Chapters:

00:00 - The Significance of Black August and the Black Radical Tradition . 02:51 - The Connection Between the Black Radical Tradition and the Struggles in the Horn of Africa

10:34 - Discarding the Fetishization of the Abyssinian Feudal Monarchy 21:17 - The Role of the Black Diaspora in the Horn of Africa

24:01 - Questioning Reformism and Involvement with Code Pink and Amnesty International

28:19 - Recognizing and Resisting the Counter-Insurgency Efforts of the State 36:36 - Rejecting Ethnocentric Rhetoric and Unity Against Imperialism

37:29 - Eritrea's Engagement with Iran: Development and Security

45:09 - Ending Militarization in Somalia: Rejecting Foreign Troops

51:17 - The Ethiopian Airlines Fiasco: A Continuation of Imperialism's Tactics

56:20 - Constructive Criticism and Political Evolution in the Pan-African Movement

Summary

In this episode, Filmon Zerai discusses the significance of Black August and its connection to the struggle in the Horn of Africa. They emphasize the importance of the black radical tradition and its recognition of the Eritrean liberation struggle. Filmon Zerai also criticizes the fetishization of the Abyssinian feudal monarchy and the romanticization of the Battle of Adwa, calling for a mature and evolved approach to African unity. They also question the effectiveness of reformism and the involvement with organizations like Code Pink and Amnesty International. This conversation covers various topics related to the Horn of Africa, including the role of imperialism, the engagement of Eritrea with other countries, the situation in Somalia, developments in Tigray, and the Ethiopian Airlines fiasco. The speaker emphasizes the need to reject ethnocentric rhetoric and focus on the common enemy of imperialism. They also discuss the importance of constructive criticism within the Pan-African movement and the need for organized action.

Takeaways

Black August is an important month that highlights the struggle of black prisoners of conscience revolutionaries

The black radical tradition recognizes the Eritrean liberation struggle and rejects the fetishization of the Abyssinian feudal monarchy

Reformism and involvement with organizations like Code Pink and Amnesty International may not align with the principles of the black radical tradition

A mature and evolved approach to African unity is needed, moving away from romanticized narratives and focusing on liberation and anti-imperialism Imperialism is the common enemy in the Horn of Africa, and it is important to reject ethnocentric rhetoric and focus on unity against imperialism.

Eritrea's engagement with other countries, such as Iran, can be seen as part of the resistance axis against imperialism.

The situation in Somalia highlights the need to end the militarization of the country and reject the presence of foreign troops.

Developments in Tigray reveal the complexity of the political landscape and the need for a clear revolutionary path.

The Ethiopian Airlines fiasco should not be viewed as a conflict between Eritreans and Ethiopians, but as a continuation of imperialism's aggressive tactics.

Constructive criticism within the Pan-African movement is important for growth and improvement.

Organized action and unity are crucial in the fight against imperialism and for the liberation of the Horn of Africa.

Keywords

Black August, black radical tradition, Horn of Africa, Eritrean liberation struggle, Abyssinian feudal monarchy, Battle of Adwa, reformism, Code Pink, Amnesty International, Horn of Africa, imperialism, Eritrea, Somalia, Tigray, Ethiopian Airlines, Pan-Africanism

Uprising: forces, structures, and possibilities 

Mahder is currently a PHD student in Political Science

Research on the 2019/2020 uprising plus local resistance committee and tea seller unions by engaging Sudanese scholar and activists

Historical points and questions.

On February 12, 1952, Egypt and Britain

How do you view the issue of Nubians and their struggle in both states? Where do the Nubians fit into the narrative of Pan-Africanism and the National Question? Are they an oppressed nation within nation-states?

What was the position of the Sudanese Communist Party in regards to South Sudanese grievances during the early years? 

It seems Sudan still has active labor unions that impacted and shaped the protest in Sudan. Why do you think the western press ignores that or mis-characterizes the class dynamic of the Sudanese protest and anti-neoliberal narrative? Or have you noticed that?

What is the communist view on Pan-Africanism and Pan-Arabism? What is your view on Sudan being viewed as an Arab state and anti-African racism?

