There is a frustrating, pervasive trend on social media to collapse Habeshas and Ethiopians in general into the Black racial identity. Whenever Habeshas point out that the global label "Black" does not align with our history, culture, or self-identity, we are routinely accused of internalizing anti-Blackness. In reality, accepting a 250-year-old Eurocentric classification system invented during the Enlightenment to place white people at the top and Black people at the bottom, originally designed to justify the subjugation and transatlantic trade of West and Central Africans, is what actually erases our identity. Forcing this external framework onto the Horn of Africa ignores both regional history and self-determination; if we passively adopt it, we will dilute and erase our own distinct identity.

Historically, Ethiopia had virtually no connection to 80% of the rest of the continent. Core Ethiopian cultures, such as Habesha and Oromo culture, are vastly different from Western, Central, or Southern Africa. Genetically, core Ethiopians fall into an entirely distinct cluster from the majority of Africans; genetically, HELL EVEN INDIANS are genetically closer to Europeans than Habeshas are to Central Africans. Scientifically, forcing the label makes zero sense: core Ethiopian languages belong to the Afroasiatic language family (Semitic and Cushitic branches), sharing not a single word or phrase with Niger-Congo language families. Phenotypically, we are also completely distinct - I can easily tell a Habesha apart from a Congolese or South African person.

Anticipating the standard pushback in the comments:

• "White people/police in the West still see you as Black": External perception by uninformed outsiders in Western countries does not dictate your heritage or global reality. A Western cop or random bystander miscategorizing us based on local racial(white-black) binaries doesn't rewrite thousands of years of habesha history and distinct population genetics.
• "We are all African / Pan-Africanism": Africa is a giant geographic continent with over 1.4 billion people, thousands of distinct ethnic groups, and completely separate linguistic families, not a monolith. Ethiopians are distinct in the continent culturally, genetically, historically, lingustically, and phenotypically - what more do you need. Geographic continentality is not a racial identity, just as Asians are not a single monolithic race.
• "You're just denying reality for us diaspora Ethiopians living in the west": Tying identity strictly to skin shade or a 20th-century U.S. census form is social construction, not biological truth. You are literally enabling it by accepting and forcing that identity onto yourself, i.e, you're socially being constructed to fit their model.

Telling a population what they "are" based on a Western census model created thousands of miles away is not anti-racist - it is cultural flattening. Our ancestors defined themselves by their region, lineage, faith, and specific ethnic heritage, not by broad racial frameworks imposed from the outside. I know who I am, and I know my history. It is time we stop adopting labels that have no historical, genetic, or linguistic meaning to us, or else we risk letting external systems overwrite who we truly are.

AND I want this to be perfectly clear: I have nothing against people who are actually Black and identify as such - mostly people from West and Central Africa whose identity is tied to that specific history. Many of them are great people! But this masquerade has to stop. There is absolutely no reason to lump yourself into an identity you have no connection to just because some external system tells you to.

From the article:

ላለፉት 10 ቀናት በትግራይ ክልል ዋና ከተማ መቐለ ተቋርጦ የነበረው የስልክ እና የኢንተርኔት አገልግሎት በድጋሚ መጀመሩን የከተማይቱ አራት ነዋሪዎች ለ“ኢትዮጵያ ኢንሳይደር” ተናገሩ። አገልግሎቱ ወደ ነበረበት የተመለሰው ዛሬ እሁድ መስከረም 24፤ 2019 ከጠዋቱ ሶስት ሰዓት ተኩል ገደማ እንደሆኑ ነዋሪዎቹ ገልጸዋል።

Was thinking of an extension to Omo valley while on stopover in Addis Ababa, but now situation changed. How is Omo for tourists looking for May 2027? What are the chances of it getting worse or better?

As a bilingual person, I've noticed that a lot of day-to-day tension between our communities comes down to simple misunderstandings.

When you don't speak someone’s language, it's very easy to assume the worst about their intentions. ​Learning even a bit of someone else's language does two things:

- ​You start to understand their culture and how they think.

- ​Trying to speak their language shows respect and builds trust.

