If I can count the number of times I’ve had a conversation with my Abesha friends of how we aspire to give back to our people back home in Addis and how it would be great to have an NGO or build a school etc…but when the opportunity arises to give back by sacrificing time or money they are no where to be found.
So it just amazes me when I hear the same lofty aspirations from the affluent folks claiming to make a difference one day but have no plans or measurable goals to fulfill these claims. Continue reading ‘Joshua’
Sama aka nettle was used as a weapon of choice for disciplining kids in some areas back home. It grew everywhere back home and I would think it is for the most part considered a useless weed until a child misbehaves and the parent goes out looking for it.
Sometimes the mischievous child who got Sama beating at home would try to share the experience with a classmate that s/he bullies at school. The leaves are covered with tiny stinging hairs that produce stinging pain which causes itching and skin irritation that is more memorable than a simple spanking, but probably less abusive than any beating you got as a child. I also had heard some people back home used Sama to make a gomen kind of wot with it.
Nettle use has been reinvented in the US of A. I go to some of the restaurants here in Cali that gets written about on the local newspaper to try their food and also glance at the menus of the ones I don’t get to eat at. The popular and sometimes main ingredient in some of these newer restaurants has become nettle. Continue reading ‘Sama’s abuse to great use’
I read top ten lists all the time mostly about technology; or sometime designs or photography. I have read many random facts of African countries although it seems like most of the ones white people write are generic.
Like (in my California blond voice) ‘Africa has 54 countries. I thought it was a country in itself. ‘ Yes and Africans are 1/6 of the world population and we have over two thousand languages and dialects which comprise 25% of the world languages.
So yes, this list I compiled over 3 ½ weeks. My list is the most interesting and most unknown. Some wow factors, I will now stop tooting my horn and let you be the judge in no particular order:
Arabic in different dialect is the most spoken language in African with over 175 million speakers (estimated). Not only is it the most used language but it influenced many other language in Africa. Continue reading ’10 interesting facts of africa’
There’s never been a lack of intelligence in Hip-Hop; never been a lack of clever, witty lyrics and impressive flow. So what makes this cat Anthem different than the rest?
Perhaps some context is needed. Ant is a 24 year-old MC born to a loving but stern single Ethiopian mother, four years getting his degree from the prestigious yet decidedly love-me-or-hate-me Duke University, and another two in a suit in the cutthroat world of Wall Street. Oftentimes, a passion becomes a passion first by providing some type of outlet.
While in school, Ant would enter (and frequently win) freestyle battles with hundreds in attendance; he honed his lyrical acumen well before he polished his business one, and worked hard enough to escape the proverbial trap of music-as-only-way-out. While working on the Street, Ant realized his heart was always in the music, however financial difficulties at home prodded him to continue working and stand tall for his family. When presented with the opportunity to chase his dreams, he jumped on it, and the rest is where I come to today. Continue reading ‘An Anthem for the people’
Can’t imagine being estranged from their own parents for 27 years, but Sandra Laing, a “black” South African woman experienced that during the apartheid era. Born to White parents, she was born with “African features” which caused much controversy & eventually forced her to claim the race that the South African government classified her as – Colored.
A while back someone wrote about the effects of skin color on bernos, and I wrote about beauty. When I think about skin colors, I think of house Negros from the field Negros. House Negros intermingled with the white bosses and even had children with them and through generations they became lighter than their brothers and sisters in the field. Continue reading ‘Skin Color’