 Jaafar Nimeiry 1969-1985--was supported a socialist branch Sudanese Socialist Union

falling out with the Communist party---first person who installed the Sharia law

Somali freelance journalist Mohamed joins this episode for a critical focus on Somalia

http://halganmedia.net/

https://twitter.com/Free_Somaliweyn

Can you explain your take on the anti-colonial history of Somalis against various colonial power and how that shaped Somali nationalism from then to now?

How do you feel about the influence of Saudi Arabia and sponsorship of the Whabbist/Salafist line in Somalia as a counter against Somalia nationalists aligned with egalitarian or socialist Islam tendencies?

What is your view on the history of Ogaden and the Somali region in Ethiopia?

How do you view Turkish/NATO presence in Somalia?

How do you view the question of Somaliland and the current efforts to instigate tension by London/Washington via Taiwan vs China?

Can you explain the events that led to rise of the ICU to crush warlords in Somalia prior 2007?

Why do you feel Eritrean and Somalis are closer when recognizing the danger of Abyssinia Fundamentalism?

How do you feel about federalism vs centralized state in Somalia and the role of Melez Zenawi to create that 4-1 clan system of model?

Your view of the TPLF role in the 90s era in prolonging anarchy and war lors

Do you feel Somalia is ignored by the left in media spaces in comparison to Ethiopia? Both Somalia and Eritrea were sanctioned the last 18 years but we didnt see that focus but now Ethiopia is the focus.

"If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized because we serve the people. Anyone, no matter who may point out our shortcomings. If he is right, we will correct them. If what he proposes will benefit the people, we will act upon it."-Mao

FEEDBACK

 These western leftists absolutely need to just keep it at imperialism and stay away from the internal politics of Ethiopia. Just being in pfdj promotes you to address the primary contradiction which is imperialism. But the lack of 

acknowledgement of secondary contradictions by pfdj leads to a lack of understanding of an analysis on how the ruling class exploits these secondary contradictions to further their agenda. These secondary contradictions are weaponized to exasperate the primary contradiction. How tplf is using the plight of the oppressed nationalities to mask their elitist ideology. Ppl like Simon dismiss the oppressed as just tribalists. And it stops there for them, offering no validity to the oppressed masses who instead fall for tplf rhetoric that appears to be more in line with the oppressed. This alienates them like you said, and that’s a legitimate critique of the no more movement. This adds a lot of issues. 

This also gives legitimacy to Abiy, who on top of being even having more neoliberal policies than tplf, has denied historical grievances of folks in Ethiopia and even in America, and like you said you can oppose and fight against imperialism without totally endorsing the other side. It shouldn’t stop at just primary contradiction.

While EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party) was actively resisting derg, they still aligned with dergs decisions to oust western puppet entities from Ethiopia. 

An example of being principled and aligning on the right side w/o endorsing the other side

CRITICISM

You repeatedly state that Abiy started this war with TPLF, 

contrary to TPLF's own words in which they state they launched a "pre-emptive strike" against multiple northern command bases on Nov 4th.

Just simply "having positions" doesn't really mean anything if it doesn't translate to material action. In my opinion, many on the left, save a few organizations, are failing to capture the moment of what is essentially a pan-African movement against neo-colonial designs.

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/principles-of-unity

 What end is having a critique of the GOE while under attack by US backed forces supposed to contribute to the global movement? 

Should the left not unite with the #NoMore movement against imperialism or should it?

Listening to this I hear a lot of strawmen. Nowhere in any of the breakthrough or black agenda report coverage of the war have I seen anyone praise Abiy as some kind of socialist anti-imperialist hero.Seems unfair to suggest that's their position when it isn't.

Also like...what? "Take away the TPLF?" This isn't materialist at all, seeing as the TPLF is a heavily armed belligerent and player in the current conflict. 

This is an appeal to idealism in the middle of a war in which there will eventually be a victor and a vanquished.

Just wondering exactly what the endgame is here? 

So people shouldn't be mobilizing against US supported regime change in Ethiopia because Abiy is a capitalist? 

