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My parents are originally from a country in north eastern Africa called Ethiopia
In the 1970's Ethiopia was experiencing a lot of political problems because people were growing sick of the emperor who had ruled Ethiopia for more than 40 years.
A revolution was started by a young soldier in the army who was determined to transform the country from a monarchy into a socialist state. He managed to convince the people that the solution for the country was to give the power to the military.
Eventually the royal family was ousted
The people marched in the streets in support of communism and the new leader.
Once the new leader took power the hopes of the people were dashed almost immediately. The people began to realize that the new leader was more focused on keeping power in the military rather than changing the lives of the common people.
The new leader quickly turned out to be a ruthless dictator that waged war on anyone that had different views
Thousands of young men and women were killed for having "anti-revolutionary" ideas
Meanwhile a new rebel group was created in northern Ethiopia where my parents were born and raised. My father and thousands of other young students decided to pick up arms and fight against the government
My father fought for 2 and half years with the new rebel group that promised a better future
After being arrested several times he realized that it was too dangerous for him to stay in the country which led him to flee to Sudan
After a hard journey he made it to Khartoum where he lived for 2 years until he heard about the American embassy in Sudan was trying to find Ethiopian refugees to send to the U.S. as a plan to discourage communism
He made it to the U.S. and lived in Los Angeles until the civil war ended in Ethiopia, and the dictator fled the country
He then moved back to Ethiopia and got married to my mother. After my mother gave birth to me we moved to the U.S. when I turned 3 years old.
The experiences my parents went through taught me not to take my life for granted and the importance of democracy and freedom in a country.
They taught me that I am lucky to live in a country like the U.S. where everyone is entitled to their own opinion without being at risk of imprisonment or death.
They always encouraged me to participate in my society and take advantage of the opportunities that I have here by reminding me that many people around the world have to fight so hard for the same rights that we sometimes take for granted here in the U.S.