U.S. Embassy hosts a panel discussion on civil rights movement

Addis Ababa – On February 10, members of government, the opposition, religious and civil society leaders, University officials and students, attended a Black History month panel discussion sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in association with Addis Ababa University (AAU).  Panel members included U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Y Yamamoto, AAU President Professor Andrias Eshete, AAU Professor Abiye Ford, and U.S. Speaker guest of honor Ambassador George W. Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the Gambia and brother of Alex Haley.

Drawing on personal experiences the discussion, entitled “The Civil Rights Movement: From Martin Luther King to Barack Obama”, spoke to how the movement benefited all minorities and how the inclusion and encouragement of all citizens – regardless of their race, ethnicity or gender – strengthens and enriches a nation. 

Ambassador Yamamoto described the civil rights movement as “a uniquely American journey that has become an inspiration for all people”.  Speaking of his student days in the U.S. during Dr. King’s leadership of the movement, Professor Eshete described how it inspired he and other Ethiopians to redress inequalities they perceived in their own country.  Professor Abiye Ford spoke of the inspiration that Ethiopia itself provided the forefathers of the struggle for equal rights.

Speaking from the seat of honor Ambassador Haley described the arc of the Civil Rights movement through landmark Supreme Court cases including Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Plessy vs. Ferguson, and Brown vs. Board of Education in which he himself, as a young lawyer, participated.  Haley also credited the participation of all races and parts of society in the success of the movement.  The culmination of that success so far he sees in examples such as Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and, of course, the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States -  “the pride not only of African Americans but of the world”.