lets get something striaght so we can be clear here. The northern sudanesse are black in race but not in mentality. maybe someone can answer how this hate and state of identiy confusion began??? you might think this question is irrelvant to the Darfur issue. But u have to remember that this genocide might have not reached the level it did if it weren't for this racial problem.

^^pardon my ignorance, but who are the Somali Bajunis?

very good topic nafta! it is definantley somehting that concerns our generation more and more. "Have somali men abandoned their responsibilites and duties as husbands... thank allah this is not a big problem in somalian culture as it is turning out to be in other cultures. Somali husbands are still largely involved with their families. But i do see a dissapointing decline. A lack of jobs for this unskilled somali men and the frustrating new life of the west would be ovewhelming to anybody. Having to see your children losing their culture and being shaped into americans could result in further hate of their lives at present in the west. But running away is not the answer. Sadly some somali men take the choice. "How do you view Single Motherhood" i feel utter compassion for these strong willed women to carry on in the face of hardship. Their will to carry on without the help of a man is not a show of independece as TryMe said, but basic necssacity. Single Motherhood is not only hard on the mother but on the children aswell who have to grow up without a father figure in their lives which is equally important. In my opinion it is a broken family and not how Allah willed it. But these mothers really make up for it by raising outstanding kids who raise even better ones.

childbirth at home seems more peacful to me for some reason. no stressed doctors and nurses rushing in, no beeping medical equipment,no feeling of impatience, no drugs being induced..... it would be your own family thing in your own home. (exept the midwife) but it also seems scary because their is no medical attention at hand if somehting goes wrong and no anestesia .but it would be worth it in the end.

thats something i never thought about! i believe sorry is an underated word they way some people spit it around. Apoligising is what keeps humans civilized and sane. imagine a world without remorse and apoligy! everyone would be looking for revenge. "how would it apply to us somalis" in our culture i believe its something very important. But i notice that for some somalis the word "sorry" is a hard word to say. Some are so proud and believe they are so right that it is beyond them to be humble. "do we ever take notice of apologise" i believe as a whole people don't because its used so much without a thought. You bump someone in the street,"oh i'm sorry"... its almost something expected from us as humans. its almost instinct. it is in this way that the word comes out without feeling or seems insincere

NOGONGE very well said. the list u have made about the darfur issue and largely the sudan one was well put and the simple, sad truth. OG girl look at that list, ESPECIALLY #6 then u will understand what i have been trying to tell u!!!!! yes to ur shock and surprise arabs enslaved blacks! Classique u misunderstood completeyly! no one thinks arabs r responsible of the worlds calamities. yes some words that have been said sound a little deragatory but not racist as bilan said."Arabophobia" pple are afraid of arabs! looool thats new to me

boy did we get of topic but back to the darfur issue, it is horrible genocide even if we disagree on who is responsible. i just hope we as africans come together and solve this issue instead of calling on the world for help every time we have a problem.

its not like i was saying something bad about your people just facts. AND IT IS HISTORY.You continue to deny the truth;amazing!!!. and i was never telling u anything about my childhood and never would :rolleyes: you obiously don't want to hear the truth so i will save myself the trouble. blian never said for me to check my history either and by they way that is sad sister that we as somalians enslaved zanzibarians.that fact is new to me. i had previously heard that somalis did enslave other africans but not as late as 1950!. what is sadder is that we eslave our own kind

^^ what do u mean?

i don't hate arabs og-girls don't make assumptions,infact i lived in the arab world for most of my childhood and now the facts fist hand. i am just trying to enlighten u about your best friends the arabs and history. it is quite a well nown fact that arabs were the fist enslavers of africans it is the most amazing thing that u as an african are not aware of it and more surprisingly try to defend them. Here are ur dates: 9th to 19th century, primarily before traders from europe arrived. There most common form of slavery were concubines. To further assure u, if u notice the black populations in the Khalege that lived as long as the arabs themselves; were do u think they came form??? just like the black populations in the USA.

^^what??!! didn't understand anything u said. Evidence! r u serious!! Everyone nows that the arabs did all of what i stated and not rape ME the AFRICANS in prehistory and !!! Arabs were the first outside infleunce to enslave, raid and destroy africans. that is my point if u misunderstood and it looks like u did. Somalia?! i wasn't talking about somalia i was talking about all of africa when arab merchants enslaved our pple in the name of allah! (their view not the qurans)

NGONGE quite right! which would it be?! i think oil is always an interest to the "superpower"no matter who they have to pretend to like. Og Girl u said "see if arab wipe out any race..." They might have wiped out ours with all the raiding, destroying, enslaving, and raping! i actually think it would have been better to be wiped out then deal with horrible reprecussions of today and many todays to come.

and what makes aljazzera unbaised? becasue they are arab?!as i said before on this thread their media is just as misleading as any western media. don't be so trusting of ur arab "brothers"

true there is this type of ethnic superiority among all races possibly even our own! as for some links here are two. Enjoy! (before u do i warn u that these r "western views" and might be misleading www.bbcnews.com www.darfurgenocide.org

i wasn't talking about Darfur brother. i was stating that some sudanese in the north(like the janjaweed) believe that they are arab or of arab decent and do not associate themselves with africa or as being african. They believe that they are superior to the ethnic sudanesse in the South of Sudan like the Dinka which is one of the bigger tribes.

