You are Somali? 3 things people ALWAYS bring up

in writing •  7 years ago  (edited)

Known as the white pearl of the Indian Ocean, Somalia is in the horn of Africa. Whenever I meet people, and depending on whether I want to prolong the interaction or not, I tell them I am either British or Somali. If I say I am British, the conversation usually ends within a minute or so. When I say I am Somali, the interaction takes on a whole new meaning. Most people have limited knowledge about this East African country, and even less about the culture and its people. In fact, whatever most people know about Somali is recycled information, and there are three specific things people often picture when they hear Somalia.

1. Famine and the 1992 Civil War

Upon finding out I am Somali, a French kid in high school told me he had sent rice to Somalia during the civil war. I smiled, not sure why that had to be part of our introduction. Nevertheless, this was a trend that continued into adulthood. Whenever I meet people and they find out I am from Somalia, they can't help but bring up the famine and the civil war; a sign that they don't know anything else about Somalia except what they saw on national TV. Even worse, they choose to define a country that is thousands of years old by one event. The best thing I can do in situations like that is to leave them in their ignorance because I can't possibly undo the images and event they have voluntarily chosen to associate Somalia with.

2. Iman, the Somali supermodel

The conversation usually goes like this: 'Oh, you are from Somalia? Iman is from Somalia.' And I am often tempted to say, 'Oh really?? Thanks for telling me!" But honestly, Iman is from Somalia, but so are millions of others! I understand why people might bring her up; she is one of the few Somali celebrities known globally. However, it doesn't end there. Whenever people meet a Somali woman, they try to see how alike or not she is to Iman! I am serious. For example, a sister of mine is often compared to Iman or Naomi because she is black, tall and thin. That's like comparing every tall, thin and white woman to Claudia Schiffer or Cindy Crawford!

3. Pirates


This is another thing people bring up; Pirates! Wait a second(!)I thought pirates are cool according to Pirates of the Caribbean! On a serious note, and if you watch any news aside from CNN, Fox or BBC, you might understand who Somali pirates are. The media loves to paint them as villains, but the truth is, these 'pirates' are simply ordinary men protecting their shores from foreign meddling and exploitation. Should I tell you a secret? You, yes, you, would be called a pirate if you tried to protect your shores from thieves. Somali 'pirates' do not go to foreign shores and kidnap people. They guard their own shores, and when they see foreigners trying to either spill waste, steal their marine life, or have suspicious behaviour, they stand up to that. For this, they are branded as pirates. However, the thieves are branded as victims. Funny world we live in. In short, if ordinary Somali men are pirates for protecting their coastline, then I am also a pirate by that definition because I support their mission to keep thieves away.

Image source:1,2, 3,4

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It's quite sad that most people react like that, it's pure ignorance. The world is so interesting because people's memories is just defined to their own life time or maybe to somethings that happened in their parents life time. The fact is, like you say, that Somalia has thousands of years of history and shouldn't ignorantly be defined purely based on the recent history or what we see on the news.

Some people believe blindly in what they see on the news. Countries, especially powerful ones, exploit this fact all the time to manipulate people into believing what they want.

I always keep an open mind and choose to make my own opinion, not based on what others say, but what I myself experience and see with my own eyes

I completely agree, there's a lot of ignorance. And while I excuse the ignorance of people living in the Amazons or in isolated parts of the world, there's no excuse for staying ignorant in the age of information. Everything is a click away! Your approach is the best and safest because we have our faculties for a reason, and that's to use them! I don't think everyone should know everything, but an effort should be made to not fall for whatever the media propagates.

This was super cool giving a nice perspective from your point of view.

Thanks! I hope so :)

Pirates are immortal lol. Knights and classical warriors are out of the scene but these guys are always in trend :)

lol that's another way of looking at it!

Ahah yep

:)

Thanks @nomad17 for highlighting Somali as a country. They are our neighbours and there is a lot in Somali than what people get through the media. There is a lot of bias when it comes to news and Somali is a destination every traveler should dream of. Good points there.

You're welcome. i agree, there is a lot of bias in the media. Thanks for your kind words, It's a great holiday destination if one doesn't believe in the media hype :) We are neighbours? That means you are either Kenyan, Ethiopian or Eritrean :)

Kenyan!

:) Great!

I am always fascinated about Somali! Thanks for sharing this :)

I have a question for you: what's the approach of Somalians towards Turkey or Turks in general? By this i don't mean just this current government, but also our relationships going back to the Ottoman era. Would like to learn about your perspective. Thanks :)

Thanks for your comment! To be honest, I can only speak in general terms and Somalia and Somalis generally have good a relationship with Turkey and Turks. But in terms of the history between the two countries, it's not something the average Somali knows about and I am not sure whether it's taught in school. Having said that, I am not the best Somali to ask this because I neither live in Somalia nor studied this!

La vida pirata es la vida mejor:)

no hablo espanol :)

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