I don't feel competent to offer a detailed critique or analysis of the current situation in Ethiopia as of this writing in October 2016 following the dramatic escalation of tensions between Ethiopia's Amhara and Oromo communities and the ruling EPRDF government. But it's clear to me that the current situation of advancing state repression is perilous and untenable. I read on Facebook that the Ethiopian government has begun enforcing drastic censorship controls on the internet, and I would just like to offer my own corroborating evidence. This blog, in the scope of things, is small and unimportant with a small readership. But I have been gratified to find Ethiopia normally in the top four viewing countries according to my Google analytics charts. Suddenly despite a current peak in overall pageviews, Ethiopia has dropped off the map completely. This seems highly indicative to me of an unseen hand.
Ethiopians have shown remarkable resilience in creating their own channels of communication, indeed the story of the revolution of the 1970s is the story of the underground press, and I extend a hand of solidarity to those fellow bloggers and readers who are now facing the challenges of government censorship. Of course, where I'm sitting in New York I'm not (yet, anyway) expecting a knock on my door: I salute the courage of those facing that possibility within Ethiopia.
The word wants to be free.
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