My Ethiopian Hero: In Honor Of Tariku Gankisi
My Ethiopian Hero: In honor of Tariku Gankisi(Yeah he isn't dead yet, but we don't have to wait for people to die to honor them ð)
When I was a freshman, our Civics teacher asked us to write about our Ethiopian hero, and I immediately knew who I wanted to write about, TARIKU GANKISI.
My admiration for this man started when he released Dishta Gina. Yes, many artists sing about peace, patriotism, Ethiopiawinet, but do they truly mean it? Hardly. Tariku, though, is different.
Four years ago, while war was devastating Tigray, Amhara, and Afar, Addis Ababa held a massive demonstration titled "አሸባሪዎቹን ህወሓትና ሸኔን የሚያወግዝ ሰልፍ"
Tigray was under siege then, and we were quite literally suffering. We happened to have electricity that week, so my family gathered in the living room, relatives and all, to watch the event on TV. Tariku was invited to sing.
But when he stepped onto the stage, instead of performing, he said:
"I am not here to sing. How can I sing on good days and bad indiscriminately? It’s not like my song makes a difference. Youth shouldn't go to battlefield. It is the elderly who should resolve the conflict."
(I recommend everyone to watch that video on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUUg_nenlpc )
I remember sitting there stunned. Finally, someone was brave enough to say what mattered. Everyone I saw on TV, and almost everyone I knew in real life, was taking sides, missing the bigger point, HOW POINTLESS IT ALL WAS! People fell into false dichotomies, believing they only had two choices and choosing one.
Not Tariku.
He saw through it.
And for some reason, they made him ask for forgiveness.
In Tigray, everyone loves Tariku. “የክፉ ቀን ወዳጃችን” they call him. He wasn’t even speaking specifically about Tigray; he was speaking about Ethiopia’s peace. But the fact that he didn’t support war made people in Tigray love him deeply.
He is invited to the Ashenda concerts in Mekelle every year. I went to one in Ashenda 2016, and I was honored to be in his presence. And today, I saw a new Tigrigna song he released with another Tigrigna singer, and I just realized how a single speech can make someone beloved by an entire people.
The most important lesson we can all learn from him is to never, ever support the killing of anyone.
As Sun Tzu said, “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
One man won millions of hearts without lifting anything but his voice.
To my dearest hero Tariku Gankasi.
May you live long enough to see how many souls you’ve moved.