Ethiopian American
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| Notable Ethiopian Americans: Abdul "Duke" Fakir · Liya Kebede |
| Total population |
|---|
| 186,679 (2009 American Community Survey)<[1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Mainly found in Washington D.C. · Los Angeles · New York · Grand Rapids · Alexandria, Virginia · Chicago |
| Languages |
| Religion |
Ethiopian Americans are Americans of Ethiopian descent as well as those of American and Ethiopian ancestry.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first known Ethiopians visited America in 1808, when merchants from Ethiopia arrived at New York’s famous Wall Street.[citation needed]
In 1919 an official Ethiopian goodwill mission was sent to the United States, the first African delegation of diplomats, in hopes of creating amicable ties with the American people and government.[citation needed] The four-person delegation included Dejazmach Nadew, the nephew of Empress Zawditu and Commander of the Imperial Army, along with Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase, Mayor of Addis Ababa, Kentiba Gebru, Mayor of Gondar, and Ato Sinkas, Dejazmach Nadew’s secretary.
After his official coronation, Emperor Haile Selassie sent forth the first wave of Ethiopian students to continue their education abroad. Almost a dozen Ethiopian students likewise went to the United States. They included Makonnen Desta, who studied anthropology at Harvard, and later became an interim Ethiopian Minister of Education, Makonnen Haile, who studied finance at Cornell, and Ingida Yohannes, veterinary medicine at New York. Three other students, Melaku Beyen, Besha Worrid Hapte Wold and Worku Gobena, went to Muskingum, a missionary college in Ohio, two of them later transferring to Ohio State University. Melaku Beyan, who was one of the two who attended Ohio State, later received his medical degree at Howard Medical School in Washington, D.C.
[edit] Demographics
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 137,012 Ethiopian immigrants lived in the United States as of 2008.[2] An additional 30,000 U.S.-born citizens reported Ethiopian ancestry.[2] According to Aaron Matteo Terrazas, "if the descendants of Ethiopian-born migrants (the second generation and up) are included, the estimates range upwards of 460,000 in the United States (of which approximately 350,000 are in Washington, DC; 96,000 in Los Angeles; and 10,000 in New York)…."[3] Unofficial estimates suggest that the Washington, DC area has an Ethiopian population of 150,000 to 250,000.[4][5][6] Boston, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, and Minneapolis/St.Paul also have large Ethiopian-American communities. There are many ethnic groups among Ethiopians in general, and thus the same is true among Ethiopian Americans.
[edit] Notable Americans of Ethiopian descent
- Abdul "Duke" Fakir - founding member of popular Motown act the Four Tops
- Abdus Ibrahim - soccer player
- Amsale Aberra - fashion designer
- Aster Aweke - legendary Ethiopian singer
- Dinaw Mengestu - author
- Elias Kifle - Editor of Ethiopian Review online news media
- Fershgenet Melaku - model, actress & rapper
- Fesum Ogbazion- founder & CEO of Instant Tax Service
- Gabriel Teodros - hip hop artist
- Gebisa Ejeta - geneticist and recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize
- Gelila Bekele - model
- Giday WoldeGabriel - geologist
- Gigi - singer
- Gonjasufi - musician
- Haile Gerima - film director
- Julie Mehretu - painter
- Kenna Zemedkun - rock singer
- Kitaw Ejigu -aerospace scientist at NASA
- Liya Kebede - international supermodel
- Meklit Hadero - musician & scholar
- Mulatu Astatke - musician and arranger, father of Ethio-Jazz
- Nnegest Likké - film director/screenwriter
- Noah Samara - founder and CEO of Worldspace
- Robel Teklemariam - cross country skier
- Selamawi Asgedom - author
- Shabba Doo - actor, dancer & founding member of The Original Lockers
- Sossina M. Haile - scientists
- Tessema Dosho Shifferaw - inventor of the Bowflex Machine and founder of Dosho Designs
- Teshome Gabriel - cinema scholar and professor
- Wayna - R&B singer
- The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) - R&B singer
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ 2009 American community Survey: Ancestry
- ^ a b Aaron Terrazas, Tedla W. Giorgis. "Potential into Practice: The Ethiopian Diaspora Volunteer Program". Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/print.cfm?ID=845. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ Terrazas, Aaron Matteo (June 2007). "Beyond Regional Circularity: The Emergence of an Ethiopian Diaspora". Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=604. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ Nicholls, Walter (2005-05-18). "Washington's Little Ethiopia". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051700677.html. Retrieved 2011-11-15. "The Washington region, with its 200,000 people of Ethiopian descent, has the largest Ethiopian population outside of the country itself, according to an unofficial estimate by the embassy."
- ^ Showalter, Misty. "Inside Washington D.C.'s 'Little Ethiopia'". CNN. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-22/world/little.ethiopia.washington_1_ethiopian-food-ethiopian-restaurants-dukem?_s=PM:WORLD. "The Ethiopian population in the Washington, D.C. metro area is the largest in the U.S. Tutu Belay, who has done extensive research on the population for her business, estimates it to be about 250,000 -- though other estimates are much lower."
- ^ Fernandez-Pereda, Cristina (2008-07-06). "Little Ethiopia: A Thriving Community in D.C.". New America Media. http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=79564c9e9271c6d5ea9eeeae944cb995. Retrieved 2011-11-25. "The number of Ethiopian citizens in the Washington, D.C. metro area varies all the time and no one has exact data on this population. According to the Ethiopian Embassy estimates, around 200,000 citizens in the metro area are of Ethiopian descent. The Ethiopian Community Center estimates around 150,000 people from the African country."
[edit] External links
- Abesha.Com - Online Magazine/Web Portal for the Ethiopian and Eritrean Diaspora
- EveryCulture — Ethiopian-Americans
- Oromo American site
- Tadias magazine - Ethiopian-American culture, lifestyle, and business
- Ethiopia.org - Ethiopian-American culture, newsfeed, and interviews
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