Skip to main content
Recognising the humanity of Ethiopia
An encounter with a cabbie has ROGER McKENZIE reflecting on the remarkable history of a great African nation and the importance of migrants and their skills for our beloved NHS
Villagers in Asmut, Ethiopia, put on a traditional welcome for UN Special Envoy for El Nino and Climate Mary Robinson, in 2016

AFTER the relief of finally tracking down a taxi that would take a debit card on a hectic Saturday night near Cardiff railway station, my wife and I got chatting with the driver.

The driver, who was willing to take us back to our hotel by a convenient cash point, originally hailed from Ethiopia and, it turned out, knew our home town of Oxford because he had trained there as a radiologist.

There is so much to unpick from that one sentence.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 16 April 2025
16 April 2025
From the TUC Race Relations Committee to national union treasurers, a new generation of formidable black women leaders are breaking barriers and transforming the movement through uncompromising politics, writes ROGER McKENZIE
17-10-1989 of (L-R) Former World Heavyweight Champions Joe F
Obituary / 24 March 2025
24 March 2025
ROGER McKENZIE writes about late boxing legend Foreman’s legacy, from his part in Rumble in the Jungle to becoming world heavyweight champion at 45
AFRICAN HERO: A Walter Rodney poster in Georgetown, Guyana
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
The Guyanese scholar’s groundbreaking work revealed how Europe deliberately underdeveloped Africa while using its resources and people to fuel Western capitalism, writes ROGER MCKENZIE
Plenary session during the Bandung Conference
Features / 9 January 2025
9 January 2025
China’s huge growth and trade success have driven the expansion of the Brics alliance — now is a good time for the global South to rediscover 1955’s historic Bandung conference, and learn its lessons, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Similar stories
IS
Music / 6 April 2025
6 April 2025
New releases from Ibex Band, Lucy Dacus, and Various Artists
Sudanese Children suffering from malnutrition are treated at
World / 24 May 2024
24 May 2024
Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, Sudanese refugees lack basic necessities, and have been subjected to attacks by armed militia, according to the Alliance of Forces for Radical Change