#somali stories

[gingerylangylang1979]

Remember when Ebra's future at The Bear wasn't certain?

gif courtesy of @heardchef

Remember when this trailer hit and we freaked out?

I was worried about Ebra. I thought he would quit or maybe get fired because he couldn't keep up with the new pace. In season one he was a bit dismayed by all of the components in the chicken piccata. In the moment above there was foreshadowing that he wasn't confident about his place in the future. Things moved forward rapidly. He didn't thrive like Tina in culinary school. In a crueler kitchen he may have been forgotten when he disappeared but he wasn't. He was given space but he wasn't cut loose. People were concerned. Carmy asked about him. Tina reconnected with him. He still had a spot on the team, just one reimagined. I'm glad.

Edwin has high billing despite a small role. He's a legend in Chicago. I honestly think Ebra's the funniest character even though he doesn't get the big goofy, flashy moments. Please let him be funny again! But there is a story of immigration, sadness, and loss for him that is ready to be told. I don't think they will ever give him a big storyline but I do hope he at least gets a monologue to explain the whole thing or it gets revealed in bits and pieces along the way. Also, I think his style doesn't get enough love. He dresses like the older fly African and Caribbean men I see in my Brooklyn neighborhood. Bright colors, bold patterns, boho accessories. It's a vibe. I bet he smells good, too. And he's attractive. If I was his age...

I think Ebra's arc last season says a lot about the show and the people behind it. Carmy could have let Ebra go. There was a lot going on and he could have just saw a rogue element and dropped that ass. But who would Carmy be to judge? He was the most rogue element all season and was the weakest link at Friends & Family. Instead, Carmy still found value in him. Tina could have rubbed in her all star status and promotion but she didn't. She saw a friend struggling, not competition. She had the vision for him in his current position.

Storer saw Edwin in a local play when he was a kid, thought he was the most magical actor he'd seen, remembered him, kept up with his Chicago career, and sought him out for this role. He didn't have to do that. He could have hired a more widely known talent but he gave his childhood favorite actor the opportunity. He remembered and honored him.

I see a lot of how Storer is with his talent in how Carmy is as a leader. Carmy is deeply flawed but he does invest in his people. He could have fired the old crew from day one. But he didn't clean house and hire a bunch of Sydney's (he only needed one). He could have started with an entirely new crew when he decided to rebrand, but he didn't he decided to fast track his found family. Storer wanted people he had worked with to work on The Bear. Jeremy (his award winning lead), Ayo (breakout star, IMO romantic lead, and future director thanks to Chris), Ramy (director), and Molly (romantic interest) are people he worked with in the past, sought out again, and saw how they could build on what he saw in them before.

Anyways, this was partially an ode to Ebra/Edwin and partially me getting warm fuzzies over Storer as a generous show runner and Carmy as a generous anti-hero.

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

"Selkie Stories Are for Stories" is available to read here

[loveofjuniper]

[rainedroptalks]

4, 17, 23, 27, 48 for the weird asks? :>

HII ZEETH <3 thanks for the ask :))

4- which cryptyd being do you believe in?

Okay I don’t personally believe in any cryptids so I’m gonna use this to talk about a Somali “cryptid” called Dhegdheer (kinda pronounced like “dug-dare”). She was this old lady/witch who would eat children who stayed out too late and leave their bones and body parts on their parent’s doorsteps. Very normal. My dad used to tell me and my older brother this story before we went to sleep at night sometimes so I was deathly afraid of it as a kid

Anyway in the version my dad told me she dies by falling down a well. While being chased by a lion. And then everyone sings cuz that old lady who used to eat their fucking children is finally gone

17- are you farsighted or nearsighted?

Nearsighted. So nearsighted. I’m actually supposed to go to an eye doctor this week to get a new prescription

23 how do you feel about chilly weather?

Chilly weather is great man. Like, I’m assuming this means “cold but not freezing” and if so I love chilly weather

27 about how many hours of sleep did you get?

Well it’s 8 pm for me rn but last night I got a good amount of sleep for once. 8-ish hours I think

48- when did you first try an alcohol beverage?

I’ve never had alcohol before, mostly cuz I just don’t have the resources to acquire it (I’m a minor and no one I know irl drinks alcohol)

[somaligovernment]

That boybi/baby video is stuck in my head it’s so funny

[greatwyrmgold]

Buddy Daddies reflected across Spy×Family would probably involve a couple of lady spies who enjoy a couple episodes of improvised domestic life while intrigue boils under the surface, until all of that is interrupted by a big plot twist that forces them on the run with the kid that's been hanging around their apartment when she can break in.

we have spy x family and buddy daddies, but we need a third show for the wlw,,, pls i need it

imagine it: it's a lady mafia boss and maybe like an assassin lady she hires, but she's freelance. and the assassin lady finds a child hiding during a mission and decides to not kill them bc it's a child. she takes the child with her to the mafia lady to tell her about it. stuff happens and the mafia lady asks the assassin lady to look into the child's backstory. while they wait the two ladies care for the child. and over time it's discovered the child ran away from home and surprise they were the child of another mafia leader.

damn i ran out of thoughts.

anyways wlw found family pls and thank you

[pebblegalaxy]

Captain Phillips: A Gripping True Story of Survival and Heroism

“Captain Phillips” is a gripping and intense thriller based on the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Directed by Paul Greengrass, the film stars Tom Hanks in the titular role of Captain Richard Phillips and offers a harrowing depiction of the events that unfolded during the dramatic five-day ordeal. The movie begins by…

[writingwithcolor]

Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

~ ~ ~

@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. 

