I got this letter in the Bobo shanty newsgroup letter. Thought the I's would find it interesting.
Assault on the Ethiopian Calendar: a Destruction Omen for the
Cultures and Traditions of Ethiopia!
By Mesfin Arega
These days, your main preoccupation seems to be mocking the Ethiopian
calendar. You have been disparaging it relentlessly week after
week, editorial after editorial urging Ethiopians to discard it
once and for all. Recently, a concerned Ethiopian wrote you an
excellent letter detailing the fallacies of your arguments and asking
you to respect our calendar. That should have been enough to lay the
matter to rest. Instead, you kept on your belittlement of the
calendar, albeit with increasing intensity. What is worse, you
ridiculed our calendar on your issue covering the most important day
of that calendar the Ethiopian New Year. For me, this is the straw
which broke the camel's back. You are behaving as an all-knowing,
unbridled I was tempted to say vulgar but I chose not to
journalist. You need a response a big response to bring you down
to earth. The real motives or causes for this vicious attack of
yours should be investigated and exposed. And this is what I am
going to do to the best of my ability. So help me God the God of
Ethiopia.
You have the right not to like the Ethiopian calendar. I do not
dispute that. However, being an editor of a paper read by many
Ethiopians, I expect you to give due respect to those values and
traditions which are precious to millions of Ethiopians the
Ethiopian calendar being one of them. Thus, if you have something to
say against the calendar, you should have said it in a respectful
manner realizing that this is something which has been with us for
thousands of years and therefore is of immense sentimental value for
us. We have been observing very important days days of jubilation
as well as days of trials and tribulations - according to this
calendar. Religious observances of our main church - the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church (another object of your ridicule) are completely
intertwined with this calendar. September 11 the New Year
according to this calendar "marks a visible transition from the
long-drawn-out rains to a more refreshing season of light and the
yellow lilies of the field
with all sort of crops ripening in the
fields
which is certainly not the case with January 1" as you
yourself has admitted.
This calendar is also intertwined with out farming system each
month named after a farming operation carried out in that time of the
year. For example, the name YEKATIT is derived from the word KETETE
(to store) indicating the storage time for harvested crops. For
more details please read "Addis YeAmarigna Mezgebe Kalat" by the
great Ethiopian lexicographer - Aleka Deta Teklewold. may the God
of Ethiopia bless his name. Had you studied his works before reading
British/French authors, you wouldn't have dared to say what you have
said about the Ethiopian calendar. But this is the fault of "our"
education system and I will come to it later - an education system
which spawned white worshippers who name the best avenue in their
capital city the capital city of Africa at that after a confirmed
racist, black basher and butcher of Omdurman Winston Churchill -
but do not give a damn to their own great Emperors, generals and
authors the likes of Emperor Tewodros (Ethiopia's Bismarck or
Garibaldi), Fitawrari Gebeyhu (the Hero of Adwa), Fitawrari Geresu
Duki (the liberator of Jimma), general Jagama Kello (Ethiopia's
Ulysses Grant), and the great Authors Aleka Kidanewold Kifle, Aleka
Desta Teklewold, and Aleka Kebede Michael ( I don't want to call him
Doctor a foreign title which is not befitting a great man like him
a title which would belittle his achievements and lump him with an
insignificant like me. No, our own "Aleka" is much better).
In short the Ethiopian calendar is part and parcel of us Ethiopians.
It is us. Without this calendar, Ethiopia will be disfigured so much
so that it can no longer be recognized as Ethiopia. No matter how
hard I try, I can't see Ethiopia remain Ethiopia after discarding
this beautiful calendar. I can't stand the months being renamed
January, February etc., and the days being named Monday, Tuesday
etc. I can't stand a year without that beautiful short month
called "Quagume" a month for cleansing our bodies in preparation
for the coming New Year. I can't stand the day when our catching
motto - "The land of thirteen months of sun shine" - can no longer be
used. I can't stand
you are driving me crazy. If you suggest
that we discard this calendar you must have extremely compelling
reasons, not the rubbish reasons you gave reasons that can easily
be shredded to pieces as I will be showing below.
Your main reason to discard the Ethiopian calendar and adopt
Gregorian calendar is "in the interest of internationalism". Let me
ask you a question my Ethiopian brother. Wait a minute, you may not
like the term "Ethiopian" because it definitely is not "in the
interest of internationalism". No problem, I will address you as
my "international brother". Happy? Good. Now, my international
brother, what exactly is internationalism? What does it mean to
you? Are you sure you are not using this fancy term to deceive the
gullible, when what you really mean is "in the interest of Euro-
centrism" or more specifically, "in the interest of British /French
hegemony " (I use the term British/French loosely to include their
offspring like the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand ).
Doesn't internationalism essentially mean adopting British/French
standards and, by implication, getting rid of everything African,
Asian etc.? Doesn't it mean that the entire world should be judged
in The Hague by the British/French the very people who have
committed the greatest crimes humanity has ever witnessed against
blacks, American aboriginals, Australian aboriginals, Japanese and
the rest of Asians? Doesn't internationalism mean
the "international" judges be the "international" criminals
themselves or, as our beautiful saying goes, "Abatu Dagna, Liju
Kemagna"?
