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Sioux City's Oromo Community Holds Peaceful Protest Against Violence in Ethiopia

Dozens of people held a peaceful protest through downtown Sioux City after unrest in the county of Ethiopia. Siouxland Public Media’s Mark Munger reports.

Members of Sioux City’s Oromo community carried signs saying “Oromo Lives Matter” today to bring attention to the violence against Oromo people in Ethiopia. Protestors there took to the streets following the killing of Hachalu Hundessa, a popular, political, Oromo singer.  

Credit Youtube
HACHALU HUNDESSA

Local protestor Falmata Gishe:

We’re basically just asking the US government to not aid the Ethiopian government. They are using that money to torture our people, basically gunning them down for doing a peaceful protest.

It is reported that 50 protestors have been killed. The Ethiopian government has shut down the internet, making communication and coverage difficult.

And we have not heard anything from our families, so that’s why we are very concerned, and that’s why we wanted to be a voice for our people. You know, we are Iowa’s residents, and we want our representatives to be representing us.  

Mark Munger first began listening to public radio as a child in the back of his Mom's VW Vanagon, falling in love with the stories on Morning Edition and Prairie Home Companion and the laughter of Click and Clack on Car Talk. Through KWIT, he was introduced to the great orchestras and jazz artists, the sounds of folk and blues, and the eclectic expressions of humanity. This American Life and Radiolab arrived in his formative college years and made him want nothing more than to be a part of the public radio world.