Page 55 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 21

Leadership

to control at night the stream which victory because it was Ethiopians and free Africa, we must rise in the
served as a water source for Italian regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, spirit of Adwa and say ‘No More’.
troops, who barricaded themselves or otherwise who sacrificed for the This is a movement of the African
in the thickly constructed Church sake of a unified nation. The ethnic people, not African leaders who
embankment. The Italians futile myth-makers attempt to defame use it as just a bargaining card. We
attempt to recaptured the stream for the national victory and Great King must say ‘No more’ internally to the
15 days failed and finally evacuated who earned the name ‘Emye’ or corrupt and tyrannical leaders who
through the appeal of an Italian ‘Motherly’ for his love and mercy. kill the dream of Pan-Africanism.
commander. We must above all say ‘No more’ to
An African Victory the tyrannical economic servitude
Moreover, Empress Taytu didn’t The battle of Adwa was not just a into which neocolonialists hope
stay sheltered but directly partici- war between Ethiopia and Italy. It to put Africa. Africa is enough for
pated in the battle. As Tsehafe-Tei- was a war of free and independent Africans; we just have to focus on
zaz Gabre-Selassie remarks, the Africa against colonizers. The victo- our unity rather than division. It was
Queen became the vanguard with ry was a lesson for both the colo- unity that gained African victory in
her riflemen, courageously utter- nizers and all the colonized nations Adwa, and it will be African uni-
ing, “Courage! come on! victory around the world. It showed without ty that will bring the Pan-African
is ours! cut down the enemy!” She any shred of doubt that Europe was dream into reality.
managed to command the army that not superior to the rest of the world
broke the Italian troops that tried to and that they can be defeated. Don-
penetrate the Ethiopian formation. ald N. Levine states, “The stunning
Her Majesty had also organized the victory at Adwa required Europeans
women in the camp to fetch water to take Ethiopia and Africa more
to fighters and care for the wound- seriously. It not only initiated a de-
ed. Besides the Empress, the peasant cade of negotiations with European
Tigray women made their contri- powers in which nine border treaties
bution as they cut the telegraph were signed, it made Europeans
wires by rubbing them between two begin to reconsider their prejudices
stones. Above all, the courage of against Africans.” The lesson was
Ethiopian female freedom fighters also for other African colonized
was even uttered by Dr. Ambrogetti, nations. It sparked hope of future
an Italian engineer, who admitted emancipation for the colonized na-
to seeing a woman firing a rifle at tions. The victory of Adwa inspired
them. We must realize that Ethi- African leaders such as Kwame
opian mothers chose to fight for Nkrumah in Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta
freedom, they refused to abandon in Kenya and Nnamdi Azikiwe in
their children to a life of servitude. Nigeria. It also led to the Pan-Af-
The response of the queen when rican movement, inspiring leaders
the Italian Count Antonelli tried to like Marcus Garvey from Jamaica.
threaten with war still stands. The As a student in London, Kwame
patriotic words of Empress Taytu Nkrumah said, “As long as Ethiopia
resonate even now to those who is free, we all believe that Africa will
attempt to invade our sovereignty: one day be free.”
No one here is afraid of your
threats. We will slaughter those Finally, let us celebrate the Victory
who come to invade us. There is no of Adwa in the spirit of genuine
Ethiopian who will not plant his feet unity. The day should remind the
in the sand and face death to save mentally colonized Ethiopians
his country. To shed one’s blood and and Africans about the meaning
lose one’s life for the motherland is of sovereignty and freedom. The
not death, it is an honor! current #NoMore movement is not
an Ethiopian but an African move-
The victory of Adwa is a national ment. To become an independent

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