Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never seen.

[Yuriatin]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see


<span style="font-style: italic">
Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia for nearly 40 years, was born on this date in 1892. Ras (Prince) Tafari Makonnen succeeded Empress Zauditu to the throne in 1930, proclaiming himself Haile Selassie (&quot;Might of the Trinity&quot. Claiming to be a direct descendent of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Selassie modernized Ethiopia and suppressed slavery there. He resisted the Italian invasion, but was forced to flee in 1936, only returning 4 years later with British assistance. Salassie was deposed in a military coup in 1974 and died under military arrest a year later.</span>

http://www.answers.com/topic/haile-selassie

[neutral]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

Well dont take MY word for it.

marcus garvey on selassie

[neutral]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

Haile Selassie

EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE I of Ethiopia has almost universally been remembered as a kindly benefactor, yet the evidence suggesting otherwise is overwhelming. It is argued that he implemented many reforms in his country and Rastafarians believe him to be God incarnate (as prophesied by Marcus Garvey, who surely deserves his own Myths and Legends page?) but how justified are these suggestions?

If we take as starting point Fascist Italy's invasion of Ethiopia we find Selassie fleeing to Britain in a brave attempt to rally support for his country. He remained in Bath for the duration of the war, but on returning to take his place on the throne he became paranoid about the partisans who had stayed and fought the Italians, fearing their bravery and preferring obsequiousness. Thus, they were gradually removed from positions of authority and replaced with those who had collaborated with the Italians as he knew they could be easily kept in line and would be open to the methods Selassie used to control his dignitaries. Selassie's methods of asserting and achieving and maintaining power involved breeding an atmosphere of distrust and corruption, where government officials would inform on each other in a constant vying for power, each wanting to be noticed and promoted by the Emperor, as the financial rewards could be great.

Ethiopia had much in common with any other capitalist society. For instance, starving peasants felt themselves privileged to even see a rich person in the flesh (shades of the homeless in Britain grieving over a recently deceased Princess). To achieve this state of affairs, Selassie would throw crumbs to the poor and bribe the rich. An example of this was his practice of throwing coppers to the poor to celebrate his birthday each year.

Always Selassie had to exercise absolute control, punishing those who undermined his authority, two examples being Prince Imru and Tekele Wolda Hawariat. Prince Imru gave some of his lands to the peasantry without the Emperors permission and as a result he was exiled form Ethiopia for twenty years for &quot;disloyalty&quot;. Tekele Hawariat, a celebrated war hero, refused bribes and special privileges and so was imprisoned and finally executed by decapitation. If Selassie couldn't have someone in the palm of his hand then he would get rid of them.

Progressive

The image Selassie liked to project to the West was always one of being somehow progressive. To this end many youngsters were sent abroad to be educated, though when they returned Selassie's megalomania and greed meant that this education could never be employed to initiate any reforms in the country. Yet, as we have said, Selassie is remembered by many as a great reformer. Rather than being interested in reform, Selassie was interested in 'development'. This allowed him to appeal for funds to help this process. To this end hospitals, bridges, factories etc. were built, all bearing the name of the emperor. But as the money poured into Ethiopia much of it was misappropriated by Selassie and hundreds of millions of dollars found their way into his personal bank accounts. The West, however, continued to back Selassie, who they regarded as a bulwark against 'communism' in Africa.

In the sixties, when Selassie had begun to lose his grip following an attempted coup d'etat, he found it necessary to pay Army officers and his Police obscene amounts of money to maintain loyalty and order. Thus, in a country of 30 million farmers and 100,000 police and military personnel, 1% of the state budget was allocated to the farmers and 40% to the army and the cops.

Sumptous Banquets

Selassie bred corruption in Ethiopia, he maintained a backward and inhuman system in which millions of his subject lived In degrading poverty, oppressive misery and ignorance. Nowhere in the world was the gulf between rich and poor greater. In 1973 Jonathan Dimbleby visited northern Ethiopia and made the film which was to signal the end for Selassie. The film for the first time showed that people were starving to death in their multitudes, despite the money for 'development' which was being pumped into the country. At the Palace the splendour and riches seemed to know no bounds. The juxtapositioning of the two contrasting images in the film was striking; the pigs with their sumptuous banquets were growing fatter on the backs of walking skeletons. Of course this hunger suited Selassie as people could hardly rebel when they were starving to death. There was in fact, however, plenty of grain in Ethiopia. But landowners took the harvest from the peasants, grain prices doubled and the farmers who grew the grain could not afford to buy it.

As the dying continued, western journalists were no longer allowed into Northern Ethiopia. Selassie preferred to show off his great 'developments' to the world press. The suffering could not be hidden indefinitely so, as the situation became a bigger and bigger embarrassment to the Emperor, the Police began to kill off the starving en masse.

It is ironic that Selassie liked to project an image of himself to the world of a kind, tolerant and benevolent soul, yet those in his country who detracted from this image were usually executed. Supporters of Selassie could argue that it was his underlings and not he that were responsible for the atrocities and corruption, the Emperor being kept in total ignorance of the situation. A look at the facts shows this to be impossible. Selassie knew what he was doing when he stuffed the money stolen from his subjects under his mattress and encouraged others in his employ to do likewise. Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski wrote of Selassie: &quot;the Emperor himself amassed his great riches. The older he grew, the greater became his greed, his pitiable cupidity...he and his people took millions from the state treasurer and left cemeteries full of people who had died of hunger, cemeteries visible from the windows of the royal palace&quot; (The Emperor (1984) Picador p.160).

