For well over a century, Pan Africans in the diaspora pined for, sought after and experimented on the prospects of establishing a haven on the continent of Africa. After Emperor Menelik’s victory over the Italians in defense of Ethiopian sovereignty, the relationship between Ethiopians and Africans in the Americas grew incrementaly, and missions were sent to the Americas to lure diaspora Africans to return and assist in the modernization efforts of the Ethiopian empire.

With the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I, the 225th Emperor in the lineage of Sheba and Solomon, there was an exponential increase in the efforts to attract Africans from the diaspora to Ethiopia, and an equal increase in the aspirations and efforts of various groups of diasporan Africans to return to Africa and Ethiopia in particular, to offer service to the land of their ancestors.

After the moral and financial support offered to the Ethiopian Emperor and Empire by Diaspora Africans during the 1935 -1941 Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie I offered a 500 acres land gift through the Ethiopian World Federation to those Pan Africans who sought self-determination and were willing and able to repatriate to Ethiopia. The gift was offered in Shashamene, an agricultural community in Southern Ethiopia; and although the offer was consistent with the policies and practices of the Ethiopian government during that period, the land gift was accepted and represented by many within the Ethiopian World Federation as the nucleus of a spiritual manifestation of Zion on earth. The Ethiopian World Federation planted this spiritual interpretational seed in the minds of their members and some the of many tributaries of Pan Africanism, including Ras Tafari groups, and over the past sixty years this seed blossomed into what is today a physical and sentimental reality, which maintains a stronghold in the aspirations and orations of the global Ras Tafari Movement.

Over the past four decades, Ras Tafari followers have consistently represented the land gift as their “God given” right of return to the continent of Africa and to Shashamene in particular. Individuals and organizations have established informal and formal community centers, homes, businesses, and social projects on the land and many adherents of Ras Tafari livity, curious investigators and professional researches have visited, worked in/for, built homes and maintained strong, personal, and professional links with the community.

It is fitting therefore that as we examine the bridges that have been established between the diaspora and Africa, we give a honest and critical analysis to the role of Shashamene, both in the future of the Ras Tafari Movement and also as a bridge to the Pan African aspirations that predates the community.
For the purposes of this Newsletter I will present a synopsis on the following:
- realities of life in Shashamene
- brief catalogue of ongoing successful projects within the community plus their challenges
- issues of security
- the need for a structured, sustainable, community building corp to be mandated with specific tasks that build on the successes of the past and advances the community toward the vision of complete self suffiency and spiritual redemption.

Over the next few serials of this Newsletter, I will take each topic listed above and offer comprehensive analysis and perspectives based on research and collaboration from the various Ras Tafari followers both on the ground in Shashamene and from the diaspora.

Realities in Shashamene
Part of what is real in Shashamene is the overwhelming faith and perhaps religious fervor that drew Pan Africans from the Caribbean, Europe, America and also ingidenous Africans to this gift of land offered by Our Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopia has a long tradition of spiritual/religious fevor and devotion and it is understandable that there is perhaps an innate gene within each Ras Tafari adherent that invokes this iritical response. Unfortunately, from my own experiences in Ethiopia I found that many who live on the land have become or are becoming less inspired to practice the spiritual rituals that sustained them in the West, whether they were (Nyahbinghi, orthodox, Twelve Tribe, Bobo Shanty). With the exception of few prominent dates on the Western and Julian calendars, community Elders from all Mansions are consistently experiencing diminishing participation in the turnout of individuals and families to the weekly worship rituals (Ises). There is therefore a need for an iritical revival in Shashamene!

Many of our sistrens and brethren in Shashamene are under-employed, unemployed, or do not have adequate preparation for the current economy of Shashamene. Notwithstanding this fact, there are a few economic projects done by Ras Tafari followers that hold the potential for strong economic success. These projects include; the Lilly of the Valley Hotel, Shashe Farms, and a recently established factory that produces soyabean products. There are also a growing number of trained and quasi-professional carpenters, masons, cabinet makers, steel workers and drum makers, all of whom have contributed to the many structures that serve as the physical base of the community. The initial influx of ones from the diaspora during the 1990s and early 2000s created the hope that there would be thriving economic boom for the community, but this has not yet materialized. These skilled community members are now frustrated and at times embittered by the lack of growth and economic opportunities, and many have left Shashamene for other cities and towns where there is a larger scale of economic growth, albeit created by other foreigners. It is perhaps a sign of the times where the economic drudry all over the globe has focued our community’s attention away from seeking directives of the Prime mover in our lives, to seeking the almighty dollar. It is necessary to challenge all who are here, on the continent of Africa or in other places around the world, to recall that his Majesty told us directly and through the bible, that it is only when we seek FIRST the kingdom of righteousness that all things shall be added; and that if we who are called by his name shall humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our evil ways, that our lands can be healed. There is therefore a need for more ISES in Shashemene!

