Cambuulo iyo bun;938819 wrote: you clearly don't dear. the brits are not raping and looting and occoptyin somali lands as we write. the dirty habash is. the brits made peace and gtfo so me using their language wouldn't be ironic. English speakers continue to do all those things to Somalia. Was Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia not a US proxy war in their "war on terror"? But you're still missing the point -- English is a colonial inheritance, it still symbolizes all the oppressive practices I mentioned, and therefore (using your logic) just as problematic as Amharic, if not more so. I have no problem with speaking Amharic, just like I have no problem speaking English or French. Languages embody many things, and for my purposes they are tools to help me do the work I want to do.

T MINUS 4 hours

Alpha Blondy;938796 wrote: hey Saffz, how does it feel, knowing full well, that you're going to flop, in tonight's eagerly anticipated performance..... The adrenaline is starting to kick in now and I won't go down without a fight, Alpha. The contestant from "ye Somali kilil mestedader" WILL WIN Ethiopian Jeopardy. Cambuulo iyo bun;938776 wrote: it is intentional simplistic dee. no need to overcomplicate or over-think this barbaric people and their ways and culture. they should all put to the sword and their language forgotten. and i think you misunderstand irony. especially in this context. I understand irony quite well. I was pointing to the fact that you're communicating in the English language, one that for centuries has been the language of conquest, colonialism and slavery.

Cambuulo iyo bun;938769 wrote: @Safferz: it has 0 importance in the horn (sawahili is king) and it's not wonderful but barbaric. it's razor to the ears and anyone who studies it is a race-traitor IMO. That's quite simplistic. Also noting the irony of communicating that in the English language.

SomaliPhilosopher;938764 wrote: A mole in the making huh?I should put you in touch with the somali national security agency. Perhaps you could have won us the ******* war lool so many Somalis speak Amharic! But nah I am just dying to read the material in Ethiopia's state archives, and I still have a way to go before I reach that level of competence in Amharic. I know there are several thousand documents about Somalia's nationalist movement in the security archives in Harar alone, because they were so concerned about it.

Wadani;938758 wrote: Get used to this now because public speaking will become your bread and butter as an academic. Just make sure u take deep breaths as u walk up there and before u start speaking. Public speaking isn't really the issue, it's the fact it's a lame acting performance (foreign language doesn't help either). It even embarrassed me back in elementary and middle school when I was forced to do it then lol. Cambuulo iyo bun;938757 wrote: nothing personal safferz but I find amaharic or any of the etiopian languages barbaric and not worth learning especially by one born of the proud somali race. disgusting language and people. if a meteor wiped them out i'll say alhamdulilah. I think it's a wonderful language and an important one in the Horn. And learning it is the only way to find out what they say and write about us.

Alpha Blondy;938734 wrote: somaha, inaar? i'd hate to be a student. I tried the whole 9-5 office job thing, but the banality of it all provoked a quarter life crisis that led to my decision to never leave the ivory tower Student life is the best life.

*Blessed;938725 wrote: Oh.but..you'll live. Me’elkam edil hon. Amaseginalehu T-MINUS 7 HOURS

Tallaabo;938658 wrote: In Boston people don't get their legs ripped off very often, do they? Who cares? They are victims just like those in Mogadishu. Take your oppression olympics elsewhere.

Tallaabo;938645 wrote: I would not worry a second about Che, Safferz, and the other pampered qurbo joog. Let us pray for the real victims of terror- the poor Mogadisho residents. I didn't realize geography makes a difference in how real it feels to have your limbs ripped off in an explosion.

...in the form of a mandatory performance at my university's "language night," which someone decided all African language students have to participate in this year. I'm in intermediate level Amharic, and my class is doing an "Ethiopian Jeopardy" skit. And I want to die. At least I can take comfort in knowing no one in the audience (aside from the instructor, who doesn't care) will know or understand if I mess up my lines. But the thought of performing anything in front of a crowd is terrifying, and more importantly, I CAN'T ACT. Knowing myself, I will probably trip *up the stairs* as I try to get on stage. And I'm in grad school, not 7th grade drama class. Why do I have to do this?