Should we take a "neither x or y" approach while a fascist proxy group continues its onslaught across the country?

POSITION

Examine why PFDJ or Eritrea are in alliance with Amhara region?is it right? The primacy of the class struggle over the national question is an issue

All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement(MEISON) vs EPRP*(Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party)

However, there were some sticky political problems for both the TPLF and EPRP regarding Eritrea. While they recognized the struggle for the Eritrean independence as genuine, they had differences as to whether the case was a ‘colonial issue’ or not. Without conducting the necessary study or having appropriate discussions, the TPLF held the view that the Eritrean case was a ‘colonial question.’ as the EPLF wanted it to be. 

It was probably an opportunistic stand , designed to outflank the EPRP from the privileged position the EPLF offering it. 

Without understanding the consequences that were to haunt it in the discourse of Ethiopian political history, this position continued to be the stand of the TPLF for years to come.

Another area of difference was over Eritrea and the guerrilla struggle for independence there. EPRP showed much greater sympathy for the guerrillas, particularly for the more radical Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation Front (EPLF). Many early EPRP cadres were trained and armed by the EPLF, and the EPRP’s armed wing used EPLF-held areas as a base when it commenced armed struggle in the north. MEISON accepted the right of self-determination for the nationalities, including the right of secession (which the EPRP was itself ambivalent on),

 but it denied the revolutionary validity of the Eritrean struggle in general and the EPLF in particular. 

The PMAC’s opponents, especially those in the various ethnic liberation movements, charge that the PMAC has become in fact the prisoner of the Amhara nationality, the ruling group under Haile Selassie. Amharas make up some 75 percent of COPWE’s central committee, reflecting the power structures of the military and civilian bureaucracy inherited from Haile Selassie. 

Amharas also hold approximately 60 percent of the appointments to the regional COPWE committees

 Promoting an agenda for lasting changes going far beyond those proposed since the revolution began in January, the Derg proclaimed Ethiopia Tikdem (Ethiopia First) as its guiding philosophy.

Giving an assessment of #NoMore is similar to #BLM and how BAR/Bruce Dixon gave the same critical pushback as well via class analysis and other tools of socialism

Important episode to consider what does principled anti-imperialist solidarity suppose to look like for the Horn of Africa with critical three points

1. Let's examine the left content creators and journalist position as being too pro Abiy/PP due to the sourcing info from the Abyssinian (Amhara region)/PFDJ alliance that is led to the creation of the new diaspora based #NoMore movement and current development...Why did they do this? Maybe the motivating factor is for social media traction/audience metrics/donations etc

You take away the TPLF you can see why the people and advisors or allies of Abiys are neoliberal and reason why is in alliance with them is they all share common ideology views on neoliberalism and overall Abyssainid views on what is Ethiopia and its future..

Including Berhanu Nega as education minister, in a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday. The others are Belete Molla, who comes in as innovation and technology minister and Kejela Merdassa as the head of the culture docket.

The Ethiopia’s far-right -ultra-unionist PM Dr Abiy Ahmed and his conspirator ally Professor Berhanu Nega’s parties- namely Exclusive Prosperity Party (EPP) and Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (ECSJ) are advocating Western liberal democracy and liberal economy as model capable of saving Ethiopia and its subjects.   

Berhanu Nega wrote policy papers for the World Bank, which were later included in the Kinijit (CUDCoalition for Unity and Democracy) Manifesto

The Kinijit (CUD) Manifesto. Attached snippet calling for the implementation of free market liberal democracy 

“[Mr Abiy] is extremely interested to see a strong private sector that can generate jobs for the millions of youths that are currently unemployed,” said Mr Abebe, 38, who worked at the World Bank before Mr Abiy asked him to join the commission.

“And I think that is consistent with the whole economic reform agenda. For so long economic growth has been fuelled by state investment and now the state should cede space to the private sector and play its natural arbiter role as a regulator,” he said. 

https://www.ft.com/content/38c9e736-7e49-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/15/suspicion-and-fear-linger-as-ethiopia-campus-wars-go-quiet

Wed 15 Apr 2020 07.21 EDT

The government is now looking at alternative funding models, including student loans. “There should be some kind of co-financing from the private sector,” said Tassew Woldehanna, president of Addis Ababa University. “Students need to start paying.”

