It was at a place called Hiddo Dhawr in Hargeisa, which is known for its hall built like a traditional aqal Soomaali and the furniture is gambadh etc, and they play kaban on weekends. I've always loved going there for a night out and I find Western-style weddings in Hargeisa really boring. Most brides want nothing to do with Somali culture and wear a white wedding dress and an Indian sari as a second outfit, and the wedding is typically held in banquet halls that look exactly like ones you'd find in Canada or the US. So I decided I wanted to have a dhaqan wedding just like it would be in miyi, in every detail... down to having a wedding dress made out of subeeciyad (and a xariir dirac later), having the wedding in a hall that looked like an aqal Soomaali, and a traditional galbis to enter. We had buraanbur, a Somali dance troupe that did jaandheer and dhaanto, singers performing qaraami songs with kaban, a cake that looked like subeeciyad, and during dinner we had someone play "askari" and do hal-xidhaale, which was so much fun. But I also love my Somali pop music so at the end we had Maxamed BK and Cabdi Hani perform and turn the place into a hala waasho party lol, how could I have a wedding in Hargeisa and not have my favourite fanaaniin perform! Life is good walaalo. I completed my research in Ethiopia and I'm currently in Hargeisa writing my dissertation. I should be back in North America in about 6 months, and inshaAllah I'll be graduating with my PhD in spring 2019! How have you (and everyone else) been? Haha! I appreciate Xabashi culture but I am Somali dee, lol. Mahadsanid walaal thankfully Itoobiya ma joogo. I was there for the protests and state of emergency late 2015-2016 which was difficult, but this communal violence is much worse.

Thanks everyone!! Nice to be back on the forums, it's been a minute

I went there during the soft opening in June and it was great. Good food and good vibes. But I'm pretty sure Jamal is the chef and based in NYC now, not that he came in from MN to consult.

Saalax, is it difficult to travel there from Hargeisa? Did they finish building the road to Ceerigaabo yet?

<cite> @ElPunto said:</cite> Yes exactly. I'll say this though. I've never seen anything like your twitter/FB/Web campaign(or should I say onslaught:) against SJAS. I think you can legitimately claim you're the first Somali to do that type of thing. haha! I tapped into a much longer tradition of Somali qarxis for that though, so I can't say I'm a first I've actually been thinking about trolling and starting a Tumblr or something called Somali Firsts. First Somali to fadhi ku dirir, first Somali to chew qat, etc.

<cite> @ElPunto said:</cite> Interesting story. I find it fascinating he said he believes he is the first one. His story is unusual enough that it wasn't necessary to add a tidbit that can't be verified or refuted. Somalis and the trailblazer mentality. Somalis always declare they're the first to do something. I'm sure there are half-Somali Chinese citizens out there, given so many Somalis have gone to China for school, training, etc since the 60s.

<cite> @Nin-Yaaban said:</cite> If Mo Farah is found out to have used illegal drugs, then he has really let down alot of Somalis and the country he runs for. I hope that doesn't turn out to be the case. I already see Ethiopians getting way too excited about all of this, I don't want them to feel vindicated lol

lol! Interesting article. I was really surprised to read only 85 of the UK’s 18,500 professors are black.

It's refreshing not to see this thread in the "women" section

An apartheid state founded on settler-colonialism is racist to non-white Jews too, shocking

<cite> @Tallaabo said:</cite> This must be a job offer from Harvard Safferz. I am I right? No, not at all! Just the interest, funding and support/institutional commitment to bring this discussion to Harvard. It would be bringing everyone interested in developing this theoretical intervention and new line of inquiry/future directions for scholarship in one place, and following it up with a published collection of the essays they present there. The professors here have all been following closely and have been incredibly supportive.

Thanks Galbeedi I thought this event was terrific. One other dynamic of this social media moment has been democratizing academia in some way -- instead of limiting debates to the pages of academic journals no one reads, we are seeing conversations about Somali Studies taking place everywhere.

<cite> @thefuturenow said:</cite> Yet, this type of scholarship does not encourage the African to correct these prejudices with an actual counter-study. Instead, it tells the African that he--because of his sheer Africanness--knows better. That he is more privileged to speak on the topic because he is the subject of study. The insidious aim of those who encourage this type of study is a slow unraveling of actual scholarship which culminates in a form of censhorship. That is why we see the subject resort to a form of name-calling and label certain studies as products of the "colonial gaze" or "racist" or "misogynist." The subtle aim is to discourage debate and dismiss certain efforts as motivated by sheer prejudice. It is to reserve a certain area for study for a specific group because they are part of that studied group. I do not disagree with its utility as a preface to an academic work. But it cannot be scholarship by itself. It is lazy. It is territorial. And it is perpetuated by personal attacks. But most importantly, it is a way for the inferior, the subject of a prejudicial study to express his rage. All the while the master smiles. Because when history is read, it will say--"the African is a savage because of x, y, z." And African's response will be "that scholar is racist because he said x, y, z and it doesn't apply to me." The proper response should be--"the African is not x, y, z, rather he is a, b, c." I don't think you read the article, because I'm not sure how else you'd essentialize and reduce my argument to this or suggest that we are not doing research. Everyone here on SOL knows that I spend months in Ethiopia doing fieldwork and archival research, and that I return each year for research while I work on my dissertation. I am not sure where your suggestion that I/we are not also academically productive is coming from. Furthermore, theory, critique and deconstruction are critical aspects of academic work -- they shape and reshape the paradigms within which scholarship is then produced. We have to analyze and critique the politics of knowledge at the same time that we produce, the two are inextricably linked. Nowhere have I said that non-Somalis should vacate the field of Somali Studies or that Somali Studies is reserved for Somalis. What I'm trying to do is highlight the systems of power embedded in the production of knowledge ABOUT Somalis and the Somali region, which also operates to marginalize the Somali within knowledge production and position and sustain the Western researcher as expert. This is about systems, not individual researchers. My article traces this history of power and gestures towards the futures and possibilities for a new Somali Studies. The space to do this work is now there. This is a major ontological and epistemological intervention for Somali Studies, and these conversations fit within a larger intellectual intervention made by postcolonial studies (Edward Said, Subaltern Studies, etc). You guys can dismiss me if you'd like, misread my arguments as Somali essentialism and "nac nac iyo hadal," that's fine. I know it's not, and major academics around the world have recognized it too. The fact is that I had a specific goal in this - to make an intellectual intervention in Somali Studies as an academic field as an academic who does work in this field - and I have done that and will continue to do that theoretical work in tandem with my historical research. Harvard has even insisted that it be the place to host conferences to theorize this new Somali Studies, and I have other projects underway.

Here's part two:

<cite> @Holac said:</cite> Bravo Safferz! "The Decolonising Our Minds Society"? Is that a new group? I believe they're a student group based at SOAS, not sure how long they've been around. I watched the video and it's an interesting mix of people, not only graduate and undergraduate students but professionals and other concerned members of the community (Somali and non-Somali). I was told it would be a panel when I was asked to record a message, but I love how they did it more as a townhall style discussion. Looking forward to watching the other videos from the discussion once they're up! Here are the live tweets from the discussion: https://storify.com/HajiKenadiid/can-the-somali-speak-roundtable-discussion-soas-on