To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never was so much owned by so many to one individual. By his unprecedented selfless and courageous act, the Oromo athlete Feyisa Lelisa, single handedly put the hitherto invisible Oromo protest on a world map. There are only few examples in history, when individual heroism and defiance have changed the world and galvanized movements. Lelisa’s symbolic defiance of August 21, 2016, on a world stage, will go in history as one of those rare moments of defiance that changed the world. There is no doubt that he has earned his place in history in the company of Rosa Parks, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the unknown Rebel at the Tiananmen Square protests, and others. Lelisa’s crossing his arms in X fashion in solidarity with the #Oromo Protest has seared indelible image in the memory of millions.
Lelisa’s defiance in Rio Olympic is a human rights cry. It is a clarion call to action in defense of liberty and justice. It is a call for help to avert Syria from happening in Ethiopia. Since the Oromo protest started in November 2015, close to 1000 people, mostly young, have been massacred by the Ethiopian government and tens of thousands have been imprisoned. Some of those in prison are his family members. Seen against such backdrop, even though he personally could lead a relatively comfortable life, he instead chose to side with the people against a tyrannical system that has systematically repressed and disenfranchised his people.
While all this is happening, the relationship between the Ethiopian government and the western world, especially the US government, is business as usual. Emboldened by the deafening silence of the international community, the ruling EPRDF government has after a prolonged meeting reconfirmed to continue its discredited policy and crush the opposition with vigor. Therefore, realizing that the international community will not put strong pressure on this government to change, and realizing that the EPRDF government will not and cannot change, we have no other option but to double our effort to unite and continue the struggle to the end.
With this statement we want to covey our admiration and support to the Bravest Olympian in Rio, who has electrified the #Oromo and Ethiopian Protest. We also take this opportunity, and rededicate ourselves to the cause of justice and liberty for which our hero Feyisa Lelisa has risked his career, family and life. And realizing that “those who make a revolution half way, only dig their own graves” we commit ourselves to bring the uprising to its logical conclusion, until democracy, freedom and human rights are instituted in Ethiopia.
OACC is a Minnesota non-profit organization established and functioning since 2002