Ronald McNair

#Black History Month, Ronald Erwin McNair

African American physicist and astronaut Ronald McNair was one of the seven crew members killed in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

UPDATED: SEP 14, 2020

(1950-1986)

Who Was Ronald McNair?

Ronald McNair was an MIT-trained physicist who specialized in laser research before joining NASA in the late 1970s. In February 1984, he became just the second African American to reach space, serving as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. On January 28, 1986, he was one of the seven crew members killed when the Challenger shockingly exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. 

Ronald Erwin McNair, NASA

Early Life

Ronald Erwin McNair was born on October 21, 1950, in Lake City, South Carolina. The second of three boys born to Carl, a mechanic, and Pearl, a teacher, McNair displayed an early aptitude for technical matters, earning the nickname “Gizmo.”

McNair’s interest in space was piqued by the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik in 1957, and boosted by the appearance of Star Trek on TV years later, its multi-ethnic cast pushing the boundaries of what was possible for a small-town African American boy.

An outstanding all-around student at Carver High School, McNair starred in baseball, basketball and football and played saxophone for the school band. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1967, earning a scholarship to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Source: BIOGRAPHY website

Black History Month: A Commemorative Observances Legal Research Guide

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History and Overview

National Black History Month has its origins in 1915, when historian and author Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. This organization is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History External (ASALH). Through this organization, Dr. Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in February 1926. Dr. Woodson selected the week in February that included the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two key figures in the history of Black Americans.

Black History Month 2024

In 1975, President Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Week External urging all Americans to “recognize the important contribution made to our nation’s life and culture by black citizens.” In 1976, ASALH expanded this commemoration of Black history in the United States from a week-long observance to Black History Month, which also has been known as African American History Month. In the same year, President Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Month External. In subsequent years, presidents continued to issue messages External honoring Black History Month.

In 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which designated February 1986 as “National Black (Afro-American) History Month.” This law noted that February 1, 1986 would “mark the beginning of the sixtieth annual public and private salute to Black History.” The law further directed the president to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe February 1986 as Black History Month with the appropriate ceremonies and activities. President Reagan issued Presidential Proclamation 5443 External, which proclaimed that “the foremost purpose of Black History Month is to make all Americans aware of this struggle for freedom and equal opportunity.” This proclamation stated further that this month was a time “to celebrate the many achievements of African Americans in every field from science and the arts to politics and religion.” 

Since 1996, presidents have issued annual proclamations for National Black History Month. In January 1996, President Clinton issued Presidential Proclamation 6863 External for “National African American History Month.” The proclamation emphasized the theme for that year, the achievements of Black women from Sojourner Truth to Mary McLeod Bethune and Toni Morrison. Since 1996, Congress has regularly passed resolutions honoring Black History Month. In February 1996, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 229 commemorating Black History Month and the contributions of Black American U.S. Senators.

Source: Library of Congress

The Man called Brown Condor by Author Mr. Thomas E Simmons

#Addis_Ababa, #Boeing_787, #Book_Store, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Curtis_Wright, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tom_Simmons, #Tuskegee_Airmen, የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ

