Ethiopia is beyond bad- it is evil and those who brought them to Somalia are culpable of war crimes and everlasting disgrace. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-survive23mar23,1,5787043.story http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/world/africa/18ethiopia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/06/news/Somalia-Ethiopia.php For the people you trying to blame, they are not as bad as Ethiopia or the warlords. Actually the clan elders have no clue how to bring peace to Somalia and are just too primitive and ill-equipped to solve the Somali problem. The Sharif you accusing is a very well respected and genuine Somali leader at his young age of 42, he has shown moderation and compromise in a lot of things unlike the warlords you support. But that is not the point here. America's short-sighted policy on 'war on terror" intended to contain and hunt few elements in the radical movements in Islamic world and Somalia and elsewhere is not gonna solve the Somali misery. It will not bring peace to Somalia other than complicate things and prolong our people's suffering. America cares less of Somalia and its suffering people. They are just after three Al-Qaeda men whom they were trying to neutralize since 1998 to no avail and in this wild west pursuit, thousand of Somali families perished. But the sad thing is the evil warlords and their advocates jumped on this bandwagon and become tool to destroy their nation and people. Your main concern now should be what could you do to make sure that Somalia and Somalis are your first priority and not what Ethiopia and US want. You should also be thinking what will happen after the warlords and particularly after your ailing-aging warlord-uncle dies? He is not in good health as you know and is very fragile. His divisive clan approaches and stooge-like policies didn't work to secure him a peaceful tenure as the president of Somalia. So do you have another educated and peace-loving uncle or uncles to cheer for ? I will join you in that effort for I believe there are many uncles out there who care more about Somalia and want peace and prosperity for Somalia.

For a lot of Somalis, qabyaalad impaired their senses and thus don't see anything - they became as the ayah in sura baqara says: Summun, bukmun cumyun...fahum laa yubsiroon...dumb, deaf and blind, they don't see. I honestly believe that is what most posters, especially the one who started this thread is and has became. these posters wear clan lenses all the time. they believe in one warlord ( who is from their clan) and forget about ALLAH, ISLAM, the people and the nation. This is no attack on anyone but is just what I have seen in my short stay in the forum. I am just following that saying, let us call a spade a spade. I suggest that my brothers who cheer for clans and warlords to re-examine their support, do some kind of soul searching so they may come to see what is going on and how sick and bad it is to be always obsessed with warlords and possessed by clan sentiments. what is going in Somalia right now? Ethiopian occupiers are slitting Somali children's throats inside mosques, fake money is printed by ruthless and selfish men associated with the warlords. Every Somali elder, politician and so-called leader has become a stooge, selling his people and country to highest bidder. Hypocrisy and evilness is the mantra for survival in Somalia. Mothers and children, millions of them, displaced and wounded, are starving in the blazing desert sun; millions are escaping the country and crossing into neighboring borders as refugees thousands are risking their lives, drowning in the high seas to reach Yemeni shores. Sick and psychotic clan leaders are calling themselves regional fiefdoms and handing Somali citizens to the brutal Ethiopian regime. For the supporters of the TFG, they see now how ineffective and toothless the whole warlord infested government is. The warlords haven't even built one school, one office, or dig one well. Instead they destroyed schools, wells, clinics. All they did for 4 long years? more disaster and destruction. They sold our sovereignty to our arch-enemy. The TFG ship have sunk brothers and sisters. Wake up to this reality! What is needed is to think beyond Qabyaalad and Qabqable and save this nation and our people. it is time, we just take time out of supporting one faction , one warlord, one clan. We are Somalis and it is times like this, that we have to understand, our whole existence is in danger; that if we don't divorce ourselves from the evils of the clan and its backward mentality, there will never be Somalia. So please, think about what you could do to help Somalia and its suffering people should be the topic, not to spin and speculate who sold the young Shaheed and martyr who lived like a man and died like one fighting for a cause he believed Don't try to blame others for your failures. Think about your failures and how to reach to others,so there won't be failures no more, so we can salvage somalia from , tribalism, warlords and Ethiopian occupation.

