The legacy of Rosa Parks sits center stage in the struggle for justice during the Civil Rights era. Her simple yet transformative act of refusing to go to the back of the bus, helped create unstoppable waves and changed the course of history. As a result, the lives of millions of Americans and immigrants from all corners of the world -- mine included – are made infinitely better compared to their humble beginnings in our countries of origin. Where do you even begin to thank people like her?
Rosa Parks proved that a single individual can and does make a difference. On the bedrock of momentum that was already established by sacrifices paid by many, her defiance was enough to tip the balance in favor of justice and equality. That tipping point transformed the crushing pessimism of the day into optimism and eternal hope. Hope and optimism that eventually gave birth to Obama’s presidency.
What would it take for Eritrea to experience a Rosa Parks moment that will help us build enough focus and courage to re-write Eritrea’s current sad history and help it take a positive turn? I don’t know for sure, but I think there are several general themes that can help.
THEME ONE – CONSTRUCTIVE OPTIMISM & POSITIVE ACTION
The regime ruling Eritrea should have been the easiest to oppose and unite against. It has alienated and abused every segment of Eritrean society regardless of age, religion or region. This should have been sufficient to start and sustain a formidable resistance, yet we continue to ignore our common plight with eyes totally off the prize. People routinely cry in their own little corners oblivious to the fact that those in the nearest corner are crying about exactly the same things. To our peril, we have failed to recognize our own echoes. Listening to what others are crying about and joining forces to solve our common problems can be a good start in ramping up towards our own Rosa Parks moment.
Two examples may help illustrate this point. Yosief G is one of the most brilliant and fearless writers I know. I have said so before in more detail in http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/4976/5/. Like any human, there are times when he is wrong. I think the tone of despair has run its course, for example, and there ought to be a limit to how long you can beat a dead horse. Yes, the regime has killed the dream thousands died for and Eritrea is now unrecognizable compared to the mental image thousands gave their lives for. But that does not mean the dream cannot be resurrected.
Pessimism is a potent negative force often leading to inaction. And what is the point of continuing to dwell on this disempowering pessimism if not to obliterate the little residue of hope remaining? Unless we reverse course soon, the likely alternative is a marginalized and weak Eritrea that will be easy prey to external forces. I am all for cooperation, confederation and even union of few, functional African countries who can come together to leverage their resources effectively in this fiercely competitive world. But for that to happen, Eritrea first needs to get its proper footing to be able to negotiate favorable terms from a position of relative strength.
It is now up to the living to make sure the sacrifices were not in vain. Although Yosief’s critical analysis is useful in exposing our weaknesses (so we can do something about them), it will be a welcome breath of fresh air if Yosief can occasionally mix things up a bit and use his brilliance to share ideas on how the reservoir of old and new sacrifices can be made worthwhile again. In short, how a Rosa Parks moment can be replicated in Eritrea to knit back the broken pieces.
Another divisive hot topic these days is the lowlander/highlander, Muslim/Christian dichotomy initiated by Ali Salim (believed to be a pen name) in awate.com. Although it is in the regime’s DNA to embezzle from anyone and from anywhere, I still support Ali’s basic grievances. But Ali’s approach is not helpful.
His broad brush lumps many innocents with the regime’s thuggish clique and alienates many who would otherwise be sympathetic to his own cause. My take is that Ali doesn’t feel represented by the Muslim members of this regime. But he seems to miss that -- for exactly the same reason -- “highlanders/Christians” don’t feel represented by its so called highlander/Christian members either. The way I see it, the regime serves no one but itself. And from what we have seen so far, its crimes do not spare anyone. There is nothing the regime wouldn’t do to abuse anyone or embezzle from anyone – be it confiscating land to sell for foreign currency, jailing aging parents for ransom or confiscating the meager harvests of the very “Hafash” for whose liberation it supposedly fought for.
Sure, the clique is composed of people and they have to come from somewhere. But to extrapolate from this that these individuals represent the interest of the places they came from is inaccurate. First, there is no evidence that the regime actually stands for anything other than power for power’s sake. Second, even within its own tight quarters, it only takes one minor mis-step for a so-called “insider” to become an “outsider” or dead – again showing greed and power are the only things worshiped here. These individuals don’t even care about their own family members let alone wider segments of populations or regions. That is why, I believe, Ali Abdu serves the regime so enthusiastically even when he was fully aware of the indignities his otherwise very dignified father suffered at the hands of the evil system.
The regime’s members are there to maintain their power at any cost and cannot be classified by religion (they are godless atheists anyway) or region. I will even go a step further to say, Isaias as the high priest of this regime, has never fought for freedom in his entire live. I admit that this could be a tall order for some to swallow but the historical evidence is there. Sure, he rode on the backs of those who selflessly dedicated themselves to the true ideals of freedom and he was for the “independence” of Eritrea from Ethiopia so he can have his own slave colony.