December 23, 2022

Transcript:
0:00 interview
0:02 with the book Auther of the man called
0:04 Brown Condor the Forgotten history of an
0:07 African-American fighter pilot by
0:10 Mr. Thomas E Simmons
0:12 it was a dream come true for Gulfport
0:15 author Tom Simmons when he traveled to
0:17 Addis Ababa Ethiopia this month Simmons
0:19 had spent years working on his book The
0:22 Man called Brown Condor the Forgotten
0:24 true story of an American war hero
0:27 John C Robinson but he had never visited the
0:29 country in Africa where most of this
0:31 story took place until now and
0:33 Tom Simmons joins us now with more and Tom
0:35 this is so exciting I know this must
0:37 have been a dream come true for you when
0:39 you were actually approached by some of
0:42 the people in Addis Abba about coming
0:43 over and sharing your story it was uh
0:46 right out of the blue it was very
0:49 surprised to me you know John Robinson grew
0:51 up here in Gulfport but those people his
0:54 story have been forgotten here and
0:56 somewhat there and they were celebrating
0:58 a memorial for him
1:01 and asked me if I would come to Ethiopia
1:04 and speak to the and that’s great and of
1:06 course John Robinson the commander of
1:08 the Imperial Ethiopian Air Corps and
1:10 that was during a time when there 1:11 weren’t
1:12 were there weren’t black Pilots
1:14 there weren’t many and and he had that
1:17 dream it was impossible for him to
1:19 accomplish that but with hard work
1:23 and the ability that he had
1:25 and his determination he was so good
1:28 when he finally got into Curtis Wright
1:30 School they kept him as an instructor
1:32 and then Haile Selassie heard about him
1:35 in Italy was going to invade Ethiopia
1:38 and the Emperor asked John if he would
1:40 come help them it hadn’t have been a
1:43 tough decision but it was exciting for
1:47 me to to go there the ex-president and
1:50 the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines let’s take
1:54 a look at some of these pictures too
1:55 John Robinson started Ethiopian Airlines
1:58 in 1945 and you can see they’re flying
2:01 the latest equipment now beautiful
2:03 Boeing 787 I’ll put their Airline
2:07 against up any in the country and of
2:10 course the people invited you they paid
2:12 for your trip this is the gentleman that
2:14 you spent a lot of time with there
2:15 that’s the former president of Ethiopia
2:19 and his name is Girmaw Welde Giorgis
2:24 the Ethiopian language is very difficult
2:27 to have 135 letters where we have 20.
2:30 yes it is and you know I lived in
2:31 Ethiopia in Addis Ababa as a child so
2:33 this is really fascinating to me now
2:35 here’s the party this looks like quite a
2:37 quite a party for you that was at his
2:39 retirement home and there were a hundred
2:41 people there and that’s what the Maine
2:44 talk they asked me to come meet those
2:45 people your father who had been there
2:48 asked me while I was there could I look
2:50 up an old friend of his and I gave them
2:52 the name and I said you know Colonel
2:54 Abernathy would really like to reconnect
2:56 with this man and they said well he’s
2:58 standing right over there small world
3:00 that was an amazing story and my dad has
3:03 since contacted him and they had a great
3:04 conversation and they reconnected after
3:06 you know part of you growing up was in
3:09 Ethiopia wonderful country wonderful
3:12 people they’re polite they’re
3:14 hospitable they’re polite to the point
3:17 of being shy
3:19 and but their language is Amharic
3:22 that’s the language of Ethiopia and they
3:25 say that’s it’s close to the language
3:27 that Jesus spoke
3:30 glad you had this opportunity and I’m
3:32 sorry we don’t have more time because we
3:34 have more pictures we’re gonna have to
3:35 do this again Tom any time and talk more
3:39 let me know when you have a book signing
3:40 for this too and people can find your
3:42 book where
3:42 Amazon or on my website or or uh it’s a
3:47 great Barnes and Noble any bookstore
3:49 it’s carried all over and it’s doing
3:51 well and thank you for having me thank
3:52 you so much Tom

ክፍል 3: ጥቁር አሜሪካዊው ፓይለት ኮ/ል ጆን ቻርለስ ሮቢንሰን የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ (The Brown Condor of Ethiopia) “እንዴት ይህን ለማድረግ ቻልክ?”

#Addis_Ababa, #Boeing_787, #Book_Store, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Curtis_Wright, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tom_Simmons, #Tuskegee_Airmen, የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ

