Thursday, August 04, 2011

Ethiopian Community In Seattle

08/05/2011, kuow.org) --The Ethiopian community in Washington state has been growing quickly since the 1980s, and now the Puget Sound region is home to thousands of Ethiopians. Anna Boiko–Weyrauch explains how politics back home continue to influence the local Ethiopian community, sometimes splitting them apart.

TRANSCRIPT
First, some background. Ethiopia has experienced political turmoil for almost 40 years, and many Ethiopians have left the country and resettled in the United States.

Today, here in the Puget Sound region, the Ethiopian community is vibrant and growing, with anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 people — no one knows exactly how many. And the Ethiopians who live here are diverse.

They vary in ethnicity, language, religion and politics, especially when it comes to politics back in Ethiopia.

For example, take these two men. They live on either side of I–5, just north of Seattle. On one side, on the outskirts of Everett, is the first man: Abraha Belai. He edits a news site called Ethiomedia.com, which is critical of the Ethiopian government.

Belai: "By all accounts, Ethiomedia is regarded as alternative source of news and views." Read More from kuow.org »

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