Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia

11/10/2020

Let’s Pray for Our Country, Our Leaders and for the Safety of all our people.

We cannot deny it. Our nation is in trouble as result of ethnic federalism introduced by the TPLF 28 years ago and we are now facing peril.

You can turn on your television or scroll through your Facebook newsfeed right now and see that there is so much death, ethnic cleansing, ethnic violence, ethnic extremism, ethnic favoritism, fear and hatred in the hearts of those around us. We are contending with issues that are causing the very foundation of our country to crumble.

Whether we Ethiopians agree or not with many issues, our ancestors have given us much in common. They lived together, intermarried and passed on their blood to those now living. This mixture of blood, which runs through the veins of each one of our ethnic groups, gives us life and nourishment to carry on as a one people. Even more importantly, we Ethiopians do not only share the land, language, and customs, but what we really share is the same Maker of our lives, a God who views his children equally, regardless of ethnicity. With God there is no favoritism.

My fellow Ethiopians, we cannot give in to ethnic hatred, bitterness, and revenge, which is like giving our lives up for destruction and passing on the curse to our descendants. Worse yet, it is totally misusing the gifts God gave to us; gifts meant to become a blessing to others.

Let the death of all our people regardless of their ethnicity, the pain of those wounded, the grief of family members facing the loss of family, the suffering of those politicians locked up in jail, the hardship of all Ethiopians who are not seeing any future in Ethiopia, the mothers who cannot feed their children, the orphans who have no family to care for them, and those Ethiopians living in poverty and misery, bring us to humbly love God and neighbor in ways that will change our land. Let us start seeing others as ourselves. In the eyes of God, there is no us and them for we are all created equal.

As we mourn for all our precious people of Ethiopia, let us start talking to each other rather than talking about other. May God heal the hard spots in our hearts where we have been carrying ethnic hatred and bitterness instead of loving one another for our humanity has no boundaries. With changed hearts and forgiveness of self and others, a new, more unified and more prosperous Ethiopia for all is possible. Let us stand together for what is right and good, starting today.

May the rivers of love, forgiveness, kindness, acceptance, and justice overflow from our people, bringing life and blessings not only to Ethiopia but to Africa and the world.

Long live Ethiopia!

11/06/2020

An Appeal to the people of Ethiopia: THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE MUST BE HEARD

Click at the link below to read my Appeal to the people of Ethiopia: THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE MUST BE HEARD

Government alone cannot solve this present crisis, those crises that will follow or those now festering below the surface, waiting to erupt. Civil Society, including our religious leaders, elders, women and youth, must be part of the solution.

https://www.ethiopoint.com/an-appeal-to-the-people-of-ethiopia-the-voice-of-the-people-must-be-heard/

Please share it with your friends

November 6, 2020 Mr. Obang Metho Government alone cannot solve this present crisis, those crises that will follow or those now festering below the surface,

11/02/2020

One Vote, One Voice - Martin Luther King Urges YOU to Vote

I encourage all my Ethiopian-American brothers and sisters who are eligible to vote 🗳 to go vote. Your vote matter and it will make a difference. Elections are decided by the people who go out and vote. So encourage your family members and friends to go and vote.

Listen the truthful advice of our King of love, justice, freedom, peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, equality and humanity.

“One Vote, One Voice - Martin Luther King Urges YOU to Vote”

https://youtu.be/r_nAIZB9mrs

The Miss Black and Gold Court and the Gamma Beta Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Present: One Vote, One Voice The videos included are two separa...