In January, the Minister of Higher Educationsuggestedthat free tuition was partly to blame for conflicts because it made it harder for universities to maintain the quality of education and housing for the roughly 200,000 new students enrolling each year. In 2000, Ethiopia hadjust two universities; now there are 45. It is one of thefastest expansions in higher education in the world, but without a concomitant rise in standards.

Abiy and Crrypto connection

Cardano is not new to Ethiopia, in 2018 the government signed a deal with Cardano to incorporate blockchain technology to the agritech industry. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, since Ethiopia is a latecomer to:

 Jack Dorseyvocalized his support of Project Mano, a group of Ethiopia-based entrepreneurs who want to get the Ethiopian government to consider mining and storing Bitcoin

I would like to thank@IMF& my dear sister@KGeorgievafor IMF’s extraordinary support of Ethiopia’s Home Grown Economic Reform Program amounting to USD 2.9 billion. Building on our past success, we have embarked on a new journey to set Ethiopia on a path to prosperity.

https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1205152845818945536

"Borrowing from IMF and WB, is like borrowing from [one's] mother"- PM Abiy speaking in a peace conference in Addis Ababa.

.... "Because after they give us a billion birr, they tell us to pay it in 20, 30 yrs with a 2, 3, 4 % interest rate. What has hurt Ethiopia is not borrowing from these institutions but from companies or other countries. ....

https://twitter.com/Kal_KidanY/status/1208046969618337793

He was invited to The Economist party 

https://amp.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/09/19/ethiopias-democratic-transition-is-in-peril?__twitter_impression=true

‘My model is capitalism’: Ethiopia’s prime minister plans telecoms privatisation

https://www.ft.com/content/433dfa88-36d0-11e9-bb0c-42459962a812

2. There are voices on Twitter who pushes the TPLF line under the veneer of anti-imperialist positioning aswell

To answer the second point Under TPLF was SOE but corrupted and was making concession to the IMF and global finance to certain extent

Ethiopa 75%+ of its budget via aid financing, it basically is a USAID client state to an extent, and Abiy’s agenda highly depends on WB + IMF financing, 

Ethiopiahas privatized SOEs in phases 1994-98 /1999 - 2004. Impact analyses show that privatiz|n only benefited 2 large conglomerates. 1st -TPLF/ EPRDF’s EFFORT, 2nd -MIDROC, with close tie with EPRDF. Both operate as duopoly hindering competitiveness 

That “reliant on donors” part hurt. All those years of “fast growth” and “10 %+ growth” and Ethiopia is still one of the most aid dependent countries on the continent? 

3. Examining the #NoMore Movement the way forward and recognizing what’s right

Quote by Wallelign Mekonnen Nov. 17, 196was aMarxiststudent activist and militant active in theEthiopianStudent Movement 

https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/nationalities.pdf

On this episode, we discuss the latest updates on Ethiopia and Sebs research on via "Blockchain Technology & Coercive Surveillance of the Global South" https://solartsunami.medium.com/blockchain-technology-coercive-surveillance-of-the-global-south-bec05246e749

Sebs on Twitter https://twitter.com/RedSeaCactus

Cryptocurrency Is About Data-Mining Not Economic Liberation w Sebs Solomon via Black Power Media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoZIDO5VBZk

Jackson Palmer Tweets

https://twitter.com/ummjackson/status/1415353984617914370

From Eritrea to Bolivia: Who Supported the Washington Backed Coup?

https://hoodcommunist.org/2020/12/24/from-eritrea-to-bolivia-who-supported-the-washington-backed-coup/

The Human Rights Foundation Connection to Bitcoin and Meron Estafnos

Oslo Freedom Forum (@OsloFF and Bitcoin

https://twitter.com/gladstein/status/1405216053215461379

https://hrf.org/speakers/meron-estefanos/

https://twitter.com/AnitaPosch/status/1408047323503075334

How the late 1800s crated Ethiopian mythology is a counter-ideological resistance to the Haitian Revolution

Haitian Revolution from 1791-1804 vs Abyssinia Adwa in 1896

The Haitian revolution put  fear & nightmare in European colonial powers not Abyssinia 

Ask yourself why wasHaitipenalize after its revolution & trapped into debts to the French for decades while Abysinnia after Battle of Adwa got support in nation building from European powers?

