A sickly child who was not expected to make it beyond age 5 defies the odds and survives, thanks to the love of a nurturing mother, the kindness and generosity of immediate and extended family and the community at large. They also help soften the blow of the loss of a father at an early age. As a teenager he starts early on grappling with questions of social justice, identity and citizenship rights under the anachronistic feudal monarchy. Recognizing education to be the key to understanding the issues, he concentrates on the pursuit of knowledge at the Menelik II Secondary School followed by Haile Selassie I Military Academy and later at Zagreb University medical school eventually becoming an officer in the imperial army and a military doctor. The journey takes him to three continents meeting some wonderful people who impacted his life along the way. It is a story about growing up second class citizen in one’s own country, of student activism, the revolution and its aftermath, life in exile in a foreign land, and above all, it is a story of an abiding love for a country in all its multicultural splendor and its people with all their quirkiness and complexity. The author expresses his hope for a united, democratic and progressive Ethiopia with equal justice for all its citizens.

About the Author

Mohammed A Nurhussein, MD is the national chairman of United African Congress. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine emeritus and, until his retirement, served as Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center. Born and raised in Ethiopia he was one of six Army officers from Harar Military Academy sent by Emperor Haile Selassie to Yugoslavia to study medicine becoming one of the first Ethiopian military doctors. Dr. Nurhussein’s brother was among the thousands of young Ethiopians killed by the military regime that followed the 1974 revolution. Seeking political asylum in the US, Dr. Nurhussein started a long career as an attending physician at Kings County Hospital Center and at SUNY Downstate. He has been a mentor and role model to generations of medical students and residents. His long service at both public institutions has earned him numerous awards. He has been listed in the Castle-Connolly Best Doctors in Geriatric Medicine in New York in 2009 and 2010. He served as Chairman of a broad coalition of African Diaspora organizations led by the United African Congress to raise awareness of the then raging Ebola epidemic in West Africa by holding a forum at the UN 27 August 2014 followed by a concert at the General Assembly Hall in March 2015 Dr. Nurhussein is a Board Member of Ethio-American Doctors Group, Inc. dedicated to establishing a state of the art hospital and a cancer center of excellence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is also an active member of Physicians for Human Rights and a Board member of Brooklyn for Peace.

Category: Memoir, Autobiography/ETHIOPIAN-AMERICAN

Trim size: 6x9”

Page count: 320

Publication date: 2020