11/01/2020

ኦባንግ ሜቶ ያደረጉት አስገራሚ ንግግር በትኩረት ለጤና ትኩረት ለጣና የሽልማት መርሐግብር ላይ

የሰብዓዊ መብት መረጃ ዘርፍ ተሸላሚው ኦባንግ ሜቶ @ObangMetho በሽልማቱ ወቅት ባደረጉት ንግግር “ጣናን ከእንቦጭ ራሳችንን ከጥላቻና ዘረኝነት ማጽዳት ይኖርብናል” ብለዋል፡፡

https://youtu.be/GIc0zah2uIY

ቀጥታ ከጣና ትኩረት ለጤና ትኩረት ለጣና የሽልማት መርሐግብር

11/01/2020

”ሰዎች በእረፍት ጊዜያቸው የተፈጠሩበትን አላማ እንዲያዩና እንዲመረምሩ እመክራለሁ‘ አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ | የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬስ ድርጅት

”ሰዎች በእረፍት ጊዜያቸው የተፈጠሩበትን አላማ እንዲያዩና እንዲመረምሩ እመክራለሁ‘ አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ

ጽጌረዳ ጫንያለው

የአኝዋክ ጀስቲስ ካውንስልን አቋቁመው ዓለም አቀፍ አድቮኬሲ ዳይሬክተር በመሆን ከተለያዩ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች ጋር በመተባበር በአኝዋክ ሕዝብ ላይ የተጋፈጠውን ችግር ትኩረት እንዲያገኝ ያደረጉ ሰው ናቸው እንደ አገር ሌሎችም ተቋማዊ ድምፅ ኖሯቸው እንዲሰሙ ‹‹ሶሊዳሪቲ ሙቭመንት ፎር ኤ ኒው ኢትዮጵያ››ን መስርተዋል፡፡

‹‹ሂውማኒቲ ቢፎር ኢቲኒስቲ» እና «ኖ ዋን ኢዝ ፍሪ አንትል ኦል አር ፍሪ» በሚሉ መርሆች የዘር ክፍፍሎችን ለማስወገድ ማህበራዊ ሚዲያን በመጠቀም ለሀገር ትልቅ ውለታን ውለዋል እንዲሁም በተለያዩ አካባቢዎችና ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች በመዘዋወር ሕዝብን አንድ የሚያደርጉ፤ መልካም አመለካከትን የሚገነቡ አነቃቂ ንግግሮችን በማድረግ ይታወቃሉ ከኢትዮጵያ ባሻገር በአፍሪካ የሰብአዊ መብት ፍትህና ተጠያቂነት የሰፈነበት ፖለቲካ እንዲኖር ከተባበሩት መንግሥታት፣ ከአውሮፓ ፓርላማ፣ ከአሜሪካ ምክር ቤቶች እንዲሁም ከዓለም ባንክ ጋር ከ10 ዓመታት በላይ ሰርተዋል

በመሬት ወረራ ምክንያት ከቤት ንብረታቸው የሚፈናቀሉትን በተመለከተ ግንዛቤ ለመፍጠርና የእርምት እርምጃዎች እንዲወሰዱ ዓለም አቀፍ ዘመቻዎችን አድርገዋል በእነዚህ ሥራዎቻቸውም በአሜሪካ ከተለያዩ ኦርጋናይዜሽኖች ሽልማት ተበርክቶላቸዋል ‹‹ሲት›› የተባለ በአሜሪካ አገር የሚገኝ ድርጅትም ተጽዕኖ ፈጣሪ ሲል ሸልሟቸዋል በሴቶች መብት ተሟጋችነታቸውም ከአሜሪካ የሴቶች መብት ተሟጋች አባላት ሽልማትን ተቀብለዋል። ከዚያም አልፎ ለጋምቤላ ክልል ባደረጉት የልማትና የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋችነታቸው ሽልማትን

አግኝተዋል። በአገር ውስጥም ‹‹ለኢትዮጵያ እድገት አስተዋፅኦ ያበረከቱ ዳያስፖራዎች›› በሚል የ2011 ዓ.ም የበጎ ሰው ተሸላሚ ሆነዋል ዛሬም ቢሆን ‹‹ሰው በሰውነቱ እንጂ እንዴት በቀለሙ መድሎና ንቀት ይደርስበታል›› የሚለው ቁጭታቸው በእያንዳንዱ ልብ ውስጥ በማስረጽ ከጎናቸው እንዲሰለፉ ያደረጉ ታላቅ ሰው ናቸው – አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ። በዚህና በሌሎችም መልካም ተግባራቸው የዛሬው ‹‹የዝነኞቹ የዕረፍት ውሎ›› እንግዳችን አድርገናቸዋል።

