May 19, 2009 | E.W.F, Voice of Ethiopia (past)
Article from the original ‘Voice of Ethiopia’
Volume 3, Number 17
Saturday May 20, 1939
If men cannot retain and promote peace and good will in their own families how can they hope to fight successfully against an outside adversary? He who would regain the rights taken away from him by an enemy must first see to it that his own house is set in order that a deep spirit of peace and good will reigns in his own boundaries. If he secures this them he can hope to struggle successfully against the common adversary, for then his forces will be united. The principle of love will reign in his own home.
“If in the act of making sacrifice ye find that ye have aught against the Brother, cease there the gift at the altar. First be reconciled to thy brother then come and offer thy gift.”
The Ethiopian World Federation sets as one of its objectives “the promotion of love and goodwill among Ethiopians at home and abroad.” The Federation is bound and determined to promote and insist on the growth of this spirit of love among its members and among all Black peoples. The possession of this spirit is fundamental. It is an absolutely necessary antecedent to the realization of other objectives, including a place in the Sun for the Sons of Ham.
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May 18, 2009 | E.W.F, Speeches, Voice of Ethiopia (past)
From the original Voice of Ethiopia
April 5, 1948
Question: Perceiving the great benefit the Ethiopian people have been able to derive from the Constitution which Your Majesty has been pleased to grant to them 27 years ago, and observing the great change and improvement in the way of life of the people since then, Your Majesty has been once again pleased to grant the new Revised Constitution on the Twenty-fifth Coronation Anniversary to suit the politically and intellectually advanced state of the present generation.
This Revised Constitution has enabled the entire Ethiopian people to have the right to elect and be elected to Parliament. Consequently, we find today the representatives of the people performing their duties in Parliament after being elected by secret ballot in the spirit of the Constitution. Would it please Your Majesty to make known your views on the significant changes that have come about in the country within these 27 years?
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May 18, 2009 | E.W.F, Speeches
Whoso would be happy must pin his hope and his affection to things that are immortal, things that are eternal. Whoso would court unhappiness and disappointment let him have inordinately things that are temporary, things that are fleeting.
Among those things that are fleeting are individuals. Individuals die and if you have pinned all your trust in an individual your hopes may be blasted. Individuals change their philosophy, their character (to some extent) and their outlook.
In such a case whoever has loved that individual too well is doomed to sorrow.
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May 17, 2009 | E.W.F, Speeches, Voice of Ethiopia (past)
Article from the original Voice of Ethiopia
Volume 1, Number 25
Saturday July 17, 1937
Some time ago I wrote in this column that the white race would be looking on to see the failure of the efforts being made by black people here, to assist Ethiopia. I said also that many members of our race had become distrustful of any organization formed by Black people because they had the habit of falling for one reason or another.
There are reasons why our efforts to advance often meet with failure – internal quarrels and external opposition. It is necessary therefore that in our attempt to take our proper place in the world, our organizations be intelligently set up and honestly and efficiently administered.
Endurance
The Black race is capable of keeping alive under the most adverse circumstances. The history of the slave period and after proves this. Here we go on living patiently enduring the shortage of the necessities of life, and continuous toil with no other prospect in view.
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May 17, 2009 | E.W.F, Speeches, Voice of Ethiopia (past)
Article from the original Voice of Ethiopia
Volume 2, Number 35
Saturday September 24, 1938
We must choose between collective action and individual action. Human beings are drawn together living in communities for their mutual benefit. They are drawn by an instructive force to live together in groups for their mutual protection. But frequently they fail to avail themselves completely of the benefits of collective action.
Individual Action
There is no system which cannot be shown to possess some advantage over another system which has the same purpose. Individual action has certain advantages over collective action. When government is in the hands of one man or a small group decision can be made more quickly and executed with greater speed than when it depends on collective action.
But the possibilities of effort are far greater. A man’s knowledge and experience are limited, his emotions are at times unreliable. For these reasons error is more likely to occur than if he had the knowledge and experience of many persons to draw upon.
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