From Wall Street to Shashamene

By Mina Yirga

There is hardly a reggae artist who hasn’t dedicated at least one song to the black continent, expressing his desire to go back to the “Motherland”, or at least to witness its shores. Over the decades, international artists hailing from Africa have enabled reggae music to become the hot spot on the music map.
We know him for his first single Babylon is falling Ethiopia she is calling; Sydney, Salmon is our guest for this week’s art corner …
Tell us about your background. How would you describe your approach to music?
I was born and raised in Jamaica. I had my primary education in my hometown. Then I migrated to New York, USA and studied Business Administration and Music. I got a job as a banker on wall Street. I used to strive to find my true calling. I used to play music and read the bible seriously.  Though born in Jamaica, I was not a Rastafarian. While I was working on Wall Street, life became a bit unfamiliar for me. I had to change my course of direction and so pursued music.
When did you first arrive to Ethiopia?
The Rastafarian families that are living here in Ethiopia invited me and I came in 2000 for the first time. I had concerts here in July and spent some time in August then I went back to New York in September.
As you know, there was the September 11 issue so I couldn’t stay long. However, that was a good opportunity for me to write my first single, ‘Babylon is falling, Ethiopia she is calling.’ I was just coming from Ethiopia, I experienced the collapse of the World Trade Center and the whole conspiracy behind it. A year after, I decided to come for the second time. I met Tsedeniya Gebremarkos, our good sister. We worked on the album together.
What did you actually want to convey when you wrote the song?
I can say it is a prophetical or multi-spiritual message. We, the Rastafarians, believe God has promised Ethiopia, she will be re-established by the highest.
The arc of the covenant and true authority of God rest here in Ethiopia.  The whole world system is taking a new faith, in fear of the danger or to re-establish Ethiopia – people will come to Ethiopia, that is what I wanted to covey. The covenant people that are scattered now will come and those who have stayed or were born here are our brothers and sisters that have kept their faith. Ethiopia will rejoice in the return of her children. There are serious things happening in the world. There has to be a cultural vibe, a realistic concern. My message to Ethiopians is to dance, enjoy, but listen, so we join our hearts to make Ethiopia the best it can be.
Do you have other albums?
I have other
singles like
Shasemene and
Ethiopia Ema mayae in my mind … I am working on my new
album in Ethiopia with Abegazu
Shewota, Girum Mezemur and other top musicians. It has been four years since I came to Ethiopia so I have to share what I know and what I have learnt from these people.
Tell us about the Imperial Majesty band?
It was necessary to form the Imperial Majesty Band since we believe there has to be a cultural and musical connection or bridge between reggae and Ethiopian music. At first, we were only one sort of people, Rastafarians.  The chemistry was not perfect until we rejoined with our blood brothers Sami, Girum…Ethiopian musicians have a wonderful theory and culture: like Tizeta, Ambasel, Bati. With reggae music, we wanted to create the mix and the band was formed in 2001 in Addis Ababa. Second of all, Majesty is the Emperor Haileselasie’s title and my first work in Ethiopia was at the Imperial Hotel. So it incorporates these meanings.
Basically, what we want to do is tackle development obstacles in Africa through art, music and entrainment. At the local level, we train budding artist on the basics of music in Shashemene and plan to start in Addis too. We bring international artists here to teach the kids.
What role will you play for the new Ethiopian millennium?
I am planning to work with the same people I have worked with for the past four years. What we are planning to hold a concert at the Safari Lodge in Nazareth over five days. We have plans to bring African artists like channel O, MTV producers and artist from the Diaspora – from the Caribbean and North America – and various other reggae artists like Bob Andy, Fredlock and Sharon.  Some of the same artists are expected to perform in Shashemene as well. I am working on these with Changes Club where I perform every Saturday.
You work on charity projects as well.. Tell us about that?
As a Rastafarian me and Dr. Desta Maghoo work together to help unfortunate kids. Dr. Desta has a Children’s Village project. She is the manager and founder of the volunteer center that provides meals for underprivileged street children She teaches the children how to make candles and we show them how to sell and make money out of it. I sing every Friday at the Children’s Village: the idea is to raise money for the kids.
Do you think reggae has a future in Ethiopia?
Yes. First of all, reggae went out of Africa and champed in Ethiopia. If you listen to reggae music even before Bob Marley, like the Abyssinians, they have a song ‘there is a land far away…’ which talks about Ethiopia. It was written back in the ‘60s. There are times you want to remember where you came from. Reggae came out of such people and found communality within us.
The history of Ethiopian is written in the minds of the Rasta people. The only thing that reggae has to do right now is to produce a new hit with Tizita, Bati and so on.
Many international performers are disappointed by the low level of audience participation during concerts. What is your comment?
The situation is new and different in Ethiopia. People coming from abroad have seen something and they want to see the same thing here. However, the world outside Ethiopia is different. Westerners do not know much about Ethiopia, maybe they are here because they have had a lot of publicity and so get easily disappointed with the audience’s response. I don’t think Ethiopians are impressed by that kind of hype most of the time, you have to move them spiritually. We [Rastafarians] have the faith that we were here before as Africans. When we come here I see a blood line …..  I have been here for four years eating ‘shero wet’ and drinking ‘Tej.’ I understand what Ethiopian culture has given to us all and so it is not difficult for me to stand in front of Ethiopians.
What is your contribution to Bob’s anniversary? And what other plans do you have?
Bob Marley’s legacy was brought home when the Marley family chose to celebrate Bob Marley’s 60th Birthday with great ceremony in Addis Ababa. The ‘Africa Unite’ concert and related events which took place on May,2005 were moderately successful. This year in February 62nd birth day commemoration took place at Children’s Village. Dr. Desta Maghoo set the event. And I am glad to be part of these occasions. On April 21st we celebrate Haile Sellasie’s first visit to Jamaica. It’s the 41st anniversary and is celebrated every year in Shashemene. This year we will be honoring the late Zenebech/Cherakeresh who worked with us last year. We want to honor her at this time and present our condolences to her family.

