Bridge our community by disavowing the things that divide us and instead focusing on the things that unite us as Ethiopians and as human beings.

by Teddy Fikre.  Posted:  Thursday, July 1, 2010


When we think of Ethiopian radio stations, we most often think of radio stations located on the AM dials.  Mostly, we think of radio formats that are geared to those that are avid followers of politics in Ethiopia either for or against the current Ethiopian government.  The radio stations are mostly geared to an older generation where the hosts talk in Amharic about current developments in Ethiopia.  Don’t get me wrong, these stations are a vital component of our community that serves to disseminate news and commentary within and about our community.  However, the younger Ethiopian generation, those who grew up in the United States, is not the target audience of the Ethiopian radio stations for the most part.

As an Ethiopian who grew up in the United States for the majority of my life, I find myself unable to navigate the various Ethiopian radio stations.  Part of it is a challenge in speaking Amharic, though I understand Amharic, at times, things can get lost in translation.  I longed for a radio station that caters to the Ethiopians who are not so bogged down in politics.  I longed for a radio a station that serves to bring together various aspects of our community without regard to politics.  I longed to listen to a radio station that plays Ethiopian music while playing non-Ethiopian songs like Hip Hop and reggae, a station that can bridge the gap between our Ethiopian culture and our new place of residence whether that place is the United States, Canada, England and beyond.  Most importantly, I wanted to listen to Ethiopians in our community who are making important contributions to our community yet are not given a voice in the traditional media.

BC Radio has stepped into this vacuum in a breathtaking fashion.  In the span of 3 months, Brown Condor (BC) Radio has had over 30,000 listeners tune in from every corner of the world.  Listeners in the United States, Canada, Ethiopia, South Africa, Japan and elsewhere tune in on a daily basis to listen to Ethiopian music mixed in with Eritrean music, Hip-Hop, reggae, R&B, and much more.  BC Radio is serving to expand the reach of our culture to Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians world-wide.  More importantly, amazing contributors within our community have been given a voice to discuss their initiatives to a broader audience.  Acclaimed individuals like Haile Gerima, Wayna, Thomas Gobena, and Sehin Belew have appeared live on BC Radio to talk about their work and in the process promote the Ethiopian culture.  Equally as important is that young Ethiopians like Liya Endale, Samuel Getachew, and Addis Embiyalow—who are accomplishing amazing feats—are getting a chance to talk about their work and get a broader support from those within and outside our community.

BC Radio, in a few short months, has become a viable medium that serves to bridge our community by disavowing the things that divide us and instead focusing on the things that unite us as Ethiopians and as human beings.  You can tune into BC Radio by clicking play on the Ustream screen or by downloading an application on your iPhone or Droid phone called Ustream Viewer and searching for “brown condor”.  BC Radio is changing the concept of what an Ethiopian radio station is one listener at a time and in the process bringing together thousands of Ethiopians.  More importantly, BC Radio is giving our community a voice that can be heard by non-Ethiopians world-wide.  It is for this reason that BC Radio is in fact the essence of DOPE.