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In Photos: Haile Selassie’s 120th Birthday Anniversary in Shashemene, Ethiopia

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Tadias Magazine
Events News

By Ayele Bekerie, PhD

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Published: Monday, July 30, 2012

Shashemene, Ethiopia (TADIAS) – Last week, I travelled to Shashemene to witness the 120th birthday celebration of Emperor Haile Selassie. I attended the event primarily in the beautiful compound of the 12 Tribes of Israel and took pictures of the Niyabingis carnival-style celebration that took place on Hamle 16, 2004 Ethiopian Calendar (July 23, 2012).

Apart from the Shashe Band of the City that performed musical and dance selections, popular and cultural, both in Amharic and Afan Oromo, the Rastafari community demonstrated how to play the steel band, a Trinidadian musical instrument and the DJs, males and females, played great Reggae musical selections that let a large crowd rock all night long. There were also poetry readings.

The Twelve Tribes began the birthday celebration by reading chapter selections from the Bible in what they call a devotional ceremony. The theme of ‘mystical incorporation’ or ‘being born again’ manifested in their readings. According to the Twelve Tribes the scattered tribes gathered in Jamaica under the leadership of Dr. Carrington and the movement is now global. Ethiopia is one of the sites where the group resides, a site of what they call ‘maximum blessing.’

They invoked the names of Emperor Haile Selassie I, Crown prince Zerayaqob Asfawossen and Dr. Carrington in their devotional messages at the ceremony. One of the representatives of the Twelve Tribes narrated the biography of HIM. To me, it is the Rasta Community that now owns the monarchial history. It is also the community that maintains a deep-rooted faith in the monarchy and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church by performing rituals at least twice a year in conjunction with the Birthday and Coronation of HIM.

Shashemene is a fast growing city and I am impressed by the cooperation I witnessed between the Rastafari and the local Oromo communities to jointly celebrate HIM’s 120th Birthday. The Rastafari own some of the major hotels and restaurants in town and there are several multi-storied buildings in various stages of completion in Melka Oda, a part of Shashemene where there is a large concentration of the Rastafari.

Below is a slideshow of photos from the event:

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History

What Do Ronald Reagan and Haile Selassie Have in Common?

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Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, Febraury 6, 2011

New York (TADIAS) – In remembrance of President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday (Sunday, Febraury 6), TIME Magazine lists 25 other political icons from around the world that match Regan’s charisma or share similar historical status for having left enduring impressions on global affairs.

The list is an eclectic collection of inspirational leaders, freedom fighters, reformers as well as dictators and monarchs. Among those highlighted include The Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Mohandas Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Abraham Lincoln, Charles de Gaulle, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Simón Bolívar, Kim Il-Sung, Vladimir Lenin, Benito Mussolini, Mao Zedong, Franklin Roosevelt, and last but not least Haile Selassie.

Regarding the Ethiopian Emperor, TIME stated: “That he was ultimately deposed by a military discontented with his regime should not eclipse his contribution to African solidarity. Selassie gave Ethiopia its first constitution and convened the earliest meeting of the Organization of African Unity.” Historians also agree that while celebrated abroad as the father of modern Africa, the Emperor’s aloofness towards the impoverished majority in his own country, coupled with his prolonged neglect of reform voices, would eventually bring about the abrupt, unceremonious end to his rule.

Like President Reagan, Haile Selassie exhibited a commanding presence on the world stage. TIME magazine noted that “he is perhaps most widely remembered for the speech he gave before the League of Nations in 1933 as the legions of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini stormed his ill-equipped nation. The League did little to prevent Ethiopia’s defeat, but Selassie’s appeal, uttered movingly in his native Amharic, would serve as a pillar in the struggles against colonialism and fascism. With a firm internationalist bent, the last Ethiopian monarch eventually saw his country become a charter member of the United Nations. A TIME “Man of the Year” who claimed descendance from the biblical King Solomon, he ushered the continent he had unified into a distinctly African modernity.”

Click here to view the full list at TIME.com

Video: Reflecting on Ronald Reagan’s Legacy (PBS)