Tag: #usa

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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.”

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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

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

M.Mansfield, Majority Leader of US Senate – 1963

Senate of U.S., Washington, 2nd of October 1963

“It is a great honour and privilege to welcome to the Senate an outstanding Head of State from the great continent of Africa. He governs a nation which is among the oldest, in a historic sense, in the world. It is also among the newest in its dynamic search for a more satisfying participation for all its people in the main-stream of progress in the second half of the 20th century.

The man whom I am to present to the Senate is the Emperor of an ancient land. He is also an exceptional international statesman whose constructive outlook has made a profound impression upon the contemporary councils of the world.

This man has been a living part of the great events of our times. He has experienced these events personally, and He has experienced them as the personification of a peaceful nation, determined to live its own life and to work out its own way of life. He and His nation were both caught up in the feaful tragedies, the high hopes, the illusions, and disillusions – in short, in the cataclysmic upheavals – of a globe in massive transition since the end of World War I. He has suffered much. He has risen above suffering with the wisdom which suffering alone brings; and he has triumphed, not in arrogance, not in vengeance, not in pride. His has been the enduring triumph of humility and a deep human understanding.

The Senate will remember his lonely appearance at the League of Nations in 1936. He spoke, then, from his heart, not only to save his people from invasion, but also to arrest the course of self-destruction upon which a smug, a glib, and an indifferent world was embarked. He was listened to, but He was not heeded. He was persuasive, but the nations of the world were not persuaded. And a few years later the smug, glib and indifferent world began to crumble about those who did not heed, who were not persuaded.

Once again, on Friday, our distinguished visitor will go to address the nations of the world, assembled in the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations. The times are different now; the faces are different; even the nations are different than they were when He appeared in Geneva almost 28 years ago. One would hope – and I am sure that it is a well-founded hope – that His words, enriched by these decades of tragedy and triumph and by profound personal experience, will find in that great assemblage of the world a deep response of heart and mind.”

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Haile Selassie I - Life and Works

JOINT COMMUNIQUE of HIM and J.F.KENNEDY – October 1963

JOINT COMMUNIQUE BY THE PRESIDENT AND HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY HAILE SELASSIE I, EMPEROR OF ETHIOPIA FOLLOWING DISCUSSIONS HELD IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ON OCTOBER 1-2, 1963.

“During the course of the State Visit of His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, October 1 and 2, 1963, the Emperor and President John F. Kennedy discussed important aspects of world peace and economic progress, as well as African problems and aspirations in these vital areas. The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the friendship which has for so long existed between Ethiopia and the United States, and reaffirmed their desire to continue closer cooperation and collaboration in fields of mutual interest.

Against the backdrop of the emergence of 28 new nations in Africa since the visit of the Emperor to the United States in 1954, the two leaders discussed current problems of the Continent. They reiterated their belief in the right of the still dependent territories to freedom and independence, and expressed the fervent hope that the final steps in the transition to freedom in Africa can be taken and implemented within the framework provided by the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity.

Noting the historical dedication of the Emperor to the principle of collective security, the President expressed particular appreciation of the significant contribution of Ethiopia to the establishment of unity and peace in the Congo. The Emperor and the President reaffirmed their faith in the United Nations, and deplored any action which would tend to weaken the Organization or the principles embodied in the Charter. The Emperor and the President also endorsed the principle of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity which called for ‘respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each state and for its inalienable right to independent existence.’

The President assured the Emperor of the continuance of the interest of the United States in Ethiopia’s economic development and security. In separate discussions, officials of the two governments discussed various aspects of Ethiopia’s Five Year Plan and considered possible methods of financing the accomplishments of its programs. The United States agreed to examine Ethiopian requests for United States assistance for economic development projects and to give careful consideration to assistance in the financing of agreed projects by means of long-term loans.

The Emperor extended an invitation to the President to visit Ethiopia. The President indicated his appreciation and expressed his desire to arrange such a visit as soon as his schedule permitted.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the U.S. President F.D.Roosevelt – 1954

New York – Friday, May 29 1954

“This country is happy to be visited by the courageous Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, and to entertain him as an honored guest.

Older people will remember his passionate plea to the League of Nations for the protection of his country against the invading Italian forces in 1935. And it will also be remembered that Ethiopia sent its contingent of soldiers to Korea. The Ethiopians were among the finest groups of soldiers who visited the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1951 to be congratulated by that body for their services in Korea.

In my short address to them at that time, I quoted from a speech made to them by Emperor Haile Selassie when they left for the front. It was one of the finest statements I had read of the purpose for which the U.N. was fighting in Korea, and it held high standards up for these soldiers to live by.

I hope those who greet the Emperor here will remember the fine record of his soldiers in Korea, when they fought side by side with our own men.

Ethiopia is largely a Christian country, with religious traditions going back to the earliest days of Christianity. Our citizens will be anxious to learn more of conditions in the Emperor’s country and of the ways in which our two countries can cooperate for the improvement of world conditions.”

