To think through and beyond the nation-state
A conversation on books, borders, and belonging with Somali-American writer, Abdul Adan.
Somalia
Hashtag Somalia
There is considerably less sustained outcry on social media about African life in relation to ongoing forms of structural violence that may be more mundane but just as deadly.
Somalia, People of Football
A film about the separate, and often connected, journeys of two Somali footballers, also refugees, to make it as footballers.
The Indian-African alliance
Little attention is given to how Indians are viewed and treated not only on the African continent, but by peoples of African descent across the world.
Making Somalia great again
Xenophobia has emerged as a rare consistent and core aspect of President Trump’s foreign policy, directed domestically toward diaspora communities, and outwardly in equal measure. During a campaign speech in Minneapolis, then-candidate Trump disparaged the roughly 25,000-member Somali diaspora in the Twin Cities as “the disaster taking place in Minnesota.” Since his ascendance to the […]
Weekend Music Break No.105 – Songs from banned countries: Somalia edition
For this weekend’s music break, we’ll have a second edition of “Songs from banned countries.” This time we go to Somalia via Seattle — which is a fitting connection because the judge who ordered Trump’s country ban illegal is based in Seattle. So, in the spirit of The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s opposition to Trump’s xenophobic […]
Kenya’s greatest virtue
Can African states offer new approaches to refugee asylum?
Shutting Down Dadaab Endangers Refugees
Those, mostly Somalis, born in Dadaab, since its creation in 1991, could be sent to a country they have never known.
Abdi Latif Ega and the rejection of the ‘African’ novel
Somali-American novelist Ega speaks about creating complex characters, the relationship of images to creative writing and the state of African literature today.
Ride with Malitia Malimob
Rapper Chino’o talks about everything from immigration to police brutality in the U.S., and the future of Somalia.
The Long History of the Garissa Attacks
April. The month of the long rains was upon us, and with its compulsive deluge flowed memories of an old hate. In Kenya, a cycle of violence enduring since the colonial period has been re-stoked, oblivious to the 21 years of “Never Agains” since the Rwandan genocide. As the horror of the massacre of 148 student from Garissa University […]
The Audacity of ‘Somali Studies’
The recent #CadaanStudies controversy that pitted a German anthropologist, Dr. Markus Hoehne, against young Somali researchers, students and professionals led by Safia Aidid, a Somali-Canadian doctoral student at Harvard, prompted a frenzied debate about the state and future of Somali studies. The trigger for this controversy stemmed from the absence of any Somalis from the […]
Can the Somali Speak?
The hashtag #CadaanStudies put the spotlight on the domination of Somali Studies by whites scholars.
Somalis on Ice
"Unlikely Sports Heroes" partially serves to reinforce the image of inferiority. They never actually win anything.
Somali first, Muslim second, gay third
The melodic world alive in the work of Somali author Diriye Osman.
Somali Justice
A rare and informative glimpse into a situation and part of the world that normally only receives minimal, lazy, and inaccurate coverage.
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips and the “True Story” of Somali Piracy
The complexity surrounding the social and economic drivers of piracy off the Horn of Africa was lost in the media-friendly version of the story.
The Politics of Spectacular Violence
The reactions to the Westgate Mall attacks in Nairobi makes clear the differentiation between human lives that are worthy of grief, and those that are not.
The Other Afripolitans
Malitia Malimob, rap music and the less glamorous stories of African migration to the United States.
Pop Culture and Pirate Humanity
Barely any group has been as de-humanized as much in recent history as Somali pirates, treated almost like vermin to be rooted out.