Truth Barometer#3
Part I
By Odaa Hora
“Oromoon guyyaa tana Oromuummaa ofii hinbeeknee gabra” Professor Mohammed Hassen
The subjugation of the Oromo people and their alikes: the southern people of the same historical fate in earnest started after the active expansion wars waged by Abyssinia colonialists and the occupation of the territory demarcated as, “quasi-Ethiopian-state,” the contemporary were accomplished. The Abyssinians (Amhara and Tigre mainly); the aliens of the north who portray themselves as the descendants of the tribe of Judah simultaneous established a policy of forced assimilation “Habeshaization /Amharaization” in each and every conquered region of the south of Abyssinia proper to colonize and to control the lands and the minds of the south continuously to the present. As a result, since her invention the current dependent predatory fake “Ethiopia” that consists of the northern aliens; the colonizers and about eighty ethno-nationals of the south incarcerated into one of the most primitive, barbaric, and predatory empire on the planet were incorporated.
The forced Habeshaization processes began right in the northern neighboring region of Gosa (branches) of Raayyaa, Wallo or Walo; (Torban Warra Walo) Oromos most successfully after the king of Portuguese responded to the rescue action to save the so called “the only Christian Island in the African content,” and sent Musketeers and cannons to Abyssinia in the 1540s that reversed the courses in favour of Abyssinia victory and occupations. The Portuguese and the Abyssinia hordes trained by Portuguese conducted massacres as a revenge, even though the war of resistance against th expansion of Habeshan-vereison of Coptic-orthodoxy lead by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghaz was accomplished and his troops had surrendered. From thereupon forced assimilation process continued downwards in all three directions.
Most profoundly, it was after the so-called Berlin conference to scramble for Africa in 1884/1885 by European colonizers, where Abyssinia proper, the country of “Prester John” was treated as a shareholder, “quasi-partner” and become all that she needed. It was in Berlin that the artificial boundaries of contemporary Africa we know today was drawn like a chessboard with slight changes that lead to all chronical wars in African continent without exceptions, genocides conducted, displacement, refugees , etc to that Africa did not get rid of it to the very date and suffers in all sphere of life.
Once, all three Abyssinia warlords who were active in the region at showed interests and dreams identical to Europeans and wrote letters to European leaders begged for help,mainly modern firearms and advisors and the Europeans provided all what she needed. While the other two was killed Sahile Mariam “Menelik II” was left the only candidates to get all from all and began wars of expansions ad occupations. It was during his barbaric wars of Expansion called “Hager-maqnat” that Abyssinia increased from five to six time of her original size and the artificial boundaries of the current fake “Quasi-Ethiopian States” in the horn of Africa was demarcated. She was created by Eureaponas to act as a marionette to serve the political west, who were, and still are hungry for rich African resources and labor to develop and survive that holds true the current.
In the previous articles, an effort was made to ferret out her invention, establishment, and maintenance under “One more left in Africa: half a devil and half an Abyssinian empire, and The Oromo want the aliens out of their country now.” in case reader interest is reawakened and wants to revisit for more detail. Physical violence (wars), Ideological jingoism (myth and fables), and the amalgamations of both created one of the barbaric predatory Abyssinian Empire. She turned to the burden of the whole southern peoples, natural, cultural, social, economic resources, etc., virtually of and on everything of the south. In fact,themasters of Coffe, Jimaa hide etc.,exportes have never know the Coffee tree.I am sure it is not Cactus what they know.
Although the physical slavery gained by guns, tanks and bombs (by violence) battles and mental slavery (psychological slavery) are merely opposite sides of the same coin, nevertheless, it is crucial to consider their differences within time frames and effects. The metaphor “Physical slavery” indicates the beginning of the gruesome wars waged by the colonizer in occupying and controlling the territories physical and all its possessions that are short lasting in time. It took place during active face to face an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth combats between the colonizer and the resisting force against the colonization of their ancestral land. For example, the duration of Menelik’s “hagermaqnat” wars of expansion and aggrandization and gruesome acts known in the history of the empire aggressively took place in the last quarter of the 19th century after getting modern firearms, advisories, financers, etc., from his European counterparts. The gruesome wars toward south lasted about one decade.