But he spares no one if freedom becomes the central issue. That is why his reaction to any expression of freedom BY ANYONE – from the much denigrated “menkaE” to the G15 and anything in between or since -- is the same predictable brute force. So, if he does not value freedom, what reason is there for him or those who serve him to represent any segment of Eritrea’s population that strives to be free? For the regime, anyone who demands justice, freedom, or rule of law is a threat to its power base and is, therefore, an enemy by definition.
I am sure Ali Salim didn’t intend it that way, but the way I see it, his approach serves the regime’s interests perfectly. The approach he took defuses the positive energy that would have been available for positive good and dilutes the legitimacy of real issues (including the land issue he raised), that are worth fighting for. Notice how Ali’s legitimate grievance is no longer the center of discussion as it ought to be. Instead of focusing on how to solve Ali’s and other issues afflicting the population at large, precious time and energy is wasted in meaningless witch hunts. In the process, the regime’s honchos, seeing their power base is secure, sleep soundly while the majority toss and turn.
This is not to say there is no prejudice in Eritrean society. That is a human character. In spite of the tremendous progress made and in spite of his brilliance and mixed blood that should have enabled people to see a little bit of themselves in him, there are still folks who cannot accept Obama’s presidency, for example. By the same token, some Eritreans thinking they have more in common with Ethiopia/Christainity or the Arab/Muslim world may have been too quick to abandon longtime relationships with their Eritrean brothers and sisters when they met “strangers” of their faith. But that is mainly ignorance.
There are plenty of anecdotal Eritrean cases where the bond between the faiths is legendary. As well, many Eritrean Muslims and Christians are blood relatives and it is good to see many have not lost sight of that. So, there is definitely a mix of good and bad. It simply boils down to what one decides to focus on. I also believe Eritreans are among the most binary creatures on earth who, more often than not, prefer to see the extremes of bad and good; friend and enemy; patriot and traitor etc. We typically go for the easy and lazy bad/good categorization, missing the rich and important nuances of gray in between. We also have a tendency to over emphasize the “bad” that is harmless and innocent; and often fail to differentiate it from the vicious kind of bad.
If you take any country on the planet and you step out of your door looking for evidence of hate or other human failings, you will find plenty of it before getting back home at the end of the day. On the other hand, if you put your filters on to find the best in human kindness, you will find plenty of that too. I suspect Ali Salim’s filters are mostly set to look for the worst in Christian/highland Eritrea. Not surprisingly, he found plenty to make him angry and his approach made plenty others angry in return – to the extent the good cause is almost forgotten now. The resulting compounded negative energy pretty much ignores the reservoir of goodwill that is always there – the invisible elephant in the room, so to speak. Of course, Ali has the right to express himself in any way he pleases but it would also be foolish to expect cooperation and goodwill to be the default responses.
Switching to generalities, the best case scenario for the regime is when those professing to fight injustice are constantly at each other’s throats. It is a shame that by acting this way with unnerving predictability, we are generously giving the regime the very breathing space it doesn’t deserve. I can see in my mind’s eye the regime’s architects laughing at us for our perpetual failure to rise up and fight injustice together; and at how perfectly their divide-to-rule formula has worked for them. Lucky bastards!!
According to Wikipedia, India has more than two thousand ethnic groups. It is not perfect but India does an excellent job of managing this complexity under one roof. So far, we are failing miserably in managing less than a dozen. At times, we seem to forget that Eritrea is a tiny country that would become irrelevant if divided into smaller pieces. To be viable, it needs to be a nation of justice and freedom where all its people feel safe within its borders. Even the framing of our resistances seem ineffective where every aggrieved party decides to wage a lonesome fight and wants to create its own “liberation movement”. i.e. cryng in our little corners. If the Kunamas are suffering injustice, it should be the concern of all Eritreans to right the wrong. Fighting it under a national human rights agenda -- along the lines of EGS and CIDRiE, for example -- would be a more effective way to go about it (of course, EGS and CIDRiE must be supported by the full spectrum of Eritrean society if they are to achieve these goals). If others don’t stand up on the side of the Kunamas now, their turn of suffering will surely come one day as that is one of the unfailing promises of tyranny. Without the context of a national agenda, I just can’t see what a splintered Kunama, Afar or, shall I say, a Tewahdo “liberation” movement can accomplish.
It would be far more effective to find ways to unite Eritrea’s 4 million people with a common purpose based on justice, freedom and equality. That kind of foundation will be very helpful in building the incremental critical momentum that will be necessary to get us to our Rosa Parks moment.
To be continued...
\n testifanos@gmail.com
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