I always said the Haitian revolution should have been the only symbol of black resistance from the 1800s for the Black diaspora & Africa not Abyssinia

Haiti is a narrative of slaves revolting

Abysinnia is a feudal monarch who enrich themselves from slavery in 1800s 

Ethiopia is a creation of European colonialism & Battle of Adwa was a proxy war between France & Britain 

Hati was the real deal not Abyssinia 

Truly a black nation & an African resistance realized

Haiti narrative is not centered  compared to the promotion of Ethiopia and there is a reason for it

The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony.

Haiti had a history of slave rebellions;there were slave rebellions before 1791. poisoning of masters.

Before the fighting ended 100,000 of the 500,000 Africans and 24,000 of the 40,000 whites were killed.

former slaves managed to stave off both the French forces and the British who arrived in 1793 to conquer the colony, and who withdrew in 1798 after a series of defeats by l’Overture’s forces.

By 1801 Hait abolished slavery 

Haitian Revolution had outlasted the French Revolution which ….Napoleon Bonaparte, dispatched 43,000 French troops to capture restore both French rule and slavery. on November 18, 1803the French forces were defeated. On January 1, 1804, Dessalines declared the nation independent and renamed it Haiti. France became the first nation to recognize its independence. Haiti thus emerged as the first black republic in the world, and the second nation in the western hemisphere (after the United States) to win its independence from a European power.

The war on Haiti never ended after 1804 but continued in various forms via intervention, coup attempts and continues the management of the Haitian state by disregarding the people demands--compared that with Ethiopia in which from the beggin Europe help create Ethiopia and turn into the first African neo-colonial state with Abyssian as their local administrators and mangaers..Below is the counter narrrative that challanges the mytoolgy around Battle of Adwa being the symbol of restiance

Mekuria Bulcha, PhD, Professor

The circumstances, under which the peoples of the south, such as the Oromo, who were conquered in the 1880s, and the Walaita, who were conquered by Menelik two years before the battle of Adwa, were made to march north and participate in the Battle of Adwa must be noted

It was after Adwa that Menelik imposed the notorious gabbar system on the conquered south. Slavery and the slave trade became even more rampant thereafter with the conquest of the rest of the south and southwest which became hunting grounds for captives and ivory.[29] Ironically, it was the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936 which brought the outrageous institution and evil trade in human beings to an end. 

“The united country called Ethiopia, which according to Larebo and Borago existed centuries before Adwa, is a myth. The fact is that when he turned north to meet the Italians at Adwa, Menelik was in the midst of the conquest of the south. The entire Macha region – the Gibe and Leeqa states – was annexed only in 1886. Arsi was conquered in 1886 and Hararge in 1887. As indicated above, Walaita was conquered in 1894. The sores inflicted by the atrocities committed against the Oromo at Anole and Calanqoo in 1886 and 1887 by the conquering Abyssinian forces were still bleeding. Even Wallo’s conquest in the north was completed in 1878 after years of fierce battles between Menelik (then King of Shawa) and Emperor Yohannes IV on one side and the Wallo Oromo on the other. “

“. While the Abyssinians were defending their freedom, the Oromo had no freedom to defend against the Italians. They had lost it to the Abyssinians during the preceding decade.  Their land was an Abyssinian colony. The “contribution” they were forced to make to the war effort saved the Abyssinians from European colonialism, but it did not help them to regain their own independence.”

“ the Oromo did not fight at Adwa as ethnic Abyssinians or citizens of Abyssinia as Borago and other commentators try to suggest. They fought for their colonizers. They were not the first people to fight a war for their enemies.”

