Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie

Picture by Andrew Laurence

From Afro American Newspaper

His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, the grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia came to Washington, D.C., recently not only to help celebrate the Ethiopian-African second millennium but also to reinforce ties between Africans and African Americans.

INQUTATASH-Meskerem 1/2000 is the beginning of the third millennium based on the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo calendar that lags the Julian and Gregorian calendars by seven years.

On Sept. 12, one day after the Ethiopian New Year, the prince placed a wreath of green, yellow and red flowers at the African American Civil War Memorial, surrounded by a group of Ethiopian religious and military officials, and other leaders in the Ethiopian, African-American and Ethiopian World Federation community.
The congregation then proceeded to the New Bethel Baptist Church for a ceremony featuring speakers and displays.

Tamrat Medhin, president of the Ethiopian-African 2nd Millennium Council (EA2MC) formally opened the Millennium Ceremony and the honorable Councilman Jim Graham of Ward 1, which has the largest concentration of Ethiopian immigrants, presented a Ceremonial Resolution from the Council of the District of Columbia declaring Sept.12, 2007, as the "Ethiopian Millennium Recognition Day."

"It is the right day, on the dawn of the new millennium, to recognize the struggles and triumphs so many have endured for all of us, as a community of all colors, to have the opportunity to remember and celebrate this connection."
H.I.H. Prince Ermias spoke eloquently about the debt Ethiopians owe to the African-American community for their support during Mussolini's fascist invasion of Ethiopia, and their struggle for civil rights enabling the Ethiopian Diasporas to participate in the American society with dignity. H.I.H. Prince Ermias made an impassioned speech invoking the historical ties between Africans in the Diaspora, and a commitment to make the future more peaceful and prosperous for Africa and the world.

Mr. Chris Haley, the director of Slavery at the Maryland State archives who was made famous by his uncle Alex Haley's book {ROOTS,} spoke about his ancestor who arrived in September 1767 as an enslaved teenager and descendent of Kunta Kinte/Gambia. He added that one could draw a line straight across from Gambia to Ethiopia that connects all Africans together on that map. He saluted the Ethiopians who claim to be from the " Cradle of Civilization" and the birthplace of Lucy "Dinkinesh" ("Thou art wonderful"), the oldest known humanoid fossil.

"I come to you in amazement that I, a Black man born in Washington, D.C., who can trace his roots back to the Gambia, am able to stand in the presence of a descendent from the line of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and their child, the first Ethiopian King Menelik; amazed that I can stand before their heir, the grandson of H.I.H. Haile Selassie I," Haley said. "And as his placing of a wreath at the African American Civil War memorial commemorates and links the struggles of African descents who fought against oppression in the 1800s with Ethiopian warriors who fought against European forces in the 1900s and never gave in to colonization, I come to you, citizens of the United States and Ethiopia, in admiration.

"It is the right day, on the dawn of the new millennium, to recognize the struggles and triumphs so many have endured for all of us, as a community of all colors, to have the opportunity to remember and celebrate this connection."
Ms. Nebiat Solomon, director of the Office of African Affairs in the Office of the Mayor brought the elephant tusks residing at City Hall that Emperor Selassie donated to Washington during his visit in 1954 for display at the church.

Mr. Andrew Laurence, president of the Ethiopian-American Cultural Center displayed photos of African-American pilots Herbert Julian, aka "The Black Eagle," and Col. John Robinson who both commanded Ethiopian Air Forces against the Italians; Dr. Melaku Bayen, the first Ethiopian medical school graduate in the US, who founded the Ethiopian Research Council with diplomat Dr. Ralphe Bunche and historian Dr. William Leo Hansberry at Howard University; H.I.M. Haile Selassie presenting an Ethiopian Cross to pastor and U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem; and jazz great Duke Ellington performing in Ethiopia.

More activities are being planned to provide opportunities to strengthen the relationship between the Ethiopian and African-American communities in Washington, D.C., for the future including a religious pilgrimage to Ethiopia, cultural education programs, and grassroots actions on various local issues.