Exactly 66 years ago the Ethiopian Emperor, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah came to Chicago after giving African Americans citizenship and their "forty acres and a mule" in a Black Empire at a time when America was practicing Jim Crow apartheid.
This is the story they haven't told you.
Excerpt from
50th Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I First Visit to the United States (1954-2004)
Jubilee Greetings and Rastafari Blessings from Chicago on June 8, 2004: 1,189 days before the Ethiopian Millennium
Exactly fifty years ago today, Haile Selassie I came to Chicago and made an unscheduled visit to the south side to visit South Park Baptist Church, 3722 S King Drive. I and Sister Myrah decided it was important to go to the church in an attempt to get a "touch"--an insight, an inspiration -- from remembering HIM's presence at that very spot exactly one jubilee later.
I&I visit was all the more significant due to the fact that this morning at 6:05 am CST the path of Venus directly crossed over the disc of the Sun, an event known as the Venus Transit. This event happens every 130 years and, according to Kiara Windrider and The Global Oneness Foundation,
"The energies of Sun and Venus blend together, and as these blended radiations make their way into the Earth's electromagnetic fields, it weaves the energies of love and unity into the mass consciousness of the planet, and potentially into the hearts of every man, woman, and child alive on Earth."
During this "astronomical event of the year" writes Carl Johan Calleman, PH.D,
“it is hard to avoid the impressions that the very transit of Venus across the Sun has somehow served to concentrate these energies and has sent an intensifying beam to planet Earth. During the Venus transits the cosmic energies were thus strongly amplified. There are however many good reasons to believe that the Venus transit on June 8, 2004. . . will herald a development of communications between human beings that is not based on technology. The chief reason is that we are now at a stage . . . that favors the right brain half and the intuitive faculties of our mind that are mediated by this. And so, we may expect that the upcoming Venus transit will launch an era of communications utilizing mental rather than electromagnetic fields. . . . Since there is no person alive today who was born in 1882 or earlier the Venus transit in 2004 will be everyone's first such experience. What may we then expect from this occurrence?"
Given that I and Sister Myrah were the only two people able to experience the Venus Transit in the very City where Haile Selassie was a full Jubilee ago, and in the exact location where His Imperial Majesty, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah uttered His special message to the African in America, I raspectfully ask for the attention of the Rastafari Family Worldwide at this time.
Haile Selassie's message spoken at the South Park Baptist Church exactly fifty years ago today was that if the United States has been able to assume its outstanding position as leader in the world today,
"it has been due, in no small part, to your [i.e descendants of Africa] profound religious faith and ideals."
His Imperial Majesty also said,
"The high station which the United States has attained has also been due to the devoted labors of every American citizen. And not the least of the credit for these achievements is due to the numerous groups of American citizens who have made their home on the great African continent of which Ethiopia is proud to be a part."
Recalling his 1936 warning to the League of Nations, when Italy was invading his country, Haile Selassie said that in those
"difficult hours in our fight for independence, we were not standing alone because peoples of African origin throughout the world were with us in spirit through their moral and spiritual support. It is only natural, therefore, that we Africans should follow with deepest interest the inspiring achievements and contributions of the peoples of African origin in the United States. By your actions, your devotions and your sacrifices you are justifying throughout the world the advancement of the cause of racial and social equality and the right of all peoples to freedom, independence and self-expression."
In His Imperial Majesty's first exclusive interview since His arrival to the United States on May 25, 1954, Emperor Haile Selassie told the Chicago Defender newspaper that,
"My message to the colored people of the United States is that they continue to press forward with determination, their social and intellectual advancement, meeting all obstacles with Christian courage and tolerance, confident in the certainty of the eventual triumph of justice and equality throughout the world."
During the brief but exclusive interview the Emperor also exploded the oft repeated rumor that the people of Ethiopia do not wish to be identified with the colored people of America or associate themselves with their problems. With this rumor in mind, the Emperor, the Emperor was asked, "Is there a kindred feeling between your people and the colored people of America?" The Emperor replied:
"The people of Ethiopia feel the strongest bond of sympathy and understanding with the colored people of the United States. We greatly admire your achievements and your contributions to American life and the tremendous development of this great nation. I have been deeply impressed with the warmth of the reception which the colored people of the United States have reserved for me."
