Who was Haile Selassie - a benevolent ruler who resisted Italian colonisation, a god or a tyrant?

Posted by KWASI Akyeampong on February 15, 2019 at 9:18am

HaileSelassie_wikicommons.jpg?w=670&ssl=1&profile=RESIZE_710xThe romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop:

Yohannes Woldemariam trawls through the history books to expose the truths of Haile Selassie’s 44-year reign over Ethiopia.

Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, died in 1975, but he lives on through the romantic lyrics of the late Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley and Ethiopian pop star, Tewedros Kassahun, better known as Teddy Afro.

Yet there is a wide range of views of the man whose full official title was: “His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God.” Some remember him as a benevolent ruler who resisted Italian colonisation. For others, he is a god, yet others view him as a tyrant.

Marley’s portrayal of Selassie is strongly influenced by the Rastafarian belief that he is God incarnate, as allegedly “prophesied” by Marcus Garvey. On the other hand, Teddy Afro, an Ethiopian, is promoting his version of Ethiopianism (Ethiopiawinet).

The Kebra Nagast (also known as the Glory of Kings) is the ancient text from which Selassie’s mythology stems. It narrates the relationship between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and their son Menelik I, who allegedly hid the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia. Like Menelik II (1889-1913), Haile Selassie, a distant relation, claimed descent from the Solomonic dynasty. Inspired by this ideology, Ethiopian kings and emperors have conquered lands and enslaved ethnic groups. In this sense, the Kebra Nagast can fairly be compared to the 19th century expansionist white American ideology of the Manifest Destiny.

CONTINUE READING AT: The romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop


The romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop

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  • TheBlackList-Publisher March 14, 2019 at 4:42pm

    The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński - Goodreads

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59660

    The Emperor. Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, reigned from 1930 until he was overthrown by the army in 1974. While the fighting still raged, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland's leading foreign correspondent, traveled to Ethiopia to seek out...

    The Emperor
    Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia,...
  • TheBlackList February 17, 2019 at 1:31am
    GREETINGS; ROYAL FAMILY,
    THE ARTICLE BELOW...PLEASE READ.
    IF YOU ARE A TRUE RASTAFARIAN, YOU WILL SEE THAT THESE OPPRESSORS HAVE TRIED IN EVER WAY TO RUN  OUR LEADERS  UNDER THE BUS.
    THE BBC - WRITE MENTIONED THAT DR. WOLEMARIAM  :
     "Academic Yohannes Woldemariam has gone as far as to argue that Haile Selassie should be remembered as a dictator. Indeed, he created a constitution which placed all power in his hands and those of his descendants"
     
    YET DR. WOLDEMARIAM, NOT MENTIONED THAT HE IS/WAS A ROYAL SUBJECT. - GREATER THAN ALL OTHER KINGS AND QUEEN.  -  Please spear me the drama - and answer this question. ' IS QUEEN ELIZABETH A DICTATOR??? does the European Royal family created A constitution which placed all power in their hands. ???  - The European have killed and striped Africa of all their wealth and culture..  Yet - These killers statues are all over the world - without apology and criticisms .
     
    Sis Kathy Howell
    Love and Light
    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47172020
    ' HAILE SELASSIE - WHY AU PUT UP STATUE"
    Dr Yohannes Woldemariam is an academic attended high school in Ethiopia. He can be reached at: ywoldem@gmu.edu.
     
    PLEASE REA.D    " WE ALL NEED RESPOND"

    KATHY HOWELL [zungoo333@gmail.com]

    The romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop
    Yohannes Woldemariam trawls through the history books to expose the truths of Haile Selassie’s 44-year reign over Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie, w…
  • TheBlackList February 17, 2019 at 1:24am

    GREETINGS: MY BROTHER 

     

    .              The romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop

     

    https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/02/04/the-romantic-rewriti...

     

     

    A dictator does not inherit power because of succession. Rather he usurps power through a coup and stays in power by altering the constitution of the country. A dictator is very powerful and stays in power through sheer force. 