Whereas the metaphor ‘colonization of mind’ or mental slavery is a gradual, long lasting complex process of cognitive performance that took its foothold after the victory of physical wars and colonization of the territory. Consequently, although the colonist, Menelik was buried over a century ago, he still lives in the mind of the settler colonialist (the Netanya’s) who calls him Immiyyee menlik:mother Menilk) celebrates his birthday). Furthermore, one must not undermine the impact of the monument in the Umbilical cord of Oromia: Finfinne or Shagar that we did not get rid of it yet like Saddam Hussein of Iraq. More challenging is that the legacy of the mentally colonized people that belongs to the oppressed people by names of the south as whole who still serves the grandchildren of their oppressors.
Herein, the article attempts to explore what means ‘mental slavery’ interchangeably ‘colonization of mind,’ causes, effects, challenges, and solutions. To explore the theme, the frameworks of Marcelo Dascals; publication on the subject, what means ‘colonization of mind’ retrieved from the internet is adopted. Courtesy of the Author. According to, Marcelo Dascal: “The metaphor ‘colonization of the mind’ highlights the following characteristics of the phenomenon under scrutiny here:
(a) The intervention of an external source – the ‘colonizer’ – in the mental sphere of a subject or group of subjects – the ‘colonized.
The interaction or bonding of the colonizers of the north, the predatory Abyssinians versus the Oromos and the southern people; the prey began after conquering the southern people physically by force and territorial occupation. Simultaneously, they waged physiological or mental wars on everything of the south without mercy. The implemented policies of systemic extermination; the doctrine of “terra nullius” was the ultimate goal of the Abyssinian settler colonialists (the Neftenyas ) that holds true to the very date.
It has its analogy to the European invaders (the brains and the mentors of the Abyssinians to the present) where ever their foothold via seas and oceans. They pushed the indigenous people to a concentration camp, considered them as they were not worthy to live on this earth, exterminated them and called it a justified extermination as if they are microbes. To add insult to injury of those who survived the gruesome acts of genocides and ethnocide natives such as of Americas and of Australia the so-called “Indians,” and the “Aborigines” forced and packed in reservoirs in corresponding continents respectively. They removed their history, cultures, symbols and artifacts to museums. Thus, the policies and the dreams of aliens of the north have been in de facto is nothing but a mirror image of their inventors, mentors, financiers, gun providers from via seas and oceans most importantly the political west who has long years nursing, supporting and maintaining her to the present and promised to do so in the future.
Since the occupation of the land in the south, language acted and still does acts as a vector (carrier) of the interaction between the colonizers mind and the colonized mind: The antagonists. At this stage, language is not merely a language per se, but it also essentially provided, and still does provide, a reliable tool for operation, intertwined with a pattern of thought, religion, moral laws, ethics, etc., the begging of the colonization of the mind of the colony.
Before one begins to perform the operation the colonizer must inject its poison independent of its origin and acquisition to tranquilize his colonies mind.The poison consists of myths, fables, fabrications, theological precepts, “religion” crucial for the colonizers to effectively reproduce a good slave mind, to perform all duties and assignments as a loyal servant, if possible for life long. Herein, the colonizer implements its own language, as the only one to be used in every sphere of life of the colonized as a vehicle, institutionalizes it, trains his slave, “pidgins” language, by saying in his master’s word “Ishe(ok) or abet(ja Sir), ” gets in return a “civilized” as psychological stimulus and award and to motivate for future services.
In reverse, the colonizer at this stage has already cursed, forbid, painted dark the languages of the indigenous people independent of its distribution size, richness, applications and potent to serve the society if utilized, an extension of. systematic ethnocide planned to erase the identity of the conquered people from their mind; a silent killer from within like a cancer disease. In other words by distorting, contorting and cursing on which the Abyssinian Empire tirelessly worked for centuries, and still do work on are to annihilate if she can, the identity of Oromuummaa (Oromoness), Sidaamuummaa (Sidamaness), Ogaadenuummaa (Ogadenness), Afaaruummaa Beenshaanguuluummaa (Benshangulness) Gumuuzuummaa (Gumuzness) etc., from our mind and to replace or install with her evil myth, legends, and fabrications she created from vacuum, copied from somewhere else on face value, stolen and claims to hold the patent on it. such as I am the origin of man and civilization. I am the only non-colonised “hero” in the African continent.God created billions of people on this planet but selected singularly the Habeshas to rule the native Africans. I am the only one who has its own script. If one can read the gray matter package of myth and fabrication, superstitions of the habeshas injected in the minds of colonized south, one can write an encyclopedia if it is worthy. Its objective is simple,to reproduce a good slave mind during assimilation processes that runs unconsciously in a hope of the colonized and sacrifice his life for the survival and maintains of the empire.
