History in the Streets


 

The original Colorado College

The original Colorado College

This is what my college looked like when it was founded 140 years ago. I remember seeing this picture for the first time in that very building, Cutler Hall, and feeling a pang of historical awe. Now there are many buildings, not to mention grass and trees, that surround Cutler at Colorado College, and it is in the middle of the 600,000-person city of Colorado Springs. I can always remember the sensation of historical connection while looking at that picture. It gave me a glimpse of the story of the ground on which I stood. The places I have lived—Norway, Maine; Hampton, New Hampshire; and Colorado Springs, Colorado—tend to not be featured too strongly in the history books, so such insights into the places’ histories are rare.

Now I am walking the storied streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and I have been presented an opportunity for connecting to history on a level I had never imagined. The history of the city and the country is dramatic, and I found a source for discovering it in the book Cutting for Stone. It is a fantastic read. It is a semi-fictionalized autobiographical account of Addis in the mid-20th century, and it illuminates the period extremely well. The historical facts alone are interesting, but the book has brought them to life. It has made my walking around town feel much more significant.

Haile Selassie

Haile Selassie

Throughout the book and throughout Ethiopia, Haile Selassie is a monumental figure (although not always a positive one). He ruled Ethiopia for forty years and gave the country an air of stability and prestige that stood out to the world. It was because of this that Addis became a sort of capital for Africa—the African Union is based here, with the massive new headquarters visible from my hostel. Haile Selassie went beyond a mere political leader for some. A centerpiece of Rastafarian belief is that he was in fact the second coming of Jesus Christ—“an idea he didn’t mind his own people believing, but when it came from so far away and for reasons that he didn’t understand, made him wary.” He was traditionally believed to be a descendant of King Solomon and bore the appropriately modest title: His Imperial Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God. I am not used to walking on the same ground as people with those kinds of names. There are not many King of Kings in the U.S.

In the book, the main character sees the legendary Emperor Haile Selassie’s motorcade roll by one day—“The ground shook as the Ducatis slid past…His majesty’s green Rolls-Royce was polished to a mirrorlike finish. On a built-up seat, His Majesty looked out of windows specially constructed for monarchs to view and be viewed.” Yesterday, not long after reading this passage, I was treated to a motorcade experience of my own. The roads were closed off for miles all around; it took me 15 minutes of walking through streets emptied of cars before I finally came across the motorcade. A soldier halted me on the sidewalk to let some 25 cars, vans, and motorcycles scream by, each containing various men in suits. It would have been an interesting occasion regardless, but half expecting an emperor to roll by made it feel all the more important.

Alas, there was no emperor, since that title no longer exists in Ethiopia. Not much later in the book, a coup occurs, a fictionalized version of a real coup attempt in 1960. The book describes the clashing forces, the competition and eventual violence between the rebelling Imperial Bodyguard and the loyal Army, Air Force, and Police. Selassie was eventually deposed by another coup in 1974. With those images in mind, walking by the men in uniform sprinkled around the various armed forces headquarters in Addis gains new significance. The book has done the job of connecting them to their past, a tale of turmoil and conflict lasting into the 1990s.

Addis Ababa back in the day

Addis Ababa back in the day

One reason this history is so fascinating is that it is so recent. While my parents were pre-teens taking dance classes or playing ball in the yard, the man some considered to be the son of God was being overthrown by communists in the city in which I now live. Reading such a descriptive story set in Addis Ababa’s not-so-distant past has helped solidify a connection to that drama. I am only about halfway through Cutting for Stone, so I expect I will find some more history to revel in as I walk around Addis Ababa. It has already amplified my experience here to a great degree. Whether it be a college or a city, there is simply something extraordinary about tapping into the past of a place. I hope to do it more often.

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