Leader of the pack

Ramadan Kareem

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Akira Kurosawa’s hand-painted storyboards.

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[zainablessa]

I went through your tumblr and I was shocked when I read your posts about racism in Arabic countries. I never knew it existed because it's majority Muslims and Islam is against racism:( Do you think there is hope for things to get better/do you think racism there has any links to antiblackness in the west?

Hello:)Well I’m glad my little posts opened your eyes to something new. There are actually many people who don’t know much about anti blackness/racism in Arab countries, and this was one of the reasons I decided to talk about it in the first place, so thank you for this msg:=)

I have no idea whether things will get better or not. I say this because the issue of racism is yet to be acknowledged by Arabs as a serious problem whether it’s the media or every day people. Whenever you try and bring up the issue or point out that certain words are unacceptable, you’re accused of being sensitive, exaggerating  and can’t take a joke! And if it’s ever talked about, religion is used as a solution to fight racism and then people will tell you to “be proud of who you are”!! The question is, how can you be proud of who you are when EVERYTHING around you is telling you that you’re less valuable and inferior merely because of your skin colour?? There’s also this idea that you deserve respect and should be treated well because: so and so was a great figure in Islamic history and was black or because your skin colour is the same as the Kaaba(insane), instead of you having the right to be treated well because you’re a human being! Every time I go back, I see that VERY LITTLE has changed. All of this makes me have very little faith in any significant change! You can’t achieve change if the other side is not willing to listen and take your concerns seriously, in order for us to work together on fighting it.

What I have been noticing though is the rise of black men and women who are brave enough to talk out loud without shame about their experiences and shedding a light on anti-blackness in their countries, and it makes me so happy because this is very important. I should note that Sudanese and Nubians were always very vocal about this matter and have been addressing issues like the stereotypical portrayal of them in the Egyptian cinema for years. I personally think anti-blackness has very little to do with  the west. Black skin has always been seen as inferior in Arab culture. Antara Ibn Shaddad is one of the greatest Arab poets(lived pre-Islam), he was also a great warrior. In some of his poems he  talked about how he was humiliated and looked down upon due to his blackness, despite all of his good qualities!  It’s difficult to point out where the idea of black skin being inferior comes from, but if you also examine the Arabic language you’ll see that black is often used to refer to something undesirable or evil…. This was long….sorry

[ganaax-blog]

Somalis should stop whining about racism. If Arabs are racist why do Somali women marry Arabs at a high rate? If Arabs are racist why does a large Somali diaspora live in Saudi Arabia, Syria the Emirates, Yemen, kuwait, Qatar? And I am talking about the ones who choose to live their, even though they have British, Swedish, Norwegian citizenship.

If Arabs are racist why did two 16 year old twins leave their homes in the Uk to go marry Arab fighters in Syria? If Arabs are racist why are young Somali men dying to fight with Arabs in Syria? If Arabs are racist Why is The United Arab Emirates, the leading investing nation in Somalia.

Maybe its time you stop generalizing, and realize their is racists in every community including the Somali community.

[zainablessa]

Eh, ALL the questions you asked could be easily answered if you had any knowledge of Somali history, the reason why Somalis left Somalia(war, famine, discrimination, job and education opportunities, a hope of a better life, family members already residing in an Arab country, the fact that it’s easier to obtain a visa to some of these countries …etc.), and the situation that diaspora Somalis face, which are comparable to any other immigrant community!

"somali women marry Arabs at a high rate" well that’s not true at all! Somali women marrying non-Somalis at a higher rate than Somali men isn’t something new. We all know they’ve been doing so since forever for various reasons including the fact that some of them live in areas where there are few Somalis . Being married to an Arab doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist or that you don’t encounter it.  when it comes to those coming from western countries the biggest reason is to live in a place where they can raise their children without the fear of social services or them losing their faith. The children are usually born and raised or just raised in a western country and taking them to Somalia isn’t going to benefit them; so they settle in a Muslim country where they can also continue their education. it’s more convenient.

