Quote by Emperor Menelik II: “Ethiopia has need of no one. She stretches her hands to God.”

At the moment of Africa's greatest humiliation — the continent's division among European powers — Menelik declared Ethiopia's total spiritual and political self-sufficiency. This is both defiance and faith: we owe our existence to God, not to colonial goodwill. It is one of the founding statements of African dignity.

Menelik issued this declaration following the Battle of Adwa on March 1, 1896, where Ethiopian forces routed the Italian army — a shock to European colonial assumptions and a source of inspiration for Black communities worldwide. The Scramble for Africa had just formally divided the continent among European powers at the Berlin Conference of 1884–85.

Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913, who decisively defeated the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 — the first major victory of an African nation against a European colonial power. His modernisation programme and military success preserved Ethiopian independence during the Scramble for Africa.