Ethiopia Habtemariam: The New Boss at Motown

New York (Tadias) – A young Ethiopian American music executive has been appointed as the new head of the legendary Motown label now owned by the Universal Music Group.

The company has named Ethiopia Habtemariam, 31, senior vice president of Universal Motown Records. Ms. Habtemariam will also serve as Executive Vice President and head of Urban Music for Universal Music Publishing Group.

The promotion will make Ms. Habtemariam one of the most prominent women, as well as one of the most influential blacks in the music idustry. She follows in the footsteps of Sylvia Rhone, one of the most powerful women in the field and the first black woman to lead a major record company.

Ms. Habtemariam, who began her career as an intern at LaFace Records in the 90s, is credited for signing publishing deals for artists such as Justin Beiber, Ciara, Polow Da Don, Chris Brown and Ludacris.

According to The New York Times: “The label was careful not to name Ms. Habtemariam as the new president of Motown, but she will have the top position at the label and will report directly to Barry Weiss, Universal’s top executive in New York. It is expected that if she is successful in the new job, she will most likely be promoted.”

“Ethiopia represents the new breed of today’s best creative music executives,” Mr. Weiss said in a statement. “There is no one more relevant and credible in the creative community to help us build upon Motown’s fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era.”

Ms. Habtemariam said she was honored to accept the appointment: “It is an extraordinary opportunity to call Motown home,” she said in a statement. “And I am grateful to Barry for giving me the honor and challenge to put a new creative stamp on a label that has such a rich history.”

She added: “I am truly excited to work at the label that cultivated the musicians who have inspired me over the years. Motown artists created the soundtrack to my life, and I can’t wait to develop acts that not only have cross-genre and cross-generational appeal, but can reach worldwide notoriety.”

Creating Healthy Communities

Whenever possible, I ride my bike to work.  I love it, and I realize how lucky I am to be able to do this.  Today I went to an event called “Designing Healthy Communities:  Zoning Reform to Inspire Healthy Living” at the Massachusetts Statehouse.  It was part of a campaign by the Massachusetts Public Health Association to increase access to healthy, affordable food and safe public space for physical activity.  I learned today why so few people bike to work.

It was fascinating and inspiring to hear some of the work that’s being done in local communities to support healthy living and to learn about the history of our zoning laws.  Today, many communities are designed so that people live and play far from where they work, shop and do other activities.  This makes it difficult to be physically active because it’s no longer an intrinsic part of our day.  Instead, today, often the people who exercise are those who have the luxury of the time to do this.  

It wasn’t always like this. In fact, about 100 years ago, zoning laws were put in place to separate where people lived and played from where they worked.  Ironically, these zoning laws were meant to support public health because people often worked at industrial sites that made them sick.  These were not healthy places to be.  By separating people’s homes from these sites, they were less likely to get sick.  Due to advances in public health, and environmental protection laws over the past several decades, this has changed.  Our worksites are no longer the unhealthy environments they once were.  And yet we now have other health problems, such as increases in chronic disease, from drive everywhere we go and not being physically active enough.  That’s what the event at the statehouse was all about.  

How can we change the antiquated zoning laws to make it easier for our communities to have mixed use developments, so that people live close to where they play, work and shop.  How can communities connect residents to safe, beautiful places to be physically active?  There’s great work being done in Massachusetts on this issue.  For example, Revere has a beautiful beach on the east side of the city; however, most residents live on the west side of the city and the two sides are intersected by several major highways, making it difficult for people to get to the beach.  Revere residents got together in a coalition called “Revere on the Move” and they created an urban trail, with bright blue poles which serve as mile markers, so that people now have a long trail that they can use for exercise.  Their next step is to think about how they can create the opportunities for everyone to by physically active; not just the folks with the time and intention to exercise.  It will be exciting to see what they do next!  Click here for a link to a fact sheet on the campaign.

Driven Ethiopian refugee wins SF State scholarship

Betsaida Abraham’s family fled persecution in Ethiopia and settled in the U.S when she was 12. (Courtesy photo)

Amy Crawford Examiner Staff Writer Sanfrancisco

Betsaida Abraham moved to California from her native Ethiopia at age 12. She didn’t know any English and had never attended school. Back then, her dream of being a doctor seemed unattainable.  

Ten years later, the young woman who now goes by Betty is a senior at San Francisco State University, taking classes for her microbiology major and studying for the medical school admissions test.

For her triumph against the odds, Abraham learned this month that she had won the William Randolph Hearst Award, a $3,000 scholarship bestowed by the California State University trustees. She was one of 23 winners across the 400,000-student system.

“I’ve gone through so much,” Abraham said. “I feel like I’m finally hitting my stride and going where I want to go, whereas before I was just keeping my head above water.”

Abraham’s father fled political persecution in Ethiopia when Betty was a baby, leaving his wife and two daughters behind. They planned to follow him, but applying for asylum took longer than they expected.

 “It actually took 12 years and a letter from [Sen.] Barbara Boxer to get us here,” Abraham said.

As they waited, Abraham’s mother kept the girls at home, fearing that their Protestant religion would endanger them in a country dominated by the Orthodox Church.

The girls taught themselves to read by studying the Bible, and they gained a love of science examining insects in the backyard.

When they were finally permitted to join her father in Sacramento, Abraham’s first impression was of enormity — wider roads, taller buildings and more food than she was used to seeing on a plate.

“I definitely felt out of place,” Abraham said. “But I was so excited, going to school for the first time.”

Abraham took English as a second language for two years, before applying to an honors high school. She persevered through difficult courses, and then applied to SFSU. Believing medical school was out of reach, Abraham planned to study nursing. But she did so well in her classes that she reconsidered her old dream.

Abraham said she would like to return to Ethiopia one day — after becoming a doctor.