtue and the capacity for forgiveness of certain characters. For example, the virgin daughter of a woman who runs a bar is taken by soldiers and violated, but she seems to harbor few hard feelings. The story itself revolves around Meaza and how the events of the time affect her and her family. The plot involves suffering, heroism, treachery, and like any novel, love. The action of the book takes the characters all over Ethiopia: Wellega, Gojjam, Eritrea, Gamo Gofa, Shewa, Tigray, and Wello, showing the reader that the Derg's harsh rule extended everywhere. As history, the novel is reasonably accurate, weaving many known events, such as demonstrations, zemechas, and specific battles, into the lives of the characters. Though we can only guess at the accuracy of many of the details of high-level intrigue, it must be remembered that the author of a historical novel is entitled to some literary license. Rather than simply list the facts as a historian might, O'Mahoney helps the reader feel the impact of these events on the lives of ordinary people . For example, he tells us that taxi drivers did not like to pick up passengers who asked to be taken to the traffic circle that the Derg renamed "Yekatit 12," since the date had too strong a political flavor. It is no secret that the author has no sympathy for the Derg, and strong sympathy for the Tigre viewpoint. The cover, for example, shows an air raid on a town, with "Hawzen" spelled in drops of blood. 98 Book Reviews O'Mahoney weaves into the story several references to the military skills of the Tigre, the discipline of their troops, their well-organized medical teams, et cetera. The author places much of the plot in Tigre, the action revolving around Adigrat. In fact, the author's introduction is even titled "Adigrat, 17 July 1991." It is intriguing that the book was printed so quickly after the arrival of the EPRDF government and then distributed through the government book shop chain. As scholars study the Derg era, they will face piles of reports, statistics , and propaganda. They would do well to read Meaza ofEthiopia as well; they may not be able to cite it in their bibliographies, but it will remind them that all of these large-scale events, trends, and movements happened in an Ethiopia full of ordinary people, simply trying to live out their lives. Pete Unseth Tepi, Kafa, Ethiopia Rural Change in Machakos, Kenya; A Historical Geography Perspective Marilyn Silberfein New York: University Press of America, 1989. 197 pp. In 1986, 1988, and again in the summer of 1990, this writer had occasion to pass through parts of Machakos District in south central Kenya. As the crow flies, Machakos is about 50 miles from Nairobi. As Silberfein notes in her analysis of rural change in Machakos, it is a rugged land; a "composite of highlands and lowlands, which currently covers approximately 14,000 Km2" (p.l). It was evident in my three visits that the population of the district was growing rapidly and the agricultural resource base of the region was under enormous pressure. Over-farming of steep slopes was evident everywhere, seen in the ubiquitous gully erosion. Small plots of land were being farmed on what...

The Development of Education, Printing and Publishing in Ethiopia

The history of education, printing and publishing in Ethiopia is not nearly as long as that of language, script and manuscripts. This article describes the importance of literacy, education, printing and publishing for the effective use of libraries and gives a detailed account of the development of these factors in Ethiopia. Until the 20th century, the Church was the only means of education in Ethiopia. This served the limited purpose of spreading the Christian religion but could not produce mass literacy. Developments such as education and printing began under Menelik II (1889-1913) who established the first school of Ethiopia in 1908 in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's present day educational system owes much to the grave concern of Haile Selassie I (1930-1974). Higher education started in 1950 with the establishment of a university college in Addis Ababa. The Revolution of 1974 proved a springboard for further development especially in the areas of education and literacy. The literacy rate rose from 5% in 1974 to its current 65%. The printing of Ethiopian works, though, started as early as printing itself but in Ethiopia began in 1863 at Massawa. The first commercial printing press was introduced at Massawa in 1890. Most of these presses were used for printing newspapers, magazines, religious literature, government documents and the like but little use was made for educational material. At present there are about 25 presses in the country, but publishing in Ethiopia is essentially non-existent.

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS

A young man travels by car from New York to Tennessee to see his parents. This is no ordinary visit. The journey ends in the emergency room of the Johnson City Medical Center (the "Miracle Center") and results in a brilliantly executed code blue. Death comes three weeks later. AIDS has arrived in rural Tennessee. After a serious debate, it is decided to reuse the ventilator rather than to incinerate or bury it. The machine is "opened up, its innards gutted and most replaceable parts changed." It is then gas disinfected several times before it is used much later. Thus begins a remarkable true story. The author, Dr Abraham Verghese, whose parents had emigrated from India to Ethiopia to teach physics ("their marriage had something to do with physics"), finds his medical studies rudely interrupted by the convulsions surrounding the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. He arrives in America, where

The End of the Cold War and U.S. Foreign Policy toward the Horn of Africa in the Immediate Post-Siyaad and Post-Mengistu Eras

