Many of the stories in "A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times" allude to a period known as the Derg. This was a period, from 1974 to 1987, in which a military government ruled Ethiopia. Under this regime, the citizens of Ethiopia experienced widespread fear and tyrannical rule, as the officials employed various brutal tactics to hold power. The terror of this period is reflected in stories like "Kind Stranger" and "Preludes," as characters sift through their memories of political oppression.
The Derg came into being in 1974 when a group of Ethiopian soldiers and police officers, known as the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army, came together and ousted Emperor Haile Selassie. Led by army officer Mengistu Haile Mariam, this new government declared Ethiopia a socialist state and stated that land and education reforms would be the primary focus of Ethiopia going forward. In 1977, Mengitsu took a more formal role as head of state and began a campaign of dictatorial political violence known as the Red Terror. This period was characterized by waves of mass arrests in which thousands of Ethiopian citizens were arrested and tortured without trial.
Things continued to worsen in the 1980s as intense droughts and economic issues plagued the country. A period of famine during the years of 1983-1985, a war with Somalia, and rising tensions with various militia groups contributed to the government weakening further. Ethiopia became largely dependent on foreign aid as a result of this faltering stability. In 1987, Mengitsu restructured the government, allowing more civilians to take part in political roles, while still keeping a core group of Derg politicians in power.
The Derg finally came to an end in 1991 when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front overthrew the Derg. Mengitsu fled to Zimbabwe and was granted asylum by dictator Robert Mugabe. In 2006, Mengitsu was convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide and sentenced to death. Zimbabwe would not extradite Mengitsu so, as of 2023, he still remains abroad. Hadero captures the scars that her characters bear from this terrible violence, as they struggle with the memories of this awful period of despotic rule. Her stories manage to subtly reveal how Mengitsu's regime impacted the lives of every Ethiopian citizen from journalists and businesspeople to students and children.