የዕረፍት ሰዓት

ብዙዎች ፖለቲከኛና አክቲቪስት እንዲሁም የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች አይዝናናም፤ የእረፍት ጊዜም አይኖራቸውም ብለው ያስባሉ ለቤተሰብስ መች ጊዜ አላቸውና ይላል ግን ለራሱ እረፍት የማይሰጥና ጊዜ የሌለው ሰው መቼም ቢሆን በስራው ውጤታማ ሊሆን አይችልም ‹‹ እኔም የእረፍት ጊዜ ለራሴ እሰጣለሁ እረፍት ሳደርግ መጀመሪያ አዕምሮዬን የማድስበትን መፍጠር ደስ ይለኛል ለእነዚህም የመጀመሪያው ራሴን ወደማዳመጥበት ስፍራ መሄድ ነው ይህ ቦታ ደግሞ ጸጥታ የሰፈነበት ቢሆን እመርጣለሁ በተፈጥሮ ያሸበረቀና የአዕዋፋት ድምጽ የምሰማበት ቢሆን የተፈጠርኩበትን አላማ በአግባቡ እንድረዳ ያግዘኛል እንደጋምቤላ ያሉ በአረንጓዴ የአሸበረቁ ስፍራዎች ላይ ሄጄ ራሴን አይቼ እመለሳለሁ ›› ይላሉ

የተቸገሩ ሰዎችን ማዳመጥ፤ ችግራቸውን መጋራት በእረፍት ጊዜያቸው ቢያደርጉት የሚመርጡት ነው ባህላዊ ነገሮች ጥሩ መዝናኛቸው ነው ይህንን ሲያደርጉ ግን የሰፈሬ፤ የብሔሬ ምናምን ብለው አይደለም ሁሉም በባህሉ የተለየ ነው የሚል እምነት አላቸውና ያንን በተለያየ ጥበባት ሲያገኙት ውስጣቸው በሀሴት ይሞላል፡፡

ሰው ሰው የሚሸት ነገር ይስባቸዋል ሰብዓዊ መብት

ላይ ያተኮሩ ጽሁፎችን ማንበብ፤ መፍትሄዎቻቸውን ማየትና ችግሮቹ እንዴት እንደተፈጠሩ ማጤን ደስታን ከሚፈጥርላቸው መካከል ነው ለሰብአዊ መብት ትግላቸው የሚያግዙ የተለያዩ አገራት ልምዶችንም በተለያየ መልኩ መከታተል ፣ ሲጨነቁም ሆነ ሲደሰቱ ግጥም መጻፍም ምርጫቸው ነው ከዚያ ባሻገር የተለያዩ የምርምር መጽሀፍትን ማንበብም ይወዳሉ፡፡

የተቸገረ ሰው የውስጡን የሚሰማው ይፈልጋል፣ አለሁ የሚለው ይሻል ስለዚህም ከእነርሱ ጋር ጥቂት ሰዓታትን ሳሳልፍ እኔም ተምሬ እነርሱም ተደስተው እመለሳለሁ፡፡

