Last Updated on October 7, 2013
When ethnic cleansing took place in Mississippi in order to convert the landscape to industrialized agriculture for export, slaves had to be imported to work the land. In Ethiopia today, the future slaves are already on the land being converted.
As Chinese, Indian and Saudi Arabian investors take advantage of the Ethiopian government’s offers of essentially free land, the Ethiopian landscape will soon mirror the plantation system of Mississippi two centuries ago. For the pastoral indigenous villagers being removed, along with the forests and wildlife, it is a harbinger of what is in store for the continent of Africa.
Unlike the relatively slow conversion of the Mississippi drainage to an industrialized plantation, the conversion of Ethiopia seems to be happening overnight. As the Guardian reports, it isn’t likely to do the Ethiopian people any good.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
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Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
