Next month, January 26th, is the 24th year of civil unrest in Somalia. What people thought was a temporary hiccup, became the future.
I’m the first generation of Somalis born abroad. When my parents came to Sweden, they thought they’d move back when I turned 5. I just turned 25.
I’ve spent years studying the Somali language and culture, effectively as an outsider. Even though I share the looks, I don’t quite embody the spirit of true ‘ Soomaalinimo’. It’s often pointed out to me that I’m black on the outside, white on the inside. Somalis don’t have a tangible identity as such; it’s more like a puzzle whose picture becomes clear when put together. Up until 1972, the Somali language had no official writing system. It was mainly spoken, and as such spoken word was the sole vessel that carried the whole history and culture. It’s something you can only witness, experience. You won’t gauge it by reading books about it, because there are very few of them.

Anyway, I digress. A recent video leaked of a Somali artist in which he derides some tribes , and this sparked immense public furore. Apparently, he was secretly recorded poking fun at certain somali tribes and said some pretty derogatory stuff. A comment war broke out in Facebook and I saw a side to Somalis that I rarely see; a passionate and tempered one. Somalis are usually languid and laid back, but talk about tribe and it’s on. It’s caused huge rifts and contributed to the civil war. There’s no Somalinism, so to speak- a collective identity that glues its people together- rather, people identify with their immediate qabiils.¹
The topic of qabiil is a heavily charged one and it’s taboo to speak of it in public. The few times I’ve brought it up in public were the most tensed and awkward. The nervousness that permeated the air and how people were squirming and fidgeting was an interesting phenomena to observe. It’s interesting because behind closed doors, tribe is a favourite topic and it’s usually discussed within biased and bigoted parameters. The hush hushed conversations betray a staunch bitterness and resentment that is swept under the rug in the public eye. It’s very much the elephant in the room.

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