Promoting and Developing Oromummaa

Introduction As any concept, Oromummaa has different meanings on conventional, theoretical, and political, and ideological levels. Although the colonizers of the Oromo deny, most Oromos know their linguistic, cultural, historical, political, and behavioral patterns that closely connect together all of their sub-identities to the Oromo nation. There is a clear conventional understanding among all Oromo branches and individuals on these issues. The Oromo national movement has gradually expanded the essence and meaning of Oromummaa. The colonization of the Oromo and the disruption of their collective identity and the repression and exploitation of Oromo society have increased the commitment of some Oromo nationalists for the restoration of the Oromo national identity and the achievement of statehood and sovereignty through developing the intellectual, theoretical, and ideological aspects of Oromummaa. In other words, some Oromo nationalists and their supporters have started to further develop the concept of Oromummaa as a cultural, historical, political, and ideological project for recapturing the best elements of the Oromo tradition, critically assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Oromo society, and for formulating a broad-based program of action to mobilize the nation for social emancipation and national liberation. This paper argues that the critical and thorough comprehension of all aspects of Oromummaa is necessary to build a more united Oromo national movement. First, it introduces the conventional meaning of Oromummaa through identifying and explaining the major cultural and historical markers that differentiate the Oromo from their neighbors and other ethnonational groups. Second, it examines how Ethiopian settler colonialism has slowed the full development of Oromummaa by suppressing the Oromo national identity and culture, by killing real Oromo leaders and creating subservient or collaborative leadership, and by destroying and outlawing Oromo national institutions and organizations. Third, the piece illustrates how Oromo diversity can be recognized and celebrated within a democratic national unity. Fourth, it explores the concept of national and global Oromummaa as culture, identity, and nationalism. Finally, the paper demonstrates how expanded Oromummaa can serve as the central and unifying ideology of the Oromo national movement for social emancipation and national liberation. The Essence and Meaning of Conventional Oromummaa Oromummaa as the total expression of Oromo peoplehood developed from the historical, cultural, religious, and philosophical experiences of Oromo society. As a self and collective schema, Oromummaa encapsulates a set of fundamental beliefs, values, moral codes, and guiding principles that make Oromo society different from other societies. (2) Oromummaa has been built on personal, interpersonal, and collective connections. It it is "an historically shaped form of knowledge that emerged out of the Oromo experience of several centuries of life and living (jiruf jireenya)" it has been evolved from the moral codes and guiding principles of Oromo society, and has also "served as a mechanism that built Oromo society in the past and left its unique mark upon the people, and their environment." (3) The Oromo belief systems and cultural principles have been encoded in and expressed by Afaan Oromoo (the Oromo language. Therefore, the Oromo language has been the main carrier of the essence and features of Oromo culture, tradition, and peoplehood. Since the Ethiopian colonizers had failed to destroy this language and replace it by that of their own, they could not successfully suppress Oromummaa that has survived in scattered forms and underground for more than a century. However, the colonizers have prevented the Oromo from developing independent institutions that would allow them to produce and disseminate their historical and cultural knowledge freely. …