Mekdela

The Story of Mekdela

Mekdela is a mountain in Gondar, a city in northern Ethiopia. Centuries ago, Emperor Tewodros II fled to Mekdela in an unsuccessful bid to escape the invading British. The British defeated the Ethiopian soldiers and came for Tewodros. He committed suicide on the mountain Mekdela, resolute in his refusal to surrender and be taken as a prisoner. After his death, the soldiers looted the area and took treasures and the deceased's crowns.

Some Ethiopian girls born in the region are named Mekdela; time moves on and the mountain continues to witness the passing seasons and events. Who knows how old this mountain is? How long it has been alive? All of the things this mountain has seen? Perhaps girls were named Mekdela long before the death of Tewodros, for as long as the mountain has been alive.
Hyphenated Ethiopian third culture kid. Twitter: @moonchereka

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Battle of Adwa

Image
The Battle of Adwa Battle of Adwa, Unidentified artist from Ethiopia, 1968. Courtesy of the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. The Battle of Adwa by Solomon Belachew, 1970. Courtesy of the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. On March 1 and 2, 1896, the Ethiopian army defeated the invading Italian army at the Battle of Adwa. They were lead by Ethiopia's emperor of the time, Emperor Menelik II. This event ensured that Ethiopia would not be under colonial rule. Ethiopia is the only country in Afrika to never be colonized. The Battle of Adwa occurred after five years of Italian occupation at which point Ethiopian soldiers successfully banished the occupiers and their rule. News of the defeat spread around Afrika and the world and Ethiopia became a symbol of resistance to colonial oppression. In this vein, many countries throughout Afrika and the Caribbean adopted the colors of the Ethiopian flag: green, red and yellow in many different patterns. ...
Read more

The South

The South In America's imagination, version of history and popular culture, the South is both the boogeyman and a scapegoat for its worst sins. Because of the ("completely honest and unbiased") U.S. history lessons I received, I grew up terrified of the South, a place where danger was imminent for a Black woman like myself. Famous for the Klan, the Confederacy (and proudly displayed Confederate flags) and explicit racism, I vowed never to set foot in the South out of fear for my life. Despite this I did eventually end up visiting the South - I have family living in Texas. I have heard second-hand stories about what living with explicit racism is like - some of these stories sound like they are straight out of the Civil Rights era in my U.S. history textbooks. They are shockingly different from the culture I am accustomed to living in on the West Coast, in California no less. When I traveled abroad recently, I met Americans from all of the ot...
Read more