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February 7th, 2007
By Ayele Bekerie
Tadias Magazine

Seventy two years ago, African Americans of all classes, regions,
genders, and beliefs expressed their opposition to and outrage over the
Italian invasion of Ethiopia in various forms and various means. The
invasion aroused African Americans – from intellectuals to common people
in the street – more than any other Pan-African-oriented historical
events or movements had. It fired the imagination of African Americans
and brought to the surface the organic link to their ancestral land and
peoples.

1935 was indeed a turning point in the relations between Ethiopia and
the African Diaspora. Harris calls 1935 a watershed in the history of
African peoples. It was a year when the relations substantively shifted
from symbolic to actual interactions. The massive expression of support
for the Ethiopian cause by African Americans has also contributed, in my
opinion, to the re-Africanization of Ethiopia. This article attempts to
examine the history of the relations between Ethiopians and African
Americans by focusing on brief biographies of two great leaders, one
from Ethiopia and another one from African America, who made
extraordinary contributions to these relations.

It is fair to argue that the Italo-Ethiopian War in the 1930s was
instrumental in the rebirth of the Pan-African movement. The African
Diaspora was mobilized in support of the Ethiopian cause during both the
war and the subsequent Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Italy’s brutal
attempt to wipe out the symbol of freedom and hope to the African world
ultimately became a powerful catalyst in the struggle against
colonialism and oppression. The Italo-Ethiopian War brought about an
extraordinary unification of African people’s political awareness and
heightened level of political consciousness. Africans, African
Americans, Afro-Caribbean’s, and other Diaspora and continental Africans
from every social stratum were in union in their support of Ethiopia,
bringing the establishment of “global Pan-Africanism.” The brutal
aggression against Ethiopia made it clear to African people in the
United States that the Europeans’ intent and purpose was to conquer,
dominate, and exploit all African people. Mussolini’s disregard and
outright contempt for the sovereignty of Ethiopia angered and reawakened
the African world.

Response went beyond mere condemnation by demanding self-determination
and independence for all colonized African people throughout the world.
For instance, the 1900-1945 Pan-African Congresses regularly issued
statements that emphasized a sense of solidarity with Haiti, Ethiopia,
and Liberia, thereby affirming the importance of defending the
sovereignty and independence of African and Afro-Caribbean states. A new
generation of militant Pan-Africanists emerged who called for
decolonization, elimination of racial discrimination in the United
States, African unity, and political empowerment of African people.

One of the most significant Pan-Africanist Conferences took place in
1945, immediately after the defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia and the
end of World War II. This conference passed resolutions clearly
demanding the end of colonization in Africa, and the question of
self-determination emerged as the most important issue of the time. As
Mazrui and Tidy put it: “To a considerable extent the 1945 Congress was
a natural outgrowth of Pan-African activity in Britain since the
outbreak of the Italo-Ethiopian War.”

Another of the most remarkable outcomes of the reawakening of the
African Diaspora was the emergence of so many outstanding leaders, among
them the Ethiopian Melaku E. Bayen and the African American John
Robinson. Other outstanding leaders were Willis N. Huggins, Arnold
Josiah Ford, and Mignon Innis Ford, who were active against the war in
both the United States and Ethiopia. Mignon Ford, the founder of
Princess Zenebe Work School, did not even leave Ethiopia during the war.
The Fords and other followers of Marcus Garvey settled in Ethiopia in
the 1920s. Mignon Ford raised her family among Ethiopians as Ethiopians.
Her children, fluent speakers of Amharic, have been at home both in
Ethiopia and the United States.

Pan-Africanists in Thoughts & Practice

Melaku E. Bayen, an Ethiopian, significantly contributed to the
re-Africanization of Ethiopia. His noble dedication to the Pan-African
cause and his activities in the United States helped to dispel the
notion of “racial fog” that surrounded the Ethiopians. William R. Scott
expounded on this: “Melaku Bayen was the first Ethiopian seriously and
steadfastly to commit himself to achieving spiritual and physical bonds
of fellowship between his people and peoples of African descent in the
Americas. Melaku exerted himself to the fullest in attempting to bring
about some kind of formal and continuing relationship designed to
benefit both the Ethiopian and Afro-American.” To Scott, Bayen’s
activities stand out as “the most prominent example of Ethiopian
identification with African Americans and seriously challenges the
multitude of claims which have been made now for a long time about the
negative nature of Ethiopian attitudes toward African Americans.”

The issues raised by Scott and the exemplary Pan-Africanism of Melaku
Bayen are useful in establishing respectful and meaningful relations
between Ethiopia and the African Diaspora. They dedicated their entire
lives in order to lay down the foundation for relations rooted in mutual
understanding and historical facts, free of stereotypes and false
perceptions. African American scholars, such as William Scott, Joseph E.
Harris, and Leo Hansberry contributed immensely by documenting the
thoughts and activities of Bayen, both in Ethiopia and the United
States.

Melaku E. Bayen was raised and educated in the compound of Ras Mekonnen,
then the Governor of Harar and the father of Emperor Haile Selassie. He
was sent to India to study medicine in 1920 at the age of 21 with
permission from Emperor Haile Selassie. Saddened by the untimely death
of a young Ethiopian woman friend, who was also studying in India, he
decided to leave India and continue his studies in the United States. In
1922, he enrolled at Marietta College, where he obtained his bachelor’s
degree. He is believed to be the first Ethiopian to receive a college
degree from the United Sates.

