Issue #12
January 24th 2004.
TIMKAT:
AN EPIPHANY
by Menelyk
GONDAR, ETHIOPIA January 19th 2004. This is the day of Timkat, the celebration of the Epiphany of Christ as worshipped through the spectacles of Ethiopia. It recalls his baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. When we gather to break bread as a family, remember always that we are beholden as an imperial house in who H.I.M. shall be well pleased.
Timkat is a time of revelation. A time when "much should be revealed to us" as well as "us be revealed to much". Our road home is not an imaginary avenue traversed only by the steps of our minds and the rhythm of our dreams, but it is the very real path upon which we must choose to trod knowing that it has been paved with the blood, sweat and tears of many who have gone before us.
History is a record, and it is not history that repeats itself but mankind who repeats history almost as if trapped in a never ending cycle reminiscent of a needle scratched record. Still, every record tells a story and within every story there lies truth. The story of the baptism is the story of an initiation. An initiation contains the truth of a revelation. A revelation marks the beginning of knowledge, henceforth, something is revealed.
Timkat marks the beginning of Christ' mission and his ministry. Three years following this he was crucified on the cross. Yet, it was not his challenge to the Roman empire which caused his execution, it was the challenges he posed to his own nation Israel. Marcus Garvey arrived in New York in 1917 to preach the word of organization in the name of the Universal Negro Improvement Association & African Communities League. Three years hence he assembled the largest international gathering of black people the world has ever seen. The Negro people came from across the globe united under one flag, in the name of one organization, shouting the immortal words "One God, One Aim, One Destiny"! Three years after this, Garvey was put on trial and convicted for fraud. Though the charges were trumped up, the intention was clearly expressed and executed. "Garvey Must Go!" Trumpeted not by the Neo Roman empire of Europe and America but by the piercing cries of hyenas within the Negro community.
So it seems suns will set and suns will rise but as the wise King Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. Time and time again a voice has cried out from the wilderness, "BLACKMAN WHAT IS IN THY BOSSOM?" What is in our hearts? Time and time again that voice has been shut out and cut off by those among us who still linger under the yoke of mental slavery. So the cycle continues and truth is crushed to the Earth and destined to rise again.
The truth is that without unification our nation will die. Garvey in his own prophetic version, warned that only the fittest of the fit shall survive. For half of a millenia we have been divided and cut off from our glorious motherland. For 500 years we have struggled mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, trying to find ourselves and possibly our way home. Yet it is not the road that is hard to find, for it is as clear a path as it was a millenia ago. Not by might, nor by power, but by our spirit says the Lord. The path before us, and the only road which will take us home is the one soaked with our history, the one stained with our blood. It is a road which testifies to our legitimacy, and our continuity. It is the road that lays behind us, the one that seems beyond us but is always in front of us. It is the road less travelled; the path filled with thorns that threaten to pierce our sides.
Nothing worthwhile comes easy and in choosing our path, the hardships that come should only serve as the indication that we have chosen correctly. We have embarked upon the quest of reconstructing an ancient empire and resurrecting a sleeping nation. If we believe that Africa does not concern us then we are only walking dead. In our separation, masquerading as self interest, lies the weapons of our destruction. Organization is the only light we have to mark our way along the path. Dedication is our only sure footing and perseverance is the only sustenance we have. We need organization; this is why we embrace the UNIA, absorbing with it the legitimacy and continuity of the movement of our people. It is our universal purpose (NIA). Ujaama comes only through our dedication to cooperation. Ujima is how we work tirelessly, giving freely our time and energy without hope of immediate reward. Umoja is how we gather to break bread together, assuring ourselves of comraderie, knowing that we fight not in vain and not for self, but together as "ONE FOR ALL & ALL FOR ONE".
Many will deny us, many shall oppose, but if we are united in mind, body and spirit we can not falter. Our cause is just, our cause is righteous, our cause is needed. Genocide comes not only by small pox or aids. Genocide happens when culture is erased from the hearts and minds of the people. This is why we hold fast to Ethiopia, the black lands, a nation of antiquity that none upon the Earth can question as to its history, its legitimacy and through us, its continuity.
The road we traverse is our fight for existance; to exist not as the descendants of slaves, but as the offsprings of Kings. This is Ethiopianism, the oldest concept of racial unification. It is funny, our work is just begun and already we see the forces at play, we all know our intentions. It has never been to deceive the people for our own gain, instead we have chosen to bear the sacrifices of an age old struggle. We must absorb the wisdom of history and apply it to the present so that future generations may know the fruits of our labour; that we should not die in vain but through the resurrection of our nation have eternal life. These are the words I impart to you now, it is for you to do your duty in this Imperial family. It is for you to set the example for those who we shall call to serve. Control your thoughts and your actions; have fortitude and temperance; show humilty and perseverance; know fidelity and confidence in yourself and in your race; always be ready. I bid you Godspeed.
One Love.
ETHIOPIA TIMES Vol.1
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