The glory of Haile Selassie as an African King, as one whose realm was in Africa, should be based PRIMARILY on his descent from the Queen of Sheba. Not as at present when he keeps being hailed as one from the "throne of David".

The throne of David was not an African throne. So, it may be best if the reasons behind the emphasis on the abundant glories that we are told accrues from a relationship with this particular blood-line is re-examined in all African hearts.

It would be best, because Haile Selassie would be a more effective icon for ALL Africans when the truths of what his ancestor (the Queen of Sheba) represented can be researched by scholars, presented and emphasised.

Then, we may find that it becomes harder for those who wish to present him as another item on the buffet that is on permanent display before a world-wide population of the spiritually promiscuous.

A starting place would be to extrapolate what is known of the rigid social structures that have always been present (in one form or another) in all African kingdoms into an appraisal of those times. We may then recall, from this perspective, the fact that the African ruler called the Queen of Sheba represented a lineage that was ancient when the first known ancestors of Solomon were nothing more than barbarian nomads. The ancestors of the Queen of Sheba were handling the ancient knowledge that civilization is based on when Abraham was trying to sacrifice his first born son Ishmael through exposure to the elements in the desert.

A habit of his as he was to try again to murder another son, this time using the edge of a knife.

The propaganda of the hebrew scripts which stated that a Queen of ancient lineage left her Kingdom in order to come learn from and mate with the chieftain of recently domesticated desert tribes should stop being taken as literal truth.

When asked why the Queen would have done such a thing, why she would have submitted to an act that under the social codes of the times, was more like what a man did to his concubine (or worse), we are told that 'God' works in mysterious ways.

Which is true. But, due to previous experiences where we have seen that same statement being used either tojustify the unjustifiable or to conceal the truth, we would be best advised not to simply take just one particular group of people's word for what is best left unexamined under the shroud of 'mysterious ways'.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is obviously quite content with this explanation. That is thier right. However, to other Africans, to the MAJORITY of Africans, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is nothing more than just another christian church from amongst many although you will not find many (from the fair-minded) who will find a cause for dispute with what they (the EOC) believe to be the truth.

While each group stays in thier enclave, each group should be free to believe what they wish.

However, for others who are seeking tools that can be broadly applied across the lines presently seperating African communities, for those who claim to be working towards the bringing to life of one united African body, what the EOC holds to be the truth and what it holds to be the kernel of this truth will not suffice. I repeat, and re-emphasise however, that such a belief is okay for those whose intent is to remain within thier own exclusive enclave.

It will do Africans no good in the long term if they are asked to unite behind a story that places thier first actor (the Queen of Sheba) in a role that is subservient to a non-African (Solomon). This is because the role assigned to the Queen, in the hebrew derived myth, is no different from that assigned to other African women down the ages through the other times that we have known, the times of captivity and colonialism.

The role assigned to the Queen, is in fact the role that has been assigned to the African mind and spirit. Yes, our African minds and spirits, are STILL being called upon to play the roles of the vessels that carry to fruition seeds that come from outside our ancestral abode.

The story of the Queen of Sheba needs to be retold from a perspective that places her firmly within the wider African story. Then, it may be able to use the symbol that she and her descendants represent as a truly empowering tool that can be applied without the risk that it would aid the perpetuation of the present situation in some modified (but still detrimental) way.