It just so
happened that things have been twirling in my head. It is not a good idea to
have so many things twirling in your head. Lack of clarity is not a good state
of mind to be unless one of course wants a certain amount of fogginess or
blurred vision. It is possible we do that to avoid making hard decisions, shift
responsibility or distance ourselves from our actions or choose to be
comfortably numb to justify inaction.
It was the
convergence of three unrelated happenings that yanked me out from that dark,
wet, suffocating ‘Idiot Woyane’ state of mind. My friend Kirubeal’s constant
nagging, Abebe’s timely revelations (I am still not over ‘Mamo kilo in Arat
Kilo’), Professors Al’s relentless tickle of my discarded conscience, my dear
hero’s ECADF’s energetic enthusiasm and Ethiopian Review’s smart ‘Policy
Research’ papers was what kept me from going into deep freeze. Some folks don’t
take no for an answer.
The four
items that made me realize that all is not lost are the first Anniversary of
‘Arab Spring’, the death of Vaclav Havel of ‘Prague Spring’ and the passage of
Kim Jung-il owner of ‘perpetual winter’ and a not so likeable human being and
the sacrifice of Yenesew Gebre of Ethiopia.
A single
spark starts a prairie fire was just another saying. Our hero Mohamed Bouazizi
of Tunisia lit a single match to say ‘enough’, Beka! and
set the world on fire. Gaddafi is poster boy for the ‘inferno’ Mohamed started.
It engulfed the planet and still shows no sign of slowing down. The 99% are
asking a fair share of the pie. Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli, Sanna, Bahrin, Damascus,
New York, Moscow, Wukan (China) have become battlefields. What happens the next
year is bound to realign the balance of forces in society. There is no doubt
the playing field will be leveled a little better in favor of the many. How
each system works out the conflict depends on how it was designed to self-
correct.
You drive
south from Tunis, capital of Tunisia on Hwy 37 follow P3 South, take P13 and
you are in Sid Bouzid. A little dusty town in the middle of
nowhere. Nothing of consequence has ever happened in Sid Bouzid. Exactly
a year ago Mohamed Bouazizi was selling produce when he was slapped by a Policewoman
in front of everyone for not having a license for his vegetable cart. What he
did next, for some reason, touched humanity. What he did was he went in front
of Sid Bouzid City Hall, doused his cloth with petrol and set himself on fire.
He said Tunisia is not fit to live for a person of dignity. It is a very
unique, dramatic and loud response to injustice. He made his point and it
echoed.
The
question became how does a government deal with its population’s legitimate
demands? Gaddafi’s way is definitely proven unacceptable, Mubarak’s blindness
have him in the slammer, Ben Ali is in virtual prison, Assad is squirming,
Saleh is finished, damaged and grasping, Putin is at a loss… the carrot or the
stick is the dilemma and as a confirmed Marxist he can’t even pray to God for
guidance. The Chinese Central Committee is mulling over on how to respond
regarding Wukan, Gunadong Province, and Obama is watching, observing, waiting
to see if ‘occupy’ is a real or virtual force. May all the Gods welcome Mohamed
Bouazizi’s soul with drums and trumpets fit for a hero. I am sure those in
authority have slapped many before him but the fact is Mr. Bouazizi said enough
in a unique way in the age of Social Media and did it ever spread like a
prairie fire!
The death
of Vaclav Havel was another defining moment. He was the product of Prague
Spring of 1968. Prague Spring was the forefather to Arab Spring. Things were
different in 1968, the time of ‘Prague Spring’. Europe was divided between the
Socialist East under Soviet influence and the Capitalist West under the US
umbrella. Czechoslovakia was one of those unfortunates stringing along without
due consent. The Soviet Union used Czechoslovakia as buffer. In 1968 Alexander
Dubcek was elected as First Secretary of the Communist Party and set in motion
reform polices granting the citizen certain Rights. The Soviet Union did not
take such transgression lightly and used its Warsaw Pact forces to invade
Czechoslovakia and end freedom.
The little
open space granted by Dubcek inspired people like Vaclav Havel. His work was
banned due to his opposition to the invasion. He was declared UN desirable
person in his own homeland. He never wavered. His plays and poetry were
published elsewhere and smuggled in. They were read on short wave radios. He
was imprisoned. He persisted. In 1979 Havel and his comrades published Charter
77 Manifesto, a plea to the Communist Party and Government to abide by
various International conventionsincluding its own Constitution and
open the space for political dialogue.
