Dr. Ali Birra stands as a carrier of the collective memory of the Oromo Nation—not merely a musician, but a living archive. Through his voice, Oromo history learned to remember itself. Each song carried fragments of a people’s journey: displacement and return, love and loss, dignity and resistance. In times when language was silenced and identity pushed to the margins, his music became an oral library—preserving Afaan Oromo, safeguarding cultural rhythm, and transmitting values across generation