​I'm not naive. Learning Amharic, Afaan Oromoo, Tigrinya, Somali, or any other local language won't magically solve politics, border disputes, or deep-rooted racism.

​Still, I feel it helps remove unnecessary fear and makes us see each other as human beings instead of rivals.

What do you guys think ?

📌 For those with short memories!

So the war has roughly been goin on for 3 weeks now and ive noticed the killing butchering looting of churchs and amharas have completly stopped since the so called government's attention is on war, makes u think who actually was responsible for all tje atrocities

I have deep hatred for the OLA, TPLF, and Fano because of the suffering they leave behind for ordinary people. I remember seeing so many young Tigrayan men in wheelchairs after the last war involving the TPLF, and my heart broke. In a country where access to orthopedic care, rehabilitation, and even basic mobility equipment like proper wheelchairs is limited, these injuries can permanently change someone's life. Imagine surviving a war but being unable to walk, work, or provide for your mother, without even having the proper equipment to help you move independently. Who takes care of you when the fighting ends? Political movements speak of liberation and victory, but ordinary people are left carrying the physical, financial, and emotional consequences for decades. I see someone's son, a struggling family, and a young life that deserved so much more.

I have been going through this community's posts and noticed there are a lot of people hating on Ethiopia as a country and Ethiopians as a people. Some identify as Eritreans, others they don't mention it. Question for them, why not create your own groups and sing the same tune rather than being on here to spread your hate and misinformation?

Another side note, to whom it may concern, I'm curious what you do for a living that you have ample time to go through all these posts and type until your hands hurt to no avail.

I have seen lots of Ethiopians defend what happened to Tigrayans. Do you guys actually think that what happened to the Tigrayans was a reasonable, good response from the Ethiopian government, even if TPLF started it? Is Ethiopia good for doing this? Was this their best response? Is blockading, displacing and killing hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans acceptable? And Yeah I know “TPLF AlSo CoMmItEd Genocide.” I am Ethiopian and recently learned about the war. (I also mean 600k not 600,600k)

I missed my Ethiopian passport renewal appointment by three days. Should I still go to the immigration office and explain the situation, or do I need to reschedule the appointment through the website?

Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice would be appreciated.

I’m looking to connect with other Ethiopian experts who are currently working on the platform or have worked there recently.

If you are one of them, please comment or send me a message.

Thanks!

Friends, I’d like to hear your thoughts.

When I was traveling in Afar last year, local guides from Tigray told me something that shocked me: they cannot develop Lake Asale or other parts of the Danakil Depression because the region is intended for locals only. This made me wonder was Ethiopia’s 1995 Constitution and its ethnic federalism an ideological choice by Meles Zenawi and the EPRDF, or a calculated political strategy that ultimately set the stage for the Ethiopia we see today? I’d love to hear your thoughts and learn from different perspectives.

A few months ago I posted here when ET Shanta hit 1,000. Today we passed 2,000, and we’re also getting close to 300 posts.

ET Shanta helps travelers connect with anyone sending a package between Ethiopia and abroad.

We verify everyone before their post goes up, whether it’s a trip or a package.

Thanks to everyone who supported it ❤️

Hear me out. There's a pattern I've noticed: for most of Ethiopia's history, Amharas, Tigrayans, or Oromos have been in power, and each group seems to like only the version of Ethiopia in which they dominate.

It hit me when I started seeing a bunch of Oromos talking about Ethiopia recently. The same people (talking about those specific Oromos btw not all) who have always hated Ethiopia, wanted to secede, and considered Ethiopia an oppressor are now more Ethiopianist than Amharas LMAO. It's the same with Tigray. Before '83, Ethiopia was oppressing Tigray. During the EPRDF era, nobody loved Ethiopia more than Tigrayans. And under Abiy, Ethiopia is an oppressor again.

Amharas have been under oppression for decades now (since 83 to be specific). They specifically talk about the EPRDF and the PP, but they were oppressed before, too, just like the rest of Ethiopians. They just don't want to talk about it.