Nin-Yaaban;938640 wrote: That guy has some balls to tackle a complete stranger, just because he looked a little different from the rest. I hope he either press charges, or sues him for everything he got. It's awful, but sadly Muslims get profiled like this all the time.

Naxar Nugaaleed;938632 wrote: One saudi is in custody and i hear an 8 year old was killed. So long as these evil hide in our midst and we remain reactionary rather then proactive about dealing with this poison nothing will change. hoping the best for the people of Boston and mogadishu and everywhere that evil as touched. A Saudi man is not in custody, he was questioned. A civilian saw him running away from the explosion (like everyone else) and decided to chase and TACKLE him before turning him in to Boston police for "acting suspiciously." Several right-leaning media outlets then ran with the story of a "Saudi national" in custody as a "person of interest," but the BPD have said that's not true.

AfricaOwn;938627 wrote: ^^^Political differences doesn't go that far, it can't be them. Remember Timothy McVeigh? Or Waco, Texas? The anniversary of Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing are this week too...

And I'll call it now -- I think right wing nutcases are behind this, Boston being a symbolic site for the American Revolution (Boston Tea Party, "no taxation without representation"), Patriots' Day today in Massachusetts, and Tax Day across the United States.

Thanks guys. Still trying to wrap my mind around what happened.

Abbaas;938596 wrote: Che (forum member) lives in Boston right? i hope he's doing good! Che emailed me earlier, he's fine too!

Scary day today, I'm not near the marathon but my neighbourhood (another tourist-y, high traffic area about 20 mins away) is full of police at the moment and they evacuated a building near the coffee shop I was at, so I decided to walk home (I was feeling paranoid and thought for a while it may be better to just stay inside rather than go out on the street). Longest walk ever but safe and sound in my apartment now, alhamdulillah.

raula;938303 wrote: Y'all need to watch (I think its a documentary) called "the House I live in" . A brilliant documentary that would go over some SOLers' heads, judging from this thread. There's a lot of willful ignorance here about the structural conditions that configure the possibilities for Somali children in North America, I doubt a documentary on the realities of race, crime and the prison industrial complex will help.

^^ I have some issues with that song, but it's definitely critical commentary and a good example of the diverse content in hip hop.

Back to the original topic, I'm currently watching Wu Tang KILL IT at Coachella, they're performing Triumph right now. I bomb atomically, Socrates philosophies and hypotheses...

Wadani;938198 wrote: You guys need to stop ganging up on Xabad. He's right that most of hip-hop is nothing but grown men rapping about b*****, cars, drugs and guns. I grew up on rap, but i'm not gonna deny that much of it is utter garbage. Except xabad didn't say that... he was talking about "black music" as a homogenous category and refused to accept the black origins of the music he does enjoy, and his critique was framed in deeply racist language (tropes of black primitivity, hypersexuality, etc). I don't agree with your point either, perhaps much of mainstream rap (which is consumed by young white men for the most part, in terms of sales), but certainly not hip hop as a whole. But if xabad had made your point at least we could have a productive discussion, instead he comes across as a self-loathing black person.

xabad;938188 wrote: che, you a very simple man walaahi. you somehow construed my music distaste for racism. come on whittaker. What's not racist about referring to "black music" as primitive, childish, not intellectual, etc?

SomaliPhilosopher;938183 wrote: I agree. but the man is not a fan. lets leave it at that. Perhaps his name "xabad" is an indication of the post-traumatic stress disorder he faces. PTSD has made him vulnerable and receptive to Glenn Beck and fox news, causing him to associate "black music" with gun/"xabad" culture. This brings us back to his PTSD. hence his distaste for black music. I like this explanation.

SomaliPhilosopher;938180 wrote: Hiphop has become synonymous with "black music". it is simpe as that. enough with the straw man attacks. And hip hop isn't a monolith either... contrary to what xabad may think, hip hop has one of the most (if not THE most) socially conscious, intelligent and complex lyricism of any genre of music right now.