Not your sad East African girls (Somali SJWs at it again)

[Duchess]

Somali Semantics zine reclaims narratives, transforms conversations

This past summer, McGill students Sumaya Ugas and Yasmin Abdulqadir Ali started making art that is revolutionary in its aims to foster transformative discussion. Their zine, Somali Semantics, is an edifying form of empowerment that shifts the authors from object to subject in a discourse that refuses to lend them agency as Black, Muslim, Somali women. Somali Semantics is first and foremost a set of personal narratives that stem from the traditional oral art of storytelling.

Their art is also a rumination and dissection of a violent, racist, Islamophobic, misogynistic reality. Throughout this zine, they reject the relentless gaze of a world that constantly seeks to reduce and constrain them. If you were looking forward to reading Somali Semantics in the hopes of finding the often repeated narrative of sad East African girls, you would realize your mistake through seeing the creators talk, as their faces are almost constantly lit up by a contagious laughter. Their work gives insight into key places and spaces that have helped shape their multifaceted identity.

The Daily interviewed Ugas and Abdulqadir Ali to find out more about their project.

The McGill Daily (MD): You are very upfront about who you consider the target audience for this zine: how do you see the importance of Somali girls making art for Somali girls?

Sumaya Ugas (SU): Well this zine was born out of a strong desire to see ourselves represented in ways that went beyond the typical sad diasporic narratives; beyond the nostalgia of an ocean many of us second generation kids have never really seen, and especially beyond being used as “visible minorities” by a country so bent on proving its ‘tolerance’ through its ‘multicultural’ social fabric.

Yasmin Abdulqadir Ali (YAA): Yeah, exactly. Also, most Somali girls exist at a really complicated intersection of Muslimness and Blackness that we really wanted to explore.

MD: Are you reading, or have read, anything in particular that has inspired you in your writing?

SU: I’ve recently gone back to reading Diriye Osman’s short story collection, Fairytales for Lost Children. He’s easily become a writer whom I admire on so many levels, and his words often feel like he is writing into existence so many realities – on being young, queer, Muslim, Somali, displaced, et cetera – that have been denied.

YAA: Last year, I read Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism (edited by Bushra Rehman and Daisy Hernandez) and it really inspired the hell out of me. More than anything, it drove home the fact that women of colour should take autonomy of their voices and their narratives.

You can read the full interview here: http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2015/11/not-your-sad-east-african-girls/

Here's a YouTube video of them rambling on about what Somali Semantics is (other than Drake worship mixed with SJW speak):

Here's their zine:
http://issuu.com/somalisemanticszine/docs/what_a_time_to_be_alive

Sorry @Geeljire. It's been flagged as inappropriate for readers under the age of 18.

 

[Queen Carawelo]

Black lipstick shouldn't be revived. It should be left in the 1990.


I stopped the video when they started with a laughter, clearly they're not seriously about their project.

P.s

The messy bed is giving me anxiety.

 

[John Michael]

Are they Madowweyne? I didn't watch it all but......

 

[Sultana]

Why are they recording this in a bedroom?

 

[Duchess]

y'all are hilarious walaahi.

@miski one of them said she went back to Somalia (the one without the Hijab) and was horrified when people denied her her Somaliness. How you gonna go back to your tribal lands and they deny you what you are and call you xabash or Madow? Wtf!

 

[bored]

you people are really lame, bye

 

[Duchess]

you people are really lame, bye

No one gives a f*ck.

 

[John Michael]

Say Wallahi she's full lamagodley. I've never seen a somali that looked like the hijabless one before.



Even somalis in somalia who are dhuxul could tell something in the milk ain't clean.

 

[Hafez]

Biggest contribution to Somalis, my shanshiyoo cousins, love them to bits.

 

[Sophisticate]

I will be going off the record today:

I know this might come across as a snub, but why is it that so many SJW Somalis bearly look Somali. And when they do they generally fall below average in the waji. What they really need is a makeover, gym and some self-love to thwart their need to win gold at the oppression Olympics.

 

[Geeljire]

Their art is also a rumination and dissection of a violent, racist, Islamophobic, misogynistic reality. Throughout this zine, they reject the relentless gaze of a world that constantly seeks to reduce and constrain them.

 

[Geeljire]

Are they Madowweyne? I didn't watch it all but......

They must be half jamaicans or something. They look really Madow even from somali standards.

 

[Hafez]

Biggest contribution to Somalis, my shanshiyoo cousins, love them to bits.

Waw nice

 

[Geeljire]

you people are really lame, bye

Yeah thats right go back to the closet you came from. shuu shuu

 

[Forfon]

Legit Mary lovers. Esp the hijabi. Kinda like the concept though!

 

[Tokio]

they don't look Somali at all ...balayo san waaweyn.

 

[Forfon]

I think they're stunning.

Esp lefty. Long neck huge smile

Both unique personalities

 

[Queen Carawelo]

they don't look Somali at all ...balayo san waaweyn.

 

[IntensiveCareUnit]

I think they're stunning.

Esp lefty. Long neck huge smile

Both unique personalities

this!

 

[Hafez]

I think they look like Idols (pun intended).
obamadatazz