The Next US Strike in Somalia: the warlords. May 01, 2008 - The US strike that killed the so-called Al-Shabaab or Somali youth insurgent leader, Aden Ayro today created different reactions among the Somali people everywhere. Supporters of the weak and warlord-infested government of Somalia felt relief that one of their main foes is neutralized. Many Somalis, especially those in the Diaspora are holding back their thoughts to the airstrike as to not attract the wrath of Uncle Sam or being labeled as terrorist sympathizers. In the post 9-11 world of Guantanamo, renditions and patriot act, many Muslims in the West learned how to keep silent, survive and continue with their daily lives. However, many Somalis inside Somalia perceive the latest US strike as an act of terrorism not that different of what the deceased insurgent leader was accused of. They consider the US as enemy of the Somali people who turned a blind eye to their suffering. They contest that the US is self-interestedly pursuing unhelpful policies that will have the negative consequences, opposite of what it was supposed to accomplish. They have their justifications: The US contracted Ethiopia for its “war on terror” to invade and occupy Somalia after forces loyal to the Islamists defeated the terrible warlords and brought some semblance of peace for six months in the summer of 2006. That peace has been spoiled. And the consequences of the US supported invasion of Ethiopia into Somalia created one of the worst humanitarian catastrophe in Africa. The warlords are the real bad guys in Somalia but somehow they enjoy the support- both moral and monetary - of the US administration which prides itself to be the leader of the free world that spreads democracy; advocates human rights and freedom. For narrow strategic reasons, The Bush administration had many times sided with the wrong groups in the Somali conflict. They supported the bloody and brutal warlords in Mogadishu many times. These warlords are now in the ineffective transitional government which has international legitimacy and support but miserably failed to bring peace to Somalia or to put together even one governmental institution. Sadly some of these sadistic warlords are rumored to be in the CIA payroll and the worst warlord was in Washington DC recently getting unworthy red-carpet reception from State Department and Pentagon officials. Somali warlords with the backing and arming of Ethiopia have been the problem since Somali became a failed state 18 years ago. They are responsible for the displacement of Millions of Somalis, mostly children and women, the killing of half million Somalis, the destruction of cities, towns, rural villages and infrastructure. Instead of these warlords being brought to justice and to the International Criminal Courts, the International Community is working with these evil men and welcoming them into their fold. That is unusual and opposite of what the leaders of the free world say about freedom and human rights. The desire of the majority of the suffering Somalis whose life and property have been destroyed by the sadistic warlords and the merciless occupying army of Ethiopia - supported and sustained by the US government all in the name of war n terror - , is to see the US government also hunting and targeting the warlords in Somalia with their superb and precise missiles. The names and locations of the warlords are known to all and the majority of Somali people will unconditionally collaborate with all American spy agencies to flatten these sadistic warlords into pieces with airstrikes. Since the United States is now in the mood of hunting bad guys, why not continue the airstrikes and neutralization of all evil men? The US interest in the strategic region of Horn of Africa not only lies with the removal of Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist groups by airstrikes but eliminating the evil warlords as well. Majority of the Somali people will be grateful to the US administration if it undertakes such a noble act of humanity and assist millions of displaced and suffering ordinary Somali citizens by getting rid of the bloody warlords or at least letting human rights lawyers to bring the warlords to International Criminal Court of justice like Milosevic and Charles Taylor. The warlords are only there to continue the misery of Somali people, escalate the violence, cleanse entire neighborhoods, and above all undermine the international communities efforts to bring opposing factions together. It is high time for the United States to end its unconditional support of the evil warlords. Neutralization of all warlords is a sound and farsighted policy to secure peace in Somalia. The elimination of the warlords from power will create an environment conducive to peace and opportunity for American educated Somalis, with no blood in their hands and who have the interest of Somalia and the United States at heart to take a leadership role in pacifying the region and protecting the mysterious “strategic interest” of America in the region. Abdulkadir Mohamed - Ato can be reached at abaadir0@gmail.com

he was a real skinny and lucky young man - just died at young age of 31. Imagine how many times we heard about him as being this huge and wanted man who is a very dangerous to the interest of the western world in the horn of africa. Then when I saw his pic, walaahi I cried with mixed feelings of envy,jealousy, pride and admiration Just by looking at his pic and how young Ayro was, I feel my life has been meaningless in away. What a beautiful way to die to go back to your creator fighting for your deen and for the liberation of your people from the occupation of our enemies and oppression of the warlords. All the people I talked to today about this... all confirmed he was a selfless Mjuaahid who shunned Qabiil and Qurunkiis at young age. Amazing! and we here poisoned by it but he purified his soul and died for a noble cause and is gonna meet his role models like Imam Ahmed Gureey and Sayid Mohammed Abdallah Hassan. The Somali spirit is alive and it is days like this and such a fine horeic young man with principles like Ayro that makes you feel proud of being Somali, even if it is difficult to be one now and no matter what happened in Somalia, it just makes you feel proud of the Somali spirit that never gives up. Ayro has a place in my heart and my sons will be named after him with the nick even if that nick has clan connotations that are not mine! But I am above it and I am so saddened by this loss.