Teenage boys and girls travelling to fight in places like Syria isn’t an only Somali issue, it affects Amazigh, Kurds, Chechen…etc. Plus these are children from Europe/America and they think Arabs are The holiest of people and have no understanding of the social dynamics of Arabs!

Foreign countries are NOT doing anything for Somalis because they care for us, but because they have an agenda. Use google for more insight!!!

Don’t come and jump on a post if you don’t have a clue. I don’t have to say not all 

[ganaax-blog]

The pot calling the kettle black a post about Somali racism and discrimination against BANTU, OROMO, MADHIBAN, etc would be more appropriate.

Why don’t you talk about how Somali’s discriminate against Bantu just because they have a ” african features” or because they have a darker skin tone. Or how they are referred to as ’ Addoon” which means slave, or how they are so marginalized and abused that majority of that community left Somalia. Or how Somali’s use the word Bantu to insult each other. Why don’t you make post about how Somalis refuse to accept the Madhiban tribe as part of somali community. How Somali’s refuse to intermarry with Madhiban. How they are treated like the untouchables even though they are ethnically Somali, muslim and speak the same language. How they face employment discrimination and refused jobs even though they are educated and bright. How they are addressed as midgaan which is an ethnic slur.

Let’s talk about how Somalis treat Oromo second and third generation Oromo who were born in Somalia and Djbouti yet who have no rights . Just because they are considered “jareer” meaning person who has rough or kinky hair texture. Which is an insult in the Somali language. 

Lets talk about how in the Somali society having a dark skin is shunned and is seen as being ugly and being light skinned is considered beautiful. How girls are called “cadeey” as a compliment meaning fair or light skin. And how being called “madow” meaning black is an insult. Which leads to ‘some’ dark skin Somali women use of Diana Cream an unhealthy skin lightening product which contains mercury and is harmful to their health.

See how easy it is to generalize a whole group of people. Their is no more racism in Arab society than say Somali or any other society. But you wouldn’t know that by scrolling through your posts. Just because you faced racism from few bad apples in an Arab country doesn’t mean they are inherently racist. How about you stop ignoring the ills in your own community before you cry about racism and discrimination of others.

[ganaax-blog]

Saadadin mall in Hargeisa

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"We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It's overrun with sheep and conformists." 

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Dwight Howard tweeted free Palestine then deleted it. Omg what a fuck boy

[chingizhobbes]

Dialects of Arabic

[aimless-wanderings]

Somali is NOT an arabic dialect it is a completely different a language in it’s own right.

[littleredcorvettee]

Its not even written in the Arabic alphabet

[ganaax-blog]

Somali and Arabic are the official languages of Somalia. Somalis do speak Arabic and the dialect they speak is what the map is referring to. 

[insight-and-existence-deactivat]

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There is a false narrative about the story of two Somali twins who left their home in Manchester to fight in Syria. You can read the story on the http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

The narrative from many media outlets is that these girls went to Syria to fight with ISIS. Like the Cuban and Kurdish revolutionary female fighters who fought along men on the front lines. These media outlets unknowingly are glamorizing that these girls are some tough bad asses who are "training to be killers."

First of all ISIS with their extreme and strict ideology would never allow that. They would't even allow women to pray in the same mosque as them let alone fight along side them.

What these girls will be used for unknowingly to them is something more sinister, disgusting and un-islamic. They are going to be used for sex by battle weary militants to improve moral. Just like the women from northern african countries mainly Tunisia, who have been traveling to Syria since 2011 to have sex with many different fighters. Some even returned to their home country pregnant.

There is no religious bases for what these fighters are doing to these type of girls, they are pedophiles who are going to use and discard them. And these girls can't use being young, naive and ignorant as an excuse. Their impulsiveness will lead to their subsequent undoing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/20/sexual-jihad-tunisian-women-return-syria-pregnant-rebels_n_3960370.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEBQuGWyrEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZU6xbw5dqg

[ganaax-blog]

Director of some of my favourite films.

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