(Multiple answers) Do you know who Selassie is?

[Aubrey]

[HAILE SELASSIE]

ETA: Remember, you can vote for multiple options, so if you learned about him in highschool AND college, please say so! :)

 

Really a poll this time. (And the interobang is my new favorite punctuation mark. I think it needs an Ode.)

Edited December 13, 2010 by Aubrey

[Caitilin]

Really a poll this time. (And the interobang is my new favorite punctuation mark. I think it needs an Ode.)

 

Yes, he's an Ethiopian ruler-type-guy...well, I sorta know. ;)

[Aubrey]

Honestly, it seems almost conspiratorial that one must randomly read the geography books in the unread section of the library in order to learn about this man. Dh has a BA in history w/ a focus on WW2 & did not know the name. He is less inclined than I am to call it a conspiracy, but he was definitely very wrinkle-browed that he'd never heard of the guy. We stayed up last night reading his speech to the League of Nations & shivering. Haunting words.

[Parrothead]

Never heard of him. Now at the very least I must Wiki the guy.

[Matryoshka]

Sure I know who he is, but I can't answer the poll because I didn't learn in school - well at least not in class. In high school I had a good friend who immigrated from Ethiopia. I was never taught about him in any school class. Heck, we never got past WWII in any history class I ever took.

 

I'm assuming you mean Haile Selassie?

[Mejane]

So, you're not talking about the runner then? That's who I thought of. :001_smile:

[pooh bear]

Emperor Halie Selassie I

 

Ruler of Egypt

 

He is regard as the Messiah of the Rastafarian people.

 

I knew all that with out looking on Wiki.

 

I spent a lot of my youth heavily involved in Reggae and knew a lot of Rastafarians.

[justasque]

My kids and I can all sing his UN speech, thanks to Bob Marley.

Much food for thought there.

[Aubrey]

Sure I know who he is, but I can't answer the poll because I didn't learn in school - well at least not in class. In high school I had a good friend who immigrated from Ethiopia. I was never taught about him in any school class. Heck, we never got past WWII in any history class I ever took.

 

I'm assuming you mean Haile Selassie?

 

That should be the last option--you learned on your own at some point. Iow, it wasn't taught in school.

[Aubrey]

Emperor Halie Selassie I

 

Ruler of Egypt

 

He is regard as the Messiah of the Rastafarian people.

 

I knew all that with out looking on Wiki.

 

I spent a lot of my youth heavily involved in Reggae and knew a lot of Rastafarians.

 

Actually, he was the emperor of Ethiopia.

[Aubrey]

So, you're not talking about the runner then? That's who I thought of. :001_smile:

 

Oops. Yeah, I meant the Ethiopian ruler.:001_smile:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Sure I know who he is, but I can't answer the poll because I didn't learn in school - well at least not in class. In high school I had a good friend who immigrated from Ethiopia. I was never taught about him in any school class. Heck, we never got past WWII in any history class I ever took.

 

I'm assuming you mean Haile Selassie?

 

So, you're not talking about the runner then? That's who I thought of. :001_smile:

 

I know of both men. The name just by itself is rather ambiguous since both are famous in their fields.

[Perry]

That should be the last option--you learned on your own at some point. Iow, it wasn't taught in school.

 

I don't think we learned about him in school, but in the early 70's his was a household name, at least in households that discussed politics.

 

It was a memorable name to me because it was fun to say. I remembered that he was head of Ethiopia though I couldn't remember if it was king, or president, or emporer, etc.

 

I looked at wiki and didn't know anything about his other roles.

[LidiyaDawn]

Hmmm. In my head, "Selassie" automatically connected with "Haile" - so I must have heard of him somewhere along the lines.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I do remember that the name came up in a Frazier episode, but I can't remember if it was the runner or the emperor!

[k10coon]

Is he related to Sussudio?

[gardening momma]

Never heard of him.

[Aubrey]

I don't think we learned about him in school, but in the early 70's his was a household name, at least in households that discussed politics.

 

It was a memorable name to me because it was fun to say. I remembered that he was head of Ethiopia though I couldn't remember if it was king, or president, or emporer, etc.

 

I looked at wiki and didn't know anything about his other roles.

 

Ah, but that sounds like the option "learned about him in the news," which I guess technically is the same as "on your own," but the difference (intended) was whether he was in the news at the time or not. Iow, he was brought to your attention by journalists/political conversation vs. by the library. :001_smile:

 

And really, my main goal was to see whether schools other than mine taught about him or not. Looks like primarily not. Fwiw, we never studied WW2 *at all,* so I'm not *that* shocked not to have learned about him. I love Einstein personally, but again, I never learned about him in school. Still, I assume everyone knows at least generally WHO Einstein is. Selassie, I doubted, but I wanted to know if those doubts were unfounded.