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP? 

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is? 

~ ~ ~

To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other. 

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website. 

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability. 

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with. 

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions. 

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time. 

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."  

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place. 

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure. 

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s). 

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina

[tommyfebuary6]

Somalia’s only all-female media team, Bilan, is launching the country’s first TV current affairs show to be hosted by a woman.

The debate show, which plans to address some taboo subjects, will also be the first programme on Somali television to have a panel of at least 50% women, and the first to broach contentious topics, such as a critical shortage of female teachers and the challenges faced by women trying to get into politics, as well as environmental issues.

Reaction to the pilot was overwhelmingly positive, said the host, Naima Said Salah, and exposed the impact that a dire lack of information had on girls. “One young woman in the audience shared her own experience. She remembered the exact time and day when her period started because she had no idea what was happening. She thought she was dying. It was only after she told her older sister, that she understood,” said Salah, a senior reporter at Bilan.

Salah added that she was proud to bring the subject of periods into public debate. “Women, including me, never had the opportunity to learn about periods as girls; even our own mums don’t discuss it. People think this is taboo, but it is a fact; it exists and we cannot ignore it.”

Somalia’s media sector is male-dominated, with a strong focus on politics. All six founding members of Bilan have faced discrimination and harassment in their careers. The project was set up to offer women a safe space to tell the stories they wanted to tell, and has covered a wide range of under-reported stories, including Somalis living with HIV, child abuse and postnatal depression.

“One reason why women’s stories are rarely told in the Somali media is that most reporters are men. Bilan will change that,” said Ibrahim at the time. “Women will speak to us because we too are women. They will allow us into their homes, their prayer rooms and their private spaces.”

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

"How to Get Back to the Forest" is available to read here

[bobcatmoran]

So with Tim Walz, governor of my home state, as the VP nominee (and news stories about him/Minnesota coming out of the woodwork) here's some stuff that will probably be helpful to know over the next 3 months:

The Minnesota Democratic party is, due to a 1944 party merger with the local Farmer-Labor party, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, or DFL for short. Local media refers to them as such.

Speaking of local media, we have two major local newspapers: the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis (Strib for short) and the somewhat smaller Pioneer Press out of St. Paul.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are the Twin Cities. They're next to each other, but woe betide you if you mistake one for the other. Minneapolis is the larger of the two, with the more vibrant nightlife and history as a flour milling hub, while St. Paul is the state capital, home to lots of liberal arts colleges and a significant Asian-American population, mostly the Karen ethnic group from Myanmar and Hmong.

Other reputable local news sources include MinnPost (online indie news site), the Minnesota Reformer (unashamedly leftist and pro-union), and Sahan Journal (focused on stories affecting the local immigrant and minority communities). We also have Minnesota Public Radio, or MPR for short, one of the largest NPR affiliates in the nation with a pretty solid local news arm. Bring Me the News is rarely a source of breaking news, but what they do report on is solid.

Alpha News is not a reputable local news source. They're far right wing and have a *cough* casual relation with reporting on actual events.

About 1% of Minnesota's population are Somali/Somali-Americans, concentrated in Minneapolis, especially the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. They're a major target of local racism and Islamophobia, by conservative assholes. The nonsense rumor over Minnesota's new flag being based on the Somali flag (because…uh…blue? and star?) stems from that particular local brand of xenophobia.

It's "Hot Dish." "Casserole" is the name of the type of cooking utensil you make Hot Dish in.

[airenrts]

some facts about Hannah that I have wanted to tell!

• Hannah is French and American.

• Hannah's parents are of two different breeds, Somali and Maine Coon.

• She was raised and cared for by one parent - her father.

• Hannah was born in the United States, which is why she has American citizenship, but she spent her childhood in France before her parents divorced.

• Hannah knows two languages, English and French (she likes to insert French words or even start speaking another language in front of her close ones, because she finds it quite funny, especially considering the fact that many do not understand her)

• Her father knows French. She learned most of it from him. (not counting the time when she was still in contact with her mother)

He also instilled in her an interest and love for French culture since childhood, because it is her second nationality.

• although her father is a graceful and strong Maine Coon, she got her build and proportions from her mother, which is why she is quite miniature and fragile at first glance.

