Liberation Movements in Urban Environments: A Case Study of the Oromo Liberation Movement in Finfinnee and the Twin Cities

Abstract

Oromos are the one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa and the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, yet are quite unknown across the world, primarily due to the decades of genocide, ethnocide, and academic repression experienced as a result of Ethiopian colonization. This paper analyzes the formation and shaping of the Oromo liberation movement in urban environments, namely Finfinnee – the capital city of the Oromia region of Ethiopia – and within the local region of the Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Academic papers, books, newspaper articles, political statements and manifestos, and interviews were utilized to develop the research question and acted as essential primary information throughout this paper. As the daughter of two Oromo immigrants, oral history passed down from my parents was also used to guide this research. The analysis of this information shows that while the movement has become stronger and more united in Finfinnee in recent years, deliberate tactics against the movement by the current Ethiopian government have fractured and weakened the movement throughout the diaspora, including the Twin Cities.