The JRDC School is one of the bright spots and success stories of the Shashemene community. Its history and challenges are aptly detailed in the JRDC and Shashemene Foundation websites and articulated well by Brothers Karl and Roy and Sister Valarie, all of whom serve our community with distinction. I do believe however, that the school needs to promote the teachings of his Majesty as a curriculum item, thus empowering knowledge of the Emperor and knowledge of the virtues we find in him, which continues to empower our actions and motivations toward nation building, peace, and security, the unity of Ethiopia, and iniversal justice. I mention this as a mean to enhance the positive works of the shcool and as a motivator to those among us who may have the resources and skills set to make further impact on the direction of the Shashamene community. One can only imagine if and when the vision that Our Majesty, Haile Selassie I shared with us on science, agriculture, community and family harmony and social responsibilities, when shared with the youth of Shashamene, within the context of their social, economical and political realities, will empower the same and even greater loyalty among indigenous Ethiopians and the Ras Tafari/Pan African community. There is therefor a need for the teachings and livity of his Majesty!

I recently spoke with a Pioneering Sister from the Centenary Committee of 1992, which assisted in the building of the Shashamene Nyahbinghi Tablenacle and repatriation of several Elders from the Caribbean to Ethiopia. She was in Ethiopia in response to the passing of Elder Congo Rocky, and also for personal business. Sister Benji has a home in Shashemene but in her absence (she also resides in England), her home was vandalized by one or perhaps several youth, plus her cell phone was stolen as soon as she arrived in Shashamene. Her story is quite typical. A small yet growing group of indigenous youth in Shashamene has been preying on visitors and unsuspecting residents of the community. Many of these youth are well socialized within the Diasporan ethos of the community; they speak Jamaican patios, listen to reggae music, some wear dread locks and use the hola sacrament. These youth emlulates nearly all of the attributes of the diaspora community, including our lack of living and teaching the Emperor’s virtues, the lack of giving Ises to the Emperor and the general lack of a consistent moral and iritical protocal from the leadership of our community. Again, I will reiterate, when we begin to consistently live, practice, and communicate the personality and teachings of Our Majesty, Haile Selassie I, we will enfranchise positive changes, even among the above mentioned group who currently create much mischief and dis-ease within the Shashamene community.
Inspite of the above observations on the challenges laid forward for the diaspora and Shashamene communities, Ras Tafari in Shashamene is still on an overall positive trajectory. The best way to view this growth is perhaps from the perspective of Helen and James Piper who accepted the Land gift on behalf of the Ethiopian World Federation in 1948. When they arrived on the land it was primarily occupied by animals, it took over a day’s travel from Addis Ababa; there were no schools, few homes, limited electricity, no running water and no Nyahbinghi tablenacle. Today the infrastructures for growth both secularly and iritically have all been laid.
Recently, some members of diaspora community and even some based in Ethiopia have been flirting with the idea of establishing additional centers in Ethiopia to honor the King of Kings or perhaps to serve the many Ras Tafari followers who now reside in various communities across Ethiopia. While this is perhaps a natural next step in the growth and aspirations of the Movement, caution must be advised and wise judgement must be excercised in this Iwah. Our resources are so strained and dispersed and our community building efforts in Shashamene are so fagile that resource diversions and iritical deviations run the risk of undermining over six decades of hard work and sacrifices.
We must not deviate from, or maginalize Shashamene, an anomalous effort that is so great and trailblazing in our history. It is now time to seize our moment in history and through participation in organizations such as IDOR and its developmental projects, the Shashamene Resettlement Foundation, and a restructured, united Ethiopian World Federation; play our part in the advancement of the welfare of Shashamene and in the vision our pioneers and patriots created, ‘Shashamene the Gates of Zion.’

May light, love, and the Power of the Trinity be our collective guide!