Somali
Siman: A Transformational Movement
By Heikal I. Kenneded
September 6, 2016
Last weekend, Somalis in the state of
Northern Virginia wholeheartedly hosted a major convention of the Somali Siman
movement that’s lately gaining moment across the Somali diaspora in Northern
America. This movement that’s led by a group of Somali scholars who are
committed bringing to the fore the core issues that fueled the civil war and
the perpetual failure of a lasting peace. In an attempt to tackle the profound inequities
among the Somali society, these scholars are determined to speaking truth to
power by discussing taboo issues that held back our society in the dark ages.
It is a powerful nonviolent challenge to injustice and unrestrained
authoritarian forces, often perpetuated by the so called “majority” clans
against minority clans, when it comes to power and resource sharing. There does
seem to be at least one common denominator in regards to inequality or injustice in Somalia – and
that’s tribalism. Thus, the Somali Siman movement is committed to comforting
the afflicted, while afflicting the contented with the power of the truth: to
work for justice and equality, or else we all go down, as one people.
Close to a quarter of century after the
collapse of the Somali nation state, most Somalis are divided what exactly ails
the nation and how peace and prosperity could be restored, once again. Nonetheless,
what’s missing is the courage to stand up against egregious injustices, which
has been replaced by pusillanimity to throw conviction out the window for
personal or political expediency. There
has neither been egalitarianism “instant” in our country’s history, nor instances
when people who recognized that harsh reality and refused to accept it anymore
and dared to start a social movement to force the “powerful” to see themselves
for whom exactly they are: oppressors. In that sense, the Somali Siman movement
represents a groundbreaking campaign to be rallied around wherever Somalis are
– in the country or in the diaspora.
Unless we’re honest about our society’s
beginnings, both good and bad and therefore see our history as a series of flaws
between the different clans, and the oppressed. We must embrace our Islamic
religion, for all of its justice, equality and respect of the minority. We must
level with ourselves about the notion that equality and justice have to be
restored before we delude ourselves about nation building. We must do this out
of honesty and show deference for the millions of our brothers and sisters who
were neither counted, nor protected by justice from the beginning. We must
practice reflecting ourselves as part of a long arch of society who has revised
the inequality of our history in order to amend our notions of everyone counts.
Since the realms of power lie on those who
decide, we must acknowledge how the “powerful” have operated in our country
with impunity and the price the powerless have paid. As such, those of us
who’ve been spared from this corrupting power must dare to concede what it has
done: witness of massive economic inequities, warlordism, piracy, radical
extremism and violent competition for resources that’s manifested ongoing
drought and to the increasing of famine throughout the country. In effect, if we
are not one of those people who do not commit these egregious sins; we must challenge
the people who carry out such injustices. If we don’t, then we are nothing more
than their accomplices and will go down in history, as such.
Because the Somali problem is much deeper
than mere ragtag terrorist groups blowing themselves up, or unhelpful foreign
interventions, but rather internal problems that go to the core of our
society’s conscience that needs to be dealt with heads on. We need to recognize
the consequence of centuries of clan rivalry that was predicated on a throwaway
class of people who would be passed over so that the others could thrive and
feel entitled to more resources and power than the rest. We must recognize that
equality is not an institution; nonetheless it is a practice of radical fairness,
moral, and collaboration among different communities or societies, if done
right, fundamentally impacts our institutions. In this sense, equality has
never been invented, but rather it has been born whenever people collectively
have made a choice and stood up for a belief against the wishes of the powerful
and corrupt.
Finally, Somalis as a collective ethnicity face
an existential threat if its people do not adequately address the inequality
and injustice that permeate across its society. This is, however, an impossible
task for the weak regional state governments, and as it is of equal importance
to every segment of its society, extensive involvement is required that goes
beyond lip service and empty speeches but rather a deep awakening of the
conscience at individual level across every segment of our society.
Heikal I. Kenneded
Washington DC
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