Yes it is obvious that you disdain the Ethiopian calendar However,
I suspect the calendar is just one aspect of your disdain for
everything Ethiopian. Today you tell us to discard our calendar "in
the interest of internationalism". Tomorrow, you will definitely
tell us start counting the time of the day, not from the evening as
we do now, but from midnight, again "in the interest of
internationalism" - not realizing that our method is the best method
for our location on the globe (day time and night time being nearly
equal) and that the Europeans - your heroes I might say - were forced
to start counting time from midnight, only because the lengths of day-
time and night-time widely fluctuate with the seasons. The day
after tomorrow, you will tell us to abandon our languages, once
again "in the interest of internationalism" not caring to
appreciate the fact that Ethiopian languages (Amharic, Oromiffa, Geez
etc.) are some of the most beautiful languages to listen to, are
highly descriptive, and given proper attention can equal, if not
surpass, the language you are alluding to when you talk of "in the
interest of internationalism" the English language. Then you will
tell us discard our religions and become Anglicans/Catholics, yet
again "in the interest of internationalism" - not knowing that
Ethiopians were monotheists long before even the Romans. Another
day, you will advise us to discard the Ethiopian flag and adopt an
international flag - maybe the union jack - again for the sake of
internationalism. In short you are after the eradication of each and
everything which has Ethiopian signature - each and everything which
sets Ethiopia apart from the rest of the world, each and everything
which makes Ethiopia unique - one by one until Ethiopia ceases to be
Ethiopia and become a full-blown "international".
Another of your ridiculous reasons for getting rid off the Ethiopian
calendar is "to prove the British historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)
wrong that "Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their
religion, the Aethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of
the world, by whom they were forgotten" by doing so. This says a lot
about your mentality your mode of thinking. It proves my
contention that your "internationalism" is nothing but seeking
approval by the British/French. Anything which does not get the nod
from the British/French is not "international" and therefore should
be discarded. Obviously you care a lot about what a British author
or historian has to say than about the tradition and culture of your
own country. What a pitiful state of mind!
Your arguments against the Ethiopian calendar expose your lack of
knowledge about UNIQUENESS and what it means to a country and its
people - culturally, psychologically and economically. Uniqueness is
identity. Uniqueness is pride. Uniqueness is attractive. Nature
favors uniqueness over uniformity. Every natural thing it unique.
Likewise, every country should cherish what makes it unique and
respect that of others. This is what proud and self-respecting
people do. They do not rush to discard their values and beliefs and
adopt those of others. Instead, they are extremely proud of their
values and beliefs and try their best to make others adopt them. Why
do you think the British and the Japanese keep their monarchy even
though it is sort of outdated and certainly not "in the interest of
internationalism"? Why do you think, the USA sticks to
its "awkward" feet-pound system, even though it is used by only a few
other countries and therefore is detrimental to export oriented US
industries? Why do you think the Chinese adore their writing system,
even though it can be very inconvenient for word processing? Why do
you think the Indians revere their dressing style?
You are fond of reminding us Ethiopians that what we call "Ethiopian
calendar" is not actually Ethiopian but an "archaic
calendar ...devised by an Alexandrian astronomer known as Sosigenes
at the behest of Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.". Are you accusing our
ancestors of plagiarism? Is this your tactic to embarrass the young
generation into accepting your infantile proposal? Are you telling
us that what we have been using for thousands of years is not ours?
Are you implying that we Ethiopians are second rate people not
capable of creating anything worthy? What exactly do you know about
this calendar? What if Sosigenes didn't create this calendar but
simply formalized it, or worse still, falsely claimed it to be his
own invention? What if European historians whose overriding
presumption is that whites are at the root of every invention
falsely attributed it to Sosigenes? The moral of this paragraph is
this: do not simply parrot what white historians tell you. Always
take it with a grain of salt never forgetting for a single moment
that the first and foremost objective of white historians is not
history as such but the promotion of white interest via history -
fabricated or otherwise.
