Hannah Mariam Meherete-Selassie was born on February 23, 1961 in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. She is the great-grand-daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. She shares her insi...view moreHannah Mariam Meherete-Selassie was born on February 23, 1961 in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. She is the great-grand-daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. She shares her insights about life in a privileged family and the advent of a bloody uprising in 1974 that abruptly ends a three thousand year old royal dynasty that traces its lineage to the legendary King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. She flees to the United Kingdom and while at school learns that her mother, and close family are thrown into a rotting jail and that her great grand-father is brutally murdered.
After the military junta unleashed a wave of atrocities during the “Red Terror” which purged all political opponents, Hannah Mariam finally abandons hope of seeing her mother and returning home. She crisscrosses three continents to overcome hardship before establishing a new start in the United States. Her life story is testimony to her inner strength, resilient character and personality.
Her professional career as a public speaker, professor of communication, marketing consultant and coach enriches her teaching in and outside of the classroom. She derives inspiration from her hobbies of abstract drawing and painting. She uses the memoire genre to increase awareness of self and others. She calls for a new understanding of truth, justice, peace and reconciliation between diverse communities divided on ethnic and racial lines.view less