Page 132 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

123
•
Comparing the African American and Oromo Movements
how the transition from individualized and autobiographical memories had laid the
foundation of this ethnonational identity through forming a movement, celebrating
festivals, and participating in different public events to reshape and develop politicized
collective identity.African Americans forged their ethnonational identity from differ-
ent African ethnonational groups, based on remote African ancestry and cultural her-
itage and popular consciousness, and developed their political and cultural
consciousness to liberate themselves from the American racial caste system.
The ill-equipped Ethiopian state, with the help the imperial interstate system, has
kept the Oromo under tight control through denying them educational, cultural, and
economic opportunities.The denial of formal education prevented Oromos from de-
veloping an educated class with the skills and knowledge needed in building strong
national institutions and organizations.Therefore, Oromos have not yet developed an
organizational capacity that can transform their cultural heritage into Oromo politi-
cal and cultural consciousness. Like African Americans, Oromos needed urbanites and
educated elements, political and cultural organizations, and political opportunities in
order to develop Oromo nationalism and to struggle to dismantle Ethiopian settler
colonialism.Although Oromos could rely on a whole series of shared values and cul-
ture,the nature of the Ethiopian political system does not allow them to build national
institutions that are needed in consolidating the Oromo national movement. Oromos
are denied autonomous or independent educational, economic, cultural, and political
institutions under Ethiopian settler colonialism.This has delayed the development of
Oromo nationalism when compared with other African nationalisms. Several factors
have prevented Oromos from mobilizing their cultural resources to develop Oromo
nationalism. Similarly,African Americans who were under slavery were denied the op-
portunity of developing autonomous institutions. Free Blacks, however, could have
their autonomous institutions in spite of segregation. After slavery was abolished,
African Americans were allowed to develop segregated autonomous cultural, educa-
tional, religious, and economic institutions. Despite the fact that these institutions
could not fully flourish since they were under internal colonial domination, they had
free space that enabled them to contribute to the development of Black nationalism.
What Anthony Smith says about culture and nationalism correctly reflects the con-
ditions under which African American and Oromo nationalisms emerged:“If nation-
alism is part of the ‘spirit of the age,’it is equally dependent upon earlier motifs, visions
and ideals. For what we call nationalism operates on many levels and may be regarded
as a form of culture as much as a species of political ideology and social movement.” 92
The emergence of Oromo nationalism has facilitated the demand for restoration of
the Oromo democratic tradition known as Gada. 93 According to Ben Barber, an
American photojournalist,“Oromo—with its unique Gadaa [sic] system of organized
social responsibilities according to distinct age-groups [and generation-sets]—is com-
94
ing back to life.” Oromo nationalists have refuted the ideologies of colonialism and
racism by returning to their rich cultural traditions and declaring the everlasting na-
ture of Oromo peoplehood and cultural history. Similarly, although they were torn
away from their African roots for several centuries and although the restoration of
their African heritages has been mainly symbolic and ideological, African American
peoplehood and nationalism have been historically and culturally grounded in their
African historical memory and their experiences in the United States.
African Americans lived under racial slavery and segregation for almost three and
a half centuries; Oromos have been suffering under Ethiopian settler colonialism,