Maanta I am feeling all good for two sabab: One is I am taking Xaliimo out to Maqaayad and Shaneemo. I don’t know which one aan Horumariyo. Should we first aad to the movie theatres and ka dib dinner or the other way around. Eating late night waa laga fiican yahay unless you gonna be up habeenkoo dhan which could be the case since beri is Saturday but Xaliimo wants to go that aroos Saturday night, so she has to be in bed for saacado to get her beauty sleep. She doesn’t want to go there iyadoo indho-fiiqan and gooman dhaadheer plus I can’t have another night of dhafar and maqaaqo-dhuuq. So it is got to be early movie, then casho, then coming back to xaafad and getting some deserved hurdo. A good qorsho right? Xaliimo and I had a brief hadal over the phone. This was my markii ugu horeeysay to ring her and talk to her over teleefanka. I wasn’t nervous rack like markii hore plus her sexy cod was soothing and macaan. We discussed waxaan sameeyn doono and how it is going to be heer sare to be all kaligeen. But to my qalbi-jab, she wants Faadumo Gaab to come with us. I first said maya!.I had to totally diid sheekadan raqiista ah. Who I am dating here? Xaliimo Xuural Ceyn or Gaabeey madax-musmaar, the notorious gaanjibo and gang-leader in the Xaafad? No way Jose! Yaa la caarifaa? I want this balan to be all kaligeey with Xaliimo and to have waqti fiican with her only and not a whole bunch of gaanjibayaal. I protested and expressed my ka-soo-horjeed of this but Xaliimo suggested that I should bring one of my saaxiibayaal to fix with Gaabo? Are you kaftanning me ? who is , in his right maskxa will go with gaabo? Xaliimo gave me kama danbeeyn, If gaabo is not coming, no balan, no movie or casho aadoow! I tried to reason with Xaliimo but to no guul.What a dilemma! I had to aqbal this lame soo-jeedin and I said waayahay. Let me pick you up maqribka in front of your guri. Well, I had to get my hommie, Cali-Atoore. He is the coolest xariif in the xaafad who will never disappoint you and markasta gets your back when aa u baahato. Atoore said yes to being a double date. He is into shorties and since Faadumo Gaabo is a thick shortie with not that bad jir. I think he is gonna have a blast with her. Besides, when it comes to indho-adeegnimo and being cool-cat, he is raggeedii. I had to codsi this from him to keep Gaabo mashquul and to not outsmart me or inuu isku dayo to be funnier or cooler than me. I have to impress Xaliimo and be the man! Atoore assures me that wax kasta will be OK. Man, is this guy a friend la isku haleeyn karo or what? Now that I took care of this, my next move was to get a nice gaari. My Qanax Honda has muffler qaylo badan plus it only has labo albaab and it is too duq. Xaliimo drives a nice Passat cusub but since I am taking her out, I can’t ask her to isticmaal her car. So I phoned my other saaxiib Xasan Xiito who works at Budget rental car. He can hook me up with a luxury car. Xiito told me all luxury cars waa la ijaartay for the weekend but he will hook me up with a full size Ford Expedition. This ma wanaagsana. Sababta hore, SUVs consumes a lot of gas and I am qaac, broke-a$$ and ma awoodo to fill it up. Secondly, it is is tus-tus and an invitation for a carjack. With all the madoow waalan in our ghetto, it is not safe be driving an expedition habeenkii. I had to settle for a mid size. Caawa