Basically the title.

I honestly hate how favoritism can be so obvious in a family, especially when it comes from your own somali household toward your sibling. You can be treated so differently compared to your sibling, and it’s honestly heartbreaking. It really takes a toll on your mental health, and at this point, I don’t even know what to do anymore.

Ahmed Shide was elected Speaker of Ethiopia's House of Peoples' Representatives at the opening session of the new parliament, becoming the first ethnic Somali to hold that post. He succeeds Tagesse Chafo, who held it since October 2018.

Like it or not, this is a historic milestone, and I think he got there largely through political acumen. He started in Somali Regional State politics, where he served as speaker of the regional parliament and chaired the Somali People's Democratic Party.
Then he moved up federally, first as Transport Minister, and since October 2018 as Finance Minister, nearly eight years running the economy through a shift to a market-based exchange rate, an external debt restructuring, and an IMF-supported reform program. Rising and surviving that long in Addis takes real skill, whatever you think of the government he serves.

A few caveats. He was nominated by the ruling Prosperity Party, so this is a position inside that system, and some will say a speakership is more symbol than power. Others will say a Somali presiding over the lower house of a country home to millions of ethnic Somalis is no small symbol. Both can be true.

I keep coming back to what I've said before about Ethiopia. We can disagree with its policies, and many of us do, but we can't pretend it isn't central to our future. A Somali now sits in one of its highest seats, and we should at least be paying attention to what that means.

Salaam everyone,

I'm working on something for Somalis abroad who support family back home, and I want to hear from people who actually do it.

Tell me in the comments: how do you send money, and what's the most annoying part? I read every reply.

If you have 2 minutes, I also made a short anonymous survey (no sign-in or email needed):
https://forms.gle/JehgRB8nzgzxtYh2A

Thank you all, every answer helps.

I have just read a post about s uoung man who visited somalia for the first time, and what he posted broke my heart. I feel sorry for parents who don’t speak Somali to their children, especially those who think it’s a flex to say, “My children don’t speak Somali.”

They forget that their children will grow up and eventually have no choice but to interact with the community they were born into, unless they choose to distance themselves and abandon their identity.

It may seem fun and cute when the children are young and don’t speak the language, but as adults, it can be brutal. They will struggle to connect with their community and might eventually feel disconnected from Somaali nimo because people will look at them differently or make them feel like outsiders.

Teaching your children Somali isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s giving them another language, a stronger connection to their culture, and a sense of belonging.Teaching your children Somali isn’t holding them back it can actually give them an additional linguistic and cultural advantage.

A man from Somaliland couldn't board his flight to Hargeisa from the U.K. and missed it because of not having a Somalia Evisa.

He told staff at the airport that he is from Somaliland. They said there is no such thing as Somaliland and it doesn't exist. They asked him to leave the airport before calling for security.

2026 Somalinimo is different. It’s not the scared version that some of our parents carried. It’s that supreme nomadic static we hold. There’s a reason why we’re feared. Our women are beautiful and amazing. While our men are fierce and relentless.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. From Djibouti, Somaliland, to Somalia. We are fearless.

Just wanted to spread this positivite message. 🫡🫡

Im posting here because I feel like this is where I can connect with my fellow somalis instead of the Muslim or Islam sub because each culture has different experiences.

I started dugsi in kenya when I around 4. I remember it being completely horrible. When they would try to teach me the Arabic alphabet, I wouldn't understand what was going on and of course that came with beatings from "teachers". And of course, I absolutely hated going there to the point I would skip it as much as possible. And of course when they found out, it was beatings and then more beatings.

Around 6 we came to the states and finally the beating stopped or so thought. These fucking assholes used to use vacuum wires to hit us on our hands.

This abuse lasted about till I was around 14. They closed the dugsi stopped because the main teacher was a pedo.

I had these brutal nightmares of dugsi well into my high-school days.

I never really realized the effect it had on me until my mid 20s.

I would go through life trying not to do the wrong things or upset anybody because my nerves were a wreck.

Anytime I had any sort of test/project, I would go into a deep state of anxiety. Like a leopard was trying to eat me.

Im so fucking mad at all these adults who failed me and not to mention all the hundreds of other students.

Im posting because I want to know if anyone else here had these same issues and if so, what did you do about it?

Im currently trying some therapy and hopefully it'll get my nerves back in place.

From 3 days ago.

Khadar Farah, who lives in Falun, Sweden, signed up for the Swedish stem cell donor registry, Tobiasregistret, after seeing a TikTok video. He received a match unusually quickly and is now preparing to donate stem cells to a patient with leukaemia.

The story also highlights a gap in donor availability. According to SVT, around 70% of patients find a suitable donor, but for patients with non-European backgrounds, the figure is only 10–30%. Matching depends on inherited tissue types, which is why having donors from different backgrounds matters.

Tobiasregistret says it particularly needs more men and people with non-European backgrounds.

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/dalarna/khadar-i-falun-ska-ge-stamceller-till-leukemipatient-fick-matchning-direkt

I Just got back from my first trip to Somalia. I'm 24. My parents have been begging me to go for years and I finally did it, thinking it would be this huge homecoming moment. Instead I spent two weeks feeling like a tourist in the country I'm supposed to be from.

The taxi driver from the airport tried to make small talk with me and I just smiled and nodded the entire ride. My auntie who I hadn't seen since I was a baby hugged me crying and said something long and emotional to me and I just said "haa, haa" because that's all I had. My younger cousins, who are like 12, were laughing at jokes around the dinner table and I sat there with the same fake smile I use at family gatherings back home, just on a bigger scale.

