Page 140 - Fighting Against the Injustice of the State and Globalization

Comparing the African American and Oromo Movements
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with Urjii, an independent Oromo newspaper, by imprisoning or killing them, even
though Urjii has been officially recognized. Oromos have gained some cultural, intel-
lectual, and ideological success in Oromo society and in the diaspora. Oromia, the
Oromo country, and the Oromo nation emerged out of historical obscurity in one
century.The Oromo people have achieved some level of cognitive liberation because
of the development of Oromo nationalism. Further, Oromo organizations have offi-
cially recognized the Oromo democratic tradition known as the Gada system. By rec-
ognizing the importance of a unity of purpose, Oromo organizations have started to
work toward building a united front known as the United Liberation Forces of Oro-
mia (ULFO).The formation of the ULFO is encouraging, because pressure from the
Oromo people made it happen.
By challenging Ethiopian ideological and cultural hegemony, the Oromo move-
ment has introduced political instability to the Ethiopian empire.The empire survives
by sheer military force. “Generalized political instability destroys any semblance of a
political status quo,”McAdam writes,“thus encouraging collective action by all groups
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But still
sufficiently organized to contest the structure of a new political order.”
Oromos are under political slavery, and their land and its resources are owned by the
Ethiopian state that sells them to Ethiopian elites, their collaborators, and multina-
tional corporations.Oromos are still landless people,and they do not have control over
their lives and resources. In other words, they remain colonized. For example, when-
ever there is a war they are forced to go to war and die in defending the Ethiopian
racist state. During the Ethiopian Eritrean War between 1998 and 2000, it was esti-
mated that more than one hundred thousand soldiers were killed on the Ethiopian
side.The majority of these dead soldiers were Oromos. Since the Ethiopian govern-
ment does not allow a peaceful struggle, the only avenue now open to Oromos is
armed struggle.
The alliance of the West, particularly the United States, and some African countries
with the Tigrayan-dominated Ethiopian government has weakened the Oromo move-
ment since 1992.The destruction of the emerging indigenous Oromo associations and
organizations, such as the Oromo Relief Association, the Oromo Human Rights
League, newspapers, musical groups, and various professional, political, and economic
organizations, negatively affected the expanding political opportunities for the Oromo
national movement. But the war between Eritrea and the Ethiopian empire, though
technically settled, has created new political opportunities for the Oromo struggle.
Oromo political leaders and organizations attempt to capture these emerging oppor-
tunities by reinitiating their friendship with Eritrea and by mobilizing Oromo na-
tionalists for collective action. Oromo leaders have convinced Eritrean leaders that
they made a serious strategic mistake in enabling the TPLF to capture Ethiopian state
power and rebuild an empire and in supporting the Tigrayans in weakening the
Oromo liberation organizations, particularly the OLF. Oromo liberation organizations
have to recognize that the diversity and unity of the Oromo people are important be-
cause “people who participate in collective action do so only when such action res-
onates with both an individual and a collective identity that makes such action
meaningful.” 122 Collective identities are not automatically given, but they are “essen-
tial outcomes of the mobilization process and crucial prerequisites to movement suc-
cess.” 123 Through tolerance and critical and democratic discourse, African Americans
maintained their diversity and collectivity by creating a unity of purpose among var-
ious organizations for collective action.