is the night. I have casual labis , so is my saaxiib cali. I called Xaliimo and she is running late mashquul with something but tells me she will be done in labaatan daqiiqo. That is cool. I pray fast maqrib and ask Allah to make this balan go smooth. As I started my salad, a loud noise comes from Fadhiga. My sister Asli is now listening to Somali hees with Cali Atoore whom she had a crush before Hooyo found out and suggested she will be arranged to marry him just si looga nixiyo. She used to listen R&B and Rap but since this new qaxooti cid came from Kenya, she is into Somali. In a way, this is good but not now and not that hees of Maryan Mursal. – “balantii aan dhiganaba waligaa ha beeneeyn, barashadii kalgacalkana bilaash yaaneey kula noqon” damn, I am in the middle of my salaat and I am following the lyrics of this hees? Wiswaas fooqul wiswaas! And why it has to be balan and barasho? Not like that Magool song she was listening – Nin lagu seexdoow ha seexan? Which my sister thinks it is all about a naag telling her husband not to sleep. I am doomed. This could be a bad omen. I ka bax salaat and go to fadhi and shut the whole CD-Player. “Waan tukaneeynaa, naga dami heesahaaga waalan” I shouted at her. I came back to my qol and xirtay another Salaat. I prayed degdeg and asked allah again to make this balan go smooth.

I think you guys are getting it wrong. Abyssinian rule was limited to Axum and the Abyssinian empire is dominated by two minority groups: The Amharas and the Tigres. The king who gave asylum to the first Muslim immigrants was king Negus, who doesn't belong to any of these minority ethnic groups at all and as history narrates, later converted to Islam. Abyssinia with the help of the Orthodox church and the Christendom world went into an expansionist mission to conquer and proselytize different groups including the Oromo, our own ancestral brothers/cousins, who in fact make up the largest ethnic group in current nation of Ethiopia. Anyone who wants to know and read about this needs to refer to Prof. Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis many articles of Abyssinian expansionist history and its persecution of many ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa. You can also google it or use Wikepedia as a start. For the lecture, this was a very constructive and inspirational in a way. These religious scholars - including my favorite Somali preacher who I consider to be the most eloquent Somali speaker I ever come across - Sheikh Mustafa Harun, are calling us to unite and be more patriotic. They shun tribalism and are challenging us to wake up from this clan hibernation that corrupted and poisoned our psyche and soul - that itself is admirable. There is no real Somali that is shocked or not in pain right now. Most of us are busy with soul searching exercise to re-evaluate our thinking and pre-conceived biases towards other Somalis and regions. Some found the cure and some are in the healing process and others are still lost in the warlord dominated politics of clans and factions. The Tigre minority regime can't sustain the occupation and they won't be ruling Ethiopia forever. Bush won't be in the White House too after 2008. So what will happen next is the question?

I did it will continue ... that was just a prelude to a more entertaining and unpredictable love story.