….እግቢው ሲገባ ከአንድና ሁለት ትናንሽ አውሮፕላኖች በስተቀር ምንም ሰው አልነበረም። ከዛም ደስ ወደምትባል ባለሁለት ክንፍ ቀይ አውሮፕላን ተጠግቶ በመስታወቱ መስኮት ውስጥ በውስጡ ያሉትን መሪና ማርሽ የመሳሰሉትን ሲያይ እርሱ ይጠግናቸው ከነበሩት ማካኒካዊ ነገሮች የተለየ ምንም ነገር አልነበረውም። በዚህም በመደነቅ ላይ እያለ በድንገት አንድ ሰው “ሄይ አንተ ልጅ ለምንድነው አውሮፕላኑን የምትዞረው?” ሲል በንቀትና በንዴት መልክ ተናገረው፣ ጆንም ደንግጦ ሲዞር አንድ ጸጉረ ቀይ አጭር ወፍራም በመኪና ዘይት እጁና ጸጉሩ የተጨማለቀ ሰው አየ። ከኋላው ግን ንጹህ ሙሉ ልብስ ከነክራባቱ እና የተወለወለ የፈረስ ጋላቢዎች ቦት ጫማ ያደረገ ወጣት ሰው ተከትሎታል። “እዚህ የመጣሁት በአውሮፕላን ለመሄድ ነበር። ስገባ እግቢው ውስጥ ምንም ሰው ስላላገኘው ነው አውሮፕላኖቹን እየተዟዟርኩ ማየት የጀመርኩት። ምንም የነካሁት ነገር የለም። “ ሲለው “አሃ ይህን ሁሉ መንገድ የመጣኅው በከተማ ያሉት ትልልቅ የአውሮፕላን ማረፊያዎች ለሻንቆዎች እሺ ስለማይሉ ነው አይደል?” አለው። ምንም እኳን ሻንቆ ብሎ አጸያፊ የሆነውን ቃል ሲናገረው ቢናደድም ንዴቱን ዋጥ አድርጎ በመቻል፣ “አይ እንደማንኛውም ሰው ገንዘብ አለኝ የመጣሁት ገንዘብ ከፍዬ በአውሮፕላን ለመብረር ነው” ምን ዓንት ስሜት ለማወቅ ብቻ” አለው። አብሮት ያለው ወጣቱ ሰው “ኦ ፔርሲ ምን እንዲህ ያነጫንጭሀል ይህ ሰው ምንም ያደረገው ነገር የለም” ካለ ብኋላ ወደ ሮቢንሰን ዞር ብሎ “አትፍረድበት ይህ ሳምንት መጥፎ ነበር ለፔርሲ፣ ሞተሩ አልሰራ ስላለው ነው” ካለ ብኋላ እንደገና ወደ ጸጉረ ቀዩ አይሪሽ ዞሮ “ነገሩን ሁሉ ተወውና ተከተልኝ ለቢራ ወደከተማ እንመለስ” አለው። ከዚያም ጆን ዞር ብሎ እያየው “የአየር ሜዳው ዝግ ነው በከንቱ ነው የደከምከው ምንም ነገር እንዳትነካካ ወደመጣህበት የመመለሻ ጊዜህ ነው ” ብሎ መሄድ ሲጀምር “ሄይ አንድ ደቂቃ” ብሎ ጠራቸውና “የሞተሩ ብልሽት ምንድነው? ምናልባት እጠግነው ይሆናል፣ የምትሰጡኝ የበረራ አገልግሎት ይካካሳል” ብሎ ነገራቸው። በዚህ ጊዜ ሁለቱም ፊታቸውን ወደ ሮቢንሰን አዞሩና ፔርሲ “አንተ ልጅ አውሮፕላን አጠገብ ደርሰህ የማታውቅ መሆኑ እየታየ ስለ አይሮፕላን ምን ታውቃለህ?” ብሎ ጠየቀው። ይሄኔ ምጸቱ ተሰማውና “እኔ ልጅ አልባልም ስም አለኝ ጆን ሮቢንሰን እባላለሁ፣ እናም ስለበረራ ምንም ባላውቅ ስለሞተር ግን በመጠኑ አውቃለሁ፣ የሰለጠንኩ መካኒክ ነኝ” ሲለው “ይሁንልህ” በሚል ሁኔታ ባለማመንና የለበጣ መልስ ሰጥቶት መንገዱን ቀጠለ። ከግቢው ወጥተው አጥሩን ዞር እንዳለ ወጣቱ እየሳቀ “ፔርሲ አባቴ አይሪሾች ዱልዱም እራሶች፣ ባለጌዎች እና በጡንቻቸው እንጂ በጭንቅላታቸው የማያስቡ ናቸው ይል ነበር። አንተም እንደአባባሉ ሲበዛ ኩሩ ነህ። ቢራና የመሳሰለውን እንኳን ለራስህ መግዛት አትችልም። በአንዲት የማትሰራ ጄኒ(የአውሮፕላኗ ስም ነው) ተወጥረህ እና ታጥረህ ቁጭ ብለሃል። አሁን ደግሞ ይህ ሰውዬ የሚናገረው እውነት መሆኑና አለመሆኑን፣ እናም እውነት ከሆነ ወደስራህ ይመልስህ እንደሆነ ለማወቅ አትፈልግም?” ሲለው ፔርሲ ቀጥብሎ ቆሞ ወጣቱን አየት አደረገና ምንም ቃል ሳይናገር ወደ ግቢው ተመልሶ “እሺ ሮቢንሰን ምን ዓይነት የመካኒክነት ስራ እንደምትሰራ ንገረኝ” ሲለው “የተሽከርካሪ መኪናዎች ሞተር” ብሎ መለሰለት። “እንዴት ይህን ለማድረግ ቻልክ?” ሲለው የሶስት ዓመት የኮሌጅ ትምህርትና ዴትሮይት ውስጥ የሁለት ዓመት የስራ ልምድ እንዳለው እንዲሁም በአጥሩ ጥግ ያቆማትን የራሱን መኪና ሞተሩን አድሶ ገጣጥሞ የሰራው እሱ መሆኑን ነገረው። በመጨረሻም ፔርሲ ለጠየቃቸው ጥያቄዎች ሁሉ ሮቢንሰን አዎንታዊ መልስ ስለሰጠው ጥገናውን እንዲቀጥል ፈቀደለትና እሱና ወጣቱ ጓደኛው ወደ ቢራ መጠጫ ቤት ሄዱ።