ጥቂት መልዕክት

ነጻነታችን እንደ ዕርዳታ እህል ከምዕራባውያን የምንለገሰው አይደለም ራሳችንን እንደ አድዋ ድል አንድ ሕዝብ ሆነን የምናመጣው እንጂ ለዚህ ደግሞ ትግል የመጀመሪያው ነው፤ ሰዎች ስለ ሰዎች ማሰብ፤ ለሰዎች መኖር፤ ስለሰዎች መጨነቅ መቻል አለባቸው ነጻነታቸውን ለማግኘት የሰዎች ነጻነትን መጠበቅ ይገባል ሰላሙን ሲፈልግ፤ ራሱን ዘና ሊያደርግ በሚንቀሳቀስ ሰው ላይ ምንም አይነት ጉዳት ማድረስ የለባቸውም አለበለዚያ ግን መዝናናት ሳይሆን መጨናነቅን በውስጣቸው ፈጥረው ይመለሳሉ ለፍትህና ራስን ስለማክበር ያለን ጎዶሎ ነገር ራሱን የቻለ ትግል የሚጠይቅ በመሆኑ ራሳቸውን ገልጠው የሚመጡ ወገኖችን መርዳት እርካታ አለው።

‹‹በቀለምህ ምክንያት ብዙ ችግሮች ይመጡብሃል። አንተ ግን ሰውን በሰውነቱ ብቻ እንጂ በቀለሙ አይተህ እንዳትለይ። ራስህንም ቢሆን ከማንም አሳንሰህ ማየት የለብህም። እኩል እንደሆንክም አስብ። እውቀት የሌለውና ያልተማረ መኖሪያው ጭለማ ነው። በእውቀቱ የተጠቀመና እውቀቱን ያጎለበተ የተማረ ደግሞ ሁሌ ብርሃን ውስጥ ይኖራል። ስለዚህም አንተም ሁሌ በብርሃን ለመመላለስ ከፈለክ በትምህርትህ ጎበዝና አስተዋይ ልጅ መሆን አለብህ›› ይላሉ፡፡

‹‹እኛ ስንፈጠር በስህተት አይደለም፤ ፈጣሪ ለአንድ አላማ አስቦን ነው። የተፈጠርንበትን አላማ አንፈልግም ብለን ወደ ጎን በመተው በሰዎች እየተመራን የማይፈለጉ ሀሳቦችን እናራምዳለን። የራሳችንን ማንነት ለቀን ሰዎች በመሩን ብቻ እንጓዛለን። ስለዚህም ሰዎች በእረፍት ጊዜያቸው የተፈጠሩበትን አላማ እንዲያዩና እንዲመረምሩ እመክራለሁ›› ብለዋል፡፡

አዲስ ዘመን ጥቅምት 22/2013

https://www.press.et/Ama/?p=40879

”ሰዎች በእረፍት ጊዜያቸው የተፈጠሩበትን አላማ እንዲያዩና እንዲመረምሩ እመክራለሁ‘ አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ November 1, 2020 1 Share Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp Linkedin Email Print Telegram Viber ጽጌረዳ ጫንያለ...

10/31/2020

አውደ ሰብ የምስራቁ ሰው|

A must watch by every Ethiopian who care about the wellbeing of all our citizens and peace throughout our country.

Mr. Mustafa Mohoumed Omer, the president of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia is one of the few genuine, authentic and none tribal leaders we have today in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia desperately needs authentic and none tribal leadership from federal government to regional and local governments.

Generally, authentic leaders are positive people with truthful self-concepts who promote openness.

May God help us to see the deception and danger we face when we use our lesser identities like the ethnicity to destroy ourselves instead of our common identity as human beings to unite us.

https://youtu.be/UxfmxtHgPT4

#ebc #etv #EthiopianBroadcastingCorporation

10/30/2020

Security is a precondition for stability, justice, freedom, peace, equality, development and prosperity; this is a matter of survival and must be prioritised in Ethiopia.

We the people of Ethiopia are at a crossroads; one direction will keep us circling back to the same crisis over and over again.

Let us seek truth and righteousness’s way to build a united Ethiopia and harmonious society where we care about our neighbors regardless of their ethnicity as we do for ourselves, for no one will be free until all are free.

