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2011 Kwanzaa-Genna Holiday Celebration: Special Appearance by Miss Africa USA

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Tadias Magazine
Events News

Source: Little Ethiopia DC & African Heritage

December 24th, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Little Ethiopia DC and African Heritage is pleased to announce the 8th annual joint holiday celebration of Genna (Ethiopian X-mass) and Kwanzaa, a nonreligious holiday honoring the legacy of African American life, to be held on Monday, December 26th in Washington, D.C.

This year’s activities include a special appearance by the current Miss Africa USA, Ghyslaine Tchouaga of Cameroon, and traditional performances by the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, as well as food, drinks, music and a candle lighting ceremony. Almaz Tilahun from Ethiopia will perform the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony while Thomas an African American trained dancer will perform the unique traditional Ethiopian shoulder dance “Iskista.”

Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration with each day of the week dedicated to one of seven principles: Umoja (unity); Kujichagulia (self-determination); Ujima (collective work and responsibility); Ujamaa (cooperative economics); Nia (purpose); Kuumba (creativity); and Imani (faith). All are based on values prevalent in African cultures. “The objective of the event is to establish unity and a working relationship among two diverse communities – Ethiopian and African Americans – whose long relationship dates back to 1808 with the establishment of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. Formal diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and America commenced in 1903.

When the fascist Italian military power occupied Ethiopia in 1935 during World War II, to avenge its defeat 40 years earlier in Adwa, the African American community in Washington DC, New York and other cities organized in large numbers to raise funds in defense of Ethiopia. In his 1954 visit to the United States, Emperor Haile Selassie expressed his gratitude for the support given by the Black community to the people of Ethiopia in their heroic battle against the Italian occupation.

The Emperor invited two Washingtonians, Duke Ellington, the jazz king who grew up in the Shaw/ U Street neighborhood and Professor Leo Hansberry who started the first African Studies department in Howard University. Hansberry collaborated with Dr. Melaku Beyan, the first Ethiopian to graduate from Howard University in creating the African Studies department. The Emperor gave both Ellington and Hansberry the Ethiopian Medal of Honor.

After Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by a military dictatorship the Congressional Black Caucus led by Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm strongly supported Ethiopians in America to be given Extended Voluntary Departure Status from 1977 up to 1982 until the situation in the homeland improved.

Our joint celebration is an effort to strengthen the value, unity and diversity among people. We can continue to build a relationship of respect and mutual inclusion in everything we do by working, praying, dancing, eating, singing, celebrating together.
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If You Go:
Kwanzaa Celebration 2011
Monday, December 26th
1320 Good Hope Road
Washington D.C., SE
7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Phone:202.255.1400
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Related:
Photos: 2011 Kwanzaa-Genna Holiday Celebration

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Memorial Day Note: Tribute to African American contribution during the Italo-Ethiopian War

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Tadias Magazine
Events News

Updated: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Washington (Tadias) – On Memorial Day Americans pay tribute to U.S. Service men and women who lost their lives in defense of the nation. Earlier this month a series of events were also held in Washington D.C. to remember African American contributions in defense of Ethiopia during the second Italo-Ethiopian War that lasted from 1935 to 1941. The event was organized by volunteers from the Ethiopian-American community, and included the laying of a flower wreath in front of the African American Civil War Memorial on Mother’s Day. “This was the day to express gratitude to thousands of African Americans who rallied on behalf of Ethiopia,” says Tamrat Medhin, the event’s chief organizer. “African Americans raised money to help the Ethiopian victims, they organized and committed to fight side by side with Ethiopians but were denied permission based on the existing discriminatory laws at the time.”

In 1935, despite being a member of the League of Nations, Italy disregarded international law and invaded Ethiopia. The attack exposed the weakness of the intergovernmental security organization. Both countries were member nations and yet the League was ineffective in protecting Ethiopia against the invasion. During the war scores of African Americans had attempted to enlist to fight in Ethiopia but were unable to legally succeed in that front because the United States was not officially in support of Ethiopia. But news of Ethiopia’s plight continued to fuel indignation and furious debates among the black community in the U.S. and several individuals traveled to the African country on ‘humanitarian’ grounds.

Author Gail Lumet Buckley cites two African American pilots, John Robinson and the ‘Black Eagle of Harlem’ Hubert Julian, who joined the Ethiopian Air Corps, then made up of only three non-combat planes. John Robinson, a member of the first group of black students that entered Curtis Wright Flight School, flew his plane delivering medical supplies to different towns across the country. In New York, Chicago, and various other cities African American churches urged their members to speak out against the invasion while others organized medical supply drives from New York’s Harlem Hospital. Most notably, an African American journalist named Joel Rogers traveled to Ethiopia as a war correspondent for The Pittsburgh Courier, one of America’s most widely-circulated black newspaper at the time. Upon returning to the United States a year later, he published a pamphlet entitled The Real Facts About Ethiopia, a scathing and uncompromising report on the destruction caused by Italian troops in Ethiopia. Still other volunteers designed and passed out pins that read “Save Ethiopia.”

As people gather to honor heroes on Memorial Day it is fitting to also remember those individuals who went beyond the call of duty to help Ethiopia in its time of need.
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