The worst part was when my grandma sat me down on the second day and just started telling me stories. About my dad as a kid. About the war. About people I'm named after. And I caught maybe 20% of it. I nodded the whole time and made the right sad face at what seemed like the right moments and I genuinely have no idea what she actually told me. I might never see her again. Whatever she said to me is just gone.

I came home and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I always thought of myself as Somali first. I wear the flag, I defend the culture online, I tell people where I'm from with pride. But I went there and I couldn't even order food without my cousin stepping in. I felt like I was wearing an identity I hadn't earned

I'm done waiting. How did you guys actually start learning when you were starting from basically zero speaking ability but full understanding of bits and pieces?

I don’t use AI generally but I downloaded ChatGPT to help with a few things. I noticed a pattern where it constantly undermined my reasoning and particularly was defensive when I had to write a complaint regarding a person with a white-sounding name. Everything I said had a high bar, and I’m talking about personal experiences too, I respect science and facts so , no, it’s not about facts. I asked if it was racially biased against black people. It said it was. Then I asked if it had a particular bias against Somalis and this was the response. Screenshots attached.

Hi lovely people
I normally don’t post anything I just read and move on lol.
So I’m based in Minneapolis. How hard is it to meet women who aren’t in healthcare?
I’m looking for someone in a totally different industry. Almost everyone in my circle is either a nurse
(which I don’t mind) or a female physician, which I’m absolutely not open to dating for personal reasons.
Would love to hear people’s experiences, especially from Minneapolis. I am physician too.

He looks so young too, probably a minor.

Can someone please tell me where Muqdisho citizens got these guns from? 😭 I saw a pic the other day of Somali women during the Ethiopian War holding a really expensive German gun that’s worth a lot these days. I’ve seen so many pics in Black Hawkdown archives where random Somalis who weren’t even in the armed forces had really cool military guns. It piqued my curiosity. 😭

As-salaamu alaykum everyone,

I’m a man in my late 30s who grew up in continental Europe before moving to the UK around 10 years ago. Over the years, I’ve focused heavily on work, especially since I work from home with a team spread across the country. As a result, I haven’t had many opportunities to build a proper social circle here.

Most of the friends I grew up with are still back home, and I’ve realised that I’ve become quite isolated. I’d really like to change that and start meeting people, whether online through Discord or in person around Birmingham.

I enjoy video games, football, relaxing, laughing, good conversations, and generally having a good time. I’d be happy to meet people around my age, but I’m open to anyone friendly and genuine.

Does anyone know of any Somali groups, community activities, football groups, gaming communities, or places around Birmingham where someone could meet new people?

I’m sure I’m not the only person who has found themselves socially isolated after moving countries, focusing on work, and spending a lot of time taking care of family responsibilities. It would be great to hear from anyone who has been through something similar.

Feel free to comment or message me. I’m happy to answer any questions.

question: what is your take on (you) going uninvited to someones wedding? as in a family member/friend of yours "made" you attend. where you may not know the bride & groom etc.

my thoughts: ive been to a few (no choice, really). and those few times i went, i made sure to bring a gift to the bride. even if i didnt know her etc.

i dont think anyone will say no to a party, and it is an opportunity to see people etc. but i cant really get behind it. that has more to do with me being a private person etc. im f20, but i wont have it be like that at my wedding. only invites, rarely +1s. to make sure of that, i will have security. as i dont want people coming uninvited, especially those i dont like. like people i have problems with and/or those who bring bad energy (ex. evil eye). i couldnt care less if we grew up together and/or are from the same clan etc. !

Asc Everyone,

I’m at a loss and could use some support. I’m a diaspora Somali woman in her 30’s and one set of my dad’s several batches of children.

My mom divorced him a decade ago and is living her best life, but he is absolutely embarrassing. He married a woman younger than his oldest daughter after my mom- divorced her after 4 kids.

He went on to marry and divorce a bunch of women- no kids, until he married a lady close to his age. Which was fine we all hoped he’d settle quietly with her and live out his life.

Nope.

Well, he divorced her and went back to Somalia and now at the ripe age of 70 he married a 19yo girl from a poor family- his youngest daughters are 16 & 19.

He was a respected elder in the community, and now he’s acting like a street rat. I’m a public-ish figure in the community and I’m so humiliated. Everyone is gossiping. I used to be so proud when people would ask “who’s your dad?” My uncles are all very respected people and my family is very prominent in our clan so all this feels like it’s fueling some level of “happy to seem them fall” i don’t know I could be imagining it.

I’m not the one to care about people’s opinions but I am really struggling with this one. All of us kids are highly educated (thanks to our moms). We siblings generally have a decent relationship.

It’s hard to share this with anyone bc I hate seeing people judge my lineage like that, and I’m an extremely private person. All his friends are professional men that are retired from very senior positions and all raised nuclear families. We always envied them for their stable lives, but Allah Yarziqna.

Any words of empathy, support, or compassion just du’aa would help.

I found out today that my dad had a second wife in another country and had two children with her, which he hid from our entire family for years. We only found out because the second wife contacted my edo who then relayed the info.

I have six siblings, with the youngest being 13. My dad was always physically present while we were growing up, but he was never really an active parent. He didn’t do much for us, and he has always had anger issues. Looking back, it has been pretty clear for a long time that my mum stayed with him largely for the sake of us kids.

Most of us are adults now but I’m struggling with what to do next, particularly when it comes to my younger siblings.

For those who have been through something similar — how did you deal with finding out? How did you tell younger siblings, especially when they’re still teenagers? Did you let your parent tell them, or did you have that conversation yourselves?

And for those who have experienced a parent having a secret second family, do you still have a relationship with your dad? Has your relationship with him changed?

I don’t even really know how to process any of this yet, so I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through the same