    Dictatorship is a form of governance that takes shape when a commander  stage a coup to depose an elected government. He declares himself as the President or the CEO of the country and passes laws to this effect. He suppresses all opposition by crushing them violently or putting all opposition behind bars. Dictatorship believes in the superiority of the state and that people exist for the state and not the state for the people. Dictatorship is considered as antipathy to democracy. IN THE CASE OF DICTATORSHIP AND MONARCHY: office of the head of the government is INHERITED  in monarchy, while it is TAKEN by force in dictatorship.

    Look around you the world there are 2 (two)  forms of  governance, Democratic and Communist.  Ethiopia have never been a Communist Country. Therefore we African home and abroad must learn to respect our ancestors, Kings and Queens who have made it possible for us to enjoyed the privileges we shared today.

    HONOR AND GLORY TO:  His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God.”

    . 

    LOVE AND LIGHT

    SISTER KATHY HOWELL

     

    NOTE; WE CANNOT FORGET FATHER AND MOTHER OF CREATIOM.

     

    KATHY HOWELL [zungoo333@gmail.com]

    The romantic rewriting of Haile Selassie’s legacy must stop
    Yohannes Woldemariam trawls through the history books to expose the truths of Haile Selassie’s 44-year reign over Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie, w…
  • TheBlackList February 17, 2019 at 1:11am
    Greetings Family,
    Truly...in our perfectly honest opinion...we do not have time for this type of discourse...we know who He Is...we know He lives ...for we have seen HIM in 1977...he still communicates with us and show us the way and we follow it...
     
    ...for us...this subject is just as bad as those who write otherwise and do not know HIM...who has taught us  that if you love him ...let the e world say "Amen...King of Kings Haile Selassie I is truly all that we "The Mystic Believers of HIM",  who possess knowledge that HE still lives...and we are asking the Believers...and True Lions to walk us us on the following issues:
     
    ...we believe the global mystic family upon the Mystic Path of Ras Tafari...must simply come together to carry out Our Fathers Unfinished Business; 
     
    The Queen of Sheba Historical Foundation, Inc is involved with resurrecting issues which Father was unable to complete...there is so much work...others have their mission and purpose and this is ours...
    ...our our earthly father taught us about the Kings of Kings and the fascist genocide with poison gas;he said His Majesty was the same as the fulfillment of Christ in His Second Advent...and we promised ourselves to learn more when was older, and we did...
     
    ...30 years later after much investigative research  we established the Ethiopian Holocaust Committeof 1935-1941 with founding directors from throught the world...
     
    ...from there were are here, waiting for our Application for "Observation Status with the United Nations NGO Committee on NGO's so that moving forward we will be able to demand for the UN to acknowledge and address fascist war crimes in Ethiopia, as King Haile Selassie Had sought, but was ignored...
     
    ...if our application is approve, we shall have the right to present this issue to the Committee on Genocide and Human Rights...---but it appears as if someone there does not want to entertain our application...so we are taking our issue to the international committee...
     
    ...we strongly believe we have discovered a wall named "historical bia" for the UN recognizes, addressed and entered all other other holocaust that occurred virtually within the same fron as the one in Ethiopia...and the genocide of the Ethiopian continues to be ignored.  
    ...we need the United Nations NGO Committee should  stop hold the door closed for the fascist genocide of the Ethiopian people, after all King Haile Selassie was a founding father of the UN...the NGO Committee has no good reason to say "no"...as they have done since 2017... ...we have detected historical bias with the United Nations NGO Committee and they are unable to say why except for mismanagement and disorganization of the NGO Committee.  
    ... is an insult to the victims and surviors of the Ethiopian Genocide 1935-1941 to continue to ignore this genocide while promotion the one in Europe of 1933-1945 that occurred virtually within the same time fram...
     
    ...on Behalf of our Father, King of Kings, Haile Selassie I...we cannot allow this to continue under in this time...under our watch.
     
     If you truly want to defend HIM join us in carrying out his work

    Wolette Selassie President & CEO

    The Ethiopian Holocaust

    Remembrance Committee 1935-1941

    https://www.queenofsheba-researchchgo.org

    https://www.queenofshebaresearch.org/

    Queen of Sheba Research-Chgo
    Advocate for the Restoration of The Throne of David in Ethiopia; supporters of the Crown Council of Ethiopia Historical Preservation Programs
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