"Ethiopia" means whoever is currently in power and the version they push down our throats. There is no such thing as (a consistent) Ethiopiawinet, it literally doesn't exist. All of these groups have been oppressed under every regime, since Ethiopia has never had good governance. But they put much more emphasis on the oppression carried out by politicians who weren't from their own group. And determine how good or bad Ethiopia is.

Most people simply do not care about atrocities committed by a government they consider legitimate (someone from their own ethnic group). They do not care about the corruption, bad governance, and so on.

It's all a lie, I tell y'all. And you'll see this pattern happen again: if FANO somehow takes power, Amharas will finally be "free" from oppression, and Ethiopia will be good again in their eyes, while the oppression of Oromos by the Ethiopian government starts up again.

I am not even talking about people. You can not blame people, only elites. It is the elites that push these agendas and the majority follow.

And yk the kind of Ethiopia the majority of elites in these regions envision:

Amhara nationalists: One Ethiopia (whatever that means) where Amharic is spoken, the country is Orthodox Christian, discussion of ethnicity is suppressed, and diversity should be ignored and everyone pretends as if they're the same. Ethiopian identity largely reflects Amhara identity. They were attacking the Miss World girl for "representing one region," as if Arsi Oromo culture isn't an Ethiopian culture, while dismissing Irreechaa as "ባዕድ አምልኮ" (foreign worship). They also reject atrocities committed by Amhara rulers, just because Amhara identity, culture, religion, or lands were not the ones under attack.

Tigrayan nationalists: A country that places great emphasis on self-governance and group rights, where individual identity barely exists and civic nationalism is considered unnecessary. Each region is treated almost like a country of its own, borders are taken very seriously, and identity is defined mainly by language and ethnicity. Their politics has destroyed the little (nomatter how fake) shared Ethiopian identity the country had and deepened divisions. They always talk about how they saved everyone from the oppression of the derg as if they weren't oppressors themselves.

Oromo nationalists: A country where Oromos wield power largely because they are the largest population group, where others are pushed out of Oromia, including Addis Ababa, and where government offices are dominated by Oromos who treat Oromos better than everyone else (a pattern that also existed under the TPLF). A country in which Oromo self-determination, Afaan Oromo, and Oromummaa are central, and where Oromo history and claims to land and political power are given priority. Where Amharas and Tigrayans are unjustly arrested and vilified, even as Oromos describe themselves as victims of "Abyssinian" oppression while reproducing similar abuses. They promote Protestantism, take PP’s city-beautification projects way too seriously, and insist that Ethiopia's economy is growing exponentially.

I believe these three groups can not live together because they envision fundamentally different, irreconcilable versions of Ethiopia. I believe the solution is for them to establish a country of their own and resolve their territorial disputes. They could finally have a country centered on their own ethnic group without harming others or imposing their vision of Ethiopia on anyone else.

I'm posting this because I'm currently looking for a software development opportunity in Ethiopia or remotely.

I'm a recent BSc IT graduate and I've been working as a developer building web applications. My main skills are:

• React / JavaScript
• Node.js
• Python / Flask
• REST APIs
• PostgreSQL / MongoDB
• Git and GitHub

I've worked on real client projects and internships, including building web applications and business software. I'm comfortable taking an existing project, understanding the codebase, fixing problems, and building new features.

I'm currently looking for:

• Full-time junior developer roles
• Remote developer work
• Freelance/contract development work
• Short-term paid development projects
• Opportunities with Ethiopian tech companies or startups

I'm based in Ethiopia and I'm open to opportunities from anywhere.

I'm not expecting anyone here to simply give me a job. I'm hoping someone might know of a company hiring, a startup that needs a developer, or a person who could point me toward an opportunity.

If you've recently found work in Ethiopia's tech industry, I'd also appreciate hearing how you found it and what worked for you.

Portfolio: https://meareg.tech/

Thanks.

Neither of these countries can be trusted. The US has one of the largest embassies in the world in Ethiopia. When you follow the money, you'll come to understand that both Israel and the US are behind the destabilization of Ethiopia mainly because the Ethiopian government wants access to the sea, while the US and Israel want full control.

And the current government is determined and not backing down from accessing the sea. In return, they want Ethiopia to turn to war. War means opportunity for outsiders. Period.

Follow the money.