“Harmony” of four

By Tsion Aklilu

Some arts have the power to take you to places of fantasy or pain.
‘Harmony’, an exhibition held at Dembel City Center and organized by Habesha Trading, has just such a power. This is unsurprising consider its theme of HIV/AIDS and violence against women.
Entitled “Rape 2”, a large canvas is draped in front of the entrance showing a little girl with a plastic shoe known as ‘congo’ stuck on her right foot, a bloody white sheet trapped on a thorny steel fence: the barbed wire, land, shoe and sheet are wrapped up in red. ,
“Much has been done about HIV,” says the organizer of the four artists and himself a participant Tadesse, “but still it does not touch the heart of many. So we are trying to show this through our harmonious combination of four [artists]”
Whether, in group or solo exhibitions, all have experienced fame of one kind or another except one. Paulos is an up-and-coming artist who has presented about three of his paintings. Tadesse and Yishak have worked together for the past years for the ‘ande birr lande wegen’ (one birr for one-person) auction at the Sheraton Addis. The other, Samuel, has also participated in different solo and group exhibition.
Yishake presents long necked, wide-eyed women with green and blue colored portraits at the show. Their faces are hidden in and one of the pieces shows the same woman with a long sword: “women are warriors equal to me, they support, they love and they fight. Unfortunately it is men who mostly take over the crown – the power. That is why her face is unveiled”.
‘Harmony’ runs from April 10 to XXXXX at the Dembel City Center.

Africa 2003

Burundi

This is the sixth edition of Africa 2000-our special page devoted to introducing each African nation to our wide readership. The republics of Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana and Burkina Faso have been profiled in the last five issues and we would like to thank all who e-mailed or called to express enthusiastic appreciation of the informative Africa 2000 country profiles. Capital has noted your suggestions, comments, and frank criticisms and shall endeavor to incorporate them in succeeding issues. Readers will have noted that Africa 2000 is a work in progress. It will attain a permanent format after a readership survey is conducted during the first two weeks of May. The survey will be available online on www.capitalethiopia.com and also as a cut-out questionnaire as of the last week of April.
Among the e-mailed comments was one from Torit Johnson,a South Sudanese college student and a fresh returnee from peaceful exile in Ethiopia, who wanted to know why the page was called Africa 2000. Well Torit, you may recall our introduction, which clearly stated that the page is dedicated to linking Africa with the new Ethiopian Millennium. This aim is to assist the efforts of the Ethiopian Millennium Festival organizers and also that of the African Union, which decided at the 8th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State that the great occassion shall also be an African celebration. To this end, Capitals chose to profile each African nation in alphabetical order. Africa 2000 aptly describes the continent and Ethiopia’s new millennium. Selam!Jambo!

