Who is Ethiopian?
By
Sisay G.
Let’s
talk the hard talk
With
no simile or metaphor
Let’s
talk the candid talk
Without
sarcasm, satire or anecdote.
Who
is Ethiopian who is foreign?
Who
is the child in this house who is alien?
Could
you say you’re more Ethiopian than me,
Though
we’ve grown up on the same mother’s knee?
I say
I’m Ethiopian, but I see you say ‘no’…
Is my
skin color sufficient,
To
claim that I’m as Ethiopian as my litigant?
Am I
dark enough or suitably light,
To
maintain my birthright?
What
should I show to my Ethiopianness?
Is it
my accent when I speak Amharic?
Is it
my tone when I do the rhetoric?
Is it
my choice of words or the topic
That
determine if my Ethiopianness is authentic?
Is it
my Amharic name or my persona?
What
if I’m tolosa, or zeberga, tewelde, or tona?
Should
I be smart or idiot, tall or short?
To
convince you that I’m as Ethiopian as you assert.
To
prove that I’m Ethiopian,
Do
I’ve to sing Tizita
Or do
I’ve to dance esksta
What
if I dance ebo lala, or shegoye?
Or
sing Kuname and Gumaye
Is my
Ethiopianness put in suspicion?
If I
have a different opinion or estimation
If I
discuss the bad side of our history?
Or if
I believe truly to the contrary?
Is it
my contribution to my nation?
or is
it the empty love words that count,
Or do
I need a DNA test?
Or
should I swear at a court?
Was
not the blood my forefathers shed thick enough?
Or
was it less red in color
Or
less complex in its structure.
Where
should I come from?
Should
I be from north or south or the middle?
From
the highland or low land?
What
ethnicity should I belong to
For
my Ethiopianess to be count-to
What
should I do to be an Ethiopian when I’m told
My
birth is not enough?
Will
I be disqualified if I’m a little bit different?
Will
all my good intentions put in distrust and doubt?
If I
negate century old delusion
Dare
to face long held misconception?
Is it
not suffice that I love my country?
That
I sincerely care for all the citizenry
And
do what it takes to improve our lives
Making
sacrifices of my youth, my success or my life.
Do I
need necessarily to do the ‘I love you’ talk?
But
you’ll never mind if I walk the talk?
What
if my expression is in deeds, not in words?
With
no offence to my siblings
Who
do it that way or otherwise?
But,
no matter what you say
You
can never take my spirit away.
I
don’t say I’m more Ethiopian than you,
And
commit the same mistake of ‘holier-than-thou’
But I
am as Ethiopian as you allege
Just
different in my ways and approach.
January, 2012
