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Beyond the parasitic pirate stories, besides the pile of death, before the curtain of pain, behind the shadow of Al-shabab’s all despair, still lies an indomitable human spirit called Soomaalinimo (Somaliness). And though the following sound like a dose of vanity, Somalis’ socially distinctive traits of bravery, beauty, pride and poetic prowess have been noted way before my poor pen’s appeal and not so intended cries! Bravery, for example, it is said that Somalis have no fear of fighting (which also begs the question that if they have no fear in fighting, who would they care to save?). Richard Bowden, a British journalist addressing that insane bravery, stated, “One abiding, horrifying but typical image [of Somali’s bravery] stays in mind: a young Somali dressed in t-shirt, flip-flops and macawiis, the traditional skirt-like wrap, running at a American armoured Humvee, firing an AK47 from the hip. Bravery, ten points. Stupidity, also ten points. He was cut to shreds.” 1 It was also the British writer, of Irish descent, Gerald Haley, who embraced the war prone nature of Somalis as a recklessness pride, warrior-like mentality. In his book, Warriors: life and death among the Somalis, he stated, “…of all the races of Africa there cannot be one better to live among than the most difficult, the proudest, the bravest, the vainest, the most merciless, the friendliest; the Somalis.” 2 Somalis’ garrulous, argumentative style has also been highlighted by those who encountered them. And attesting to Richard Bowden again, noted that, “I once tried to argue with a Somali friend… As the discussion developed she simply reiterated her argument more stridently. She changed down a gear and tried to drive straight over my argument, crushing under a pounding of words that grew louder and louder. Later, after I spent a longer time in Somalia, I realized that she was not being rude, she was being Somali. Challenge, fight, win.” 3 Beauty, though attributable to the eye of the beholder, is an asset of which Somali women own their share. Through their racist lenses, even the Fascist Italians in 1930th admittedly admired Somali women’s desirability while denying their African identity. “…it was almost universally agreed [in Italy] that Somali [women] were the most desirable in a sense because their beauty was believed to be only an exaggeration of whiteness…,” argued Allen. 4 In most recent days, it was in the late seventies when Iman, a Somali native stunned and dazzled the world with her captivating looks. For almost twenty years, she reigned supreme on the western modeling runways, touting the title of Supermodel, the first black woman who managed to mount a gentle war on the title, winning it decisively, therefore paving the way for the rest of the women of color. Known for her single first name Iman, she wooed the world not only with her supreme beauty but her self-assured, confidence and adherence to her identity, Somali. Iman was followed by another glaringly gorgeous Waris Dirie. Both Somali supermodels grazed the most prized magazine covers of the world. Testaments to the fact that Somalis’ faith (Islam) discourages women to flaunt their beauty, both supermodels were discovered by accident, neither at the same time nor by the same person though. Aside from the recent arrival of a Somali orthography —linguists are quite puzzled by the fact that though none of Somali poetry older than two centuries has survived. However, the capacity to masterfully weave words into pure, poetic composition in no less than seven forms lives on. Somali are able to metrically measure, message and curve words into smoothly aligned verses, flowing from an elevated, logical argument obedient to an alliterative system from the start to end. Thus, Somalis’ garrulous and expressive nature, finds the power to synthesize and condense thoughts into poetry. Throughout our existence, we Somalis have been known to capture our account of our affairs in waves of metrically measured words, grieving about the tumult of time’s uncertainties as well celebrating its serenity. Historically, poetry has been the medium for cogent communication that would carry news, nominate leaders, announce and at times to cause wars that lasted decades 6. For that, Somalis worship, fear and admire poetry all at once. Thus, it is with a grain of salt, that kind of pride and an assertive attitude that Somalis mastered the tenacity to confront adversities and lower the threshold for tolerating ill-treatment (at times even the perceived). A Somali is inclined to respond and react if he/she feel that his/her faith has been slighted or anyway dishonored. Thus, in Minnesota and other states, Somalis did just that, walking away many jobs in mass, united. And other times, they mounted legal challenges, mostly disagreements about prayer time or place, but about respect for their rights, too. 7 Despite the difficulties and dire conditions in their motherland and around the globe, Somali pride has not dimmed. A Somali still argues with anyone and everyone, still spends his last penny in excess and still is confrontational. Ironically, Somalis are also known for their selfless hospitality and unguarded generosity. Ahmed Ismail Yusuf ---------------- References: 4 Beverly Allen and Mary Russo. Revisioning Italy National Identity and Global Culture (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997), 141. <http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=310410>. 5 Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller. Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad (New York: William Morrow, 1998). 6 B. W. Andrzejewski and Sheila Andrzejewski, An Anthology of Somali Poetry (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), 3; Ahmed Ismail Yusuf, “A Thorn in the Sole: Short Story” Bildhaan: International Journal of Somali Studies 5, No.1 (2005): 54; Abdullahi Hassan Roble, Silsiladda Guba: Guba Poems (Stockholm: Scansom Publishers1999). Related Articles _________________________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com |
