Kategori: My profile

I have long wished to visit Somalia for three main reasons: It is my place of birth, I am a journalist and I sense great opportunity. Somalia is in the midst of forming a government and I for one would love to witness the process first hand.

My place of birth

The inevitable first question that Somalis ask one another when they meet is: “What is your qabil?”. Qabil means ‘clan’ and it has nearly always been the defining charateristic for Somali people.

Whenever I am asked this question, I always respond with: “I was born in Mogadishu”. In my opinion, the question of qabil in my case is utter nonsense. I have nearly spent 22 years in Denmark. And so my clan means absolutely nothing to me.

Instead, I like to say, that my mom is related to the popular singer Ahmed Nagi. Or that my grandfather worked for the Somali government in Mogadishu back in the 80s. Or that I once lived in the city of Medina, not far from where you could buy or sell gold.

I am a journalist 

I might as well admit it. I have aspirations of becoming a foreign correspondent. I am passionate about exploring new ways of communication and interacting with people of different cultures.

As the only Danish journalist of Somalian descent (that I know of), I have a personal stake in the crisis Somalia is engulfed in. I have a remarkable opportunity to gather valuable information about the conflict that might advance the Danish policy in Somalia.

 

With my multicultural background I have the ability to take the reporting of the conflict to a whole new dimension. The Danish journalist population is still very homogeneous and can only benefit from this.

I sense great opportunity

Under the rule of former president Siad Barre, which my mom wholeheartedly supported, it was considered anathema to the purpose of a modern state to ask questions about ones clan. Somalis began to pointedly ask, “What is your ex-clan?”

On a symbolic level, the sort of transformation that Siad Barre envisioned for his people was to abandon clanism – that “whom do you know?” be changed with “what do you know?”. This sort of reasoning is much more in line with my frame of mind.

With the new roadmap in place, there is a great opportunity for the Somali people to overcome their differences in terms of clanism. Many might argue qabil did not cause the crisis in Somalia, but the question of qabil should never be an issue for any Somali. Period.