Lulsegged Abebe, PhD
Berhanu Mengistu, PhD,

Introduction
One of the realities of the human conditions, particularly in its organized forms, is that most changes are preceded by crisis. Since the overthrow of King Hailesilassie’s government, Ethiopia has faced many changes that were preceded by crisis. The change that recently started in Ethiopia, which brought Dr Abiye into a leadership position, was uniquely different, at least until the last three weeks or so sad and depressing developments. The change process began with words of reconciliation, peace and unity among diversity. To this end, among the many reform ideas proposed by the new government was the establishment of reconciliation and peace commission for Ethiopia. The purpose of this short paper is to briefly trace the history of reconciliation commissions in the global context, reconciliation processes in the Ethiopian context, past and present, summarize the purpose and duration of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and recommend a hybrid model for Ethiopia that will hopefully improve the organization and efficiency of the Reconciliation Commission of Ethiopia.

መግባባትን ገንቢ የኢትዮጵያ መድረክ (Ethiopian Forum for Constructive
Engagement) ሰሜን አሜሪካ ውስጥ ዋና መስሪያ ቤቱ ዋሺንግተን ዲሲ ሲሆን “በኢትዮጵያ ዘላቂ ሰላም ፍትህ
ዴሞክራሲና ልማት እንዲዳብር ባለድርሻ አካላትን ማቀራረብና መግባባት እንዲኖር” ለማመቻቸትና “ባህላዊና
ዘመናዊ በሆነ የሽምግልና አሰራር በተለያዩ ባለድርሻ አካላት መካከል መግባባት፣ መወያየትና መቻቻል እንዲኖር
ጥረት” ለማድረግ እ.አ. አ. 2014 የተቋቋመ ድርጅት ነው። በባህላዊና በዘመናዊ የሽምግልና ልምድ መሠረት
የተቋቋመ፣ ከፖለቲካ፣ ከሃይማኖት፣ከቡድን ወገኝተኝነት፣ ከውጭ ተፅዕኖ ፈጣሪ አካላትና ከአድሎ ነፃ ሆነው ለዘላቂ
ሰላምና እድገት ዓላማ የቆሙ የተለያየ ሕብረ ሕዝብ ያቀፈ፥ በተለያዩ የትምህርትና የስራ ልምምድ ያላቸው አካል
ነው።
ይህንን ዓላማውን በሚገባ ለመወጣትና ለማሟላት ድርጅታችን ለየት ያለ አወቃቀርና ሂደት መከተል አስፈላጊ
መሆኑን በመገንዘብ ራሳችንን በሶስት አካላት አዋቅረናል። እነዚህም ሶስቱ አካላት፥

By Philip Walzer (December 14, 2017)

When Berhanu Mengistu was a little boy, his mother saved his life.

Mengistu, the youngest of 13 children, was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling when the house – in Ethiopia’s northern countryside – caught fire. His mother grabbed him and rushed out. As she left, the ceiling collapsed.

A sign in his office recalls an African proverb: “A good deed is something one returns.” It’s a message Mengistu has taken to heart in a big way.

Lindsay Plott & Berhanu Mengistu

Old Dominion University – June 24, 2018

Abstract

This paper revisits the key themes of Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness movement, exploring what it means to govern consciously and in good faith in the 21^st century. Even though the context for Biko’s Black Consciousness Movement was apartheid and its many deleterious impacts on the African people, post-apartheid South Africa, and indeed, the global community, is still facing ever growing inequality and social and economic injustices.

This paper examines both the possibilities and limitations of applying Biko’s wisdom to policymaking and good governance in addressing the growing global challenges.  To this end, the first section of this paper explores ideas of consciousness and complicity, particularly in terms of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic, in comparison to Biko’s philosophy. The second section highlights the profound ideas associated with Biko’s Black Consciousness movement, and the third section examines the possibilities of translating his ideas into practice in this new millennium. We begin by proposing five practices that public institutions might implement to create a more just and responsive government: (1) commitment to personal, organizational, and institutional change; (2) honoring difference without striving for its erasure; (3) the institutionalization of epistemic justice; (4) power sharing; and, (5) a commitment to engage in practices grounded in good faith. We conclude by acknowledging the challenges and pressures, particularly from the global political environment, which might pose limitations to such practices, and we suggest potential methods for engaging in fruitful dialogue as to how nations might carry on Biko’s legacy in the struggle for social justice and economic equality in 2018 and beyond.