Yes, Virginia! Ethiopian-American women have arrived. On March 5th, 2007, one of our own, Ms. Meron Ahadu was honored by the California Sate Assembly as Assembly District 47 Woman of the Year. This recognition is a telling story of how far and how long Ethiopian women have come through the years since we have spread our wings throughout the four corners of the globe.
It should not surprise us either that Meron was chosen for this honor. Whether she is working on issues of human rights in Ethiopia, voter registration drives in her community, or conducting interviews for the International Ethiopian Women Organization’s Sunday morning radio program, her community activism is second to none. In fact, she is truly one of the few women in the diaspora who is passionately engaged in the struggle for peace, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia.
Meron Ahadu is the daughter of the legendary journalist and diplomat, Ambassador Ahadu Sabure. Anybody who has listened to her articulate interviews knows that
the limb does not fall too far from the tree. The proud mother of an 18 year old son, Ms. Ahadu, has been in the United States since 1981 and holds a masters degree in business management. As a founding member of the Ethiopian-American Advocacy Council, she played a pivotal role in lobbying the Los Angeles City Council to name the Fairfax district as “Little Ethiopia” in 2004.
Besides chairing the Small Business Commission for Assembly District 47, Ms Ahadu is also an active member of the Coalition for HR5680 – a group that focuses on Human Rights issues in Ethiopia and passage of HR-5680, the newly formed International Ethiopian Women Organization and the Los Angeles African-American Women Political Action Committee.
It is my great pleasure to congratulate Meron Ahadu for her well deserved award. I am truly inspired by her as I hope all Ethiopian women will be.
It is also my hope that Meron’s recognition will serve as a clarion call to Ethiopian women to come out of their shells and participate in all aspects of our community’s life. Each and everyone of us has a “niche” to fill. We cannot leave our future and our country’s future in the hands of Ethiopian men. It is not fair for them, it is not fair for us.
We don’t necessarily have to stand behind them, but we definitely need to stand with them.
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Lulit Mesfin is senior editor of Ethiomedia.com. She can be reached for comments at [email protected]
