Greetings and welcome to our blog!

Somalia. The land of Nomadic settlers. The land of Punt. The land of Frankincense and Myrrh. The land of poets and poetesses . These are the phrases that, despite the ongoing civil war, immediately spring forth in my mind upon the mention of Somalia. But obviously not in the minds of many Britons. The huge influx of Somali migrants has somewhat left and bitter taste on their palate. And all this, of course, is a result of the powerful media. The term Somali has now become, thanks to negative media portrayal, synonymous with violence and crime.

From Darcus Howe’s overtly prejudiced Channel 4 documentary “Who you callin’ a N****r” to An Wilson’s comments in the Evening Standard that “the only contribution Somalis made to society is violence and crime,” much has been said about the Somali community living in Britain and a litany of criticisms thrown their way. Now, I am not saying that none of these criticisms, however discriminatorily meted out to an impressionable public, are untrue. I don’t intend to appear somewhat priggish either and proclaim Somalis are all decent, law-abiding citizens. No, what I am saying is that, yes, we may have some uncouth youths ready to jump at any illegal activity once opportunity presents itself; we may also have, like any other nation, some rotten apples, but does that doesn’t mean that an entire nation must be castigated because of the actions of a few, does it?

My friend Awale will shed some light on the plight of the Somali community in Britain and some other complex issues while I, over the coming months, share with you some of the rich Somali cultural heritage and hope that maybe this will help you understand the Somalis a bit better.

I will start with some of the basics of the Somali culture in my next post, the nomadic culture and the life of the pastoralists, since our culture is largely based on Nomadic traditions. I will also relate a few poems, invoking deep sentiments with their powerful imagery, from highly eloquent Somali poets describing some of the cultural aspects of the Somalis, expressing with profound wisdom their love of their land, people and nomadic life...

image