Abaq
VIP
Disclaimer: this is a fictional piece based on my personal observations both online and in real-life. I have seen this trajectory so-many times and I can give countless examples of users here who are on different steps of the path. I think someone should actually study this academically. Where are all those left-wing SOAS graduate Halimos? We don't care about BLM, study this instead. Thanks.
- Step 1 - Identity Crisis: They usually start off as a diaspora hooyo mataalo kid who randomly starts researching about their people and homeland after hitting their teens and going through a bit of an identity crisis. They soon realise they come from a war-torn 3rd world sh*thole and quickly fall into a deep pit of depression.
- Step 2 - SYL Nationalism: However, a short while into their Wikipedia research, they realise the situation wasn't always that way. They realise their country used to be an actual country. They read about SYL. They believe that the British betrayed their people when they refused to make Somaliweyn a reality. They spend hours looking at pictures from the 60s, they're in awe of the aura of Abdirashid Ali Sharma'arke standing with JFK at the White House. They now think the country should be re-named the Somali Republic once again.They sometimes even start wearing their dad's koofiyad when he forgets to take it to the maqaayad for his daily FKD session. All for the aura.
- Step 3 - Neo-Kacaanist: Sadly, that sense of euphoria doesn't last long. They learn of the endemic corruption and qabyaalad in the 60s civil governments. They're repulsed that the political parties were literally clan-based (think Hisbia Digil Mirifle). They're horrified at the murder of the second President, but they read about the Kacaan and watch hours upon hours of military parades during the Kacaan. They somehow convince themselves maybe the assassination was necessary to save the country. They're now certain that democracy failed Somalis and the only way to keep the county together is under scientific socialism with Somali characteristics under a strong dictatorship. Many don't progress beyond this point. They form an insufferable segment of Somali Twitter.
- Step 4 - Qabyaalad: The Kacaan euophoria doesn't last long. Try as they might, they can't ignore the brutality and corruption the so-called Blessed Revolution (Tawrada Barakaysan) descended into. They now resign to themselves to the fact that nationalism is not possible, the only grouping deserving of their support is their qabiil. The horrors of the civil war and the injustices their clan faced radicalises them even further (of course they ignore the atrocities their own clan committed). They stop taking about Somaliweyn and start engaging in qabiil FKD. They hurl the most abusive insults at their rival clans in online FKD sessions, dehumanising and vilifying millions of innocent people. They even flirt with the idea of balkanisation and separatism to get away from those hated 'laangaabs'. They start attending parties for their state's "independence/formation day" and start wearing their qabiil's flag on their wrist. They further get radicalised by most of their elders who are still stuck in this stage (the same lot who destroyed the country in the first place). Yet at the same time, they have friends from those same clans they insult online in real-life. Nothing like some cognitive dissonance to add to their original identity crisis as a diaspora kid.
- Step 5 - Redemption: they grow older, settle down and have a family. As they watch their young kids grow-up, their eyes are laced with a tint of sadness. Becoming a parent has made them realise what they really want: for their kids to grow-up in dignity with safety and security in their homeland so they don't have to go through what they went through growing up. As they scroll through tiktok and see how other nations such as the Gulf countries are rising up, and even African countries with multiple ethnic groups are doing way-better than their clan fiefdom, the qabyaalad that previously burned so viciously begins to melt away. Marrying a person from "enemy clan" also helped with the de-radicalisation. The rise of the far-right and racism in the West only adds to this yearning to return "home" - to a homeland they weren't born in or raised in yet they know is the only home for them in this world. They couldn't care less about qabiil politics now, they just want to go "home" with their kids even if that means being ruled by another qabiil. They've gone full circle. The hatred has been washed from them. They no longer identify as 'reer hebel', they're simply Somali now. They have been redeemed but they still carry the guilt from their FKD days.
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. I've seen and experienced this first hand as well if I'm being honest.
