http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

MAY 24 meant to be a day that we Eritreans should celebrate our hard won independence. Yes, We are “nationally” independent; we are a country; we have a flag, we have a passport; and we have a name – ERITREANS. An accomplishment of a generation indeed. BUT, was that all? Was our vision of a nation and a society that short and that small?

WHAT happened to us now? What happened with our generation? We disrespect our dead, disregard the living. We fear death when we are half-dead. We are visited daily by grief, sorrow, pain and shame. We cry; continue crying while waiting for another tragedy of a deepening misery.

WHO have we become? Are We still ERITREAN? Are we still HUMANS? When we dance over the bodies of our beloved ones; when we praise the vampire that sacks life out of us; when we remain dehumanized; when our being is killed, our future perishes. Are we really the People? Are we those who did an imaginable deeds to ensure the RIGHT FOR SELF-DETERMINATION?

IF we believe we are ERITREANS defined by our history that we were its makers; IF we believe that we are the people who made May 24 a reality; IF we believe in our unity in diversity; then WHY do We continue to be victims of circumstances; remain divided; filled with fatalism and despondency; indifferent; disillusioned; captured by paralysing fear and unscrupulous opportunism? Have we become “ደርሆስ በምዑት ደቃ ትጻወት”?

REMEMBER! We sung with our head up and proud heart; We are the PEOPLE, WE are the NATION; We are the SEA; We are the Mountain; We are the River; We are the Forest; We are the GENERATION. Yes! We are the people, A people of dignity; a people of history; a people of culture; a people of family and a community; a people of the wise; a people of peace; a people of humility and honesty; We are the people part of the HUMANITY.

IT is in our united hands not to be defined by circumstance; IT is in our POWER not to succumb to the evil of the time. The CHOICE is ours not to continue being the people of the present, but the People of HISTORY and FUTURE. Eritreans! The choice is ours to be true to our generation’s mission and reborn as CITIZENS with full rights and responsibility equal in humanity.

THE CHOICE IS OURS on MAY 24, a historical day, to dialogue and reconcile with ourselves; redefine our being as a PEOPLE WITH POWER to design our destiny and our future that MUST be BRIGHTER! In fact, We have no choice, but to “… discover our mission, fulfil it …” (Frantz Fanon)

24 May 2015

Pretoria, South Africa