ምንጭ፡- የኢትዮጵያ ደራሲያን የፌስቡክ ገጽ

ክፍል 2: ጥቁር አሜሪካዊው ፓይለት ኮ/ል ጆን ቻርለስ ሮቢንሰን የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ (The Brown Condor of Ethiopia) ‘ብልጥ ልጅ የተሰጠውን ይዞ ያለቅሳል’

#Addis_Ababa, #Boeing_787, #Book_Store, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Curtis_Wright, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tom_Simmons, #Tuskegee_Airmen

በዚህ የስራ ፈላጊ ጎርፍ ላይ ጥቁርነቱ ሲታከልበት ለጆን በሰለጠነበት የሞያ መስክ ስራ ማግኘት ዳገት የመግፋት ያክል አይሞከሬ ሆነበት። ምንም እንኳን በዚህ በሰሜኑ ክፍል የደቡቡን ያክል ባይሆንም ጥቁሮች መገለልና መገፋት እንዳለ ነበር የጠበቀው። መካኒክነት ለጥቁር የሚታሰብ ስራ አልነበረም። ጥቁር ስራ ከፈለገ ወይ ተላላኪ ወይ ጠራጊ መሆን ነው የነበረው ዕድል። ጆን ግን ተስፋ አልቆረጠም በመካኒክነት ሞያ ሰልጥኖ በላቀ ውጤት መመረቁን የሚመሰክርለትን ማስረጃውን ይዞ በየጋራዡ ደጅ መጥናቱን ተያያዘው። በስንት መከራ የረዳት መካኒክነት ስራ ቀንቶት ቢቀጠርም ዋናዎቹ መካኒኮች ነጮች ስለነበሩ ለጆን የሚሰጡት ስራ ጎማ ከመቀየርና ጥቃቅን የጥገና ስራዎችን ከመስራት የዘለለ አልነበረም። ‘ብልጥ ልጅ የተሰጠውን ይዞ ያለቅሳል’ እንዲል የሀገሬ ሰው ጆን ያለበትን ሁኔታ ሳያማርር በስራው አለቆቹን አሳምኖ ወደ ዋና መካኒክነት አደገ። ገቢው እየጨመረ ሲሄድም ከአሮጌ የመኪና መለዋወጫ ሱቆች እቃዎችን እየገዛ የራሱን መኪና ሰርቶ የመኪና ባለቤት ሆነ። ጆን ከስራ ውጪ ህይወትን በሙዚቃና በዳንስ የሚያጣጥም ወጣት ነበር። በዙ ተሰማ ስለ ጆን ታሪክ ባሰናዳው የሁለት አገር ጀግና በተሰኘ መጽሀፉ እንዲህ ይላል….. “ሮቢንሰን የስራ ሰው ብቻ አይደለም፣ መዝናናትም ያውቅበታል። ጊዜው የጃዝ ሙዚቃ፣ የኮንትሮባንድ መጠጥ ቤት ንግድ፣ ጥራዝ ነጠቅ የሆኑ ወጣት ሴቶች የፈሉበት ነበር። ስለሆነም በአንደኛው የከተማው ክፍል መዝናኛ ዳንስ ቤት እየሄደ በሚደንሰው ጥሩ ዓይነት አደናነስ ዝናን ስላተረፈ ቀበጥ ሴቶች ሁሉ የሱን ዝና ለመስማት ጊዜ አልፈጀባቸውም። በዛ ረዥም ቁመናው ላይ በደንብ ለብሶ በጨዋነትና በልበ ሙሉነት መንፈስ የሚደንሰውን ሰው አቅፋ ለመደነስ የማትመኝ ሴት አልነበረችም።” ከስራና ከመዝናኛው ባሻገር ጆን ቤቱ የሰበሰባቸውን በመካኒክነት፣ በንግድ አስተዳደርና በአየር ትራንስፖርት ዙሪያ የተጻፉ መጻፎችን በማንበብ ነበር ጊዜውን የሚያሳልፈው። በአይሮፕላን የመብረርና አይሮፕላን የማብረር የልጅነት ህልም የነበረው ጆን ህልሙ ቅዠት ሆኖ እንዲቀር አልፈቀደም። ገንዘብ አጠራቀመና በግል ገንዘብ እያስከፈሉ በትናንሽ አውሮፕላኖች ወደሚያሳፍሩ ድርጅቶች አቀና። ይህ ሀሳብ በዘመኑ ለአንድ ጥቁር ወጣት እንደ እብደትም ባይቆጠር አጉል ቅንጦት ሊባል የሚችል ነበር። ብዙዎቹ ድርጅቶች፣ ጥቁር ገንዘብ እንኳን ቢኖረው በአውሮፕላናቸው ለማሳፈር ይጠየፉ ነበር። ጆን ወደ አንድ የአውሮፕላን ድርጅት ሄዶ ያጋጠመውን ከላይ የተጠቀሰው ደራሲ እንዲህ ሰንዶታል…… “

