Rising Phoenix Posted July 27, 2004 Greetings everyone. To all poets, this is an invite to come out of the woods and show our fellow people that Somali people have bucket loads of talent, no matter what field you specialise in. I see plenty of poets on this site who have a great talent, but do not share it with anyone. So I say this, it's time our people woke up from this comatose state and showed all others that Somalians can deliver something else than a crazy fellow in the Big Brother house ( I know you were all watching ) . How come Asian people can get it together and display their culture, from foods to clothes to music? In fact, plenty of Asian-themed songs are in the charts. Now I'm not saying that a Somali artist should hit number one next week (oh, how I long for that day ). I am just tired of going to poetry slams/gatherings/festivals and being the only one to represent my part of Africa/the world. If you have a talent to share, be it singing, art (in any form) writing, music, dance or anything else at all, please get in contact, ESPECIALLY if you live in Birmingham, UK. There's a lot that happens in this city, and I would love to go see a Somali poet one day, doesn't matter what your message is. It's so sad that a culture as rich as ours is being wasted and lost, all because we are too busy with whatever else (mostly killing ourselves) to salvage our heritage. I'm not saying I know a lot (in fact, I know very little) but I'm learning, and I feel it's time we did more to portray our country in a positive light. So to all artists, if you want a good place to start try The Drum . It's a great centre that holds lots of events. And if there are artists who already hold gatherings, feel free to send info my way. And if our brothers & sisters in other countries already do this, feel free to give us some pointers. Salaamz Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