[Spy Car]

I certainly knew of Haile Selassie in elementary school. His speech to the League of Nations in 1936 when Italy invaded Ethiopia in the run up to WWII was quite famous and he was an internationally known figure.

 

My father recalls seeing him and his entourage at a swimming and aquatic exhibition on Long Island in 1940 where (by complete happenstance) the Emperor had a seat just in front of my father. They rolled out red-carpets for the Emperior's entrance. The man was a figure who inspired some awe with his aura of "majesty."

 

The King of Kings, the Conquering Lion of Judea.

 

Bill

[LostSurprise]

I've had Ryszard Kapuscinski's book The Emperor on my Amazon list since 2007 (because of RK not Selassie). Other then that I had heard him mentioned a few times in relation to North African politics in movies or the news...not enough to get a good lock on who he was.

[Belacqua]

I was familiar with the name, but I learned most about him from the Lucy (Australopithecus) museum exhibit. Before getting to Lucy, you see lots of other artifacts and exhibits about Ethiopian history.

[justamouse]

My kids and I can all sing his UN speech, thanks to Bob Marley.

Much food for thought there.

 

 

 

Yes, I knew in high school but because I listened to Bob Marley and regularly attended Grateful Dead concerts. :001_smile: I said on my own, but it was during the TIME of hs. But I didn't not learn about him IN hs.

[Aubrey]

Would somebody mind to link the Marley song?

[Spy Car]

Would somebody mind to link the Marley song?

 

 

[Spy Car]

BTW I have not voted because of this question: I learned about Selassie in the news/am really old & lived through his LoN speech.

 

I learned about Haile Selassie in the news. Check.

 

I am really old. Check.

 

Lived through his League of Nations Speech (1936). Come on lady! OLD, but not that old :D

 

Bill

[Aubrey]

BTW I have not voted because of this question: I learned about Selassie in the news/am really old & lived through his LoN speech.

 

I learned about Haile Selassie in the news. Check.

 

I am really old. Check.

 

Lived through his League of Nations Speech (1936). Come on lady! OLD, but not that old :D

 

Bill

 

:D Tongue-in-cheek! It's either/or, not necessarily BOTH/AND. I knew the date--I just couldn't resist. (My *grandmother* wasn't even born yet.)

[kalanamak]

My father was a professor of geography, and I knew the countries and their rulers before I could read well. :)

[Aubrey]

 

Oh, thank you. I googled, & apparently the man sang quite a bit about Selassie. I listened to 'Selassie is the Chapel' & 'Lion of Judah.'

 

The kids listened to the one you linked w/ me. They didn't like it. :D It offended their young sensibilities. "It sounds like they're singing about *war,* Mama."

 

"They are. Do you like it?"

 

Horrified, "NO!"

 

So I explained what it's about, & 9yo did his squinty-eyed suspicious look, where he thinks he's being taken. "But," he said, "they're 'confident in the victory of good over evil.' They just mean THEIR side."

 

So I pointed out that the song is in favor of a) freedom over slavery, b) understanding over hatred, c) etc.

 

All I got for my trouble, though, was a slightly less suspicious-eyed boy. :lol:

[IsabelC]

Never did anything about him in school, everything I know (which isn't a great deal) I came across in my own reading.

[stripe]

Purely from Marley/reggae references.

 

I can't think of anything I learned in high school about Africa except American slavery.

[Matryoshka]

That should be the last option--you learned on your own at some point. Iow, it wasn't taught in school.

 

Ah, but the check-box says I read about him on my own - I learned through discussion with an Ethiopian family. ;) I don't think I've actually read that much about him. I did know Bob Marley and the Rastafarians though he was great.

[sparrow]

Sure I know who he is, but I can't answer the poll because I didn't learn in school - well at least not in class. In high school I had a good friend who immigrated from Ethiopia. I was never taught about him in any school class. Heck, we never got past WWII in any history class I ever took.

 

I'm assuming you mean Haile Selassie?

 

Similar experience here, but I was able to say I learned about him "in" high school because we had a great history teacher that took the opportunity of having an Ethiopian family in class to talk about Haile Selassie.

[OrganicAnn]

Luckily there was an option that fit me. I know who he was because I am really old. Thanks for that.

[LibraryLover]

Not until college. I am not saying that's a good thing, only that, well, some students were more interested than others. Which is not to say it was for all the right reasons.

