There is running number that people in tech like to quote about the African knowledge ecosystem accessible online- 6-8%. The short answer, however, is that even though the proportion is small, even by the standards of countries with comparable population sizes, such as…
Long before we relegated picture books to children and much longer still before coffee table books were “invented” in their modern form, books with beautiful pictures and intricate page borders were the main vehicle for imparting education-religious and secular. In…
Between story and history The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has nine major and nine minor feasts. Meskel is the first of the minor feasts, and the liturgical calendar marks Meskerem 17, the day Queen Helena found the True Cross in Jerusalem. The Church…
In many cultures, a common New Year’s tradition involves enjoying a music playlist or a special TV show. This cultural experience may, sometimes, extend beyond national borders, for example, the viewing of the British classic “Dinner for One” in Germany…
I recently read an article by Esther Freud on what she calls “The perils of writing about family,” and what it means to navigate different and/or divergent memories of incidents with siblings when recounting family life and growing up. The divergence…
It is said that Emperor Haile Selassie I enjoyed the theatre. Laureate Tsegaye Gebremedhin credits the Emperor with inspiring the start of his playwriting career. As a young boy, Tsegaye translated a few passages from a play about Roman emperors…
Before we (the Ethiopian Gen X) “got” Matlock, Father Dowling, and Jake and the Fatman, we “had” Inspector Derrick. A German crime series aired after the English news on weekdays in the late 80s and early 90s. I had this memory of…
I don’t need a hypnotist to remember my first memory as a child. It was in my grandmother’s bedroom, and I was sitting on my great-grandmother, Abiye’s, lap- she was feeding me bread soaked in sweet tea. Abiye was listening…
It is a well-worn phrase, but Kenya truly feels like my second home. It has sheltered me at my worst and has given me good memories at my best. I always said that if I were to be exiled, I…
I am in the middle of a major organization of my “stuff” as George Carlin calls our things. It looks like I am preparing for a major exile. Or like I was told I am going to die very soon.…