Burundi Brief History
The Republic of Burundi is situated in one of the most beautiful sub-regions in all of Africa. The land is exceedingly fertile with high rainfall approaching Amazonian levels. Burundi enjoys adequate food supplies thanks to its fertility but this comparative advantage is off-set by a population density of 315 people per square kilometer-Africa’s second highest after Rwanda. Burundi’s land locked location in the very heart of Africa also means that it is bordered by several nations. The vast DRC on its west, Tanzania to the South-East and Rwanda to the north encircle Burundi. The eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika form a natural border with the DRC and Tanzania.
The area know as Burundi had as its original inhabitants, the Twa or pygmy people-identified by their short status. The Bantu Hutus arrived in the 16th century and were then conquered by the Tutsi (Watusi) who probably originated from Ethiopia. It is this legend that is apparently the reason for the Tutsi to have slender physique, lighter skin and a taller bearing.
The area is one of the few parts of Africa to have been colonized by the Germans in 1899. The others are Namibia, Tanganyika, and Togoland (German W.Africa). The Belgians assumed control in 1916 and administered Rwanda-Urundi under League of Nations mandate and UN trusteeship until Burundi and Rwanda gained independence on July 1, 1962.
The first of many Hutu-Tutsi confrontations began only a decade later in 1972-73 when a Hutu rebellion ended, with 10,000 Tutsi and 150,000 Hutu dead and leading to the flight of 100,000 Hutu to Tanzania and Zaire (DRC). The violence continued throughout the 80’s and up to the dawn of the 21st century.
Intense diplomatic efforts by the OAU were spearheaded by the personal involvement of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Months of negotiations resulted in the signing on August 28, 2000 ,of a preliminary peace accord in Arusha, Tanzania. Instability continued however, well into 2004 even after a 5,650 member UN peace keeping force intervened. It was later possible for a referendum to be conducted on a power sharing constitution. This achievement led to local and parliamentary elections which Pierre Nkurunziza, a former Hutu rebel commander, won to become President of the Republic of Burundi.
A contingent of several hundred Ethiopian troops were in the UN mandated mission. Several lost their lives. Returning Ethiopian soldiers remember Burundi with great fondness and cite the cheerful disposition of the people and the nation’s amazing landscape. The experience will no bond the both sisterly countries forever.
Burundi is in 2007, a fairly stable countryand should continue to be so as the culture of democracy and human rights begins to take root.

Facts
Location – Central Africa, Lakes Region
Area – 27,830 sq km
Topography –Grassy highland, mountains up to 8,300 ft
Population – 7,900,450
Distribution – Urban 9.9%
Principal ethnic groups – Hutu 85%, Tutsi 14%, Twa 1%
Principal Languages – Kirundi, French (both official ), Swahili
Principal Religions – Roman Catholic 62%, Indigenous 23 %, Muslim 10%, Protestant 5%
Capital City - Bujumbura
Government Type – In transition
Head of State and Government – President Pierre Nkurunziza, since 2005
Economy – Agriculture, light consumer goods assembly, food processing agriculture
Currency - franc (BIF) 1034.92=1USD
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – 4 b\n USD
Per capita GDP- 600USD
Growth Rate – 3%
Life Expectancy – 49.6 male, 51.0 female
Literacy – 51.6%
Daily Newspaper Circulation - 2.4 per 1000 people
Radios - 152 per 1000 people
Television sets - 15 per 1000 people
Internet - 14,000 users
HIV/AIDS Rate - 6%
Facts and figures are the latest available at time of publication and may not necessarily be the most accurate .