Diaspora
The Beautiful People of Mogadishu
In September 2021, my mother and I got the opportunity to visit Mogadishu, the White Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was my first visit to Somalia’s capital city since I was born and raised abroad. But my mother was no stranger to the city of hope. Her first trip was in the 1970s, and […]
What The Gravedigger’s Wife Win Means For Somali Film Future
The Gravedigger’s Wife won the grand prize at the prestigious Pan-African Film Festival, FESPACO, in Burkina Faso. The 27th FESPACO edition, delayed this year because of the pandemic, celebrates every two years films produced largely in Africa by Africans. The Gravedigger’s Wife, written and directed by Khadar Ahmed, a Finno-Somali, was awarded the FESPACO Gold […]
Canadian School Renamed After Hodan Nalayeh
The Vaughan Secondary School was renamed Hodan Nalayeh Secondary School last week after the York Region District School Board trustees voted 10-2 in favour. Hodan Nalayeh was a Somali-Canadian media executive, a community activist, and an entrepreneur who had lost her life in the Asasey Hotel Attack in Kismayo, Somalia, in 2019. Among several other […]
Somali Centre Deemed Not Black Enough: Canadian Government
Abdirizak Karod and Mohamoud Hagi-Aden, founders of the Somali Centre for Family Services in Ottawa were stunned to learn they were deemed not Black enough after their application for a government-funded program was rejected. Leaders of a Somali organization in Ottawa say their relationship with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) was severely damaged after […]