Coronation Day

Coronation Day Greetings to all our friends and family!!

a blessed and joyful Coronation Day to all our friends!

this day we celebrate the eternal triumph of the Most-I thru-in all creation, in time and in timelessness!!

2nd November 1930 was the date of Emperor Selassie-I's coronation

(image from http://www.khanstudiointernational.com/)


Marcus Garvey wrote the following for the November 8, 1930 edition of his Jamaican newspaper, The Blackman:

Last Sunday, a great ceremony took place at Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia. It was the coronation of the new Emperor of Ethiopia -- Ras Tafari. From reports and expectations, the scene was one of great splendor, and will long be remembered by those who were present. Several of the leading nations of Europe sent representatives to the coronation, thereby paying their respects to a rising Negro nation that is destined to play a great part in the future history of the world. Abyssinia is the land of the blacks and we are glad to learn that even though Europeans have been trying to impress the Abyssinians that they are not belonging to the Negro Race, they have learned the retort that they are, and they are proud to be so.

Ras Tafari has traveled to Europe and America and is therefore no stranger to European hypocrisy and methods; he, therefore, must be regarded as a kind of a modern Emperor, and from what we understand and know of him, he intends to introduce modern methods and systems into his country. Already he has started to recruit from different sections of the world competent men in different branches of science to help to develop his country to the position that she should occupy among the other nations of the world.

We do hope that Ras Tafari will live long to carry out his wonderful intentions. From what we have heard and what we do know, he is ready and willing to extend the hand of invitation to any Negro who desires to settle in his kingdom. We know of many who are gone to Abyssinia and who have given good report of the great possibilities there, which they are striving to take advantage of.
The Psalmist prophesied that Princes would come out of Egypt and Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God. We have no doubt that the time is now come. Ethiopia is now really stretching forth her hands. This great kingdom of the East has been hidden for many centuries, but gradually she is rising to take a leading place in the world and it is for us of the Negro race to assist in every way to hold up the hand of Emperor Ras Tafari.2

Lion of Judah monument in Addis

(following text from Imperial Monuments of Ethiopia:

The Lion of Judah monument stands in the square in front of Addis Ababa's train station.
The golden colored statue of the Lion of Judah in its complete glory stands on a black granite pedestal which is decorated with relief portraits of Emperors Menelik II and Haile Selassie I, and Empress Zewditu, as well as Ras Makonnen. It marks the foot of the city's widest avenue, Churchill Road, which has the impressive Addis Ababa City Hall at its other end.
The Lion of Judah statue has a very interesting history. Erected in 1930 just before Emperor Haile Selassie's coronation, it was looted by the Italian occupiers in 1935 and taken to Rome, where it was erected next to the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. During the 4th anniversary celebrations of the proclamation of the Italian Empire, Adolf Hitler chose to visit Rome, and attended the celebratory parades alongside the fascist dictator Musollini and King Victor Emanuelle III.
In the parade were numerous subjects of Italy's African Empire, including a young Eritrean named Zerai Deres. Zerai Deres was marching with other parade members carrying a ceremonial sword with which to salute the King, the Fuhrer, and Il Duce at the grandstand. As the parade marched past the Vittorio Emanuelle monument, Zerai looked up and saw, to his shock, the golden Lion of Judah, the symbol of the ancient monarchy to which his ancestors had long owed aliegence, erected as war booty in the heart of Rome.
It was too much for him to bear, and he promptly drew his sword and with tears of anger running down his face he fell on the first Italian officer he could find. He killed and wounded numerous Italian military officers before he was killed. Zerai Deres is "lionized" to this day as a brave Ethiopian patriot.
The monument remained in Rome for several decades, and was finally returned to Addis Ababa after long negotiations in the 1960's. When it was re-erected in its square the day it arrived, the Emperor was present in military uniform to salute, and to pay tribute to Zerai Deres.
Following the revolution in 1974, the Dergue regime decided to remove the statue once more as it was a monarchist symbol. However, the elderly war veterans' association members appealed to the Dergue to consider the memory of Zerai Deres and his sacrifice that was inspired by this very symbol. This act saved the statue and it stood it all its Imperial glory right through the Dergue era, and continues to stand today.

All thanks and praises to His Imperial Majest-I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah!