The emergence of literary national identity, Transcendentalism can be an instructive model as Eritreans are grappling toward the formation of a government in exile. In the 1820s and 1830s Transcendentalism helped marshal an emergent American culture in the definition of its literary national identity. Prior to Transcendentalism, thinkers looked at …
Read More »The Wicked Pact Against Tigray
How do people keep their composure despite an anger? I will start with a Tigrayan Lady whose views I really liked. Principled, to the point and very genuine. Obviously she is in pain due to the current situation in Tigrai; I would be as angrier if I was a Tigrayan. …
Read More »Do Ethiopian Love Their Country?
It’s safe to say Ethiopians love their country more than their people. In fact, the ever warring political and military elite do not seem to mind eradicating the people and destroying the country and as long they are assured of ruling the rubble that’s left behind. Eight-hundred years of governing …
Read More »The Sixth and Seventh Kings of Ethiopia
A man from Keren arrived in Asmara and headed to the neighborhood where his relatives lived. Though he had seen the house long ago, he was not sure exactly where in was. Then he saw his relatives’ son sitting on the stairs of a door. He kissed the boy and …
Read More »A Miserable Country Goes to War with Itself
Say what you will about outgoing president Trump, and despite the messenger, there are many countries in the word that fit this description, and the country in question is one of them. An epitome of the description. It is a country that recently decided to go to war with itself. …
Read More »Ethnic Profiling of Tigrayans in Ethiopia
Ethiopian security forces are carrying out an extensive ethnic profiling and arresting Tigrayans, particularly in Addis Ababa and other major cities. The arrested also include Eritreans. Tigrayans and Eritreans are known as Tigre, a term that means those who hail from Semen, the Northern part from central Ethiopia. Eritreans are caught in …
Read More »The Debate Over Arabic Language in Eritrea!
Orally told stories relate a conversation that took place in the first parliament in Eritrea in the 1950s. During a heated parliamentary debate on the official languages of Eritrea, a member of parliament from the Independence Block stood up to speak in favour of adopting Arabic as the second official …
Read More »Happy Double Awate Day
(This is a close English translation of the Tigrinya content of Negarit #100 video on YouTube channel) Happy September 1 for all of you. Our culture teaches us that one who is not grateful to fellow human beings is unable to be grateful to God. As we all know, Hamid Idris Awate …
Read More »UAE-Eritrea: Strained Relationship
Last June, a small ship arrived from the UAE carrying relief aid for Eritreans in Dankalia. However, the Assab port authorities denied the ship entry to the port and it couldn’t berth at the Assab docks. Its captain decided to stay offshore where the ship threw its anchor and waited for …
Read More »The Reasonable Dream
ዓቅምኹም ሕለሙ ክትዕወቱ – فن الحلم الممكن My Harassing Client : I will introduce you to one of my regular clients. Last time he was looking for an assassin and promised to send $1000 through western Union to anyone who could kill me. Here is his threat in Negarit 72. …
Read More »Jawar, Flipos, Isaias, Our Sources
Jawar Mohammed :I have a friend whose views about Jawar so many times I concluded he lacks clarity– I ruled him out as a reference on Jawar, the activist turned a political leader. First, his adversaries branded him a terrorist, but after he returned from exile to Ethiopia, he became …
Read More »The TPLF and the Eritrean Opposition
The ENCDC is the only entity that has a workable formula for an opposition umbrella. A boxing match with Getachew Redda, keep your distance. lost and found… I found long lost audio recordings including the interview I conducted with the late Meles Zenawi in 2012. In my last episode I …
Read More »Parkinson’s Law – ሕጊ ፓርኪንሶን – قانون پاركينسن
As a child, I busied myself with my uncle’s books. Ustaz Johar Abdulrahim was a teacher and he taught in Keren, Nackfa and later at Ferovia, in Asmara. He had a bunch of books in a shelf that I ended up owning, and I went through all of them though …
Read More »Negarit 85: ብሓርነት ተደቢሱ – Liberation – تحرر
Negarit 84: ፖለቲካዊ ታኪን – Political Turkey – ديك رومي سياسي
A few years ago, I learned that whistling is a form of communication within a few societies. One such group resides in northern turkey and a few others in the bordering countries. It’s amazing how efficiently (and effectively) they communicate. But I wonder if they communicate with whistles. And that …
Read More »Negarit 83: መላጸ ኦካም – Occam’s Razor – شفرة اُكّام
This is a general transcription of Negarit #83. When they want to divide the people, their slogan is ‘Us and Them.’ When they want to show loyalty to the dictatorship, to alienate others, and confirm their physical and spiritual oneness with the dictator himself, their slogan is “NNNN”- we are …
Read More »Negarit 80: ኩንታል ብልቱግ – A Sack of Millet – كيس دخن
In the sixties and early seventies, when youngsters wanted to join the ELF, they were told they have to consume one quintal of millet, beltug, and then they can join. Starting in the mid-seventies, the youth joined in their thousands and overwhelmed the fronts. Assimilating the mostly urbanite new arrivals …
Read More »Negarit 79: ግዳይ ኮሮና – Corona Victim – ضحية كرونه
Negarit 77: ኢልኣምር ምኣምር – Ignorance – من لا يدري
When I first came across “M’amir Bokre’s YouTube channel, I was elated. I thought his videos will help me study Geez for he presented himself as teacher of linguistics and I think sociology and anthropology. And I did learn a few Geez words, thank you Bokre. However, slowly the man …
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