When Faarax hits on Xaliimo: Somalinglish love story. Xaliimo was a very beautiful and hot gabar. Her qurux was like jowharad that would make you sleepless for nights, nights of wet dreams and probably undeserved isku-junuub. She is boqorod and full of suuro and jinniyo, the kind of girl that most of ciyaal xaafad would love to be with. She was tall, dhiig furan and with a super model physique. She had a big booty, dhaxyar and naaso taagtaagan. She had a wicked smile and heavenly indho-deero that would make you think of the Xural Ceynta janadda. They say jaceylku is blind and makes you jileec. From the first day her family moved into our xaafad, I was struck by her qurux and wanted inaan ku dhaco. Somehow, ma helin a chance. One day I saw her walking in the suuq buying some dirac for the coming aroos party in saturday habeen at Habaryar isniino's wedding hall, doing hard gorgorton, getting cilaan on long fingers and gacmaha xaada lah, getting her timaheeda garbaha jooga done, and chilling with her girfriends. I tried my best to overcome my unnatural xishood and went straight to her to say “ abaayo, iska waran? My name is Faarax”. I wanted to be cool and self-confident and I wanted to let her know jaceylka aan u qabo. After my is-maqiiqin and indho-adeeg, I found myself in front of her, frozen and speechless. My geesinimo went out of the dariishad. I couldn’t even dheh xataa one word. I started to gariir and dhidid. I was like a tiny leaf in a small Geed caught in a dabeel waalan ala tornado. After a daqiiqad or two. I was able to jooji the trembling but the sweating waa iska socday like fire hydrant ciyaal fureen in a blazing summer day. What an embarrassment! She qosol at my awkwardness and lack of geesinimo. So did the other Xaliimos that were with her. I neceyb them fat and fulxumo chicks that are always with her like body guards. They remind you of that song: Buur buuranaayee alla ma buunsheey cuni jireenee. And specially that dhuxul gubatay la mood Faadumo Gaab. Her shortness is like a ganbar lugaha laga gooyay. Xaliimo looked me kor iyo hooos and walked away from me with jeesto, giggling and laughing. I could hear Faadumo Gaab saying ….what an alwaax!!. I wished I was meyd aan nooleeyn but I was breathing si xoog badan. I regained myself control and started to orod from this fadeexo like a tuug maalin cad la qabtay. I went straight to my guri, and went to my qol, slammed the albaab behind me, jumped on the sariir, found my go’ and barkin and started to hide myself from the yaxyax and jac that followed me all the way from the awful is-biimeen and ill-choreographed ku-dhacoow. After hours of painful shalaay and galgalasho, I fell into a nice hurdo. Dreams , qarow and riyo became my comfort, I dreamt of her, she was with me in the sariir, lying by my dhinac, giving me warmth and raaxo. I was in Jano Aduun! Knock, knock on the door and loud bang woke me up of what could have been one of my wild imaginations with Xaliimo. It was my little hyperactive walaalkeeyga yar, waking me up with his usual feer and faralaab. What a little nuisance that I have to adkeeysi him walaahi on daily basis as if beat him my hooyo would call all my adeero gardheerayaal who will then take me to masaajidka and keep me there for wacdi. He spoiled my dream and I had to beat the hell out of him and vent all my ciil on him. He ran away to the qolka fadhiga. I ran afer him. She was there. Xaliimo was there, sitting with my abaayo and hooyo. I was only wearing one duluf macaawiis .She could see my skinny feero and hairy xabad. Again, I stood there like alwaax and speechless. Embarrassment fooqul embarrassment! This inkaar again? Xaliimo and my heartless abaayo started to laugh at me. My hooyo started to tuur her kab on me. “war nacasyahow, soo gasho shaar, gabar baa kuu joogtee” Hooyo shouted me. I ran like tuug la qabtay talo ma leh back to my qol. I didn’t want to go back to fadhiga. Knock, knock on the door and it was my pitiless abaayo this time. “ war marax yhaow soo bah, gabar baa ku sugeeysa” she taunted me with her challenged but improving Somali luqad she boowsid from dariska. We have loud and bad-mannered new Somali daris fresh out of the boat. I wanted to say “bax naga tag” but that was not ragnimo thing to do. I took my shukumaan and went straight to musqusha, titir my face and get the fiish out of my indho, brushed my coffee stained ilko dhaadheer. I took a cold shower, get out of it and started is qalajis and qurxin, combing my jareer hair with shanlo, and putting some lotion on my dry skin. I came back to my qol and changed into a nice shaar and surwaal jeans and went straight to fadhiga, Xaliimo was there sitting in the fadhi carbeed; eating buskut, xalwo and drinking qaxwo qaraar like she is a marti in Eid celebrations. She looked and smiled at me. I sat horteeda and murmured something that sounded