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31. Editor's Note

Author:
Ahmed I. Samatar
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Greetings to all of you! As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, I would like to, one more time, express my gratitude to the five institutions that helped establish the journal: Macalester College, Wellesley College, the University of Pennsylvania, the College of the Holy Cross, and California State University, Chico.
Political Geography:
California

32. About Bildhaan

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
is an annual refereed scholarly journal that welcomes submissions relevant to any aspect of Somali society. In addition, the journal seeks works that are transdisciplinary in both perspective and method. The length of the essays and articles should be, with exceptions, up to 5000 words, double-spaced, with notes and bibliography at the end. Moreover, all figures and tables should be professional in appearance and professionally produced, if appropriate. Present one figure or table per page. Producing figures and tables on a laser printer will render camera-ready quality.

33. From a Poet's Pen

Author:
Bashir Goth
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
It may seem unbecoming for a poet to take pains to elucidate his work for the general reader. And I may agree with Robert Penn Warren who said, “The poet is in the end probably more afraid of the dogmatist who wants to extract the message from the poem and throw the poem away than he is of the sentimentalist who says, 'Oh, just let me enjoy the poem.'”

34. British and Somali Views of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan's 'Jihad,' 1899-1920

Author:
John P. Slight
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Since the start of Hassan's jihad against unbelievers and insufficiently pious Muslims in 1899, the “Cinderella of the Empire” had suffered terribly. Hassan's jihad caused “universal perdition,” with an estimated 200,000 deaths over twenty years in a territory of three million people. An estimated 30,000 alone died in three years as the result of internecine warfare after the British decided the cost of keeping the “Mad Mullah” in check was too burdensome and withdrew to the coast in 1909. The withdrawal led Hassan to resume raiding Somali tribes in the protectorate. This, coupled with the British policy of arming these tribes to fend for themselves, contributed to the death toll. Hassan was condemned by the British, but a few of the same observers also grudgingly admired his determination and sustained resistance to imperial power.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Somalia

35. Debating Somali Identity in a British Tribunal: The Case of the BBC Somali Service

Author:
Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
The Somali Peace Conference sponsored by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held in Kenya in 2003–05, was dominated by warlords and partisan mediators. It endorsed a political strategy whose objective has been to recreate Somalia as a clan-based federation. Advocates of this approach claim that such a dispensation will approximate the society's pre-colonial tradition and therefore has the best chance of restoring peace. An argument put forward in support of this agenda is that Somalia's former governments, particularly the military junta, misused public power by favoring and rewarding certain genealogical groups. Proponents contend that formally and openly using genealogical divisions as a basis for distributing public appointments and resources will prevent future clanist favoritism. This approach to political reconstruction mimics Ethiopia's seemingly novel political project, which divided the country into nine “ethnic provinces” in 1991. In the case of Ethiopia, the presumed rationale for this political strategy was to overcome past domination of the state by one ethnic group, rather than to revert to an old tradition. The imposition of Amharic culture and language on Oromos, Somalis, Afars, the people of the southern region, and other groups throughout the state—and the denial of their human rights—rationalized re-engineering the new order. The challenge for Ethiopia post-1991 has been how to undo past subjugation without reifying cultural differences politically. Dividing each country into administrative units based on ethnic belonging, the proponents argue, will promote democracy and produce a civic order in which no one ethnic group or clan dominates others.
Political Geography:
Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia

36. Experiences of Somali Entrepreneurs: New Evidence from the Twin Cities

Author:
Shannon Golden, Yasin Garad, and Elizabeth Heger Boyle
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In 2004, in the pages of this journal, Hussein Samatar put a human face on the difficulties that challenge Somali business owners in Minnesota. He also provided an overview of the impressive accomplishments of these industrious individuals. Here, we identify what has improved since 2004 and the challenges that remain. To do this, we use findings from a survey of 135 Twin City business owners (90 Somali owners and 45 non-Somali owners).
Political Geography:
Somalia and Minnesota

37. Haweenku Wa Garab (Women are a Force): Women and the Somali Nationalist Movement, 1943-1960

Author:
Safia Aidid
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In 1972, the Supreme Revolutionary Council of General Mohammed Siad Barre passed a resolution to erect several monuments in Mogadishu in honour of symbolic nationalist figures and events in Somali history. These monuments would come to include Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, leader of a twenty-three year anti-colonial war (1898–1921) against the imposition of British rule; Daljirka Dahsoon (The Unknown Soldier), representing all Somali lives lost in battle; and Hawa Osman Taako, a woman killed at the time of a 1948 Somali Youth League organized demonstration that was violently disrupted by pro- Italian groups. At an intersection, home to the National Theatre and in the heart of the capital, Hawa Taako's concrete figure, sword and stone in hand, is permanently inscribed in the collective historical consciousness of Somalis.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Somalia

38. Obliged to Give: Remittances and the Maintenance of Transnational Networks Between Somalis at Home and Abroad

Author:
Laura Hammond
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
One day, while drinking tea with Suad and her children in their small apartment in Lewiston, Maine, I asked her whether she felt pressure from her relatives in Somalia to send money. She chuckled sadly and said, “People say that there is a pill called ga'alqois, which means [literally] that which distances one from their relatives and close friends. Before you leave, you promise your friends and relatives that you will not take the pill and will not forget to send them money. Then when you arrive in the United States you see how hard life is here and you don't send any money. People say that you must have taken the ga'alqois pill.”
Political Geography:
United States and Somalia

39. A Slow Moving Night (Short Story)

Author:
Ahmed Ismail Yusuf
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
On the high mountainous land of the Sanaag region in Somalia, jiilaal season showed neither compassion nor mercy on its inhabitants. The trees stood still, the boughs refused to sway, even slightly, and the reflection of the sun's rays shone on rocks with flat surfaces. A herd of sheep and goats moved about in a mad fury to seek sanctuary under the shade of a tree, which had shrunk within the past two hours or so, from a sizable length able to provide shelter to a negligible hue. Once they got under the tree and into the shade, the sheep huddled in concert. Some sat, some remained standing, and some hid their heads under the others, but the goats butted one another, competing for better positions. The day slowly progressed beyond the zenith, yet the heat persisted, driving the herd into a delirious lust for water.
Political Geography:
Somalia

40. Sheikh Ali Hussein

Author:
Joe Darwin Palmer
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
East Africa: In 1966, the U.S. Agency for International Development built a residential school for the training of teachers in Somalia near the city of Afgoi on the Shabelle River, a dozen miles inland from the capital city, Mogadishu. The construction contract was given to a company in Nairobi, Kenya. There were no construction companies in Somalia or paved roads between Kenya and neighboring Somalia. Besides, anything of value would have already been stolen at gunpoint by bandits (shifta) so the necessary equipment—trucks, a bulldozer, a pavement roller, transmission wires, concrete poles, generators, stationary diesel engines, asphalt, toilets, plumbing, and so on—were sent by sea from Mombasa. There were no stores in Somalia: no grocery, no hardware, no McDonald's.
Political Geography:
Kenya, United States, Somalia, and East Africa