In most, the Amharic language served as the vehicle of forced assimilation and interactions between the colonizer and the colonized after our ancestral land was occupied by force.The aliens of the north policy of forced assimilation to “Amharaization” that tells all its ingredients or death where there was no other alternative for the southern people. By institutionalizing the Amharic language, safeguarding by force, legislating it,what to do and punishing of any type what not to do that satisfies her psychic.The extent pushing in most cases such as hanging by daylight on market days and the center of marketplaces. The gruesome acts what no wild animal can do. Even if the person they hunted had committed suicide before falling into the hands of the evils, they keep the dead body they found, protect it until the coming outdoor market day to hang in front of the high crowd. People who come to the marketplace, virtually all surrounding villages even from far distances were forced to watch and to curse and to insult the dead body. A deliberate planned and executed psychological war, and inhuman acts to send an alarm signal to the people, to disseminate a cycle of fear in the mind of the people. A warning that signals, if you do not obey your master’s rule, one of you, or more, may be the next candidate for the knotted rope you saw.
The gruesome action Ketama Wubetu and his friend by the armed killers “soldiers”- by hanging on a fence on 9th of December 2014 in Daraa, Salaale region in Oromia that remains in our memory is one among many atrocities done overt and covert which are not yet unveiled in this prison house. The facts on the ground prove that the ruling gangsters clubs decided to act with armed force, a language of violence, as usual, the only solution for all challenges faced and facing on the ground. The empire collapses and will be buried deep in the earth very soon.and the only means trusted till
What every inhuman acts, atrocities and vilification conducted on the Oromos and the southern people since the invasion of the aliens of the north, the Oromos and the people of the south of the historical fate has survived. The war of genocide amalgamated with the war of ethnocide waged on our history, language, culture, symbols, rites, indeed on everything of the indigenous people for centuries were what the aliens dreamed were to put us physically in reservoirs and culturally in the museums like aborigines in Australia or natives of America.
Although un-reversible damages were done since colonization of the conquered people and waged wars of physical and mental colonization, took humanity away from us, It was the covert or overt resistances, fights, and sacrifices of our parents, grandparents, and grand-grand parents whom we today consider them us our heroes and heroines who rescued all that we owe today. And we are obliged to defend by hook or crook, and act with all means we possess to reverse the cycle of colonization, by reawakening our national identities we inherited, fertilizing it with our alikes and bring up to the global arena. The last shall be the first.Frantz Fanon said:
Decolonization, as we know, is a historical process: that is to say that it cannot be understood, it cannot become intelligible nor clear to itself except in the exact measure that we can discern the movements which give it historical form and content. Decolonization is the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by their very nature, which in fact owe their originality to that sort of substantification which results from and is nourished by the situation in the colonies. The colonized man is an envious man.
The master asked his adolescent slave named John by saying: Would like to “live” on this planet fifty years as slaveJohn or Five years as a free man? John; answered, I prefer to live as a free man even less than five years, and die as a free man.
(b) The parties can be aware or unaware of their role of colonizer or colonized and both can participate in the process voluntarily or involuntarily.
Maya Angelou said: How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and heroines. Let her soul rests in peace and her wisdom lives in our memory. Yearly in April (Caamsa: Guyya gootota ) we Oromos celebrate our heroes and heroines because the draw inspiration from the virtue of our ancestors they fought in their life and sacrificed. The challenges and the novelty the tasks of great names we admire, sing songs about them, write poems etc., inspires as gives as power and proud as we memories, retain them with us,tell to the next generation to keep the alive for eternity. We memories our heroes and heroines, who are not with us physically, but they are always with us mentally and will do so in the future. The major reasons what makes the hero and heroine exceptional are basically the time, place, environment or circumstances and their earlier awareness in their mind first and their answers a big NO to the colonization and preparedness for sacrifice without a shadow of a doubt: only over my dead body. Awareness is all a faculty of mind that raises questions in the form of a cascade, like, Who we are? What did we have? What did we lost, and Why? And seeking the correct answer to each question raised in mind. How do we gain all that we lost, and so on and so forth,what did we inherit to the coming generations?