Melaku started his medical studies at Ohio State University in 1928,
then, a year later, decided to transfer to Howard University in
Washington D.C. in order to be close to Ethiopians who lived there.
Melaku formally annulled his engagement to a daughter of the Ethiopian
Foreign Minister and later married Dorothy Hadley, an African American
and a great activist in her own right for the Ethiopian and
pan-Africanist causes. Both in his married and intellectual life, Melaku
wanted to create a new bond between Ethiopia and the African Diaspora.

Melaku obtained his medical degree from Howard University in 1936, at
the height of the Italo-Ethiopian War. He
immediately returned to Ethiopia with his wife and their son, Melaku E.
Bayen, Jr. There, he joined the Ethiopian Red Cross and assisted the
wounded on the Eastern Front. When the Italian Army captured Addis
Ababa, Melaku’s family went to England and later to the United States to
fully campaign for Ethiopia.

Schooled in Pan-African solidarity from a young age, Melaku co-founded
the Ethiopian Research Council with the late Leo Hansberry in 1930,
while he was student at Howard. According to Joseph Harris, the Council
was regarded as the principal link between Ethiopians and African
Americans in the early years of the Italo-Ethiopian conflict. The
Council’s papers are housed at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at
Howard University. At present, Professor Aster Mengesha of Arizona State
University heads the Ethiopian Research Council. Leo Hansberry was the
recipient of Emperor Haile Selassie’s Trust Foundation Prize in the
1960s.

Melaku founded and published the Voice of Ethiopia, the media organ of
the Ethiopian World Federation and a pro-African newspaper that urged
the “millions of the sons and daughters of Ethiopia, scattered
throughout the world, to join hands with Ethiopians to save Ethiopia
from the wolves of Europe.” Melaku founded the Ethiopian World
Federation in 1937, and it eventually became one of the most important
international organizations, with branches throughout the United States,
the Caribbean, and Europe. The Caribbean branch helped to further
solidify the ideological foundation for the Rasta Movement.

Melaku died at the age of forty from pneumonia he contracted while
campaigning door-to-door for the Ethiopian cause in the United States.
Melaku died in 1940, just a year before the defeat of the Italians in
Ethiopia. His tireless and vigorous campaign, however, contributed to
the demise of Italian colonial ambition in Ethiopia. Melaku strove to
bring Ethiopia back into the African world. Melaku sewed the seeds for a
“re-Africanization” of Ethiopia. Furthermore, Melaku was a model
Pan-Africanist who brought the Ethiopian and African American people
together through his exemplary work and his remarkable love and
dedication to the African people.

Another heroic figure produced by the anti-war campaign was Colonel John
Robinson. It is interesting to note that while Melaku conducted his
campaign and died in the United States, the Chicago-born Robinson
fought, lived, and died in Ethiopia.

When the Italo-Ethiopian War erupted, he left his family and went to
Ethiopia to fight alongside the Ethiopians. According to William R.
Scott, who conducted thorough research in documenting the life and
accomplishments of John Robinson, wrote about Robinson’s ability to
overcome racial barriers to go to an aviation school in the United
States. In Ethiopia, Robinson served as a courier between Haile Selassie
and his army commanders in the war zone. According to Scott, Robinson
was the founder of the Ethiopian Air Force. He died in a plane crash in
1954.

Scott makes the following critical assessment of Robinson’s historical
role in building ties between Ethiopia and the African Diaspora. I quote
him in length: “Rarely, if ever, is there any mention of John Robinson’s
role as Haile Selassie’s special courier during the Italo-Ethiopian
conflict. He has been but all forgotten in Ethiopia as well as in
Afro-America. [Ambassodor Brazeal mentioned his name at the planting of
a tree to honor the African Diaspora in Addis Ababa recently.]
Nonetheless, it is important to remember John Robinson, as one of the
two Afro-Americans to serve in the Ethiopia campaign and the only one to
be consistently exposed to the dangers of the war front.

Colonel Robinson stands out in Afro-America as perhaps the very first of
the minute number of Black Americans to have ever taken up arms to
defend the African homeland against the forces of imperialism.”

John Robinson set the standard in terms of goals and accomplishments
that could be attained by Pan-Africanists. Through his activities,
Robinson earned the trust and affection of both Ethiopians and African
Americans. Like Melaku, he made concrete contributions to bring the two
peoples together. He truly built a bridge of Pan African unity.

It is our hope that the youth of today learn from the examples set by
Melaku and Robinson, and strive to build lasting and mutually beneficial
relations between Ethiopia and the African Diaspora. As we celebrate
Black History Month in the United States, let us recommit ourselves to
Pan-African principles and practices with the sole purpose of empowering
African people. The Ethiopian American community ought to empower itself
by forging alliances with African Americans in places such as Washington
D.C. We also urge the Ethiopian Government to, for now, at least name
streets in Addis Ababa after Bayen and Robinson.

I would like to conclude with Melaku’s profound statement: “The
philosophy of the Ethiopian World Federation is to instill in the minds
of the Black people of the world that the word Black is not to be
considered in any way dishonorable but rather an honor and dignity
because of the past history of the race.”

To further explore the history of Ethiopian & African American
relations, consult the following texts:

Joseph E. Harris’s African-American Reactions to War in Ethiopia
1936-1941(1994).

William R. Scott’s The Sons of Sheba’s Race: African-Americans and the
Italo- Ethiopian War, 1935-1941. (2005 reprint).

Ayele Bekerie’s “African Americans and the Italo-Ethiopian War,” in
Revisioning Italy: National Identity and Global Culture (1997).

Melaku E. Bayen’s The March of Black Men (1939).

David Talbot’s Contemporary Ethiopia (1952).

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