July 22, 2008
I was recently in Washington D.C. to speak at the Ethiopian Border Commission Meeting as well as to
attend the Ethiopian Sport Federation sponsored soccer games, political meetings and other Ethiopian
events, all packed into one week.
My days were filled with intense political meetings and serious discussions regarding the abysmal
condition of Ethiopia and what to do about it, but when I attended the soccer games at the stadium and the
Union Station’s Nightclub event for young Ethiopians it was as if I had entered a totally different world
from the first.
Ever since, I have been thinking about the disconnections
between these worlds. As I did, I was struck with the
impression that we might discover some clues to finding a
way out of our current mess by considering how to bridge
the gap between these and other disconnected realities held
by Ethiopians. My week in Washington D.C. proved to be
filled with opportunities to experience Ethiopian life from
various different perspectives. I will cover three groups of
events in three articles or parts: 1) the stadium soccer games,
2) the youth event at Union Station, and 3) the political
events.
Ethiopian Sport Federation’s Silver Anniversary
This year’s soccer games, sponsored by the Ethiopian Sport Federation, were held in Washington D.C.
from June 29 to July 5. It marked the organization’s Silver Jubilee Anniversary of its hosting of these
soccer games for Ethiopians. Since the events’ inception twenty-five years ago, Ethiopians from all over
the world have been coming together once a year, meeting as one people in some major city in North
America. It is a time Ethiopians get together, not only for the sporting events, but for family reunions,
cultural events and political events.
As tens of thousands of Ethiopians converged on Washington D.C. for this year’s events, Ethiopian flags,
music, food, colors and sports drew young and old, men and women and Ethiopians originating from
most every region of Ethiopia. These Ethiopians now live in many different cities and countries
throughout the world, but they have not forgotten their Ethiopian roots. No other event has drawn more
Ethiopians in the Diaspora to celebrate the beauty, diversity and joy of their cultural heritage than this one
week—a week that is super-charged with “everything Ethiopian.”
The Building Blocks for a New Ethiopia...........press the link above for full article.
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