He left his country during bad times, running for his life, abdicating his duty in times of needs. This happened when the country was invaded by Italy for the second time; he left to London via Djibouti.

How could Haile Selassie be compared with Regan? Regan was an elected leader of the free world. Haile Selassie came to power deposing a legitimate king and heir of the throne, Lij Eyasu (aka Joshua). He presided in a country where the people in more than half of the country were landless, serving as day laborers on their own ancestral land. He was a colonizer, ruthless dictator and admired by all parasites he was feeding.

No wonder many who benefited during his regime would love him. But he was never a hero, no where near that. I owe my freedom to the farmers who fought bravely to fend off Italian invasion. [Not to mention] he hung and killed Belay Zeleke in the freedom square he fought for.

Jah Love

I could not say it any better. Reading your comments brought me close to tears because it’s the truth. The strongest part for me is how you used the word “we” in your sentences when describing the problems.

Perhaps, we are still paying for the sins we committed against the old man. Egziabher Yiqir yibelen.

However, it is not too late to give him a State funeral and honor him properly. I am confident that every country in the world (with the understandable exception of Eritrea) will send a rep for the memorial, just like most countries did for his coronation. It will be a hell of an event of forgiveness for the world to watch.

Then, maybe, the true scent of spring will return to Ethiopia.

Liked your comments. They are interesting. Below are my thoughts on the topic:

From my history lessons, HIM led the country for so many years. The longevity of his rule itself makes characterization of his era very difficult. HIM had both progressive and stagnant periods during his reign. So he was kind of a mixed bag so to speak.

After all is said and done though, his positive contributions far outweigh his negatives. Of course, he could have done much better than he did. However, his fellow Ethiopians must acknowledge his constraints as well as his good deeds. For example, he has made positive progress in the areas of education, health, construction, etc. His impact on the self esteem, pride and identity of Ethiopians and Africans is immeasurable. Ethiopia, by the way, had the lowest number of political prisoners in the entire world during his time.

And look what we did to him and his loved ones. We insulted him (Lebaw, Adahariw, Bez bazuge, Shemagelew), we disgraced him, and finally we murdered him in cold blood and threw his body into unmarked grave. We even refused to a few amongst us who wanted to honor and mourn for him. We slaughtered his associates, friends, family members and incarcerated or chased away his kids. We the merciless, we the vengeful, we the Azuro Mayet Yemanechel Angete Bisoch, do not even have the most elementary form of decency to name a single establishment after him in the capital or anywhere else.

A person who impacted the country and the world very positively in all conceivable spheres of ours and other’s life is now a no-body among us Ethiopians. Thanks to us, thanks to our self-loathing conscience.

Viva la Africa, viva la Jamaica, Viva la USA for their consistency and untiring effort to give a respectable place in history to HIM.

Degitu

Really Monica?! I tell you, whenever the Emperor visited the countryside in Ethiopia(and he did it very often, he made it a matter of honor to visit schools, and handout gifts to students. Many Ethiopians fondly remember the one Birr notes they had recieved from His Majesty as a gift. I don’t remember modern Ethiopian leaders, including mengistu and meles, doing that. In fact they make sure that you are posted far away whenever they get out of their palace.

Who is elitist?

But in many ways history has been kind to the Emperor because of the manner and dignity in which he shouldered the unprovoked and brutal attack on his people by a madman named Benito Mussolini. His speech before the League of Nations, proudly and intentionaly delivered in Amharic, was as timeless as it was prophetic. I am no fan of Haile, but listening to that speech, still gives me chills. We must give credit where it is due.