This morning I read an email from a friend about the proceedings yesterday in the criminal injustice system of Meles.
I found it so gut wrenching and painful. The best and the brightest this poor country can produce are languishing in a stinking prison and unjustly so under trumped up charges while robbers, killers and pillagers are roaming free dispensing pain and suffering. Much of Ethiopia, with the exception of the students does not seem to care, and much of the world does not even know, and those who know side with the perpetrator of injustice and genocide. Those of us who care do not seem to have found that single voice that could mold us into a united push.
Any time soon those courageous CUD leaders will be sentenced by the criminal system of Meles. Prisoner Birtukan Mideksa even expects to pay the ultimate for standing up against injustice. If they were like most of us they would have pleaded guilty and maybe expect some clemency, but they are still fighting injustice knowing this can ultimately end their life. These people are unique in everything that makes them who they are. In their suffering they are trying to teach us there is no alternative for freedom and democracy, and it is only when we achieve these two that we will be able to feed our hungry, teach our young and take care of our old. They are showing us a life that does not fight injustice is not a life worth living. I know those of us who care are listening, but I am not sure we know how to fully embrace the torch for freedom and justice that they are asking us to take and deliver to our people in Ethiopia who are suffering under the yoke of a criminal dictatorship.
This is my call for our Martin Luther King, our Gandhi to step out and unite us under a single banner. Those of us who care have the same goal, but so far our effort is mostly individual at worst and divided in small groups at best. Most of us would like to see that ambassador of our cause, galvanizer of our mission, and the Mosses of our forty years trek through the dessert to step out and lead us into Ethiopia, our Promised Land. Our country has been stolen by those who profess not love of our country, nor love of our people. Their only love is the intoxication from the power, the milk and honey they steal from us while deserving Ethiopians who have been toiling all their life die from hunger and pestilence with no sign of a better life in the horizon.
We need that leader who can speak sensibly, forcefully and the utmost mission in his or her life being the freedom of our Ethiopia from the oppression of a dictatorial colonizer. I believe those of us who have shown to care have that same goal for our country. What we miss is that leader with strong voice, wisdom and the tenacity to weather any distraction until we get there. Sir, Madam, the Hailu of our foresight, the Birtukan of our courage, the Hailu Araya of our unlimited love for undivided Ethiopia, and the Mesfin of our intelligence where are you? Ethiopia and her children are seeking your leadership. Please show up, as the freedom train is approaching and none of us want to miss it.
May God bless all the children of Ethiopia by granting them a strong and unified leadership.
