Sunday, January 05, 2014

Samuel Getachew: The king of Little Ethiopia

(Dec 05, 2014, (Toronto Star))--Samuel Getachew is a man with many plans, and 2014 is the year they could bear fruit. For the Toronto community organizer, journalist, translator, campaigner and activist, the most ambitious is to see the designation of a Little Ethiopia in Toronto, the first official African neighbourhood in a city where Little Italy and Greektown are destinations.

Keith Beaty / Toronto Star
There is also his plan to host a World Cup-like tournament among soccer teams from Toronto’s diverse ethnic communities, which he says he hopes will kick off in August. But first on the 37-year-old owner of Sterling Janitorial’s schedule is Feb. 6, when he will vie to be elected president of the Black Business and Professional Association.

All that’s not to mention his scholarly plans — he is applying to study law at Osgoode Hall this year. It is a crowded list for one man, sure. But Getachew has always been busy. A journalist and columnist for the Huffington Post, he also writes features for Indo-Canadian newspaper Generation Next and is a contributor to Ethiopian-Canadian monthly TZTA. He is on the board of Africans in Partnership Against HIV/AIDS.

Getachew has dabbled in politics, running unsuccessfully against Paul Ainslie for city councillor in 2010 in Scarborough East. His introduction to political campaigning was a big one: in 2008, he hopped a plane to the U.S., where he volunteered for Barack Obama’s presidential run. Read more from Toronto Star » 

No comments:

Post a Comment