Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine
Tadias Staff

Monday, August 31, 2009

New York (Tadias) – Ethiopian-Americans for Change announced a partnership with the Major League baseball team, the Washington Nationals— to stage the “Inaugural Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day.”

According to the group’s newly unveiled website the festivities will take place on September 25th, 2009 at the Washington Nationals stadium roof top deck and will include an Ethiopian-American cultural celebration and an award ceremony.

Tickets are available for $29 which includes pre-game celebration and food, music, and Ethiopian dancing. Event organizers note that “The Washington Nationals will be honoring the contributions that Ethiopian-Americans have made in the United States.”

Related from Tadias: Interview with the Organizers
Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation Award for Ethiopian Americans

From left: Emebet Bekele, Mike Endale, and Teddy Fikre (Courtesy photo).

Tadias interviewed three of the twenty organizers and volunteers of the
organization to get more details.

Can you please tell us a bit about the “Ye Eyasu (Joshua) Generation
Inaugural Award”? What is the objective?

Emebet: The Eyasu Generation Award is an award that recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the next generation. Too often, young Ethiopians are not recognized for their participation and contributions in our community. The truth is, there are countless Ethiopians who make tremendous contributions in the areas of science, law, medicine, sports, and more. Ethiopian-Americans for Change wants to show the riches of talent that we have in our community by celebrating outstanding young Ethiopians who have and continue to make an impact in their communities. In the process, we aim to motivate and encourage the next generation to aim for the heavens and excel in their endeavors—that they are not too young to make a change.

What is Ethiopian Americans for Change? and how did it come about?

Teddy: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is the evolution of Ethiopians for Obama. During the 2008 Presidential election, Ethiopians for Obama registered thousands of Ethiopian-Americans who had never voted before. Our hard work led to the Obama campaign releasing a letter thanking our community for the contributions that we have and continue to make in America. This was truly a historic milestone; never before has a presidential candidate sought our vote and thanked us for our contributions. In our own small way, we took part in a momentous event as America elected the first African-American—and a man whose father came from our next door neighbor in Africa — to the White House. America started noticing the Ethiopian community after seeing our “Yechalal” poster plastered at every Ethiopian restaurant and market and even non-Ethiopian restaurants like Bus Boys and Poets in DC. In fact, a major article was written about the Ethiopian community after a reporter noticed the Yechalal poster while eating at an American restaurant. After the election, we had a choice to make. Disband Ethiopians for Obama and go back to our usual routine, or have the audacity to believe that we can organize our community and make our vote one that is valued by every politicians and our voice heard by every opinion and policy maker. After months of brainstorming, we put together the blueprint and started seeking out Ethiopians that we had met along the way last year to form the backbone of Ethiopian-Americans for Change. As a result, we have over 20 amazing Ethiopians working across the nation to turn an audacious thought into a realistic idea. Ethiopian-Americans for Change combines the best of grass-roots organization with the efficiency of a well lubed machine. Our motto is “Leadership is what you do not what you are,” thus there is no such thing as the president, chief, executive, or head honcho. We all have the title of organizer and volunteer, and we sit at a figurative circular table, no one more important or no voice less valuable than the next. There is diversity and abundance of talent inside Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we range from our 20s, 30s, and 40s. We have lawyers, teachers, musicians, technicians, engineers, artists, multiple organizers who have attained their MBA and Masters in various fields. Individually, we have made our own impacts in various ways; by forming Ethiopian-Americans for Change, we have decided that now is the time to have the fierce urgency to make a big change.

Are you a formal organization or is the group still a social network of like-minded people from the 2008 Presidential campaign?

Mike: Ethiopian-Americans for Change is a formal organization. We are currently pursuing a 501 (3) C status and have the goal of being a formal non-profit organization before the end of this calendar year. However, we maintain our core identity of being a network of like-minded people who have a passion to be a part of a big change and give back to our community and to our country.

Please describe the award process and your selection criteria.

Emebet: Nominees are received from the general public via info@ethiopiansforchange.com Upon receipt of nomination, we do a cursory vetting to ensure that the person is legitimate and meets the requirements of the award rules. The nomination process runs through September 12, 2009. Once September 13th comes around, we will take all the nominations and submit them to a judging panel that consists of well known and respected Ethiopians. Their job is to narrow the field down to a list of 30, three in each category. The top 30 candidates will then be posted online so that people can vote for their favorite nominee. The top ten will be selected to be highlighted at the 09.25.09 event. The overall winner will receive a grant and a special trophy recognizing his/her contributions. But in the end, all nominees will be celebrated in the weeks leading up to 09.25.09.

Why limit the age group to only 30?

Teddy: We are not making a statement that we only value Ethiopians under the age of 30. To the contrary, I am 34 years old, I would have loved nothing better than to make the age requirement 35 or younger. And I am sure that someone else in our group who is 38 would love for the age requirement to be 40 or younger. At the end of the day, we hope that this award is not seen as a slight on those who are not 30 or seen as a generational disrespect. We are after all the products of our mothers and fathers, in our community, no voice is valued more and no respect given to more than those who have sacrificed so that we can thrive in America. However, this award is meant to encourage and motivate the next generation and let them know that there are countless positive voices amongst their peers whose voices get drowned out by the noise of contemporary lifestyle and focus on self-indulgence. This is a way to celebrate those who work hard and are rarely given a platform to be recognized.

Will there be an official ceremony where the awards are given out?

Emebet: The award will take place as part of the 09.25.09 events. On that day we will celebrate a milestone for the Ethiopian community in the United States. We encourage everyone to come out with their children, family and friends and join the festivities. stay tuned for more information.

Why is the website so cryptic? It simply says “09.25.09: History will be Made.” What does that mean?

Mike: 09.25.09 simply means that there will be a historic moment that will take place on September 25th, 2009. We promise that full details of 09.25.09 will be released very shortly. In fact, if you follow us on Facebook or twitter, you will be one of the first to find out about the details of 09.25.09.

What happens after the award process? Are there opportunities for sponsorships, scholarships or any other perks attached to the award?

Teddy: Yes, we are working with sponsors to provide a significant grant for the overall winner of the Eyasu Generation Award. This grant will be either in the shape of a scholarship or a check that will further the awardee’s endeavor in his/her particular area of expertise.

How do people join Ethiopian Americans for change? What are the requirements?

Teddy: We will be releasing our website very shortly with detailed information about Ethiopian-Americans for Change and ways that people can get involved in the 09.25.09 event and other events we are planning into the future. If you are interested in learning more, email us at info@ethiopiansforchange.com

Thank you all and good luck

Teddy: Thank you to Tadias Magazine for giving us this time and the platform to get our message out. At the end of the day, that is what Ethiopian-Americans for Change is all about, Ethiopians working side by side with other Ethiopians to make a change and to let our collective voices be heard.

Egiziabher Yistilin!