[Sandra in FL]

I know of him from childhood. I'm from Jamaica - home of Bob Marley and many rastas.

[Aubrey]

Luckily there was an option that fit me. I know who he was because I am really old. Thanks for that.

 

I'm sorry; it was a joke aimed, really, at Bill. I *know* no one on the boards is old enough to have lived through the 1936 speech. ;) My great-grandfather would have, but he could not figure out how to press 'play' on a tape deck, so he'd hardly have been posting here.

 

Otoh, if you remember Selassie's overthrow, I'd hardly say that marks you as old. I may be a 16yo kid posing as a hs mother of 4, but even I know better than to call someone who remembers the 70s "old." :lol:

[In the Rain]

Never heard of him. What an I say- I went to PS. :D

[nrg]

My mother used to sing a ditty, "If I were as sassy as Haile Selassie..." so I asked her about him. I was a child. I don't think anyone has ever mentioned him again in my life. Hmm.... food for thought.

[Spy Car]

I'm sorry; it was a joke aimed, really, at Bill. I *know* no one on the boards is old enough to have lived through the 1936 speech. ;) My great-grandfather would have, but he could not figure out how to press 'play' on a tape deck, so he'd hardly have been posting here.

 

Otoh, if you remember Selassie's overthrow, I'd hardly say that marks you as old. I may be a 16yo kid posing as a hs mother of 4, but even I know better than to call someone who remembers the 70s "old." :lol:

 

Dude, my father was 16 in 1936. How old are you, and at what age do y'all reproduce? :D

 

Bill

[Aubrey]

Dude, my father was 16 in 1936. How old are you, and at what age do y'all reproduce? :D

 

Bill

 

Didn't you read my pp? I'm 16...ish. ;)

 

Grand dad (great) was born in the teens. 1912 or 14, I think. My grandmother was his younger kid, born in '37ish. After that, yeah, we got married kinda young & had babies right away. :001_huh:

 

Aubrey, who knows Bill knows better. :lol:

[Spy Car]

Didn't you read my pp? I'm 16...ish. ;)

 

Grand dad (great) was born in the teens. 1912 or 14, I think. My grandmother was his younger kid, born in '37ish. After that, yeah, we got married kinda young & had babies right away. :001_huh:

 

Aubrey, who knows Bill knows better. :lol:

 

I think I have T-shirts older than you are.

 

Bill (who saw Bob Marley live for the first time in 1976)

[Caroline]

I learned about him in high school in the 80's. My son mentioned him a paper he wrote last year in Non-Western Civ, also PS.

[Aubrey]

I think I have T-shirts older than you are.

 

Bill (who saw Bob Marley live for the first time in 1976)

 

I'll tell you this: I did not have any colleagues in the 70s.

 

ETA: You should update your wardrobe.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Aubrey

[Word Nerd]

I do know who he is but don't remember when or where I learned it.

[awtl]

I didn't vote, but I learned about him from our pastor. He used to be a missionary to Ethiopia and talks about him sometimes.

[JeneralMom]

Yes, I know who he is. I don't remember a time when I at least didn't recognize the name, but we talked alot about history and politics in my house growing up.

[Crimson Wife]

I can't think of anything I learned in high school about Africa except American slavery.

 

:iagree:except that we did learn about the Western Civ part of African history (Ancient Egypt, Carthage, the Vandals, etc.)

[Margo out of lurking]

Yes, he's an Ethiopian ruler-type-guy...well, I sorta know. ;)

:iagree:

The ONLY thing I know is that he's an Ethiopian leader from what, the 80s or early 90s, so I'm counting that as knowing who he is and voted accordingly.

[stripe]

:iagree:except that we did learn about the Western Civ part of African history (Ancient Egypt, Carthage, the Vandals, etc.)

I had some "black power" teachers in elementary and junior high school. I had a teacher who asserted that Beethoven was black and another who said Cleopatra was black, for example. But I don't even remember talking about Ancient Egypt in high school. So certainly not anything (gasp!) modern.

 

Although the theme for academic decathlon was Africa when I was in high school, I was not on the team, although I did help friends study. I didn't include this since it wasn't my activity.

 

All the black power stuff was remarkably absent in high school, alas. ;)

 

I learned the most in a classroom about Africa from Francophone culture classes in college. All about Francophone Africa + African diaspora in France, though, obviously.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I read Beneath the Lions Gaze this past summer

 

http://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Lions-Gaze-Maaza-Mengiste/dp/0393338886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292332135&sr=8-1

 

I had heard about the book on NPR and wanted to read it. I enjoyed the novel and learned a lot about the time period. It shed light on all the stuff I heard on TV at when I was little.