Long live Ethiopia

10/25/2020

For decades, I have called attention to the role of ethnic federalism or institutional tribalism and ethnic favoritism in our #Ethiopian public and private institutions and offered evidence-based solutions for how to address these inequities.

My colleagues and I will continue to play a crucial role as we work to elevate the public discourse around ethnic federalism, tribalism, ethnic based politics and inequality in #Ethiopia. Of course, ending institutional tribalism isn’t something we can do over night.

Now is the time for the truth to start coming out, no matter how painful it is; however, it must be genuine.

Fake unity, fake humility, fake apologies or fake talk of reconciliation that is opportunistic will never get us anywhere for ethnic hatred, deception and raw self-interest will remain in their hearts. Instead, we need a different kind of revolution.

The revolution that must start should begin in the heart, soul and mind of every person. Unlike the cry from the past to start a revolution from the grave of our enemy, our revolution must put to death a intergenerational system and mindset that has brought so many tears, so much blood and countless graves. This kind of thinking will never bring about a more united Ethiopia and harmonious society.

The vitriolic hatred and anger between the people of Ethiopia has gone on too long; with different groups claiming entitlements or grievances that have gone unresolved for decades or longer. The destructive politics that exclude “other” Ethiopians as “less worthy” or “less Ethiopian” or as “the enemy” should be buried for good.

Some are so angry over years of injustices that they do not want to even hear the word “Ethiopia” or see the flag of Ethiopia or speak the national language of Ethiopia.

The ethnic extremists has spread this hatred but others have carried it on. Now everyone is alienated. Ethiopia may never have been colonized but has become tribally colonized because the worst aspects of tribalism have infected us.

Ethiopia is one of the few countries in the world where the constitution begins “we the tribes” rather than “we the people.” We are alienated within our “tribes” as well.

This is fomented by some radicals here in Ethiopia, but especially in the Diaspora, and has created even more animosity.

It has created a “us versus them” or my ethnic group first dilemma that must be resolved if we are to build a Inclusive Ethiopia for all citizens.

This deadly poison must be detoxified, filtered out or drained from our system of self-destruction; or, like the analogy of the bumblebee who kept trying the same useless ways to free itself, we also will fail to look up and see the way out.

May God fill each and every Ethiopian heart, soul and mind with love, forgiveness and a ready spirit to admit and correct wrong towards each other so that we become a blessing not only to the living of today but to those in generations to come.

10/13/2020

The age of “one-tribe-take- all” must end in Ethiopia in order to have justice, freedom, equality, stability, lasting peace and prosperity but it may not end easily until we all the people pull out the life-support of ethnic-based hatred which has been in a coma for the last 30 years.

Along with it must go ethnic-based favoritism, ethnic-based entitlement and ethnic-based revenge that run too deeply within us and our society.

It must be replaced with the moral and spiritual transformation which comes from souls that seek genuine’s righteousness.

The only thing that will replace the tribal preferences and ethnic-based dehumanization of “others” is a pure heart, not bent on revenge, but willing to forgive, to reconcile, to love, to care and to live in harmony with other human beings, all created equal.

With this in mind; may we stand tall and tell the truth and stay firm, stay strong as a one nation and let us raise the banner of honor to our humanity not our ethnicity.

Long Live Ethiopia!

10/06/2020

I am back from the funeral where we said goodbye and farewell to our hero, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, one of the greatest human being who touched our lives.

Family, friends fans and thousands of mourners turned out in Addis Ababa to said final farewell to Professor Mesfin.

I had the honor and privilege to be invited to be one of the speaker and I was delighted to be there and give a speech.

Below is an insert from my speech and I will post the entire speech shortly.

“I give my deepest sympathy to the family of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam and the great numbers of Ethiopians who consider him a great friend of the Ethiopian people for many generations. I also thank those who have given me the opportunity to speak today about one of greatest men I have been privileged to meet and know. This giant of a man has played an important and strategic role in my life and that of many others.