Next, the Emperor was asked, "What do you feel is the best solution to the unrest found in Africa today?" Emperor Haile Selassie replied,
"The orderly progress of the African people toward self-government and the increasing participation by the people themselves in the institutions of their government, is, in my opinion, the best long term solution to the political tensions which exist in parts of Africa where self-determination has not yet been fully achieved. [Ras note: Remember that HIM is speaking in 1954, before even Ghana had independence (1957)-- nine years before the OAU was formed.] The expansion of opportunity for education and the improvement in living standards through development programs will also be important factors in any such program."
Finally, the Emperor was asked what had been the highlight of his visit to America thus far. Haile Selassie replied,
“I have of course been greatly impressed by the warmth and cordiality of my reception, including of course, the overwhelming warmth of the reception extended me by the colored people of this great nation."
That was His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I's message exactly fifty (50) years ago today. This message came at a time when His Imperial Majesty had already invited Africans in America to repatriate to Ethiopia in 1919 (Ethiopian Empress Zauditu’s nephew and Commander of the Imperial Army Dedjamatch Nadao's secretary Ato Sinkas to Harlem’s Black Jewish leader and Musical Director of the UNIA Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford);
again in 1922 at the UNIA Convention; in 1927 through Dr. Workeneh Martin; and in 1929 to Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford through Ato Gabrou Desta, who carried Ras Tafari's message that
“We would welcome them back to Ethiopia, their Fatherland . . . . There is plenty of room for them here and we are certain they would be of the greatest aid in restoring their ancient land to its pristine glory.”
Recognizing the need of incoming Repatriates to become Citizens of Ethiopia, His Imperial Majesty issued in the Consolidated Laws of Ethiopia that become part of the 1931 Constitution, under Section 9 NATIONALITY 12(2), the following provision providing for Citizenship for Black people of the West:
“12(2) If the Imperial Ethiopian Government deems any foreigner who applies for Ethiopian citizenship to be of value or if it finds other special reason which convinces it that the applicant should be granted citizenship it may grant him/her Ethiopian citizenship even if he/she does not fulfill the [residency and language] requirements prescribed in Article 12(b) and (d) of the Nationality Law of 1930.”
By 1931, with a framework in place for the full Repatriation of Blacks from the West, Ato Gabrou informed Rabbi Ford and Eudora Paris of land concessions granted.Of course, the Fascist invasion of Ethiopia in 1935-36 interrupted the Repatriation movement of Africans in America until 1948, when, in a letter to the Executive Committee of EWF Local 31 in Kingston, Jamaica, EWF Executive President George Bryan announced the 500 acre Shashemane land grant, which was the personal property of the Emperor, given on a trial basis, "since the way it is utilized will be the touchstone for additional grants."
In 1953, His Imperial Majesty sent Madame Sahara on an 18 month repatriation-recruiting mission through Black communities in the United States. A year later, Mamie Richardson of the EWF, went on a similar tour in Jamaica. In the twelve years since His Imperial Majesty regained His Throne in Addis Ababa, Haile Selassie had quadrupled His national economy, Ethiopia was exporting meat, cereals and vegetables to the Middle East, had established a state of the art telecommunications facility in Kagnew, and had made Ethiopian Airlines one of the best and most competitive in the world. That is why Emperor Haile Selassie told a special joint session of the US Congress, on May 28, 1954 that,
"In consequence, in many respects, and particularly since the last world war, Ethiopia has become a new frontier of widely expanding opportunities, notwithstanding the tremendous set-back which we suffered in the unprovoked invasion of our country nineteen years ago and the long years of unaided struggle against an infinitely stronger enemy. The last seventeen years have seen the quadrupling of our foreign trade, currency and foreign exchange holdings. Holdings of American dollars have increased ten times over. The Ethiopian dollar has become the only US dollar-based currency in the Middle East today. The assets of our national bank of issue have increased one thousand percent. Blessed with what is perhaps the most fertile soil in Africa, well-watered, and with a wide variety of climates ranging from temperate on the plateau, to the tropical in the valleys, Ethiopia can grow throughout the year crops, normally raised only in widely separated areas of the earth's surface.