ይቀጥላል

ምንጭ፡- የኢትዮጵያ ደራሲያን የፌስቡክ ገጽ

ክፍል 1: ጥቁር አሜሪካዊው ፓይለት ኮ/ል ጆን ቻርለስ ሮቢንሰን የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ (The Brown Condor of Ethiopia) “ትውልድና ዕድገት”

#Addis_Ababa, #Boeing_787, #Book_Store, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Curtis_Wright, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tom_Simmons, #Tuskegee_Airmen

➛ የራይት ወንድማማቾች ከምድር ተነስተው በዓየር መብረር በጀመሩበትና ዓለምን ‘አጀብ’ ባሰኙበት 1903 ዓ.ም አንድ ጥቁር ህጻን በፍሎሪዳ ተወለደ። ዘመኑ በአሜሪካ የነጮች የበላይነት የነገሰበት፣ ጥቁሮች እንደ ሁለተኛ ዜጋ የሚቆጠሩበት ስለነበር ይህ ጥቁር ህጻን ለጥቁሮች መኖሪያ በተለየው በገልፍ ፖርት ሚሲሲፒ (gulf port Mississippi) ለማደግ ተገደደ። በሰባት ዓመት እድሜው ለመጀመሪያ ግዜ አውሮፕላን በሰማይ ላይ ሲበር የተመለከተው ህጻኑ ጆን ሲያድግ አውሮፕላን ማብረር እንደሚፈልግ ለእናቱ ይነግራት ነበር። የህጻን ልብ ሆኖ እንጂ በጊዜው አንድ ጥቁር ህጻን እንኳንስ ለአውሮፕላን አብራሪነት እራሱን የሚያጭበት የሰውነት ክብሩም የሚጠበቅበት አልነበረም አገሩ። እናቱም ይህን ምኞቱን ባነሳባት ቁጥር ‘ይህ የነጮች እንጂ የጥቁሮች ስራ አይደለም። ይልቅ ለጥቁሮች የሚፈቀደውን ነገር ለመስራት ብታልም ይበጅሀል።’ እያለች ትመክረዋለች። የጆን ልብ ግን አንዴ ስለሸፈተ ለእናቱ ምክርና ተግሳጽ የሚመለስ አልነበረም። አንደኛው የዓለም ጦርነት ሲጀመር ጆን ገና የ12 ዓመት ልጅ ነበር። ስለጦርነቱ ከሚነገሩ ዜናዎች ለጆን የበለጠ መንፈሱን የሚያነቃው በጦርነቱ ላይ የአሜሪካ የውጊያ አውሮፕላኖች የሚፈጽሙት ጀብዱ ነበር። የአንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርቱን በጥቁሮች ት/ት ቤት ሲጀምር በትርፍ ግዜው ጫማ እየጠረገ እራሱንም ቤተሰቡንም መርዳት ጀመረ። ለመካኒካል ነገር ጥልቅ ፍቅር የነበረው ጆን ጫማ በማይጠርግበት ሰዓት ወደ አንድ መካኒክ ባለሱቅ ዘንድ እየሄደ ስራ በመርዳት በ14 ዓመት እድሜው ሹፍርናን ተማረ። ይህም ለጆን አዲስ የስራ እድልን የከፈተ አጋጣሚ ነበር። በሹፌርነት ሞያ እያገለገለ ትምህርቱን ተያያዘው። በዛ ጥቁሮች ለጉልበት ስራ እንጂ ለቀለም እውቀት አይመጥኑም ተብሎ በሚታመንበት ዘመን ጆን በትጋቱና በቤተሰቦቹ እርዳታ ወደ ኮሌጅ የሚያስገባውን ነጥብ በማግኘቱ ለላቀ ትምህርት ከቤተሰቦቹ ርቆ ወደ ተስከጂ ኢንስትቲዩት ተጓዘ። የኮሌጅ ጓደኞቹ ሲናገሩ ጆን ተስከጂ ሳለ ዘናጭ፣ ከሰው ተግባቢ፣ጥሩ ስፖርተኛና ሴት ከመውደዱ ውጪ ምንም ዓይነት ሱስ የሌለበት ወጣት ነበር። ክረምቱን ት/ት ቤት ሲዘጋ ስራ እየሰራ እና ቤተሰቦቹን ጭምር እየረዳ በሞተር ሞያ የኮሌጅ ትምህርቱን አጠናቆ ስራ ፍለጋ ወደ ዴትሮይት (Detroit ) አቀና። ➛ ህይወት በዴትሮይት ዴትሮይት በዘመኑ እያደገ ለነበረው የአውቶሞቲቭ ቴክኖሎጂ አንዷ ማዕከል ነበረች። ወደ ዴትሮይት ስራ ፍለጋ ነጮቹም ጥቁሮቹም ከየአቅጣጫው ይጎርፋሉ።