Haile Selassie was not God or a great reformer; but a callous, greedy, thieving autocrat, who should be remembered for the murdering leach that he was

SOURCE

[Suesumba]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

---&gt; chicken back and stretch rice.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Click to reveal.. <input type="button" class="form-button" value="Show me!" onclick="toggle_spoiler(this, 'Yikes, my eyes!', 'Show me!')" /></div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div style="display: none;">*kakkafawt wah dis now*</div></div></div>

[jah_yout]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never seen.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gungo Peas</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What a little, little man he was.

</div></div>

what a big big hater...
small in physical size, a giant of history </div></div>

<span style="font-weight: bold">He didnt really did anything historical</span>,he was just like any other african dictator,he wallowed in wealth while his people starved,but for some rastafarians lionising him he would have returned to anonymity like the rest of them,remembered only for his greed and extravaganze. </div></div>

here we go again;
dude it's ok to be a hater but you can't say he did nothing historical;
his conflict with the italians was the main cause of world war 2; he aided freedom movements in africa when africa had no independent nations except his &amp; american created liberia..like giving aid to nelson mandela's a.n.c.
he started the organization of african unity;
brought ethiopia into the modern world after centuries of isolation;
if you don't know anything it's better you make informed responses than just rehashing stuff you heard on tv;
if you want to have an informed debate i welcome you, but just throwing out catch phrases popularized by his enemies shows ignorance;
i'd say you would have had to have world impact to be time magazine's man of the year and chairman of the organization of african unity;

[Yuriatin]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

Neut lovie - mi nah seh mi nuh wha tek yuh word feeet ar nat - mi juss ah sit back ah wait fiddi show!


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well dont take MY word for it.

marcus garvey on selassie </div></div>

[jah_yout]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This allowed him to appeal for funds to help this process. To this end hospitals, bridges, factories etc. were built, all bearing the name of the emperor. But as the money poured into Ethiopia much of it was misappropriated by <span style="font-weight: bold">Selassie and hundreds of millions of dollars found their way into his personal bank accounts.</span></div></div>

'the world is well informed on the last emperor of ethiopia, on how his people suffered and how he stowed away billions in swiss bank accounts. the fact of the matter, that haile selassie had no fortune abroad is immaterial in a world where propganda takes the place of facts'

-hans willheim lockot 'the mission- the life, reign &amp; character of haile selassie I'

[Yuriatin]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

Wow - that's interesting.

I'd never seen that Garvey letter before.

[neutral]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never seen.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

here we go again;
dude it's ok to be a hater but you can't say he did nothing historical;
</div></div>

I am not hating anyone or anything,I am pointing out a different perspective than the popular one that is usually trumpeted by rastafarians,why is it &quot;hate&quot; to present a conflicting view on a topic.

[Yuriatin]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

What happened to his children and grandchildren?

[jah_yout]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never seen.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

here we go again;
dude it's ok to be a hater but you can't say he did nothing historical;
</div></div>

I am not hating anyone or anything,I am pointing out a different perspective than the popular one that is usually trumpeted by rastafarians,why is it &quot;hate&quot; to present a conflicting view on a topic. </div></div>

you are a hater actually;
just because you don't believe in god and don't seem to check for black people/issues too tough doesn't mean you are an authority on african history &amp; politics

[jah_yout]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What happened to his children and grandchildren? </div></div>

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zy3NUIDFCCo"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zy3NUIDFCCo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>

[neutral]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This allowed him to appeal for funds to help this process. To this end hospitals, bridges, factories etc. were built, all bearing the name of the emperor. But as the money poured into Ethiopia much of it was misappropriated by <span style="font-weight: bold">Selassie and hundreds of millions of dollars found their way into his personal bank accounts.</span></div></div>

'the world is well informed on the last emperor of ethiopia, on how his people suffered and how he stowed away billions in swiss bank accounts. the fact of the matter, that haile selassie had no fortune abroad is immaterial in a world where propganda takes the place of facts'

-hans willheim lockot 'the mission- the life, reign &amp; character of haile selassie I' </div></div>

Well,regardless of who is correct and who isnt about the history of selassie it`s immaterial,neither you nor I lived in that time,you chose to read and take from what reiinforces what you already thought about him,I have no axe to grind against him,I merely pointed out a conflicting view.
If you go to even the most rural parts of Jamaica you will hear old rastafarians talking about selassie as if they were philosophers and intellectuals who were actually there when events unfolded,....yet some of them has never made it past their local primary school,and has never been outside the confines of their locality.

[jah_yout]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wow - that's interesting.

I'd never seen that Garvey letter before. </div></div>

with all due respect to the prophet garvey, by this time his UNIA movement was finished &amp; he was living in england after being run out of america then jamaica;
you have to know the historical context behind the letter...garvey's bitterness was unfounded as he didn't overstand that the emperor was a real leader whie garvey was only symbolic 'president of africa' ...
unfortunately garvey died in 1940 &amp; didn't live to see the italians defeated &amp; run out of ethiopia in 1941...
one has to have all the facts &amp; history...garvey lost a lot of support from his grass roots supporters for attacking the emperor in this way...
garvey also met with the klu klux klan

[Yuriatin]

Re: Pics of Haile Selassie I/Ethiopia you may have never see

JY - I don't think he's saying he's an authority on it.
<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-size: 8pt">
(ok - stepping back out - tonx)</span></span>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: neutral</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

here we go again;
dude it's ok to be a hater but you can't say he did nothing historical;
</div></div>

I am not hating anyone or anything,I am pointing out a different perspective than the popular one that is usually trumpeted by rastafarians,why is it &quot;hate&quot; to present a conflicting view on a topic. </div></div>

you are a hater actually;
just because you don't believe in god and don't seem to check for black people/issues too tough doesn't mean you are an authority on african history &amp; politics </div></div>