People kept trying to put Professor Mesfin Woldemariam in a box, but he never accepted boxes, he remained upright in all he did. He refused to fit into the box but remained an Ethiopian citizen and a human being. He encouraged this principle many times, starting with the government of Emperor Haile Selassie and at the beginning of every successive one afterwords, but he would say, “Let’s give them a chance.” In other words, he wanted to support and guide them in the right direction.

He told me a number of times, “Please, Obang, if I ever die, I want you to keep and protect the dignity and respect for Ethiopia.

Professor Mesfin died without resources and material possessions. Instead, when he died, he did not have a house, but lived in small, low-income government housing.

Some feel sorry for him that he died without much, but he might look at it differently—he may not have had a house, but his principles gave him a country. The regions of the country are his bedrooms.

Farewell, Professor Mesfin, you have done your job and now the Creator is calling you. You have not only done your job well, but you have done it with love. Now, you will find rest with your Creator and as an esteemed elder and highly respected role model, you have set a high standard for us to follow.

As you spent so much of your life fighting for others, you gave up many other things to make sure the country would go in the right direction and that others would follow your example. Farewell; be at rest.”

I will share the entire speech shortly.

10/02/2020

The freedom we now celebrate in Ethiopia is fragile. In fact, the hardest challenges may lie ahead. Many countries, have overcome repressive governments only to fall into chaos and authoritarian governance once again.

Why? They failed to build the right structures giving order and support to freedom for all its people, like an inclusive Constitution that is based on citizenship and strong institutions to support good governance.

Secondly, unless a society and its leaders embrace principles, values and virtues that acknowledge and strengthen the value, freedom and rights of all its citizens; its sustainability will be jeopardized.

Today, we should take care to bring the right changes in the right ways so we do not sabotage or let others hijack the progress we and others have made so far. In fact, each time we Ethiopians rose up to resist past models of repressive governance, whether the monarchy, feudalism, communism, Marxist-Leninism or mixes of all of the above we have now and that is ethnic federalism (tribalism) added in, it has not led to improvements.

We are now at risk of doing the same. How can we increase our insight into our cultural strengths and weaknesses so we can avoid the pitfalls and instead bring something much better and lasting?

After travelling throughout Ethiopia for more than 2 years and and meeting and talking to Ethiopian people and government officials, I came to realize we Ethiopian needed a genuine national dialogue of reconciliation and conflict transformation because the change is still very fragile.

I also realized that there is a need to engage the young people in critical thinking and to teach them about civic responsibility, leadership qualities, national unity, reconciliation and the principles foundational to maintaining a free society.

We need to identify universities, high schools, faith groups, elders, women, entrepreneurs, law enforcement, justice institutions and many other stakeholders to reinforce the kind of change that will lead to more sustainable, principle-based freedom.

Talking the talk must be followed by actions or it will be superficial and meaningless. We all have a responsibility. This is our time. We are in a battle of visions not only of ideas because ideas can be disguised and diminished into a battle for dominance because competing ethnic groups hold to the same self focused goals.

Why participate in a struggle unless it is based on advancing inclusive higher principles that will be just, right and good? Our Ethiopian youth cannot settle for anything less than virtue based principles and values that will make freedom sustainable.

When freedom, truth and justice live in the hearts of the people, we will know that Ethiopia will be on its way to sustainable freedom, a gift to those who come after us. This is a call.

Let us be people who take this movement of genuine unity, justice, freedom and take steps to nurture and protect it so we see it grow and produce a harvest of human flourishing in this ancient country of Ethiopia.

Let us be slow to criticize on the minor points, but strong in holding all accountable to those core values of “putting humanity before ethnicity” or any other differences and to work for the freedom of all our people for “no one will be free until all are free.” Let these and other values create the foundation of the change we seek.

May God/Allah give us hearts to do what is right, just and good, caring about the wellbeing of all our people regardless of their ethnicity and bringing new life and blessings to our land.

Long Live Ethiopia!