totally agree with u on this one wind. The arab media is just as midleading as any network. Ask urselvs this, is their really any truthful media?? Every media tints the truth for their reasons. on the Darfur issue its DEFINANTLEY a more serious issue than the fallouja problem, bilan. The Darfur issue is a bigger part of what has been going on in Sudan for centuries. it is sad how everyone tries to ignore it. Just to clearify it is sudanesse against sudanesse. One happens to be believe they are arab!!! (north sudan) and the other are just trying to live (south sudan) it is brother against brother and that is perhaps the saddest part

you said "So if a State like Somaliland is ignored for to long the insecurity of Somalia will spread into Somaliland..." since when did Somaliland became a state?? and since when was the "insecurity" of Somalia exclusive to somalia? your ideas of autonomy and seperation will only hinder somalias progress. Division is not the goal here, UNITY is!

i agree with u there Xu, not much off the section is devoted to complete women issues. it seems to be mostly about love, and what boy is hot and what girl isn't..... it should be called the love section to me!! hasn't there been another topic like this?

this is a good topic and many of the options u shared are good and helpful especially #4 the islamic societies of today r in jeopardy of many things such as tv or "mental colonialism" as haddad interestingly put it. especially in non islamic nations i disagree with the fact that u think almost 100% of us have bad upringing i can say that i haven't! but i get ur point. u seem to be only dericting this post to men. u should give some ways women can build a strong islamic society because they r a vital part of a family. u said that "don't raise ur kids in a non-islamic country" sometimes that is unaviodable especially if ur trying to find the best future for ur kids. and most of the time, no matter how much we dont like to admit it, that is western countries such as the US.

wind talker- you said " if israel were given an oppurtinity to annhilate entire muslim civilazation it wouldn't blink" how would israel do that? thats right with a nuke in that case not only would it kill of its enemies but itself as well. so i think isreal would diffenantly blink, many times. you also said " how do you now human rights in iran have you ever been there" have you?! i didn't think so. "so keep thinking jews are nice pple.... when did i ever give a hint of thinking jews are nice in my post?! why do you think i put quotation marks on the word "THEIR" land? because it looked nice? :rolleyes: i am simply stating that your perception of iran is mistrued. and no i don't get my info from "ivy league books" (whats that supposed to mean anyway?) iran is defenantly better of than most but still has a long way to go. "...crappy propaganda" propaganda!! :confused: why don't you look the word up and see if it fits with my post! if u don't have one (which would explain a lot) it means"disemenated material by the supporters of a doctrine, cause, or faction. i am not trying to spread anything here i just posted my thoughts on the iran issue not to start a fight. no need to get so emotional about it.

let me first start by saying that iran will probalby have a nuclear war head by 2006. this is not only a threat to Israel but to the whole world (including muslims!). if a nuke hits israel it will take half of the middleeast with it so i don't think Iran is that ****** to do so. then why the trouble to make and accquire them? when the time is just right i suppose. Dragon, you said that" iran has proved to be sophisticated,modern,and democratic..." that is a bit exagerated isn't it? Iran, in my opinion, is no better off and maybe evern worse than iraq when it comes to humanitaries and saudi arabia in modernization. Sakina, you said that isreal whants to occupy mekkah and medina!! thats new to me and mostly likely everyone on SOl! what would be the point of that anyway? i think there a little busy with keeping the palestinians out of "THEIR" land this is a good topic and an important issue for our generation. i agree with most that the US won't make the same mistake twice; it will leave that for isreal after all they are looking out for their lives and it won't be a suprise if they strike before iran does.

CANCEL CSI!! i must of read wrong! that is the best of all ivestigation shows. maybe u have to be in to forensic science to appreciate it. shows to cancel in US TV: reality shows its getting old and we all now their not real!! especially: REAL WORLD AND ROAD RULES(mtv) they were good the fist 20 seasnons but lets move on!

i don't understand what your'e question is? could u make it a little clear? if your question is what is more important culture or religion do you mean to us as individuals, to somalian community or to everyone? if its the first religion is defianently more important than culture to me anyway. culture isn't going to help in you in the next life. i actually think religion is way more the case in somalia than culture is. islam is incorprated in every acpect of somalian life. it is actually hard for me to seperate what is somalian culture and what is islam!

i agree with most here that bringing back the script would unfortunantley be "counter-productive" to somalia right now. advancment and modernization is of the utmost importance to Somalia and that can be acheived with the latin writing. i voted for the script becasuse i thought you meant bringing it back just for knowledge sake of our heritage and culture not as the official language. it would be nice if it was brought back for only that sake beacsue it would be really interesting to know.

interesting topic!! as has been mentioned by baashi, i believe gossip and backstabbing is human nature and NO ONE can deny ever doing it. it is a hard habit to break esspecialy if you are angry at someone who has done you wrong. You can't blame someone spreading a rumor about someone who did the same. but i know, you can't right wrong with wrong. i don't know about you, but have noticed that gossip is a big problem among somali women and to lesser degree men. i see it all the time in weddings and other get togethers. overall, gossip is usually spurred by jealousy, hate,anger and mostly a harmless slip of the tongue.