You need to be told that the very first book explaining the cyclical
nature of the seasons - by describing the different constellations of
stars in the sky - was written in Ethiopia by an Ethiopian. This is
none other than the book of Enoch the predecessor to the Bible and
the Koran. You should also know that the very first people to apply
this knowledge for predicting the flooding of the Nile, among other
things - were the Ethiopians (blacks) who used to live in what is now
called EGYPT after the nearly total annihilation of the original
inhabitants the descendants of the pharaohs by the yester-comers
Arabs and Turks, in pretty much the same way blacks are being
slaughtered right now - before our own very eyes - in Southern Sudan,
though the slaughtering is now being done not by Arabs but by pseudo-
Arabs with full material and moral backing of the entire Arab
world, from the commoner all the way up to the top. No wonder that
African elites - products of English/French designed "education"
are mute about the plight of millions of their brethren in Darfur
trained as they were not to value black life but clamor about minor
incidents by comparison with Darfur - happening in Zimbabwe, Iraq
and Palestine. Do you dear editor of Addis Tribune realize that
you have been constantly editorializing about the plight of Arabs in
Iraq and Palestine but scarcely mentioned Darfur? While we are at
it, can somebody tell these Arabs - who claim the entire Palestine
for themselves and aspire to drive Jews out of Israel that exactly
the same logic can be used - and should be used - to chase them out
of the entire north Africa. Or, to settle the land question once and
for all - as these Arabs think they have done with respect to North
Africa and are now trying to do it in southern Sudan should Jews
decimate the entire Arab population of Palestine?
No, my dear international brother, the concept of a calendar is not
something Africans took from Europeans. It is one of the countless
things Europeans took or rather robbed from Africans and later
claim to be of their own invention to propel their false sense of
superiority. My problem is not their lie. My problem is that you
an African believe their lie and do your utmost to propagate it
seeding a feeling of inferiority in your own people.
Maybe you think that you are an elite just because - typical of
most Ethiopian elites you speak English, know British history by
heart, and can quote Shakespeare and other British authors. Anyway,
maybe you think that this gives you the green light to freely impose
your will on the Ethiopian people to discard every value and
tradition you deem bad or "not international". But how do you tell
the good from the bad? What is your criterion?
Have you considered the possibility that what appears to be bad
or "archaic" as you are fond of saying - when viewed from
British/French perspective can be extremely beautiful and modern when
viewed from African or black perspective? Maybe you don't know how
to look at African values from African perspective. In that case, it
is none of your fault. The blame is totally on "our" education
system designed as it was by the English weeds to different kinds
of crops collectively known as the human race; cancers to human
culture and diversity; curses to mother nature; murderers to
millions of Africans, American aboriginals, Australian aboriginals
and Asians. In due time, they will get what they deserve from the
Almighty, or whatever you choose to call the power above. Of that, I
have no doubt.
However, now that you are an adult, you should attempt to rectify
your defective "education" if you can call it education at all.
Read books by black writers, historians and philosophers such as the
great Marcus Garvey (I suggest the title "Africa for Africans").
And - thanks to "our education" which spawned generations of white
worshippers who disdain everything their own if you do not consider
reading Amharic books beneath your intellect, read books by the great
Ethiopians like Aleka Kidanwold Kifle and Aleka Deta Teklewold. How
about books by the great Kebede Michael who, in my opinion is the
equal of , if not better than, Shakespeare if only we Ethiopians
know how to revere our own. Read one of his works, say "Hannibal",
which viewed from African perspective is much better than
Othello. And, definitely, you should read his "How Japan Developed".
Yes, I hear you. You are laughing. What a stupid creature to
compare Kebede Michael with the incomparable William Shakespeare! If
only you knew that you are laughing at yourself. At least we know
for sure that Kebede's works belong to Kebede himself. Who knows who
the real Shakespeare was and whether that person actually wrote all
the plays attributed to him? In any case, isn't it boring to always
quote Shakespeare and other western authors as you are fond of
doing? Wouldn't it be nice to spice it up with Ethiopian sayings
of which we have plenty. Are you like most of Ethiopian elites
afraid to use Ethiopian sayings because you will be called a BALAGER
or uncivilized? Do you measure the extent of your "education"
again like most Ethiopian elites do by how little you know about
your own values and culture? Need I remind you that the present
predicament of Ethiopia is caused by none other than its so-called
educated elite who had scant knowledge of foreign ideologies but
absolutely no clue about the history and tradition of their own
country except that in their distorted view - it is backward and
therefore should be totally annihilated? Isn't that what the EPRP
and TPLF both viceroys of Shabia - aiming for?
I am worried. I am very worried indeed. Our dear and holy country
is at present being "lead" by infantile personalities who worship
everything foreign and disdain everything Ethiopian with equal
fervor - whose greatest hero is a certain Albanian nationalist
called "Enver Hoxha" and whose greatest villain is the greatest
emperor of the 19th century at least from African perspective
Emperor Menelik. God forbid the day you befriend some of them and
tell them of your ill-advised if not devilish ideas, discarding
the Ethiopian calendar being one of them. Or are you, as an insider,
informing us of - or preparing us for - imminent anti-Ethiopian
actions to be taken by the ruling clique? Is this the beginning of
the end for Ethiopia, as we know it?
I got to stop here. You have no idea how much you are tormenting
me. However, I have nothing against you as a person, but am only
against some of your ideas. In fact I have the greatest respect for
the majority of your work. May the God of Ethiopia open your eyes
and emancipate you from the mental bondage you are in. May he shine
upon you the light the true light?
Ed.'s Note: The author of the editorial found the article very
amusing. To quote Shakespeare once more indeed, "the lunatic sees
more demons than vast hell can hold." n
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