Gerald Hanley, a British officers thoughts on Somalis.

[KEYNAN22]

Here is an excerpt from the book of an officer who was in the middle of the turmoil and also wrote this during the time of British and Italian occupation, he had been in other African regions but was placed just after WWII in Somalia by the British military when they were taking over the defeated fascist/Italians territory. And this is what he wrote during his stay.

 

As all the dark eyes, hundreds of them, turned to watch Ali and his white companion walk through the sitting crowd to a table, I knew what it must be like to have tried this as a black man in a white man hotel. Yet every eye I met was friendly. I never met anti-white feeling of any kind in my swift in Mogadishu, but was not expecting to anyway with Somalis, who had never smarted under any inferiority feeling. A Somali always felt himself to be twice as good as any white man, or any other kind of man at all, and still does, even when he is wrong(....) there is nothing so depressing as hearing some unhappy ***** of an ex-suburban memsahib fretting at a hotel table because there is an African sitting at the next one, and watching the African listening to it in silence as he eats.

 

But for the Somalis their natural intelligence is second to none and when the education factories start among them they should surprise Africa and themselves. An Italian priest I knew, who had spent over thirty years among the Somalis, he made only two converts, and it amazed me that he got even those two.

I never saw a Somali who showed any fear of death, which, impressive though it sounds, carries within it the chill of pitilessness and ferocity as well. If you have no fear of death you have non for anybody else’s death either, but that fearlessness has always been essential to the Somalis who have had to try and survive hunger, diseases and thirst while always prepared to go to war and fight their enemies, be it fellow Somalis in blood feud or the Ethiopians who would like to rule them, or the white man who got in the way for a while.

Of all the races of Africa there cannot be one better to live among than the most difficult, the proudest, the bravest, the vainest, the most merciless, the friendliest; the Somalis.

 

 

Gerald Hanley

 

Warriors

Life and death among the Somalis

 

 

Anyone read this book and what's your opinion on Hanleys text on our brave Somalis?

[Baashi]

No I didn't read this book.

 

My opinion: there is a grain of truth in his take on the Somalis of yesteryears. Somalis of today are totally different breed.

 

Somalis with self-confidence, high self-esteem, and lil foolish pride are getting extinct (spelling plz). The legacy of dictatorial regime, bitter, merciless, and cut-throat civil war that followed and still raging in some pockets of the country have left unmistakable scar on my people's psychic.

 

They are angry, bitter, and have negative picture of themselves. They hate each other with passion, and are willing to betray their brethren.

 

On the positive side. They are still generous. They still help their relative even when tough gets going. They still have faith in Islam. They still resist (somewhat) alien influences that's not compatible with Islamic values.

[ElPunto]

I've read the book - unforutunately bought it on Amazon because I thought there might be some good insights. Alas, it was money wasted. While there are some truthful comments and interesting insights, the book is much too much full of hyperbole. There is also that insufferable disdainful attitude of colonials. "Damn blazing hot, smelly place", "that man has that evil oriental attitude" etc. Not actual quotes but rough paraphrasings.

[Che -Guevara]

Originally posted by Baashi:

They are angry, bitter, and have negative picture of themselves. They hate each other with passion, and are willing to betray their brethren.

We do have very negative image of everything Somali. I believe this might be necessary transition for Somalis to go through. What will defines us is not our current sad state, but how we deal with it. With choas comes oppurtunity to change for the better or worse. Hopefully our people will roll up their sleeves, get to work, and strive for a better Somali nation.