“Resistance is our Culture”: An Archival Exploration of Oromo Diaspora Organizing

The Oromo people of the Horn of Africa have been engaged in a struggle for liberation and justice since their colonization by the Abyssinian Empire in the 1880s. Despite, beyond, and against this discursive violence, Oromo people have been creating liberatory spaces and alternative stories of Oromo life. In this article I explore resistance writing and organizational materials created by members of the Oromo diaspora in the 1970s and 1980s. This archival collection, housed in Berlin, Germany, shares a story of transnational solidarity. It also demonstrates the power of the archive itself as an active participant in documenting, remembering, and supporting the Oromo struggle.