‘Thank you for choosing Seattle’ — Eritreans mark independence in annual Capitol Hill celebration

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray attending Eritrean Independence Day Picnic, May 24, 2015 - Credit: Alex Garland

By CapitalHillSeattle

Many of the approximately 39,000 East Africans who call Seattle home were in Volunteer Park Sunday to celebrate Eritrean Independence Day.

On May 24, 1991, “Eritrean People’s Liberation Front forces moved into the capital Asmara, reinstating independence, following a 30-year-long battle against the Ethiopian military regime,”Wikipedia sums it up in what seems to be a massive simplification.

Washington history site Historylink.org documents the rise of the Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle as an important part of the community starting in 1994:

The association converted the house into an office with meeting rooms and a computer lab, and a community center that provides space for computer classes, tutoring, Tigrinya literacy classes, and other programs. Eritreans can receive help in becoming a United States citizen and in finding jobs and housing.

Earlier this year, CHS reported on the effort to create an East African business association centered around the Central District’s restaurants and markets.

Later, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray arrived to formally proclaim Eritrean Independence Day in the City of Seattle.

“Seattle was the first city in America to recognize Eritrean Independence,” Murray said. “And we are so proud of that.”

“Thank you for choosing Seattle.”

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