Oromo Folklore and Resistance Studies is a space where I share my works on Oromo folklore, literature and resistance culture with those interested in studying the Oromo in the Horn of Afrca with a special focus on the Salale Oromo in northwest Oromia, Ethiopia . It is an academic blog where I post my articles, course syllabuses, poems and stories to share with national and foreign scholars showing interest in the Salale Oromo literary, folkloric, cultural and historical studies.
The blog is open for comments, suggestions and academic discussions.
As a Poet, Educator and Activist researcher, I come from OROMIA, where the Oromo, numerically the majority, (constituting more than 50% of the total population of Ethiopia) and the richest region live under abject poverty. More than 65% of the total revenue of the country come from Oromia; almost all the rivers in Oromia are currently sources of the hydro-electric power for the country. More than 80% of coffee export in Ethiopia come from Oromia. And yet, the Oromo are subject to prison, forced exile and mass killings deprived of the right to peaceful struggle in the country, as a result of which a great number of the Oromo scholars unfortunately fled home to seek for a safest haven to survive as human and also voice the plight of their people back home.
The Oromo have been resisting every form of socio-political and cultural injustices and inequities perpetrated by the successive Amhara-Tigre hegemony. However, this reality has been swiped under the rug and Ethiopian and Ethiopianist historians and anthropologists belittled the Oromo resistance as banditry rather than as an organized liberation struggle for self-determination. Current historical, anthropological, literary and folkloric enquirers by Oromo and expatriate scholars have come to focus on exploring the Ethiopian colonial enigmas vis-a-vis the lived experience of the oppressed Somali, Sidama, Oromo, Gumuz and other ethno-nations in Ethiopia, which gave way to Research Activism.
Research activism is about positionality, reflexivity and intersubjectivity of the researcher which has been denied so far the right to such a positioned researcher identity by the mainstream objectivist stance (see RICHARD HALES's ENGAGING CONTRADICTIONS, 2008; LESLY BROWN & STREGA's RESISTANCE RESEARCH, 2005).
Several articles and interviews are already available online. You can link to them here:
November 2006 interview on Addis Journal http://arefe.wordpress.com/2006/11/12/interview-with-poet-asafa-tefera-dibaba/
Asafa Dibaba and the Oromo Concept of Anaan'yaa / 'Civil Imagination' http://www.buzzle.com/articles/asafa-dibaba-and-the-oromo-concept-of-anaanyaa-civil-imagination.html
Asafa Dibaba and Oromo Education, from Theory to Practice http://www.buzzle.com/articles/asafa-dibaba-and-oromo-education-from-theory-to-practice.html
Oromo Resistance Literature: Songs of BAR-KUMEE (A Post Millennium Monologue)http://gadaa.com/oduu/?cat=391
Sociology of Oromo Literature and Asafa Dibaba, leading Oromo Humanist Intellectual http://bilisummaa.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=Oduu&article=213
Asafa Dibaba in Quest of Jaarsoo Waaqoo: the Quintessence of Oromo ..
http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard/Article/Asafa-Dibaba-in-Quest-of-Jaarsoo-Waaqoo--the-Quintessence-of-Oromo-Poetry/26937
Abebe Bikila's Identity Theft and Amharas Refuted by Oromo ...
http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard/Article/Abebe-Bikila-s-Identity-Theft-and-Amharas-Refuted-by-Oromo-Intellectual-Asafa-Dibaba/38633
Beyond Adversities: Asafa Dibaba: PB Books Buy Beyond Adversities ...
http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/asafa-dibaba/beyond-adversities/9783639259889.html
Kushitic Originality and Oromo Marriage: More Communal than Individual
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/kushitic-originality-and-oromo-marriage-more-communal-than-individual.html
On ne Met pas Asafa Dibaba en Prison – Open Letter to Koïchiro ...
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/on-ne-met-pas-asafa-dibaba-en-prison-open-letter-to-koichiro-matsuura-director-general-of-unesco.html
NOTE RSN
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