By Abdisalam Garjeex Three weeks ago, when I read Abdi Nor Iftin’s new book “Call me American”, it reminded me Hassan Abukar’s Book “Mogadishu Memoir” which I read two and half years ago. Both books reveal stories of two different periods in Somalia which many Somalis including myself have firsthand experience. Iftin remembers the civil...
Editorial Critique: Book: Making Sense of Somali History, Volume II Paperback: 222 pages Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd (May 12, 2017) Author:Dr. Abdurahman Abdullahi Baadiyow The collapse of the postcolonial Somali state in 1991 and the consequent outbreak of civil war drastically transformed the socio-political landscape in Somalia. Somalis reverted to the pre-colonial state of affairs and...
Rahma Mohamed’s book, ‘Muhiima’s Quest,’ follows a Somali-Muslim child on unique journey Rahma Mohamed couldn’t find a book that had Muslims of African descent in it, so she wrote one. Here, she’s reading her book to children. (Rahma Mohamed/Supplied) Rahma Mohamed first arrived in Canada from Somalia at eight years old. She learned to read at...
By Hassan M. Abukar As a child growing up in Tunisia, Helmi Ben Meriem heard nothing but negative things about Somalia. It was a country reduced to cultural stereotypes and ravaged by war, famine, and endless squabbling among its political leaders. Little did he know that one day he would be his country’s sole specialist...
Ruman Abdi, 10, and Maryam Ahmed, 11, hand autographed copies of “Baro Af-Soomaali” to a buyer during the launch for the Somali alphabet book at the NewHolly Gathering Hall in Southeast Seattle on Friday. (Courtney Pedroza/The Seattle Times) The Seattle families brought in family possessions, rooted in Somali culture, to be photographed to appear alongside...
Qore: Cabdiladiif Cige Tarjume: Boodhari Warsame Odaygii waxa uu soo gaaray gurigii waynaa ee uu deggenaa ninkii ay tolka ahaayeen ee sarkaalka sare ee millitariga ahaa. Guriga waxaa dhooban askar dharcad ah. Odaygii ayay salaameen markii uu guriga u sii dhaafayay, maadaama ay u yiqiinneen nin guriga wax badan soo booqda taliyahoodana ay tol wadaagaan....
By Bodhari Warsame Chapter 3 Offering my Life Away It is a hot sunny day and sandstorms are blowing. I woke up in the rebel camp for the first time in my life. It is a wide dusty field surrounded by thorny bush. At the front gate stand an armed sentry. Two young boys whose...
By Keren Weitzberg Africa has often served as a laboratory of self-discovery for privileged outsiders. Since the era of colonial adventurers, as Nadifa Mohamed notes, the continent has been a site “for dreams and nightmares,” a foil and mirror for many a Western traveler. This is the tradition/trap into which Jeffrey Gettleman falls. Gettleman, a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist known for his lurid coverage of war, was until recently the East Africa correspondent for The New York Times. His journey from middle-class suburbia to the halls of one of the...
Qore: Cabdiladiif Cige Tarjume: Boodhari Warsame Waxaa jiray xeer aan qornayn laakiin ka mid noqday nolosha caadiga ah aadna saamayn ballaaran ugu leh dadka iyo dhaqankooda reer guuraanimada. Xeerkaasi waa kan dhigaya kala sarreynta iyo abtiirsiinyaha tolka. Abtirsiinyaha tolku waxa uu si qoto dheer u dhex galay xagga diinta, maammulka dawladeed iyo guud ahaan waxa...
W/Q Umayma Good Ayaandarrooyinkii ugu weynaa ee Afrika wajahdey gumeysigii ka dib, waxa ka mid ah in dalal badani markii ay gobannimada qaateen ay gacanta dib ugu galeen kaligood taliyeyaal, oo xukun jacleysigu waxa uu noqdey dhaqan ay madaxdii Afrika dhammaan yeeshaan. Taasina waxay keentay in Afrikaan badani u arkaan in hoggaanka siyaasaddu uu yahay...