Ethiopia: In Memoriam – Ali Mohammed Bira: Life, Liberty, Legend
Written by ABR on 08/11/2022
[Addis Standard] In July 2012, I visited Ali Mohammed Bira, a pioneer Oromo music artist–singer, composer, and poet–who essentially reinvented Oromo music, in his home in Pickering, Ontario. Ali has a recliner perched on a landing at the end of the first flight of stairs to the second level of his home to watch television. While having a conversation about the embedded meanings of his lyrics, we talked about how his biography must be written. Finally, he and I agreed that his authorized biography should be titled: Ali Mo