In hisEthiopia: The Last Frontiers, John Markakis writes that Abyssinia “competed successfully in the imperialist partition of the region [Horn of Africa]. Not a victim but a participant in the ‘scramble’, Ethiopia doubled its territory and population in a burst of expansionist energy, and thereafter proudly styled itself the ‘Ethiopian Empire’. He notes that “the title [‘Empire’] is not a misnomer, since Ethiopia’s rulers governed their new possessions more or less the same way and for similar ends as other imperial powers were doing. The people who took the pride in calling themselves Ethiopians were known also as Abyssinians (Habesha).” 

Conflict researcher Christian Scherrer notes that “European and Abyssinian colonialism occurred simultaneously, pursued similar interests, albeit from differing socio-economic bases, and this was reinforced by comparable colonial ideologies of the idea of empire and notion of ‘civilizing mission’ and the exploitation of the subjugated peoples.”

 Menelik’s colonial conquests, Gebru Tareke, a historian from the north, has also stated that the Abyssinian ruling elite acted like the white colonial rulers in the rest of Africa. The language they used when describing their colonial subjects did not differ from the language the European colonialists were using. It was a language which was infused with stereotypes, prejudices and paternalism. He adds, “They [the Abyssinian elite] tried much like the European colonisers of their time, to justify the exploitability, and moral validity of occupation.” They “looked upon and treated the indigenous people as backward.”[17]One can add here that stereotypes and ethnic slurs about the Oromo, popular inHabeshadiscourse are the product of this colonial ideology.

Margery Perham notes “The speed with which this great extension of the empire was made ….is explained by the …firearms which the emperor [Menelik] was obtaining from France... This same superiority was carrying the European powers at the same speed at the same time from the coast into the heart of Africa.”[18]The Swedish historian Norberg also says that “using the same military technology as the European powers”,[19]Menelik managed not only to conquer the neighbouring African territories, but was also able to garrison them with large forces callednaftanyawho controlled and lived on the conquered populations. As suggested by Richard Caulk, “the system of near serfdom imposed on wide areas of the south by the end of the nineteenth century could have not been maintained had the newcomers not been so differently armed.[20]The historian Darkwah notes that “Menelik succeeded in keeping the arms out of the reach of the [Oromo] enemy. He did this by imposing a strict control over the movement of firearms into his tributary territories and the lands beyond his frontiers.”[21]

Darkwah notes that “in 1877 a Frenchman named Pottier was employed in training a group of Shewan youths in European military techniques. Another Frenchman, Pino, was a regular officer in the army which was commanded byRasGobana. Swiss engineers, Alfred Ilg and Zemmerman were employed on, among other things, building bridges across the Awash and other rivers to facilitate movement.”[24]According to Chris Prouty, Colonel Artamonov together with other Europeans was attached to the forces commanded byRasTasamma Nadew in Ilu Abbabor. He adds that even Count Nicholas Leontiev, a colonel in the Russian army, was a commander of a force which was sent to conquer the southwest in the 1890s. Another Russian officer, Baron Chedeuvre was Leontiev’s second-in-command during the expedition. Several French and Russian medical officers were also attached to the Abyssinian forces, particularly those which were led by Menelik and European commanders. The Russian Cossack Captain Alexander Bulatovich wrote that with him, there were Lieutenants Davydov, Kokhovskiy and Arnoldi along with a command of Cossacks who had finished their term of service” and who were received in audience by Menelik and took leave from him and returned to Russia in June 1898.

Genocide was committed not only on the Kaficho. It was also the fate of many of the indigenous peoples in the Omo River Valley, Lake Rudolf region and of the south-western lowlands who were conquered by the Abyssinians in the aftermath of the Adwa victory. Bulatovich, who followedRasWolde Giyorgis during his conquest of the territories south of Kafa, writes in his diary-basedWith the Armies of Menelik IIthat “By order of the emperor, a fifteen-thousand-man corps, set out on a campaign to annex to the realm of Ethiopia vast lands which lie to the south of it, which no one before this had explored, and which were completely unknown.”

although the actual conquest was completed in 1900, the atrocities against the conquered populations did not cease; by and large, slavery and the slave trade continued until the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936. As an Ethiopian historian has stated, Menelik’s extension of Ethiopia’s frontiers and the incorporation of new areas accentuated “the predatory tendencies of the ruling class and the soldiery. South-western Ethiopia became a hunting-ground for humans as well as animals. Ivory and slaves became the two precious commodities with which traders and adventurers returned from the region.” 