The heroes and heroines we admire and refer are those whose awareness arose very early for the novel cause of their people and dedication for life and the novel price they paid. That is what we instinctually process in our mind without noticing when we see their pictures, hear their voices, read about them, sings about them, our thought automatically swings between them in retrospectives and ourselves in prospectives in receiving this stimulus or information, the way the human Brain or mind works. We further interrogate, investigate and learn from them and the society in which they were nurtured and their exceptionalities we admire. To share my own experience, the tangible one, In the region where I was born and grown up in Saalale, in Oromia, among others, people most often song about Agarii Tulluu like this:
tookicha bitaa mirga loluu
Agarii yaa gootakoo
Siif ni keena moormakoo
Agarii cirrii faarda irra
Agarii daakiyyee laga irra
Siif hiiriiba dhabanii
Ana haanyaatu bineesii ha’lkaanii
Agariin hin qabamu, gantuutu qabssiissee
Sila sii madiin bulaa, ijoolen ta‘ee malee
Without knowing who he and his brother Jimaa were at that age of Foolle grade, I simply echoed the songs I heard like cassette recorders tirelessly with the others. My disappointment was that those who song the lyric better than I am do not able to answer my question who is Agarii? What a man he is that mesmerized us all was the strength of the lyrics that raised more question than answers that we all Foolles eagerly wants to know and to find the answer one day from knowledgeable elders, our encyclopedia so to say.
But two things were feasible, as an inspirational stimulus to us from the lyric and songs of Agarii at this stage and to dream about it if we are beholding to be called; cirrii faarda irra and daakiyyee laga irra ( the master of horse riding and swimming like ducks) one day.Finally, later on, as we were told from our elderlies that he was more than what we song and still sing. They told us that Agarii was invisible, He was bulletproof, handsome, available everywhere when needed, a man of justice and protectorate of the poor Oromos so-called “ciiseenya”by feudal settlers (neftanyas). He was a hunter of merciless, moralless feudal despots who knew nothing except sucking the blood of our people.
Finally, the lyric that says (Agariin hin qabamuu,.gantuutu qa’bsiisee malee) opens our eyes to grasp the role of betrayals in the process of liberation more significantly more today than yesterday. The gruesome act that was done on Agarii and his brother Jimaa; who was indeed nothing to do with his brother performances,but also caught and hanged on market day to be watched by the crowd is a deep rooted culture of the aliens of the north settlers (Neftayas ) committed on the south people.The recent past subhuman act of the gangster in Daara/Salaale that we destined to witness, among many, not yet unveiled crimes the tyrants conducted is enshrined facts the world must know and act accordingly.
I have no doubt that we all have our heroes who inspired us and who we remember from our beautiful, rich villages in the whole of Oromia. They lived their life for their nation whose awareness arose very earlier in those dark days, whereas the majority of its people can even not dreamed of it, let alone to combat the aliens on their shoulders, injustice was done to their people, and to think of liberation of his people at specific time places and circumstance.
We appreciate them because they inspire us from day to day. They recognized that there is a stranger at home with his own poison that must be neutralized and decided to fight in those dark days and paid a heroic sacrifice for the virtue of their nation. They opened the eyes in the middle of the darkness of their society. Whereas for those who were/are unaware of the colonization of their mind would /will be unthinkable of decolonization of their mind first let alone their people and their land finally, although both were equally colonized. They carried,and still do the mind of the stranger, a product of colonial indoctrination transmitted through the process of mental assimilation that turned to the mental habits and contents of the art of thinking and handling instead of rediscovering themselves.