Hyde Park – Tuesday 2nd June 1954

“On Sunday morning we had the pleasure of having the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visit us here at Hyde Park. He laid a wreath on my husband’s grave, then paid a short visit to the home and the Memorial Library. He was much interested in my husband’s variety of interests, looked at the model ships and went through the stacks where papers and books are kept.

He reached my cottage just at 1 o’clock, when the recording of his appearanee on the television program, “Youth Wants to Know,” was shown. The young people had asked him many questions and he had answered them willingly and cordially. Naturally, he wanted to see and hear the recording as it was going out over the country, so for half an hour we watched television.

Since his schedule required him to be in New York City by 4:30, he had to leave here between 2:15 and 2:30. You can imagine that a buffet lunch served to 40 persons in three-quarters of an hour is rather hurried! But I think several people had a chance to talk to the Emperor while he ate; and I had a few minutes of conversation with him quietly before he left. (…)

I found the Emperor a most delightful person. His son is very unassuming and charming, and so is his granddaughter. In fact, I have rarely had a more enjoyable official party here. Though they were hurried, they behaved as though everything was just the way they wished it to be, and I hope they will carry away pleasant memories of their short time with us.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

U.S. President L.B. Johnson – 1967

White House, Washington, U.S.A.
February 14, 1967
Your Imperial Majesty, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Chief Justice, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a high privilege tonight to honor one of this century’s most courageous, farsighted, and respected statesmen, who has earned an indelible place in the hearts of men everywhere.
Monarch of the oldest Christian kingdom and an ancient civilization, you, Your Majesty, personify to us the eternal spirit of devotion to freedom and independence of your Ethiopian people.
The essence of the Ethiopian character was put in your stirring words many years ago: “With God’s help, we have always stood proud and free upon our native mountains.”
It is difficult for me to express to you tonight the very special place that you occupy in our tradition.
Indeed, in the tradition of all mankind.
Many of us in this room tonight recall the night of June 28, 1936, when the Emperor of Ethiopia made a plea to the League of Nations.
A plea for his suffering people which was also a very moving appeal to the conscience of humanity.
Your Majesty’s final question to the League has echoed down the years with prophetic impact:
“I ask the 52 nations who have given the Ethiopian people a promise to help them in their resistance to the aggressor, what are they willing to do for Ethiopia?
“And the great powers who have .promised the guarantee of collective security to small states on whom weighs the threat that they may one day suffer the fate of Ethiopia, I ask, what measures do you intend to take?
“Representatives of the world, I have come to Geneva to discharge in your midst the most painful of the duties of the head of a state.
“What reply shall I have to take back to my people?”
We all know–to. our shame–the reply Your Majesty received.
The betrayal of Ethiopia was in truth the turning point on the road to aggression and war.
Its lesson has been etched into our memory and has spurred us in building a world where solid commitments to resist oppression are no longer just scraps of paper.
Your Majesty, we also recall with great pleasure your triumphant return to Addis Ababa. And your remarkable reconstruction of your nation as you put into action your long-held and long-frustrated ideals of modernization:
–building schools, a fine university, hospitals, dams, airports, factories;
–turning Addis Ababa into a dynamic, beautiful, modern city;
–proclaiming a revised constitution and legal system;
–training young Ethiopians for the tasks of the future in the 20th century. Your Majesty has not confined your concern just to your people.
We have all witnessed and can testify to with admiration your striking performance as a leader of Africa’s many and diverse peoples–and as a mediator in potentially explosive confrontations between various African states.
The Organization of African Unity-which your initiative in 1963 was instrumental in creating–is one of the most hopeful institutions in the movement towards peace, reason, and unity in the great Continent of Africa.
It has always been a unique privilege and pleasure for me to have an opportunity to exchange views on international affairs with one whom I consider to be one of the world’s greatest eider statesmen.
Today, as in 1963 when we last talked, we had an immediate sense of the great mutual understanding and respect that our people entertain for each other.
Your Majesty, we treasure deeply this relationship. It is my genuine and most earnest hope that succeeding generations of our peoples will continue to reinforce the solid edifice of American-Ethiopian amity and understanding.
On this happy occasion, here tonight in the first house of this land, Mrs. Johnson and I, on behalf of our distinguished guests, all of those who are privileged to come here and be together tonight, and certainly on behalf of all of the American people, propose a toast to Your Majesty–respected statesman, peacemaker in the world, and most honored and trusted friend.
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I&I Rasta

No Nuclear War

INTEVIEWER: “Why did you write the song “No Nuclear War?”

TOSH: “The situation the world is in. The world is being held ransom by what they call two superpowers. Seen? Russia and the United States. And as defender of the universe, I don’t hope to or intend to sit down and play dumb. I am a spokesman for the Almighty. When I speak, it’s just a warning, ’cause He will not speak. He will take planes out of the air like the one that happened last night and they don’t know what caused it. And lots of tornadoes and disasters that guys cannot investigate. So, because of the disaster and destruction that lies ahead in my Father’s kingdom and work that has to be done, it is my duty to let them know, irrespective of how destructive they think they are, they are not as destructive as the Almighty.”

Ancient Ras Peter Tosh, Interview with Christ Boyle 1987.

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-1953) – Message to His Majesty