My
third wake up call was rung by no other than Comrade Kim Jung-il of North Korea.
His life was shrouded in secrecy and he died mysteriously. In fact no one knows
how and when he died. What he left behind is a life full of garbage that cannot
be recycled because of its toxicity and a history that will be buried deep and
denied by his people. North Korea has been ruled by the Kim family since its
founding. The Kim family in consort with the Military and a few Hodams control
the economy thus the nation. What Stalin envisioned, Mao attempted has been
realized by the Kim family.
North
Korea is where we see how fragile we humans are. The Kim family has been able
to reduce twenty four million Koreans into walking zombies. Using denial of all
outside input like Television and Radio using censoring and blocking,
starvation, physical degradation like imprisonment, torture, televised
confessions and bullying, the Kim family has proven to
the world that they are worthy successors to Stalin. The little dictator
fancied himselfas
an intellectual and his newspapers and propaganda outlets referred to ham as
‘The Dear Leader, The Fearless Leader, The General’ and other outrageous titles
to bully his population. He left behind a legacy of fear, poverty and a people
that were never allowed to enjoy the fruits of their existence. We Ethiopians
are familiar with that.
We
say ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ regarding Kim while we fondly remember
Mohamed Bouazizi and Vaclav Havel. Their stories fill us with hope and love
they have bestowed on us. Are they special or just like us? But they made their
presence felt. They rose a little higher. Where did they find that inner
strength to keep going when all seemed hopeless? Vaclav Havel had that quality.
He was imprisoned. His work was banned. He was hounded by the security force.
But he kept focus on his dignity and freedom. By fighting for his rights he stoodfor all of us.
He named one of his essays ‘power of the powerless.’ Mohamed Bouazizi did not
have an army. Not even an association. He was just trying to eekout a living selling
vegetables.A common
man like the rest of us. He challenged us by his act. He was willing to
end it all so we see what has been done to us. The people of Tunisia heard him.
The world eavesdropped.
If
it mattered at all Yenesew was a very educated person. But that is not the
issue here. He was a human being working hard to reach his potential and help
himself and his family. He has done his part. By becoming a teacher he has
acquired a skill that is in very short supply in Ethiopia. A job and a decent
living is what come with such achievement. But Yenesew has that other quality
that is also in short supply in repressive societies. Yenesew has conscience. Moral compass. Call it what you want, simply put, he cared about you and I. That made him very unhappy.
That also made the authorities very unhappy. Yenesew can see and that is a
crime in the village of the blind.
Like
Vaclav Havel Yenesew dissented. He was fired from his job, his family hounded
and his associates bullied. That is the way of ‘Revolutionary Democracy’ in
Ethiopia. Like Vaclav Havel Yenesew was jailed, shunned and black listed. The
more they bullied him the better he saw them. When they spoke he saw the lie
they live, when they shouted he saw the fear that is wrecking their soul, when
they stole and consumed to excess he saw the full but always hungry belly they
carried, when they bullied he saw the insecurity lurking behind them. What he
saw was not what he wanted for his homeland and his people.
Mohamed
Bouazizi and Yenesew Gebre have become the conscience of humanity. The two felt
the indignity they suffered in their country and home at the hands of those in
authority made then realize life is meaningless without free will. If it is not
worth living then why live. Thus they decided to make their death count. To their
people they said ‘the pain is too much to bear’ for the rest of us they said
‘dignified death at your choosing is better than physical and mental slavery.’
They said the two countries Tunisia and Ethiopia were not conducive to human
dignity. One of the seeds has sprouted and the other will too. No reason to
think otherwise. The Prague Spring gave rise to the Velvet Revolution that
begat The Orange Revolution that begat the Rose Revolution that led to Arab
Spring – there is no end to human thirst for freedom and equality.
Yenesew
saw beyond himself. He felt the pain and sorrow of his neighbor. What he was
about to do goes against his religion, his value system and his culture but the
importance and timeliness of the message must have outweighed all other
considerations.It wasnot an easy decision. He wasat a physical
location where he was beaten down but mentally he knew there is more to life
and as a teacher he should do his duty and teach. He went every legal way open
to no avail. It was never about the law. Thus My dear
little brother decided to use the planet as his wall board and write his
message to humanity in general and his people in particular. This Human said
Beka! Enough! Rest in peace my friend. Your people heard you.