• Hannah has absolutely no connection with her mother, all she knows and remembers are vague memories from childhood, photographs from her father's old albums and his stories.

• Hannah has a barely noticeable accent.

[bestiarium]

The Liqimssa and the Duuga [Oromo mythology, Ethiopian mythology]!

It is said that the Oromo people – an ethnic group in Ethiopia – once lived on a wonderful mountain called Walabu (also called Ulabo). There lived a white species of cattle which was plentiful and yielded huge amounts of meat and milk, so that the people never had to sow crops or plough land. The Borana people (a subgroup among the Oromo) have a myth about a horrible, cursed beast that drove them away from this place: the Liqimssa.

Liqimssa was a shapeshifting monster that swallowed all humans in sight, one by one. Its name is derived from the verb ‘liqimssu’ which means ‘to swallow’. As such, its name translates to ‘the swallower’. In modern illustrations, the creature is usually depicted as a monstrous elephant, but I was unable to back this up with a source.

It is possible that the tale of the terrible, all-consuming monster that drove the people to flee their country might actually have arisen from a real historical event. It has been proposed by historians that it could refer to a conflict with people from Somali or Sidama, but there is no evidence to support these hypotheses. It has also been proposed that it might have been the armies of Amda Seyon, emperor of Ethiopia in the 14th century, who expanded his kingdom into the territory of the Oromo.

But the link between the military threat and the folktale, however likely it sounds, hasn’t been proven either. In fact, the Liqimssa might not even have been an invading army but perhaps some kind of natural disaster (like a catastrophic drought) or perhaps an epidemic. Whatever it was, it was destructive enough to inspire a folktale that survived across generations.

Among the Borana people, however, there is at least one major variant of this story: in this version, there were three great beasts, called Duuga. They could talk, like men, but they were horrible monsters. As the people of the land knew they couldn’t fight the monsters, they decided to give one human being to the Duuga to eat every day.

One day, this task fell upon three brothers. They were told to choose one brother among them and bind him to a tree for the monsters to eat. But the three siblings loved each other dearly and could not decide: ‘choose me!’, yelled the oldest brother, ‘let the monsters devour me.’ But the middle brother argued ‘choose me, so that if I die, our parents will still have their youngest and oldest sons.’

‘No,’ the youngest brother disagreed, ‘you should bind me to that tree. As the youngest sibling I was always given the best clothing and food. If I was destined to receive the best things because I was born last, then logically I should also receive the worst punishment.’

Now their time was up, the three Duuga were nearing, and the oldest brother came to a decision: ‘if all three of us have to die, we shall fight back and try to destroy these monsters!’ After this, he sat down and prayed to Waqa, the creator god. Suddenly, he gained a bright idea, and he ordered his brothers to heat two spears in a fire.

Then he approached the Duuga. The monsters were confused, as a human being had never before willingly walked towards them. They demanded to know whether he was their meal for today. ‘Yes’, the brother said, ‘but before you eat me, I want to ask you some questions.’ ‘All right then,’ said the monsters, ‘ask your questions’.

The man asked the first monster ‘what part of me will you devour?’ to which the fiend replied ‘I only drink the blood.’ ‘Then you are a fool!’ the man said. ‘Human blood is terrible, but human meat is delicious!’ and so he convinced the monster to eat his flesh. He then asked the second Duuga the same question. ‘I will eat your flesh’ it replied, which the man approved. Then he asked the third monster, and it replied ‘I will devour the bones.’ Again, the man convinced the Duuga that skeletons are terrible food and that he should eat his flesh instead.

And so his time was up and the monsters prepared to devour him. Usually, each monster only devoured one part of their prey but this time they all wanted to eat the man’s flesh. They bickered among themselves and their argument eventually erupted into a violent battle. Now that the monsters were weakened from the fight and their legs were broken, the two other brothers came running with the red-hot spears and impaled all three Duuga, killing them and finally ending the menace.

Also, the Tulama people have a variant of this tale in which the creature that drove the Oromo people away was called ‘Amma Wayyii’ which translates to ‘the giant’. As a final note: the southern Oromo people have a somewhat similar story of a creature that swallowed people. Supposedly, this monster’s territory was located to the south of the Oromo people’s land, but I am uncertain whether this tale is related to that of the Liqimssa.

Sources: Baldick, J., 1997, Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions, Syracuse University Press, 184 pp. Hassen, M.,1983, The Oromo of Ethiopia, thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, University of London. Hassen, M., 2015, The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700, Boydell & Brewer. Grottanelli, V. L., 1972, The peopling of the horn of Africa, Africa: Rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione dell’Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 27(3): 363-394. Andrejewski, B.W., 1962, Ideas about warfare in Borana Galla stories and fables, African language studies, III, p.127. Tuffa, T. Z., 2021, The dynamics of Tulama Oromo in the history of continuity and change, ca. 1700-1880S, submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in the subject of history at the University of South Africa.

(image source: Criptozoologia e seres míticos)