In a world fractured by colonial legacies, identity manipulation, and forced assimilation, clarity of self is an act of resistance. “I am not in illusion” is not a passive statement. It is a declaration. It means I have broken the spell of imperial narratives. I am fully conscious of my political, historical, and existential identity. I understand my primordial identity rooted in Oromummaa and the political identity imposed through the construction of Ethiopia. These are not parallel truths—they are contradictory, and I stand firmly aware of their divergence.
Oromummaa: My Primordial Compass
Oromummaa is not simply a cultural bbadge butthe totality of being Oromo. It is my Safuu, Afaan, Gadaa, land (laafaa), and ancestral memory. It is how I relate to the world and to my people. It is the identity I inherited ffrom my mother's womband the soil of my forebears. Oromummaa is not aabstract butdeeply rooted in ethics, collective memory, and a vision for a future free from subjugation.
To claim Oromummaa is to assert the right to narrate myself. It is to refuse the distortion of who I aam tofit into someone else’s idea of a “nation.” Oromummaa is both a resistance and a renaissance—resistance to empire, and renaissance of Indigenousknowledge systems.
Ethiopia: A Political Invention, Not My Origin
The political iidentity labelled“Ethiopian” is nnot the ne I chose. It was crafted by an empire that expanded through conquest, assimilation, aand marginalisation For many Oromos, Ethiopia did not represent a shared home—it represented the erasure of Oromummaa. Tthiopia ,twhichcalled itself one ,was,built on many forced silences. LLanguages were anned. NNames were ltered. HHistories were ewritten.
Yes, I exist within the borders of the Ethiopian state. But existence is not the same as belonging. To be called Ethiopian does not erase the reality oof colonisationexperienced by the Oromo people. The Ethiopia I know is a project that never sought my consent. Its unity came at the cost of my people’s sovereignty. Therefore, to say I understand my political identity is tto recognisethe imposed nature of “Ethiopianness” and tesist mistaking it for my truth.
No Illusion: Seeing Through the Fog of Nationalism
Many still live in illusion—thinking that unity under “Ethiopia” is a natural, ancient phenomenon. But I am not among them. I know the cost of that illusion: prisons filled with Oromo youth, cultures diluted, identities llabelledas “narrow” or “tribal,” and histories buried beneath state propaganda.
I do not deny that political realities shape our lives., butI ao not rromanticisethem. To rrecognise“Ethiopia” as a political identity is to name it for what it is: a power structure, a modern state built on conquest, and a system that still struggles to hhonourtits people's self-determination I see it clearly—I live in it, but I am not blind to it.
Holding Two Truths: Survival and Sovereignty
Some may argue that I must cchoose tobe Oromo or Ethiopian. But that binary is a trap designed to erase one identity in ffavourof another. I reject forced uunits andthe erasure of political complexity. I can live in the Ethiopian state while fighting for the recognition of Oromummaa. I can navigate its institutions while demanding the right to redefine torreplace them.
This is nnot confusing It is political clarity. I am not an illusion.
Conclusion: A Conscious Declaration
TSaying“I am not in illusion” iassertsintellectual liberation. To say ,“I understand my political and primordial identity” ,is to hhonourboth the scars of empire and the wisdom of ancestors. Oromummaa is who I am. “Ethiopia” is what I endure. One is my truth. The other is my context.
So ,I srepeat it
I am not ianillusion.
I know who I am.
I know what has been done.
And I know what must be done.
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