Chicago, IL, March 28, 2013 - On the eve of the inauguration of the African Union’s (AU) 50th Anniversary Celebrations in Addis Ababa on March 21, 2013, Ethiopian President Girma sent a letter to the Ethiopian Prime Minister recommending that “a statue must be erected to commemorate the Emperor who was the first leader of Africa-- I think he deserves a statue.”
President Girma's letter was clearly referring to the AU and the Ethiopian government’s continued failure to recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I’s contributions to the OAU as a result, their actions prompted numerous
Petitions on the internet.
President Girma's letter went viral over the internet receiving the attention of international scholars and historians who found his actions "refreshing" and "a welcomed change from the previous Ethiopian administration who had denied Emperor Haile Selassie I his rightful place in the history of the Pan African Movement and the OAU, for years".
The issue first began last year when the Ethiopian government and the AU inaugurated its newly constructed Headquarters in Addis Ababa with the erection of a statue, front-center, dedicated to Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, for his contributions to African Unity, while Ethiopian King of Kings, Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal contributions to African Unity and His significant role as the single unifying force behind the establishment of the OAU, along with his title as "The first leader of Africa", was ignored.
Barbara Miller, Queen of Sheba Research Foundation historian, referred to the matter as, "an unforgivable slight in His Majesty's own country." International debates spilled onto the floor of the Ethiopian parliament, where former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who was also President of AU and had always been critical of Emperor Haile Selassie I, was said to have downplayed the issue. As a result, Emperor Haile Selassie I's accomplishments were stricken.
For those who are unaware, Emperor Haile Selassie's contributions to the OAU are well documented: It was Emperor Haile Selassie I, not President Nkrumah, who called and hosted the May 25, 1963 Conference of African Heads of State in Addis Ababa; and it was His Majesty’s electrifying speech that inspired two conflicting political groups (Casablanca and Monrovia) to lay aside their differences, come together, and establish an organization that would unite all of Africa, which they did:
“The commentators of 1963 speak, in discussing Africa, of the Monrovia States,
The Brazzaville Group, the Casablanca Powers and many more. Let us put an end
to these terms. What we require is a single African organization through which
Africa’s single voice may be heard, within which Africa’s problems may be studied
and resolved.” Emperor Haile Selassie I, May 25, 1963
At the end of the speech, all 32 African leaders and founding fathers of the OAU were invigorated andas a result, they elected Emperor Haile Selassie I the first President of the OAU; and unanimously voted Emperor Haile Selassie I the “Father of African Unity".
Eric Nickerson, former Mayor of Dixmoor, Illinois and member of the Queen of Sheba Research Fuoodation noted, “just as no one can deny Dr. Nkrumah's role in the Pan-African Movement, no one should deny Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal role in the establishment of the OAU, and those who continue to do so make the spirit of pan-African unity nothing more than an aberration.”
On Friday, May 24, 2013, letters of encouragement from members of the Queen of Sheba Research Foundation were hand-delivered to the President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, care of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC; the letters praised President Girma’s position on the issue and encouraged the Ethiopian government to separate politics from history by correcting previous historical oversights, errors, and omissions and grant Emperor Haile Selassie I His rightful place in the history of the OAU/AU.
African-American historians believe that at the end of the day, the Ethiopian government would demonstrate to the world community that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia supports the truth of history even when it may not always identify with it.
Read the full story at
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10770461.htm