like a salaan. My mother started her obvious marmarsiyo to excuse herself and others to let me be all alone with the quruxleeyda na soo booqatay. “ war maxamed iyo asli, kaalaya iiga soo qaada the threadmill from the basement” and they all left fadhiga to the basement. I kept silent for a daqqiiqo or two and Xaliimo started to break the ice by saying “hooyadaa is cool!” I was like “yeah” and then I asked her what she is doing in our Guri. “ I came to see you. What you did in the suuqa maanta was amazing. I saw qof waalan but wax jecel and I felt that jaceeyl.” I couldn’t believe it. I was like is this another riyo or real? Gabartu dhiiranaa!!!.., A Xaliimo so geesi to come to you Guri to ask you out! lama arag lama maqal! this must be A joke! “ Look Faarax, aboowe you are a nice guy and I would like us to know each other better and yaa og what could happen” Xaliimo continued. I was like this is crazy shukaansi and sheeko unlike I have seen. A xaliimo, so daring and bold. Yaabka yaabkiis, All I could say was “Haye”like baari. “one of us has to have the initiative and be the man….you made the first move oo waa igu dhacday , … so I fakir inaan retun the favor and come to you.” All I could say was “haye”again like caano madaadshe “ so you know meesha la iga helo and here is my number, I soo wac, aboowe” she stood up and walked toward albaabka. I followed her and u furay albaabka and like a gentleman did little bit of sagootis that was kind cool saan u maleeynaayo. As I closed the door, I started to jump and shout with farax. “YES! YES!” Waanba iska hilmamay all the embarrassment for the day. I was jumping and shouting for dhowr daqiiqo unaware my surroundings and who is around my geeso and hereero or not. God is good..ilaaheey ma ku gargaaraa mise ganfuur ganfuur.. my joy was on the roof and caadaas! My hooyo, abaayo and little devilish brother were all in front of me ..with yaab and qosol at my weird moves. I didn’t give damn about them. My sister Asli again flexed her newly acquired taunting repertoire of Somalia on me with her carabla’ accent she said “ walaahi ahadkan waa la soo haayaa” She can't pronounce the Xa and Ca in Somalia and sounds like a Gaal speaking Somali.

Her voice is terrible. She is now old and thoughtless. Saado has been influenced by the "Qabyaalad" thing lately and is seen cheering for the bloody warlords and traitors of Somalia. She is also a "Qat Dealer". I like Hibo Mohamed better. She has integrity, charisma and presence.

and I think those who support such awful men are not better than them in terms of education and intelligence

Obama is young, forward thinking and uniter. He is educated, inspiring and very progressive ....none of the so-called Somali leaders have any of these qualities - not Yusuf , not Nur Adde , not Ghedi ... just punch of retarded old clannish warlords

just like habaryar, i have friends and relatives who went there to see the TFG president. They were disappointed and reported some of the things you are saying. They said "Odayga" was really feeble, weak, fragile , shaking, and couldn't stand for long and there were body guards, hired to protect him. I said maybe it's his age. He is old, very old as you know, in his early 80s. So that is understandable. They said he joked with the audience and his speech was short. Nothing constructive came out of his mouth. Again, that is also understandable and characteristic of Yusuf. My friends and some relatives are die-hard supporters of the TFG but since this last trip to DC, i am noticing some change in them. They seem to be realizing what a lot of realistic and rational people knew from day one. My friends are now waking up to the fact that the TFG wasted a lot opportunities to pacify the country and reconcile people. This is a dying and ineffective TFG and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Their mandate will end in 2009 with them accomplishing nothing tangible towards peace and reconciliation. The current misery in Mogadishu compounded with inflation, food crisis, mass displacement, occupation, extremism and walordism will continue for coming years. The leaders of the TFG and other factions, regardless of their clan are not the right ones for Somalia. The people who support, support them for clan reasons. The ones who oppose them, do it for clan reasons. Ethiopia occupies Somalia, all Somali leaders, regional, tribal or governmental are under their radar. We are going down to the abyss and we are in no point of return. So it is trivial arguing who Yusuf met, who said what? who supports who ....just pray for Somalia and its people. Until there will be prophets, saviors and people with wisdom, vision and intellect who are free from all this ugly thing of Qabiil and factionalism, Somalia will be in chaos, its people will suffer and be divided and exploited by their foreign enemies.

