To: Family, friends, and colleagues
From: Hashim Ali Jabar OdoKhan-EL
CC: EWF International Executive
Council, We the Black Peoples of the World
Date: June 15, 2020
RE: Benefits of the Ethiopian World
Federation Inc.
Peace and blessings family,
I
am writing to share that I am a member and the 2nd Vice President of
one of the greatest “Black” organizations in the world, that you have probably
never heard of- the Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated.
(EWFHeadquarters.org). I am a member of its International Executive Council,
and I am also the chair of the Special International Education and Information
Committee.
The Ethiopian World
Federation, Incorporated (The “EWF” or the “Federation”), is a not-for-profit membership organization, incorporated in
New York City in 1937, which holds Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. It is a
tax exempt 501(C)4 Civic League, Social welfare organization having non-profit
501(C)3 status as well.
The organizational
structure provides for child entities (Locals) functioning to carry out the
organization’s Aims and Objects on a grassroots level in their resident
domains. The Locals provide the membership base and function through several
committees and units each having their own responsibilities – youth, health,
education, housing, women’s issues, music, ways and means etc. Any 25
qualifying members can submit a request to form a Local in their community. The
Federation has land grants in
Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, and Liberia.
With
all that said dear family, I have recently founded two locals named for members
of my family, the Collins Clan and Dr. Isaiah Moore. I am inviting you to
become a member of this International organization, to join a local, or to
start a local. From my perspective an EWF local is the next stage in
development of the black summer family reunion, the neighborhood block association
on steroids-with much greater reach, influence, and authority.
For
many generations African American families have gathered during the summer to
attend family reunions. The family reunions included regular traditions such as
the “family reunion T-shirt”, cookouts, trips to museums, banquets or formal
dinners, and church on Sunday. Many of our elders, who are now deceased, sacrificed,
and committed themselves to make sure that families knew their history despite
being interrupted by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Many elders did the
painstaking work of going back to the census records to track the family
lineage as far back as possible, and this includes my family.
The
family reunion is a tradition that honors and respects family, brings cousins
and family members from all over the country together once a year or every
other year to make sure that the familial bond is tight and the family history
is kept. The family history serves as a shared sacred knowledge for all
members. An EWF Local is the expansion of our familial traditions as a people,
to a more formal legal and business minded structure to guide our families into
the future.
Since
the Covid 19 or coronavirus pandemic started in America, families have been
gathering through social media, online conferencing, and the like to make sure
that everyone was okay and that the elders were tended to. An EWF local is
similar to the family reunion in that it brings the family together or any
group of persons together, but the difference is that it has significant legal protections
for all of those that are members.
In Dayton Ohio in the 1950s and 60s my grandparents
were members of block associations. Block
associations or resident associations are groups of people that form formal
associations, that are residents of a
particular area, who work together to maintain a safe and attractive
neighborhood. Block
associations help neighbors organize themselves, know one another, represent
their interests to the local government, help to keep the neighborhood safe by
communicating freely with one another, and by reporting anything of interest or
disturbance that need reporting. Block associations and resident associations:
·
bring together neighbors who share common
issues
·
give neighbors a collective voice to call
for change
·
build community by encouraging neighbors
to get to know one another, to look out for one another, and to take the
initiative to make change
·
are typically democratic by nature and
include outreach to neighbors, regular meetings, nominations and lections, and
operational standards such as bylaws.
Bylaws
typically outline:
·
Membership dues
·
Officer descriptions
·
Election protocol
·
Decision-making
·
Meeting protocol
·
Communication
·
Finances
·
Bylaw modification
While
the country is in a “national state of emergency”, the government has a
significant increase in its already wide-ranging powers. The EWF adds
protections to its members in this covid 19 era; against government “tracers”,
imposed quarantine, FEMA camps, and the like.
I
am inviting you to become a member of the Ethiopian World Federation Inc. and
be a part of it’s online convention on July 16, 2020. (EWFHeadquarters.com) to celebrate
it’s 83rd year and also to support me as I run for the elected
position of International President. You can email ewfhq2vp@gmail.com for information.
Thanks,
Hashim Ali Jabar OdoKhan-El
(Cousin Quinn Foster)
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