Meqerka, Dem Sebaay, Zagir
In 1967, Israel and the Arabs (basically Egypt) fought the Six-Day War; Israel overran Egyptian territories and took control of
Gebreberhan Zere and Dowry Jewelry
The late Abdulkadir Ramadan and Tesfay Tekle were conducting TekhliT (dagmay srrE) around Himberti when Tesfay caught my little trick
Giants and Lilliputians: Haile Selassie and President Isaias Afwerki (Part 2)
Power, Image, and Machiavellian Survival: The Body as a Mirror of Power To understand Isaias Afwerki’s psychology, one must first
Power, Image, and Machiavellian Survival: Emperor Haile Selassie and President Isaias Afwerki
Two Towering Figures–Giants and Lilliputians (Part 1) Across the sorrowful and entangled histories of Ethiopia and Eritrea, two figures loom
Muslim and Catholic Fatimas
Most Eritreans do not know about the Eritrean Black St. Mary, but many have heard of Mariam Daari, the Black
Netsereab Azazi’s Book—Ona and Besekdira
I have written and spoken about Ona—a turning point in my life and among my peers. I thought that experience
The Faucet Festival
A satirical take on Isaias Afwerki’s mysterious faucet sculpture, comparing it to Pharaoh Khufu’s pyramid and the Syrian comedy “Faucet
Blame It on Moses
A young student and her classmate graduated together; she became a geography teacher, while her bright classmate was quickly absorbed
Ts’əmdi and Ts’imdo: Joined for Utility, Not Unity
In the semi-fertile soil of Tigrinya, the words ጽምዲ (Ts’əmdi) and ጽምዶ (Ts’imdo) bloom with layered meaning—practical, poetic, and political.
Refugees Speak Back: Unsettling Exile and Home
In 2007, the Red Sea Press published Sadia Hassanen’s Repatriation, Integration, or Resettlement? The Dilemmas of Migration among Eritrean Refugees in
Penicillin Overdose Killed the Camel
Dr. Abiy Ahmed keeps me thinking these days, though not in the way I wanted to. During the struggle era,
Downfall of an Emperor: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
Book Review By Semere T Habtemariam Downfall of an Emperor: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Derg’s Creeping Coup By
A Return of Sorts to Religion
In a much-publicized recent religious event at the Anda Mariam Tewahdo church, many of the top Eritrean officials were seen
Nepal: A Lesson for the PFDJ and the Youth
Every era popularizes certain names—mainly names of rulers and prominent people of the time. Since the nineteen-forties and fifties, the
Sept. 18, 2001: The Day Memory Was Criminalized
Eritrea’s Day of Infamy: The Day Liberty Died Some days do not merely pass into history—they haunt it. September 18,
A Shepherd, A Tiger Cub, and A Village
A shepherd boy, bored while tending his goats on the edge of a village, cried, “HELP! A tiger is attacking
Horn of Africa: A Unity Deferred: Between Memory and Possibility
The Horn of Africa remains one of the world’s most fragile political landscapes. State legitimacy is contested, nation-building is stalled
Ageb and Eb, are these words alive in our languages!
I have talked and written hundreds of essays about reconciliation; the website I founded carried the slogan of reconciliation as
A Critique of Bereket Habtemariam’s Proposal on Sea Access and Sovereignty
Author’s Note: This essay is written in response to a document recently shared by Bereket Habtemariam on his Facebook (also
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