American foreign policy toward the Horn of Africa between 1945 and 1990 was guided by a series of Cold War rationales that looked upon the region as a means for solving nonAfrican problems. Specifically, U.S. policymakers did not perceive the countries and peoples of the Horn of Africa as important in their own right but, rather, as the means for preventing the further advances of Soviet communism. As a result, U.S. relationships with various regimes in the region evolved according to their perceived importance within the EastWest framework. Emperor Haile Sellassie, for example, was courted from the 1940s to the 1970s due to the importance of Ethiopia as part of a worldwide telecommunications network directed against the Soviet Union. When the U.S. -Ethiopian security relationship was shattered during the 1970s, Siyaad Barre subsequently rose to preeminence due to Somalia's importance as an access country from which the U.S. could militarily counter a perceived Soviet threat to Middle East oil fields. Indeed, not only was the U.S. preoccupation with anti-communism manipulated by these leaders to obtain greater levels of U.S. economic and military aid over $600 million for the Sellassie regime and nearly $800 million for the Siyaad regime it also served as an important rationale for Washington's general disregard for the authoritarian excesses of these regimes, as well as for a host of interventionist practices designed to maintain U.S. influence within the region.1

Lawrence Jasud'swords, sounds and power

Abstract Lawrence Jasud's book, Words, Sounds and Power, is a startling transcription of the verbal meditations of a group of Rastafarian brethren. In this ‘evocation of the heart and mind of Rastafari’ the art of the finely-printed book and the politics of Rastafarian theology coincide in the form of a sacred text. The primary object of Rastafarian worship is the image of Haile Selassie as Christ returned. Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (1892–1975) during his forty-four year reign made Addis Ababa a focus for African unity. Marcus Garvey, whose efforts on behalf of racial equality for Africans in the New World marked him as a type of John the Baptist in the black movement, proclaimed: ‘Look to Africa, where a Black King shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is near’. As if in direct answer to this prophecy, in 1930 Ras Tafari Makonnen ascended the throne of Ethiopia and took the name Haile Selassie, meaning ‘Might of the Trinity’. He claimed descent from the Biblical King Solomon of Jerusalem and Queen Makeda of Sabo (Sheba), the southern lands of Ethiopia, with the inherited titles of ‘King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah’. By the 1960s, when the hopes of the earlier Back to Africa movement had failed to materialize, black Jamaicans leaned towards either political militancy or a religious mysticism based on the Old Testament, which came to be called Rastafari, after the ‘Ras Tafari’, the princely pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie, in whom Rastafarians recognized the Second Coming of God.

Discourses on Eritrean Nationalism and Identity

Since Italy's defeat in World Ward II, Ethiopia has pressed its claim to Eritrea. Following an abortive federation imposed by the United Nations in 1950, Haile Selassie annexed the former Italian colony in 1962, and for the last three decades Eritreans have fought for their independence.

The Mission: The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Sellassie I.

The Mission: The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Sellassie I.

Border Pastoralism in Eastern Sudan

Border Pastoralism in Eastern Sudan

The Mission. The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Selassie I

The Mission. The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Selassie I

Emperor in the Making - Haile Sellassie I: the Formative Years, 1892–1936. By Harold G. Marrcus. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1987. Pp. xvii + 242. $27.50.

Emperor in the Making - Haile Sellassie I: the Formative Years, 1892–1936. By Harold G. Marrcus. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1987. Pp. xvii + 242. $27.50. - Volume 31 Issue 2

The Mission: The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Sellassie I

The Mission: The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Sellassie I

The mission: the life, reign and character of Haile Sellassie I

The mission: the life, reign and character of Haile Sellassie I

Reviews and Short Notices

Reviews and Short Notices

Press content as a key to a country's alignment: The case of Ethiopia

Abstract This article examines the news content of an Ethiopian government‐run newspaper over a period of 20 years to determine how closely the present government is aligned with the Soviet Union. There are two schools of though among foreign policy scholars. Regionalists believe Ethiopia is nonaligned. They argue that since the country follows the tenants of African socialism, its international politics are shaped by indigenous factors such as nationalism and local economic and security needs, rather than by Soviet or U.S. influence. Globalists, on the other hand, believe Ethiopia belongs to the Soviet camp and is dependent on the Soviet Union. A review of a government‐run newspaper in two ten‐year periods before and after the takeover by Mengistu Haile Mariam found a dramatic shift in the nature of coverage. Under Emperor Haile Selassie before the ovethrow, the paper printed predominantly pro‐United States and anti‐Soviet news. But under Mengistu, the same paper printed vastly pro‐Soviet and anti‐United...

Ethiopia at Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Sellassie Years

Ethiopia at Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Sellassie Years

Haile Selassie's War by Anthony Mockler Oxford University Press, 1984. Pp. xxiv+454. £17.50. Also published in 1984 by Random House, New York, as Haile Selassie's War: the Italian-Ethiopian campaign, 1935–1941. Pp. xlii+454. Illustrated. $24.95. - Ethiopia: dawn of the red star by Madan M. Sauldie Bombay, Asia Publishing House, 1982. Pp. vii+241. Illustrated. $37.50. - Ethiopia: politics, economics and society

Haile Selassie's War by Anthony Mockler Oxford University Press, 1984. Pp. xxiv+454. £17.50. Also published in 1984 by Random House, New York, as Haile Selassie's War: the Italian-Ethiopian campaign, 1935–1941. Pp. xlii+454. Illustrated. 10.95 paperback. - Volume 24 Issue 4