ይቀጥላል

ምንጭ፡- የኢትዮጵያ ደራሲያን የፌስቡክ ገጽ

THE MAN CALLED BROWN CONDOR  “Audience with the Emperor” by Author Mr. Thomas E. Simmons

#Addis_Ababa, #Boeing_787, #Book_Store, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Curtis_Wright, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tom_Simmons, #Tuskegee_Airmen, የኢትዮጵያ ቡናማው ጆፌ

Chapter 16

(P151 – 152)    

February 1, 2023           

THE SUN BROKE THOUGH THE THINNING CLOUDS TO CHEERFULLY

brighten the morning. John took it as a good omen on the day he

was to meet Haile Selassie. The rain had turned the streets to mud but

nobody seemed to notice. Robinson picked his way carefully trying to

keep his shoer and pants clean until he reached the paved street that ran

past the Arat kilo Ghibi Palace, built by King Menelik in the late nine-

teenth century. The emperor lived in the Guenete Leul Palace but worked

in the Imperial Ghibi Palace.

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The gate leading onto the palace but worked

was guarded by two armed soldiers wearing greenish-khaki uniforms like

those of the Belgian army. The smartly uniformed palace guards were

special members of the seven thousand strong Imperial Body Guard, the

most well equipped military unit in Ethiopia. The members of the palace

guard itself were handpicked from a northern tribe noted for their height.

Most of them were nearly seven feet tall. John presented the formal invitation

he had received the royal seal, it requested his presence at the palace.

The ranking guard examined the card. looked Robinson over carefully,

motioned for him to wait just inside the gate on the palace grounds, and

proceeded to the palace.

President Obama White House Archives: Testimonial Speech about Brown Condor, Colonel John C. Robinson

#Addis_Ababa, #Brown_Condor, #Chicago, #Emperor_Haile_Selassie, #Ethiopia, #Ethiopian_Airlines, #Ethiopian_Air_Force, #John_C.harles_Robinson, #Mississipi, #Tuskegee_Airmen

January 28, 2022

“Ethiopia has ignited the imagination of Americans for generations. Before African Americans won their civil rights, many of them were inspired by this country — a nation that never suffered the indignities of colonialism, people who defended their freedom and their right in self-determination. You already mentioned, Mr. Prime Minister, Colonel John Robinson, an American who was one of the fathers of the Tuskegee Airmen, nicknamed the Brown Condor, who then came to Ethiopia and trained Ethiopian pilots to tame their heavens and, as you indicated, helped to set up the Ethiopian Air Force.”