None of us are free
If one of us is chained
By Habtom Yohannes
March 21, 2003
"And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." John 8: 32
"None of us are free, if one of us is chained" Solomon Burke, The king of
Rock and Soul.
Please read the lyric at the end of this short article and listen to the
music: "None of us are free, If one of us is chained."
The war against Iraq has started. Imagine the suffering of the Iraqi people,
the suffering of the coalition forces sent to fulfil "their" duties and imagine
the ordeal of their families they left behind. I saw some Iraqi soldiers
surrendering to British forces. It is again heartbreaking to see the wonderful
Iraqi people humiliated. Responsible for all this is of course the dictator
Saddam Hussein who has been sacrificing the Iraqi people for the sake of his own
sick ego. Am I supporting the war against Iraq? No, I don't support the war. It
is hypocritical to state that the United States and Britain are bombarding Iraq
and the Iraqi people to free them from the dictator. Whose product is this
dictator? Who supported during his war against the Kurds and Iran? Dictators
serve themselves. Actually the don't serve themselves; they serve their ego! To
satisfy their ego dictators sacrifice innocent lives. Do you remember how
Mengistoe Haile Mariam sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian soldiers
while shouting: "we will fight until the last man"? Fresh in mind is of course
the senseless war between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Isaias
Afwerki. According The Economist between 100.000 and 150.000 Ethiopians and
Eritreans have perished to satisfy the ego of two leaders. Both countries were
humiliated and are still being humiliated by the consequences of the horrible
war. Of course Ethiopia should be condemned now for threatening to start the war
again. But leaders that fail to protect their people from humane rights
violations, senseless wars and famine are engaged in humiliating their people.
May God protect the Eritrean and Ethiopian people from new bloodshed?
Allow me to dedicate the below-mentioned song (read and listen) of Solomon
Burke to the victims of dictatorship and injustice, and to the victims of war,
hunger and starvation.
Allow me to dedicate it to all the journalists, diplomats, ministers and
generals behind bars. Indeed to my colleagues and compatriots, the journalists:
Mohammed Hagos Ibrahim; Mohammed Said Abdulrahim; Said Abdulkadir; Hassen
Mohammed Shum; Jemal Mohammed Nur; Salahaddin Omer Abdulkadir; Nasser Abdellah;
Abdu Idris Ali; Mohammed Nur Abrara; Ahmeddin Omer; Abdelrehim Abdulkadir;
Abubeker Mohammed Idris; Abdelrahman Mohammed Defellah; Mohammed Yassin;
Abdulrazak Mohammed Hagos; Ali Ibrahim Idrisai; Mustapha Abdelhadi ; Ali
Mohammed Mussa; Fuad Mohammed Omer; and Ali Mohammed Musa.
Abdu Ahmed Younis; Ali Alamin, Hassen Kekya; Ibrahim Siraj; Kiflom
Gebremichael; Miriam Ahmed; Miriam Hagos; Suleiman Musa Hajj, and Sunabera
Mohammed Demena.
Ermias Debessai, Ali Higo Mohammed, Daniel Gebrekidan, Weldemariam Bahlbi,
Tekleberhan Gebretsadik,
The song "none of us are free, if one of us is chained" is also dedicated to
the hungry and the starving.
This heart stealing song is also dedicated to the followers of President
Isaias Afwerki, to the opposition, to the civic movement, to the opportunals
(intellectuals who support dictators for their own benefit); in short to the
whole Eritrean people.
As long as one of us is chained, none of us are free! And as long us we
close our eyes for the truth the lie will humiliate our soul and we will remain
a disgrace to ourselves and humanity.
None Of Us Are Free - (Audio)
You better listen my brother,
Cause if you do, you can hear
That our voices are still calling from across the years.
And they're crying across the ocean,
And they're crying across the land,
And they will, till we all come to understand
That none of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
Well, there are people in the darkness
And they just can't see the light
And if we don't say it's wrong, then that says it's right.
We got to feel for each other,
Let our problems know we're here,
Got to get the message and send it out loud and clear,
Cause none of us are free,
None of us are free,
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
Well it's the single truth,
We all need to see.
That none of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
Well I swear to you, salvation,
It isn't very hard hard to find
But none of us can find it on our own.
We got to join together
Spirit, heart and mind.
All the souls that are suffering, know you're not alone.
(None of us are free)
(None of us are free)
If you just look around you,
You're gonna see what I say
Cause the world's getting smaller each passing day.
Now it's time to make some changes.
Now it's time we all realized
That the truth is shining right before our eyes.
Cause none of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
Well, it's the very heart
Of humanity.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
None of us,
None of us,
(None of us)
None of us,
None of us,
(None of us)
None of us,
None of us are free.
(None of us)
(None of us)
None of us,
(None of us)
(None of us)
None of us,
(None of us,
None of us are free.)
None of us are free,
None of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
Well it's the very truth
We all need to see,
That none of us are free
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
None of us are free.
None of us are free,
If one of us is chained,
None of us are free.