Since the war, Ethiopia has become the granary of the Middle East, as well as the only exporter of meat, cereals and vegetables. Whereas at the end of the war, every educational facility had been destroyed, today, schools are springing up throughout the land, the enrollment has quadrupled and, as in the pioneer days in the United States, and indeed, I presume, as in the lives of many of the distinguished members of Congress here present, school-children, in their zeal for education, take all sorts of work in order to earn money to purchase text books and to pursue their education. Finally, through the return in 1952 of its historic ports on the Red Sea and of the long-lost territory of Eritrea, Ethiopia has not only regained access to the sea, but has been one of the few states in the post-war world to have regained lost territory pursuant to post-war treaties and in application of peaceful means and methods. We have thus become a land of expanding opportunities where the American pioneering spirit, ingenuity and technical abilities have been and will contribute to be welcomed."
Again, on June 8, 1954, His Imperial Majesty told 1,1000 of Chicago's top business, civic and government leaders that,
"Unlimited opportunities exist (in Ethiopia) for American capital and pioneering spirit . . . "
Having recognized the "no small part" that Africans in America contributed to what Haile Selassie called America's "phenomenal progress", Emperor Haile Selassie I, by the time of His visit to Chicago on June 8, 1954, was well-ready to make good on his "Repatriation Offer" which the Chicago Defender newspaper reported as follows:
"a house, rent-free, a salary at least equalling that which applicants are now earning or could earn in America, free transportation to Ethiopia for applicants and their families, annual three-months vacations with pay and -- in some instinces -- automobiles provided by the government. . . . Persons interested in applying for employment in Ethiopia or receiving additional information are advised to write the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington."
Given that June 8, 2004 is a day of intensified energies for mental communications on the Jubilee Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah's presence in the place where I was born and raised, I can't help but to take time to Commemorate the message that the Almighty Himself gave fifty years ago, and its relevance to today. Now, I have a message for the whole Rastafari Family Worldwide.
The message is this:
Exactly fifty years ago, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came to carry I&I home to a place He Himself had prepared that where He lived, I&I shall abide. It was open to all, yet, even unto today, few have forwarded? Why? Why did I&I fail to claim and manifest I&I deliverance fifty years ago? Ras Mora, during the Jubilee Commemoration Exhibition in Brooklyn, New York, gave the reasoned answer summed up thus: faced with the choice between Repatriation and Integration, the people of African descent in America chose integration. On the heels of the integrated military coming out of World War II and the Korean War, having, apparently, triumphed in the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, We, the Black people of the West, MISSED I&I DELIVERANCE!
Consider this: Ethiopia in 1954 was an emerging world power every bit as much as the United States, who itself had just suffered a "Great Depression" in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Like Ethiopia in 1935-1936, America became embroiled in War in 1941, having been attacked at Pearl Harbor. Today, America is celebrating her "D-Day" victory at Normandy, just as Ethiopians celebrate the Great Ethiopian Anniversary of May 5, 1941 when Emperor Haile Selassie entered Addis Ababa to regain His Throne. Fifty years after the Emperor of Ethiopia came and visited the President of the United States, Ethiopia, the first civilization on earth which gave all peoples religion, science and culture, has now become the last in nearly every major index of quality of life, while America has become the world's only superpower nation.
What happened? Now, fifty years later look at the facts:
Ethiopia is no longer a "well-watered" food exporter with a sky-rocketing economy. Though I&I never give up hope for a glorious Ethiopian future, the fact is that Ethiopia is ravaged by drought, famine, illness, and lack of development. Ethiopia again lost her access to the Red Sea when Eritrea separated. Is this what Haile Selassie envisioned in 1954?
