Back in 1990, The New York Times had an opinion piece titled, “The Politics of Slash and Burn”. The gist of the article speaks to the beginning of down spiraling political discourse in the US where Republican candidates were encouraged to use words like ”Sick.” ”Traitors.” ”Bizarre.” ”Self-serving.” ”Shallow.” ”Corrupt.” ”Pathetic.” …

[This is part 3 of 3 in a series under the title of “Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”?] “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom” Thomas Jefferson The earlier two pieces1 were meant to show how complex the Eritrean socio-political terrain can be. And negotiating …

This is part 2 of 3 series under the title of “Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”? The third part will follow soon. Eritrea and its people have been on a trajectory of existential threat for two decades from the very revolutionaries who brought the nation …

It has become a cliché to say the Internet has changed many facets of our lives, and the claim of such a truism, however, can hardly be called an overstatement. Of general interest for this article rests in the social and political activism that continues to evolve as it creates …

That both festivals – the first of their kind – had taken place in 2018 was no small feat. For these festivals to take place in the heels of the major peace event between Eritrea and Ethiopia, however, is a stroke of luck for the public to push both the …

The question of economic opportunities being given to our neighbors before Eritreans, calls for a separate analysis. The question of spiritual proselytizing in public being given to our neighbors in Amharic before Eritreans call for a separate analysis. The question of refugees right to return being left untouched so far …

Masterful storytellers are akin to quilt makers, it is just that their woven products are delivered through the spoken words. Each narration engages listeners at different levels. The crux of the matter is to be aware that there exist multi-dimensional levels of storytelling. Such awareness will inevitably free us from that one-dimensional …

That the wisdom of PM Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia being evident by now is to state the obvious. His rapid response to the Asmara regime when it pronounced it was sending a team to negotiate peace between the two neighboring countries is obvious that the man is as genuine as …

Human beings are endowed with that unique ability to recall our history, live in the present, and plan of future (Close to Heidegger’s notion of “temporality” in “Being & Time”). Similarly, thus, we are also endowed as F. Scott Fitzgerald quipped, with “the ability to hold two opposed ideas in …

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” Friedrich Nietzsche A nation without higher education institution that allows …

Nationalism pushed to its extreme equals ultra-nationalism of the fascist kind*. Ethnic pride pushed to its extreme leads to a narrowly defined ethnocentrism or even worse. Religious beliefs pushed to the extreme leads to fanaticism of the Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Shabab and of Myanmar’s genocide (on minority Rohingia) kind. …

Some articles compel one to write about the article because the subject matter one sense tend to be of monumental import and some other times comments in the Awate Forum beg one to do the same. So, what’s one to do but contemplate or make an attempt to write one …

In an era of the Internet, in the age of sound bites, and in the world of texts that collapse the meaning of words into a single letter or two; where the bombardment of information ceaselessly flows, the ability to analyze, synthesize, and correctly processing information becomes ever more crucially important.  …

To expect convergence when canvassing various Eritrean opposition media outlets during any confrontational events like the Akhriya uprising would be par for the course. What shouldn’t be par for the course is the colluding, inadvertently or not, that aligns us with the supporters the PFDJ (the ruling party) with the …

It has been about forty years since I saw you last. I am writing this open letter because instead of the usual intent of letters, which tend to be private and intimate; why this open letter, well, because you are Eritrea’s father. Eritrea’s grandfather. Eritrea’s big brother. Open letter because …

The skin that we speak: Thoughts on language and culture in the classroom. Lisa Delpit & Joanne Kilgour Dowdy (Editors), New York, NY: The New Press, 2002, 229 pages. Reviewed by Beyan Negash Note: This was written as book review several years ago, but I edited it now for awate …

The motivation for this article culminates from the ongoing intense discussion that continues to precipitate based on the talk that Dr. Bereket Berhane1 (henceforth referred to as Dr. BB) gave about his firsthand experience from working at the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia as a medical doctor. Dr. BB provides …

When a society’s every endeavor is consumed by political upheaval for decades upon decades as the embodiment of its history, norms of various types are impacted by it so much so that they stay stagnant. As luck would have it, stagnation is not equivalent to demise. One corollary of such …