Here in Minneapolis, the home of the largest Somali community in America, in just few months, gang violence claimed the life of four young Somali men at their prime age. The last victim, 18 years old student, was supposed to go to college after high school graduation. The two victims before him that were shot to death probably by other Somali youth, one was going to get married and start a new family and the other was being groomed to go back to Kenya to overtake his uncle’s business. Before the only time you hear of Somali being shot, it involved a Somali cab driver or gas station/corner store clerk but now it is a whole different game. The Somali community as a whole is shocked about the Somali on Somali violence that followed them here in America where they sought safe haven from the same Somali violence that forced them out of their homeland. The community in general seems to be caught off-guard and is unable to grasp the gravity of this new problem. Some are trying to explain the gang phenomena the only way they know. They think it has something to do with the clans as the talk of the town goes. The outrageous thing of all this erroneous depiction is that it is gradually and incorrectly being accepted and it is absurdly being written off just like the clannish fratricide back home. But that is not the case. The Somali adult population “the grown ups” are either unwilling to find solutions or ignoring the obvious root causes of the surge of gang violence within our youth. Before we get into this, we need to understand at the outset that majority of Somali kids in Minnesota are good, quiet, respectful and polite. Most kids are striving to get educated and get into college. They are struggling and hardworking. Some of them work low paying jobs to help their families to make ends meet and some even have taken parenting role to raise their younger siblings or became helpers, guiders, interpreters for their parents who have difficulties understanding the language or the American culture. We need to acknowledge the vital and vanguard role Somali women play in development and prosperity of our community. There many outstanding Somali community workers who dedicated their time and energy to help and educate Somali kids. An honorable appreciation goes to ex-Somali sports players like Shiikha, Madaxeey, Ahmed Dahir, Dalmar, Aamaan and coach Ibrahim Sudani, a recent addition to this valuable group, who constantly organize soccer and basketball tournaments for the youth. We also need to understand that Somalis were here for quite sometime. Some of us are finding business opportunities and professional success. Somali owned business are thriving and multiplying in Minneapolis. We have few bad and annoying habits such as the khat nuisance and being little bit loud and in your face but above all the reputation Somalis have within the greater mainstream community is that we are model new immigrants: ambitious productive and upstanding citizens. But there are always few of us who may fall into the trap and that is where this sudden rise of Somali gang culture is rooted in. The young boys caught up in this deadly gang violence are born, bred here in America or brought here as babies from refugee camps in East Africa. Somali Mafia and the notorious Hot boyz are two known gang groupings that stand up from the rest. Both are reported to be nemesis, each claiming to control their own turf in Somali resided areas in South Minneapolis. You would often see them loitering in Somali strip malls like Karmel Square or the 24th or the infamous Cedar/Riverside high-rise and McKnight neighborhoods. Most of them are school drop outs who hang together. Because of the influence Rap has on the youth, they dress and walk like rappers they probably seen on BET TV channel. They frequently loiter and clash with each other around Somali wedding ceremonies, concerts, music parties or social venues like Somali malls, coffee places and restaurants. Gangs in urban areas are known to be involved in drug distribution, running prostitution rings and engaging in robbery. The only known gang activity Somali boys are involved could be drug use, alcohol consumption, chasing girls and roughing and jumping up on each other, shoplifting and occasional robbery. But this is changing as guns are now becoming easily accessible to them. They are not carrying pen-knives anymore. The only probable drug related homicide that they may have been involved was the botched robbery and killing of a Somali female Khat dealer. The five young men who were involved in the killing, who are understood to have been part of one of these Somali gangs, were all apprehended and sentenced to years in prison. Shukri Adan who did a research on Somali gangs for the city of Minneapolis identified poverty, mental illness, language or educational barriers, homelessness and lack of recreational opportunities for the youth as some of the factors that play a part to the rise of Somali gangs (Adan, 2007). The known Somali gangs and their membership affiliations are said to be nominal in the context of the larger gang culture in the city. Statistics from the Minnesota Gang Strike Force identifies 52 Somali gang members - less than one percent of all known gang members in Minnesota (Williams, 2007). One could go further than these identifiable factors, be politically incorrect and blame the Somali parents, south Minneapolis, subsidized housings, section 8, Starbucks sitting fathers, separated families, separate