Month: February 2025

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Ethiopia in Western Culture

Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus , was a Roman historian and politician of the I century A.D. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.

In his major work, called Histories, he offers a chronicle of the Roman imperial policy of the first century: due to its important presence and activity in Judea and Jerusalem in that period, he also speaks about the Jews as people, and reveals the common roman persuasion that they were of Ethiopian origin (Book V, Chapter 2):

”plerique Aethiopum prolem, quos rege Cepheo metus atque odium mutare sedis perpulerit.”

“Many more claim them to be of Ethiopian stock, forced to migrate, out of fear and hatred, in the reign of Cepheus.”

This confirms the teachings of the Bible and the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition we have already explored:

“Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord.” (Amos 9,7)

Cepheus was the father of Andromeda, a relevant character of the mythological story of Perseus, enterely situated in Ethiopia. This idea about the origin of the Hebrew nation shows that in those days they should not appear as white europeans as they do now, after 2000 years of mixing with the western communities.

Categories
Haile Selassie I - Anecdotes

The Farewell of Princess Hannah Mariam Meherete-Selassie before the Revolution (1974)

“This evening was unusual. I had to tell my great-grandfather that I was going to Europe. I was excited, and yet something did not feel right because my mother only gave me one day to pack my bags. I remember how she persuaded me to go. She said I was going to see my two cousins who had recently left for boarding school in England. Also, I would go on a skiing vacation to Geneva, Switzerland. I would be back in two weeks. After a lot of agonizing, I resolved to tell my mentor the impending news. I opened the door to his private residence area and saw him standing in the middle of the room near where he had his desk. I bowed down and greeted him with a kiss. He smiled at me and said, ‘Mendin new wedaje? [What is it, my friend?]’ I restated what my mother had told me in a flippant sort of way, hoping he would disagree with her. He had disagreed with her in the past about her insisting on me not wearing any pants because girls only wore skirts. I hoped that he would rule on my side again. I was feeling sad, and my eyes were almost filling with tears. My heart sank when he looked at me and said, ‘Malefia, yihun. [This is acceptable. So be it.]’

Knowing I could not change his mind, I sucked it up and told myself it was going to be OK. At the same time, I did not relish the idea of leaving my home and my family. Besides, I knew I had to travel alone, and that made me concerned. I had this feeling in my gut that this might be the last time I would see my great-grandfather, who had raised me like his daughter since a very young age. I thought to myself, ‘This can’t be happening. No way. I have to come back to Ethiopia one day. This is my birthplace. This is my home.’

While all these thoughts were speeding through my mind, I noticed he slipped a small, sealed white envelope into my hands. ‘This is for your journey,’ he said. I accepted the envelope and bowed again—this time with a lump in my throat—but I was determined not to cry. I turned around toward the door that led out to the hallway. When I opened the envelope, I found several crisp US hundred-dollar bills, which I placed in my purse.”

(Taken from “It was Only Yesterday”, Hannah Mariam Meherete-Selassie, 2018)

Categories
Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

President of the Foreign Press Association in U.S. – 1963

Press Conference at the U.N. Headquarters
New York, 4th of October 1963

President of the Foreign Press Association in U.S. :

“With deference, we are happy to pay tribute to Your Imperial Majesty, and in so doing, on behalf of many of us, I should like to express our emotion at seeing You in the United Nations. For men of my generation, particularly, brought up in our youth in the cult of freedom and dignity, you already, twenty-eight years ago, were an authentic hero of legends, namely, a man who dedicated his courage and faith to the defence of human rights, be they of His country of anywhere else in the world.

The destiny of Your Imperial Majesty was and still is a great one, and Your presence today in this great home, a distant heir of the League of Nations that was so tragically unjust to You, is one of the very few symbols of poetic justice. But You have seen the immense emancipation of Africa, and it was You who were the first and the greatest inspiration of it. It is, therefore, only fair and just that the forward of African independence be organized and decided upon in Your capital.

We, Sir, are extremely honoured at the visit of Your Imperial Majesty, and we sincerely hope the best for You, Your person and Your country, Sir.”

EMPEROR: “I wish to thank you for your kind words and I trust that all you have said will be found in history. You have repeated it, and I thank you for so doing.”

Categories
HIM Visits USA 1954

Chicago Defender June 12, 1954 – SELASSIE’S SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR NEGROES

Chicago Defender, Saturday June 12, 1954
By James L. Hicks

“SELASSIE’S SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR NEGROES

Emperor Haile Selassie Wednesday advised the colored people of the United States to continue to press their social and intellectual advancement forward ‘with Christian courage’ and to be confident that justice and equality will eventually triumph throughout the world.

The direct message to Negro Americans was given by the Emperor in the first exclusive interview he has granted since arriving here May 25.

The message came after this reporter had informed the Emperor’s staff that there was confusion in the minds of colored Americans as to the Emperor’s position on the racial question and asked the Emperor directly if he had a message for the colored people of America.

The Emperor’s direct reply to this reporter’s question was:

‘My message to the colored people of the United States is that they continue to press forward with determination, their social and intellectual advancement, meeting all obstacles with Christian courage and tolerance, confident in the certainty of the eventual triumph of justice and equality throughout the world’. #QHS

During the brief but exclusive interview the Emperor also exploded the oft repeated rumor that the people of Ethiopia do not wish to be identified with the colored people of America or associate themselves with their problems.

With this rumor in mind I asked the Emperor this question:

KINDRED FEELING

‘Is there a kindred feeling between your people and the colored people of America?’

The Emperor replied: ‘The people of Ethiopia feel the strongest bond of sympathy and understanding with the colored people of the United States. We greatly admire your achievements and your contributions to American life and the tremendous development of this great nation’. #QHS

‘I have’, the Emperor said, ‘been deeply impressed by the warmth of the reception which the colored people of the United States have reserved for me’.” #QHS

Categories
Haile Selassie I - Anecdotes

Nkrumah’s Resistance at OUA Conference (1963)

“Yet however different the delegates’ political standpoints may have been, Haile Selassie threw all his weight behind ensuring that the conference was a success. When Nkrumah saw that his plan for a United States of Africa was not well received by his fellow leaders, he was determined to leave the conference without more ado. Even the most impassioned pleas could not alter the Ghanaian president’s resolve, and the meeting seemed on the verge of imminent failure. At the eleventh hour, however, Haile Selassie took Sekou Toure on one side. Clutching his hand, the emperor looked deep into his eyes and addressed the president of Guinea: ‘Mon fils, je vous prie’ (‘My son, I beg you’), imploring him to prevail upon his ‘brother’ Kwame Nkrumah to come back to the conference table. Moved by this intervention, Sekou Toure replied: ‘Oui pere, je vais essayer.’ (‘Yes father, I’ll try’). And he did indeed succeed in getting Nkrumah to return to the negotiations.”

(Taken from “King of Kings”, Asfa-Wossen Asserate, Haus Publishing, 2015 p. 232)