Haile Selassie was recruiting I&I to play no small part in Ethiopia's development, no less than I&I played in America's of which he said I&I had reason to be proud. Thus, I&I have to take some responsibility for the conditions in Ethiopia just as I&I have to take responsibility for conditions in our communities in the west. To the degree that Haile Selassie already set I&I free, so is I&I responsibility at home and abroad. As the prophet Marcus Mosiah Garvey said in a speech delivered at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 1924:
“The thoughtful and industrious of our race want to go back to Africa, because we realize it will be our only hope of permanent existence. We cannot all go in a day or in a year, ten or twenty years. It will take time under the rule of modern economics, to entirely or largely depopulate a country of a people, who have been its residents for centuries, but we feel that with proper help for fifty years, the problem can be solved. We do not want all the Negroes in Africa. Some are no good here, and naturally will be no good there . . . . “ [Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey]
What effect has the thoughtful and industrious of the race had on Ethiopia fifty years after Haile Selassie, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah actually came to carry I&I home? From this perspective, one must honestly answer, very little. Did not Haile Selassie have great expectations from I&I? Yes!!! Shashemane has not been developed, additional grants were not given, and "phenomenal progress" in which our ancestors played no small progress has not been achieved.
Thus, the true meaning of the Jubilee Commemoration of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I First Visit to the United States, 1954, for We, the descendants of Africans in America, is the mercy and forgiveness of His Imperial Majesty for having failed to "Come out of her my people".
As Rasses in America, our God and King came to carry His people home and did not fail to provide everything I&I need for a better life in our Forefather's and Foremother's land. Emperor Haile Selassie came and gave His people citizenship and their "forty acres and a mule" in a Black Empire at a time when America was practicing Jim Crow apartheid. We chose to integrate into America.
Our experts, reflecting on fifty year after the Brown v Board of Education decision, have concluded that the sitution of public education for Black youth is worse than fifty years ago. Likewise is the situation for Black people in the criminal justice situation, for Black farmers, in every field accept sports and entertainment. In all, the descendants of Africans in America have not become free from the legacy of slavery and racism.
Now, at the outbreak of hostilities against America which started on September 11, 2001 (Ethiopian News Years), the descendants of Africans in America have become second class citizens and have integrated themselves into the judgment which is coming to America. When weapons of mass destruction are used again against America, in America, there will not be any distinction or discrimination made. The integrated African Americans will suffer America's fate right along with her first-class citizens.
I&I are in the same position as descendants of Africans in Europe, who were looking at the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. At that time, enlightened people could see the soon-to-come consequences of failed foreign policies. Haile Selassie himself said at the League of Nations,
"Today it is us [Ethiopia], tomorrow it will be you [Europe]. You have struck the match in Ethiopia, but it shall burn Europe!"
Imagine you were a Black person , living in Europe, and foreseeing what was to come. The Voice of Ethiopia, which became the official organ of the Ethiopian World Federation, Inc., as early as 1937, published articles every week foretelling of the "doom" of Europe. All the bombs, air raids, tanks, trenches, dead bodies, millions of dead bodies, war, poverty, famine, millions of dead bodies. Ask anyone to tell of their struggles surviving World War II in Europe . . . . Back then, there was no "Africa for the Africans" to Repatriate to. Haile Selassie was himself living in Bath, England! There was no place to run to, to escape to. Haile Selassie had only just begun to prepare a place that where He is, I&I shall abide. Black people in Europe must have been horrified upon the realization that they could not escape the same dark fate which befell Ethiopians at home! Well, that same fate is about to befall America. Yet, descendants of Africans in America were given an opportunity for deliverance in 1954 and instead chose to integrate into America.
Not knowing this history, descendants of Africans in America could not properly respond to the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. That is why, in the just published book Paradox of Loyalty: An African American Response to the War on Terrorism edited by Julianne Malveux and Reginna A. Green with a Forward by Cornell West, published by third World Press in Chicago, among the twenty-six (26) submissions purporting to represent the full range of African American response to the War on Terrorism, none of them express an emigrationist, repatriation response. Given the blighted condition of Black life in America, along with the fact that America was now the target of hostilities and has become the most vulnerable in her history, there is now, more than any period in African American history, reason to embark on a "Back to Africa" program. With diminished quality of life and the impending "doom of America", Repatriation to Ethiopia, our divine heritage as HIM said, represents today, as it did in 1937, our best and last hope for existence itself.
Read the details of Ethiopia’s effort to sue the racist apartheid government of South Africa at the World Court at the time when Malcolm X was trying do do the same thing with Ethiopia’s help.