He wrote that “Members of upper nobility came to have thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of slaves at their disposal.”[9]Giving examples of some of the largest slave owners, the celebrated historian Pankhurst notes that Menelik and Taytu owned 70,000 slaves andRasWolde Giyorgis owned 20,000 slaves at the beginning of the twentieth century

In 1936, forty years after the Battle of Adwa, the British journalist and author wrote that the “peoples of the south and west were treated with wanton brutality unequalled even in the Belgian Congo. Some areas were depopulated by slavers.”[12]Comparing the harms inflicted by Belgian colonialists in Congo and Abyssinian colonialists in the south, he argued that “The significance of the Congo atrocities is not so much that they were committed as that they were exposed and suppressed.”

Haitiis there to remind us the danger of western intervention & management 

Haitiis there to remind us the danger of NGO-AID intervention & management over the state 

Haitiis there to reminds us the power of the masses

Haitiis truly the symbol of African resistance now

Horn of Africa Leftists

My name is Filmon Zerai and this Horn of Africa Leftist intro episode

I will explain what listeners should expect and the aim of the podcast overall

This podcast comes out of a need to fill a missing void with the current discourse online and overall how the social/political commentary is consumed and understood with regards to the Horn of Africa the region and each state

This podcast also comes after realizing this observation on the state of the diaspora and overall the region political consciousness

We see in the diaspora many academics who study radical/commie social movements or philosophy but their politics is liberal and does not radicalize them.

We see people who have bio line that say that are Marxist, Achacist or Sickle & Hammer with stereotypical Communist aesthetics who do this but their understanding of the Horn of Africa is liberal and echoes the imperialist line.

We see people who claim to be reading these radical books but when it comes to their politics in the Horn its reactionary and echoes the State Department line or have affiliation with Human RIghts Watch, Amnesty International, and the usual NED funded activist online.

This podcast aims to challenge people to move away from liberal politics and push political consciousness to the left.

Here are two key question people probably have about the title of the podcast:

What does the Horn of Africa mean? The Horn of Africa is a geopolitical term but a term that is slowly growing trend to describe the various nationalities of the region & its a catch-all term to unify all the people beyond the creation of the nation-states in the region

What does the Leftist term mean? The term leftist often has had its political baggage and its associated with liberals and even conservative elements and its usage and how the average person understands it has been confusing--So to clear it up,

the leftist term, in this case, does not mean Democrats party or Labor in the UK but more so a catch-all term for people who are socialists, communist or Anarchist whether they are Marxist, Maoist or Stalinist--

So the point here is not shifting toward reformist ideological line or liberalism but move beyond sectarian labels of "i'm a Marxist","Maoist"

I understand the criticism of the term "leftist" as its association in the first world especially American politics is what people like the DSA or those Bernie Sanders supporters who are not socialist 

but claim to be Marxist and still practice liberalism while aiming to preserve their first world privilege via imperialism and the exploitation of the third world.

This podcast is not that type of "leftist" but this podcast is focused on leftist perspective and philosophy that pulls from the Black Radical Tradition,Pan Africanist theorist and overall the struggle of the third world.

I noticed there is not that much leftist commentary that is focused on the Horn of Africa region as a whole and one that is class focus and internationalist.

The social and political commentaries and analysis of the region and also the diaspora is through the limited scope of liberalism that is not 

collectively focused or does not challenge the status quo beyond imported neoliberal political and economic prescription.

The Horn of Africa Leftist offers a unique podcast to examine issues impacting the region's current events but also discuss the development in the diaspora.

You should expect each episode to be no more than 1 hour or less and will have guests with various backgrounds aswell.

This is also an opportunity for the global left to understand the Horn of Africa from the left and unlearn and be challenged.

Thanks!