marital status choices made by some, living on social assistance or welfare, Somali customs that separate adults and children in social settings. Most of these boys who are affiliated with the gangs reside in South Minneapolis, in government subsidized housing projects. It’s conceivable why some parents choose to live in these projects in the first place. These were probably the only housing options for refugees who came here either penniless or with limited financial resources. Somalis are known to cluster and group in one neighborhood. The ones who came first were settled in these public housing places and those who followed them just wanted to be around with people who are familiar with their plight and are of their own. It’s for economic reasons but living in projects and on social assistance is supposed to be a temporary thing. Another factor to the rise of gang youth families within our community has to do with broken home or dysfunctional families and absentee fathers. The main fault lies with Somali fathers and their obsession with clan politics. I am talking about most of these men who sit around in Starbucks to talk all day about clan politics and who-is-who in the warlords that is outsmarting other warlords in Somalia. They seem to forget and neglected their fatherhood role. They spend most of their spare-time with their fellow Khat chewing friends to yap, debate and shout of each other. The rest of the time, they are either on shifts working or sleeping at home. Some of them don’t even know their kids birthdays let alone school grades. The solution out of this sad situation of gang violence is simple. The solution obviously begins home and begins early in the child’s life. I would recommend Somali parents to start moving out of the projects. Move to suburban neighborhoods and smaller cities with good schools where gang violence and its negative culture have less impact. I know a lot of Somali parents who made wise decisions earlier when they settled in small Minnesota cities like Faribault, Mankato, Owatonna, Waseca, Winona, etc and suburbs like Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Hopkins, Inver Grove Heights, etc. And when you just compare and contrast the Somali kids who grew up in small cities and suburbs with those who live in South Minneapolis, the difference is quite striking. Somali kids in the smaller cities and suburbs are well spoken, well dressed and well mannered. They are doing well in school and know what college they will go and what major they will study. They manage well to juggle and reconcile two totally different cultures. They are well integrated in the mainstream society and don’t feel that different from other American kids. So why this is not happening for Somali kids in South Minneapolis? Is it their parents who choose to stay in projects, or be absent of their children’s lives by chasing money and other trivial pastimes? Another solution is for not settling for less, for section 8 or subsidized housing but becoming home owners. Get a mortgage and don’t listen to these close-minded religious charlatans who zealously brand everything haram. There are some Muslim scholars and Sharia committees out there who issued some fatwas allowing Muslims in America to get mortgages on the basis of necessity and saving money. There are some Muslim financial organizations that can help you secure no-interest mortgages too. Finally be part of your children’s education. Talk to the kids and include them in adult conversation but make sure that you don’t teach them the ****** clan thing. I heard about two 16 year old Somali school girls suspended for fighting each other because one “dissed” the others “Qabiil”. Make the kids feel proud of whom they are. Instill in them of that positive Somali spirit and Islamic pride and above all inspire them. Another step to slow down this surge of Somali gang violence is to have mentorship programs for these youngsters. Somali college graduates and professionals need to fill this void and start after school tutoring and homework help clubs. I think it is not too early to sound the alarms and not too late to intervene before it all gets out of hand. We need to reach out to those grieving families who lost loved ones because of the gang violence, bring them together and heal them of this pain. The mothers and sisters of these lost boys have nothing to do with this. There are those of us who are inclined to associate everything to “Qabyaalad” and that is why we have now this frenzied rumor that the shootings between Somali gangs as it is being spun, to have clannish undertones. We need to be smarter than this and come together as a community and not be divided along the primitive clan lines to tackle an issue so important and disturbing that could haunt us and destroy the future of our kids in this civilized country we now call home. Abdulkadir Mohamed Abaadir0@gmail.com Reference Adan, Shukri (2007). Report on Somali Youth Issues. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from City of MInneapolis - Department of Civil Rights Web site: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/civil-rights/docs/somali-report.pdf Williams, Brandt (2007, 01 18). Somali kids need help to avoid gangs, new report says. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from Minnesota Public Radio Web site: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/01/18/somalikids/

I am color blind and failed on the lightest blue button! So I will settle for average