This story is syndicated from The Grandview Chronicle, the newspaper of Grandview High School in Aurora, CO. The original version of the story ran here.
It was Benayas (Beni) Tadasse’s, a senior as of now, first day of freshman year on November 11th 2020. He woke up early for the big day, to wash his long hair and pick his outfit. It was still dark outside when he went downstairs to grab a towel. Then suddenly, he hears loud, aggressive knocks. Behind the door, he hears threats to bring his father immediately. These officers were looking to disarm his parents, a typical first step in committing a genocide.
“They did get in and I remember they took away my dad and my mom for some time. We were connected and we finally escaped on December 25, 2020,” Tadasse said.
Tadasse was born and raised in Ethiopia, where the Tigray war occurred. It stemmed from the conflicts between the different ethnic groups that control the affairs of the nation.
“There are three major ethnicities in Ethiopia: Tigrayan, Amhara, and Oromo. I’m a mix of all of them. So whenever there’s a conflict I’m in trouble,” Tadasse said.
When a new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, was appointed (April 2018) due to protests for human rights, he removed Tigrayan government leaders. This led to months of feuding between Ahmed and the Tigrayan, and it erupted into war on November 4th.
“I’m grateful my family and I were able to escape when we did, because not everyone was that fortunate. 1.2 million people died and 250,000 women were raped,” Tadasse said.
Tadasse wants to address and destigmatize the concept of racism as much as he can. He has always had a passion for learning about other cultures, and mixing them within his own. And because of that, he has learned 6 languages and is in the process of learning more.
“I know English, Amharic, Italian, Spanish, French and Darija,” Tadasse said.
He makes music using each of them. He recently released a song called Diamante de Africa, which means Diamond of Africa.
“I generally mix languages. You don’t hear a whole sentence in one language,” Tadasse said.
Tadasse started to make music in 2
017, referring to himself as a “French cloud rap/trap artist” who mixes languages and cultures
together.
“I found music to be the best way to channel
my thoughts,” Tadasse said. “ I wanna mix my identity because of the way I grew up, and what I have seen. You don’t have to be assigned to a certain culture or ethnicity,”
His music can be accessed through his Instagram, @beniii1_.
“I’ve never found it impressive that I do this.
I’m a very regular guy, who just felt an affinity towards languages and cultures, and decided to learn more. I’m here to share a genocide story,” Tadasse said.
Tadasse will be graduating from Grandview in May and is planning to move to California to study political science. He recently visited San Diego, and is excited to continue to
swim once he moves. He will continue to make music and address what he, and many different ethnicities, went/are going through.
“Let’s make peace. Racism is an ugly thing
that is born purely out of ignorance. Every time you see that happening, please use your voice and don’t ignore it,” Tadasse said.
