How do you marry your personal identity/Somali identity

[BlackVelvet]

That you are Somali is a fact


That Somalia for whatever reason (which is beyond the scope of this thread) is not doing that great is a fact


That further to being Somali we are divided along qabiil lines and sub qabiil and sub sub qabiil etc is also a fact


Then there's you, the individual with your likes and dislikes and how you like to eat your food, what you like to talk about with your friends, how you act around someone you like and what you want out of life


How do you marry the outside world's perception of "Somali" and your own identity as one of those people. Do you think of the outside noise as positive or negative?


Do you filter out any negativity so that what you hear/see about them remains in-line with your idea of what it means to be Somali

Do you accept the good and the bad and just disassociate yourself with the whole Somali thing and see yourself as an outside observer looking in

Do you take all the negatives and place it squarely on another qabiil so that the difficult and the ugly has nothing to do with you - it's those other Somalis

Do you just stay away from Somalis all together and live your life such that being Somali is a fact like your hair colour which doesn't have any real significance in your day to day life


You're probably not conscious of what you do but if you were to observe yourself, which category do you think you fall into. Or have I left out something else that you do instead?

[Bella18]

Suualaha waad nagu badisay, bal ukaadi inantaay

I am not bothered with qabiil at all as long as he is somali.

Inta kale dib baan kugu soo laaban doona

[BlackVelvet]

Suualaha waad nagu badisay, bal ukaadi inantaay

As long as he is somali, I'm not bothered with qabiil at all.

Inta kale dib baan kugu soo laaban doona

You have no idea how much I appreciate the relationship twist

[Bella18]

Relationship sow kan na waalay hadba dhinac noo rogaaya

'Waa macaan marna waa qaraar, hadba waa siduu ku soo maree' maa maqashay?

[BlackVelvet]

Maya ma maqlin

Qarar doesn't sound appealing. Now macan and dhanan I could deal with

[Alshabaibe]

I was just about to write how "I couldn't be bothered anymore about being Somali just like I couldn't be bothered I'm female. Magaratay? Its not like you can don anything about it. I had no control over which race/qabil/tribe I was born to. Just another of those things that DOES define you but the EXTENT to which it does, is defined by you." ... and then I realised the fluidity and phases of it all.

Theres been moments in my life I felt deep and genuine love for my Somalinimo, qabiil , sub qabil, moments I got irked when asked what qabil I am, moments I felt stronger in imaan and pushed it all away, moments I wanted to hug all Somalis I see... as at now, just want to work on myself. I am all thats positive and negative with Somalia/land/Somalis/Islam. Genuinely changing my thought process as an individual will change me, in shaa Allah, and perhaps by extension (yeah crazy extrapolation!) Somaalinimo and how I percieve it.... then again, I could wake up and pay qaraan tomorrow..

[TheMightyNomad]

Another selfhating post made a by a somali girl what a f'en suprise

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

I don't live my life looking for other peoples' validation. If you feel conflicted or embarrassed about being a Somali, there's alway "East African".

[Bella18]

I did my part trying to highjack lakin I got caught siday ila tahay

@BV, I live as if I'm still in Somalia... never miss jimco la buunaysanayo... baati suuqa lagu aadaayo.
Wareer haa ku daayo aaba, shacabka laga dhax muuqda adoo 10 colour kala nooc ah sita

[Malachite]

Btw, wlc back Alshabaibe....We are in the finals

[zumaale]

As a cultural mongrel, being Somali is mainly about blood to me. All else is dispensable apart from aspects of Somali culture that are grounded in Islam.

[BlackVelvet]

Alshabaibe

Thank you that was funny and honest

I think most people would feel the same or similar. Moving from one way of doing/understanding to another

This issue of what defines you is very important. I think it's why you'd find young Somalis online trying to distance themselves. With them it's gone so far, being exposed to negative media makes them question who they are. Not knowing how to manage the inner conflict would probably explain why they lash out

Same thing with new atheists who just repeat what they heard in the news to explain why they are no longer Muslim

[BlackVelvet]

I did my part trying to highjack lakin I got caught siday ila tahay

@BV, I live as if I'm still in Somalia... never miss jimco la buunaysanayo... baati suuqa lagu aadaayo.
Wareer haa ku daayo aaba, shacabka laga dhax muuqda adoo 10 colour kala nooc ah sita

I drove in my baati once it felt liberating though no one could see me

I don't mind relationship themed hijacking it gives any and all threads a bit of spice

So on that note have you ever been hit on while wearing a baati

[BlackVelvet]

I don't live my life looking for other peoples' validation. If you feel conflicted or embarrassed about being a Somali, there's alway "East African".

So how about just you. How do you view Somalia and its status. When something negative happens how does that affect you and how do you process it?

[Tuushi]

Doesnt bother as much as it used to.I am me regardless of what identity that might follow.I go around with that idea,forgot it and get reminded by reality once a month at dahabshiil.