Somali community in Britain begins to find its voice - Guardian Article

[N.O.R.F]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/21/somali-community-britain-finds-voice?fbParam=native

 

Are we finding our voice? Who are our representitives?

 

Reer UK, whats your take?

[Alpha Blondy]

interesting article.

 

i dont think the somali community needs a collective voice. there are different interests and despite being commonly refered to as a group which is all too similar,different immigration status and lenghtly of time in UK are key factors.

[N.O.R.F]

Alpha Blondy;799012 wrote:

different immigration status and lenghtly of time in UK are key factors.

How?

[Alpha Blondy]

lol@norf,

 

those who arrived in late 80s and early 90s are overwhelmingly more integrated. those who arrived in early 2000s are useless and unsettled. as the articles clearly points out in its description of 3 different groupings, success depends entirely on length of stay.

 

of course there are also those clever folks from xamar, whose superior business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit make them stand out as evidenced by places like harlesden, Shepherds bush and Tottenham.

[Carafaat]

Alpha Blondy;799027 wrote:

lol@norf,

 

those who arrived in late 80s and early 90s are overwhelmingly more integrated. those who arrived in early 2000s are useless and unsettled. as the articles clearly points out in its description of 3 different groupings, success depends entirely on lengthy of stay.

Nonsense.

 

The early arrivers fill the local mafrish, the new arrivals tend to be hard working. I have met some young guys who are here less then 4 years and already enrolled in Uni! And if youn knew thousands left Holland to UK or USA cause they found it hard to get enrolled in Education here.

[N.O.R.F]

Alpha Blondy;799027 wrote:

lol@norf,

 

those who arrived in late 80s and early 90s are overwhelmingly more integrated. those who arrived in early 2000s are useless and unsettled. as the articles clearly points out in its description of 3 different groupings, success depends entirely on length of stay.

 

of course there are also those clever folks from xamar, whose superior business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit make them stand out as evidenced by places like harlesden, Shepherds bush and Tottenham.

Thats isn't true saxib. It all depends on the individual/family. Length of stay doesn't equate to success.

 

The community does need a collective voice. Why have we not established that collective voice? Why do we have 101 organisations but the media doesn't know who to talk to when something comes up?

[Alpha Blondy]

arafat, please respect your size. your knowledge on the lived experiences of somalis in the uk are minimal. for so many years, this was a field i was involved in, wrote on and have plenty of views on.

[NGONGE]

N.O.R.F;799036 wrote:

Thats isn't true saxib. It all depends on the individual/family. Length of stay doesn't equate to success.

 

The community does need a collective voice. Why have we not established that collective voice? Why do we have 101 organisations but the media doesn't know who to talk to when something comes up?

Step by step, saaxib. The community is still finding its way. We've had a healthy number of people contesting the last elections (even though none of them won). We have a decent number of Somali councellers in many parts of the country and we are scattered across all professions in town. The collective voice you speak of is not going to come from single-mothers or uni students. It'll evolve naturally and I don't think we're that far from hearing it.

 

Though, personally, I would be more in support of 'local' voices. And, even though I have no faith in our local guy (the so called Somaliland respresentative to the UK), I still would not want someone from North London to speak on my behalf.

[Alpha Blondy]

N.O.R.F;799036 wrote:

Thats isn't true saxib. It all depends on the individual/family. Length of stay doesn't equate to success.

 

The community does need a collective voice. Why have we not established that collective voice? Why do we have 101 organisations but the media doesn't know who to talk to when something comes up?

Certainly, there is some truth to your views here. family is key. however families who've stayed the longest time are more successful. its takes time to integrate into a post-industrial society having arrived from a semi-nomadic environs. the most successful somali groups in the UK are not found in the organised chaos that is london but in other cities in the uk like cardiff, manchester and liverpool etc where inter-generational stratification has occurred. there are legacies and a community like the somalis are well known for their strong ties and familial relations. having said that, to achieve social mobility requires pre-conditions such education, family status, local environment, occupation and other factors like length of time in the uk. all these factors combined equate to the person's overall sense of themselves and this reflects on their outward behaviour and actions in the wider mainstream society .

 

as for the community question. they have failed miserably and i'm not in favour of groups using areas where funding streams are most profitable and available to represent me. how can i, as a young somali, for instance, be represented by groups advocating for asylum and refugee groups? surely, i've had a different lived experience, having been in the country for some time and Somalis in the uk require more important priorities like education, training and employment.

[BOB]

What I found out in my short stay in the UK thus far soothed the soul of the forever optimist in me and for once I can say with full conviction that hope is not all lost as there are hundreds of Somalis both males and females working hard to make sure that we as a SOMALI will be a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later from politics, medicine, engineering to business and it’s just a matter of time before you see one of us in every field in existence.

 

I was also impressed by how the younger generation don’t care about each other’s qabiil or background as long as they share a common interest and common goal they’re cool with each other and that’s exactly how it should be. Even the so-called ‘Lost Generation’ who can barely conjure up a decent Somali sentence have more Somalinimo in them than most of us and the loyalty and the solidarity they have for one another is something we can do with at the moment.

 

We’re getting there and we will definitely get there Insha Allah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.

[Archdemos]

Alpha Blondy;799054 wrote:

Certainly, there is some truth to your views here. family is key. however families who've stayed the longest time are more successful. its takes time to integrate into a post-industrial society having arrived from a semi-nomadic environs. the most successful somali groups in the UK are not found in the organised chaos that is london but in other cities in the uk like cardiff, manchester and liverpool etc where inter-generational stratification has occurred. there are legacies and a community like the somalis are well known for their strong ties and familial relations. having said that, to achieve social mobility requires pre-conditions such education, family status, local environment, occupation and other factors like length of time in the uk. all these factors combined equate to the person's overall sense of themselves and this reflects on their outward behaviour and actions in the wider mainstream society .

 

as for the community question. they have failed miserably and i'm not in favour of groups using areas where funding streams are most profitable and available to represent me. how can i, as a young somali, for instance, be represented by groups advocating for asylum and refugee groups? surely, i've had a different lived experience, having been in the country for some time and Somalis in the uk require more important priorities like education, training and employment.

Hear, hear! I spoke at length with the guardian photographer for this piece. Nice man, i gave him an in depth analysis of the Somali problem. I think Norf has legitimate concerns also. A quick search of the Charities Commission website reveals http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/SearchMatchList.aspx

 

Granted not all 182 charities are still active but that just gives us a glimpse of those organisations with the world 'Somali' in their name, think of the countless others that don't. Search other similar communities like 'Iraqi' 'Afghani' or 'Kurdish' and see how many voices speak for them.

[Somalia]

Alpha Blondy;799027 wrote:

lol@norf,

 

those who arrived in late 80s and early 90s are overwhelmingly more integrated. those who arrived in early 2000s are useless and unsettled. as the articles clearly points out in its description of 3 different groupings, success depends entirely on length of stay.

 

I echo Carafaat, the ones who arrived here early are the ones doing the worst, total waste of space, both economically and socially, their kids are the ones who lost their mother tongue, coming with the "blud" or "innit yo" and are send back to the old country while the new arrivals from mainland Europe, Scandinavia, Germany etc (excluding Holland) are doing the best.