The words of Prof. Mohammed: “Oromoon guyyaa tana Oromuummaa ofii hinbeeknee gabra” has a value of diamond if his words stimulate our brain; gray matter, process it successful and responded it correctly. Today than ever the genuine Oromo people at home and abroad are giving the sacrifice need to liberate their land and dismantle one of the barbaric, tyrannical regime ruled by TPLF gangsters club of the contemporary “Quasi–Ethiopia State” empire on this planet. They do so without any foreign designer, advisor, mentor, firearm and finance provider. The gold slogan that vibrates Oromia and genuine Oromoo Sabboonas and Sabboontus indeed, independent of age and place says: Taking our destiny in our hands.
Today, Heroes and Heroines are flowering day by day from each and every corner of Oromia, prepared to realize the dreams and the sacrifice of the heroes and heroines of past who are not physically with us, but lives for eternity in our heart and mind. We remember them and celebrates because the inspire us; they are our sunshine’s and eye openers.
Throughout colonization of Oromia /Biyya Oromoo and the creation of one of the poorest Euro-Abyssinia empire cum–Ethiopia, Sirna Gadaa-Seeqqee System, our history suffered extremely cultural genocide with the aliens of the north. Thus, when we talk about Liberation of Oromia/Biyya Oromoo, the struggle for independence that is a continuous process, and is not merely of political and economical, but It also involves the struggle over history, culture and above all It is only the liberation mind that liberates his land and his people and all what it belongs. History teaches as that there has been nothing of go-between and it will not be in the future because both are antagonistic.
Therefore, the liberation of mind meant a total rejection of the mind setups, worldview, culture, the art of thinking and handling, behavior installed by the colonizers, in the process of Habeshanization or Amharaniztaion doctrine for centuries that ultimately needs to reverse to our own. The recovery or the antidote to colonized mind is a total rejection of everything of the colonizers; meant decolonization of our mind especially those of us who were and still are trapped into the dark hole of “Ethiopianism equivalent to Habeshanization” like a fox infected with rabies: an invisible virus for our eyes and convinced invincible to come out of the dark hole and the infection. In fact, there is a way out of the dark hole and recovery from the infection I call it Ethiopinitis, an antidote or a vaccine for it. One must take it at the individual level, the infected first, and then family and community as preventive measures so that it will not be disseminated to the nation. The ingredients of the vaccine consist of the restored unique history of owner own; the renaissance of Oromuumma; Sirna Gadaa-Seeqqee, fertilized to the global reckons. Our history, re-written by our own historian and genuine sacred scholars of global reckon and teachers around the world on Oromos and alikes in the world that would empower us and give to the future generation a clear and true perception of the forebears, Judging right from wrong in the whole Oromia and beyond, hence of themselves. We must ask ourselves, sharpen our mind and how do we think, behave, and act within and against the foe. Furthermore, the struggle for independence–Qabso for whom the Heroes and Heroines sacrificed their life for us did inspire us to achieve the goal they set Abba biyuumma, must be recognized, remembered, and celebrated.
To achieve a liberated Oromia we must imply a “new” matrix of Oromo identity, study our history from master teachers and Elders. e. We must be honest with ourselves primarily and then to our family, community and final to our nation. Thus, Sirna gadaa-Seeqqee system must make the link with its key elements.
Analog to the computer, that consists of two main parts, the hardware (keyboard, printer etc), the tangible one and the software (various programs), the virtual one (invisible to our naked eyes). The biological body of human-like organs, systems (hardware analog) are composed of billions of varies cells, and we are spiritual, emotional, religious, we have, beliefs, dreams, love, memories (virtual analog to the computer). The hardware depends on software programs for proper function mediated via the Operation system to the computer chips called CPU (Central Processing Unit – the brain of the computer that consists of called RAM (Random Access Memory) that take charges of the data or, information processing and organizing it on an input /output- to the final result. As an infected (software) computer or a computer without memory is dysfunctional.
The physical body without mind and mind without a memory of our true Oromo history or with infected (distorted, contorted with the colonial mind is dysfunctional. Thus, it is a time of the renaissance- the revival of the deliberately distracted history of Sirna Gadaa- Seeqqee system. Otherwise, there is no need to call our selfs I am Oromo, Sidama, and so on so far. Did not we all say action speaks louder than words? It is only a liberated mind that liberates his people and his land.
odaahora@gmail.com
