የድሬዳዋው ሚሌኒየም ፓርክ በታዋቂው ድምፃዊ አሊ ቢራ ተሰየመ

ለስድስት አሠርታት በሙዚቃዊ ሥራው ልዕልናን የተቀዳጀው ድምፃዊ አሊ ቢራ የትውልድ ከተማው ድሬዳዋ በስሙ ፓርክ ሰይሞለታል፡፡  ከዚህ ቀደም ሚሌኒየም ፓርክ ተብሎ የሚታወቀውን ፓርክ ‹‹አሊ ቢራ ፓርክ›› ተብሎ መሰየሙን ሐምሌ 14 ቀን 2014 ዓ.ም. ይፋ ያደረጉት የድሬዳዋ ከተማ ከንቲባ ከድር ጁሃር ናቸው፡፡ በፓርኩ ቅጥር ግቢ በነበረው ሥነሥርዓት ድምፃዊው አሊ ከባለቤቱ ጋር የተገኘ ሲሆን፣ በክብር እንግድነት የከተማዋ ሹማምንትን ጨምሮ የቱሪዝም ሚኒስትር ናሲሴ ጫሊና የቀድሞው የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስትር መሐመድ ድሪር መገኘታቸውን ከድሬዳዋ ኮሚዩኒኬሽን የተገኘው መረጃ ያመለክታል፡፡ በ1954 ዓ.ም. የሙዚቃውን ዓለም የተቀላቀለው ድምፃዊው አሊ ቢራ፣ ከኦሮምኛ በተጨማሪ በአማርኛ፣ በሱማሊኛ፣ በአፋርኛ፣ በሐረሪ እና በዓረብኛ ቋንቋዎች የሙዚቃ ሥራዎችን መሥራቱ ይታወቃል።

Ali Birra was born in Ganda Kore

Ali Birra was born in Ganda Kore, Dire Dawa on 29 September 1950. His parents separated when he was three years old, and subsequently raised by his father. He attended Arabic school as a child, where he learned to write the language. Birra, however, was raised speaking the Oromo language. He also enrolled in a local public school and pursued his education until sixth grade.

In his early years, Birra would do small street-peddling in order to support his livelihood without begging people for money. When he was 13, he joined Afan Qallo, a cultural group which he was operating unofficially to promote the Oromo music and culture. The first time he sang on stage, he sung a song titled “Birra dha Bari’e”. Due to this song, he was given the nickname “Ali Birra”. “Ali” is his first name and “Birra” is the initial song name. By blending the two words, it creates the meaning “Ali the Spring”. The government banned the Afran Qallo group in 1965 and arrested some of its members. Birra escaped arrest and moved to Addis Ababa.

Ali Birra (Amharic: አሊ ቢራ? ; Oromo: Ali Birraa: born September 29, 1947) is an internationally recognized Oromo singer, composer, poet and nationalist. He was born in Ganda Kore village in the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

For several decades from the mid-60’s and onwards, Ali Birra was the most prominent representative of modern Oromo music. He was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians, performing with the greatest artists and orchestras of the time but being Oromo he was always an outsider in relation to the Amharic musicians of his time. Yet for many Oromos, he was a hero, fighting their cause at a time where the promotion of Oromo culture was illegal and singing in Oromo language banned.

This was Addis 2012 but felt more like driving around with FelaKuti in Lagos in the 70’s. Ali Birra left Ethiopia in 1984 and has since been back only sporadically. But he has not been forgotten.

Heading for lunch we tried in vain to find a restaurant where devoted fans would not overwhelm Ali. Throughout the day his phone was red-hot with new and old friends checking in and while driving around Addis with Ali, we were met by a continuous honking and passengers shouting ’we love you Ali’ through the car windows. This was Addis 2012 but felt more like driving around with FelaKuti in Lagos in the 70’s.

For several decades from the mid-60’s and onwards, Ali Birra was the most prominent representative of modern Oromo music. He was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians, has since been back only sporadically. But he has not been forgotten.

Heading for lunch we tried in vain to find a restaurant where devoted fans would not overwhelm Ali.

Throughout the day his phone was red-hot with new and old friends checking in and

For several decades from the mid-60’s and onwards, Ali Birra was the most prominent representative of modern Oromo music. He was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians, performing with the greatest artists and orchestras of the time but being Oromo he was always an outsider in relation to the Amharic musicians of his time. Yet for many Oromos, he was a hero, fighting their cause at a time where the promotion of Oromo culture was illegal and singing in Oromo language banned.

This was Addis 2012 but felt more like driving around with FelaKuti in Lagos in the 70’s. Ali Birra left Ethiopia in 1984 and has since been back only sporadically. But he has not been forgotten.

Heading for lunch we tried in vain to find a restaurant where devoted fans would not overwhelm Ali. Throughout the day his phone was red-hot with new and old friends checking in and while driving around Addis with Ali, we were met by a continuous honking and passengers shouting ’we love you Ali’ through the car windows. This was Addis 2012 but felt more like driving around with FelaKuti in Lagos in the 70’s.

For several decades from the mid-60’s and onwards, Ali Birra was the most prominent representative of modern Oromo music. He was part of a golden generation of Ethiopian musicians, has since been back only sporadically. But he has not been forgotten.