I don’t like posting videos because no one really has the time to sit down and watch a video. But this is actually pretty good. One of the best. So if you have the time watch it. It shows Vintage Somalia.
Former Somali Prime Minister Sharmarke visits the US capital in 1962. He got a world class state reception from President JFK. What’s interesting is during this time, racism was very high in America. This was before Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have A Dream Speech. Black Americans were still sitting at the back of the bus and being discriminated and treated like second class citizens throughout America. The U.S government however, was strategically pursuing friendly relations with African nations; Somalia being an important one.
Mariam Hussein, Somalia #basketball
From Financial Times
“Mariam Hussein, the Somali national basketball ace, didn’t choose her sport. “I think it chose me,” she says. “I used to play with guys all the time. When I started playing with females it was much easier – because the guys weren’t giving me a chance, I’ll tell you that.” She’s laughing, but her voice is a shock
The deep, husky, street-inflected American accent is more what you’d expect from Snoop in the The Wire than a 27-year-old Somali-born girl with a bleached topknot, who won a scholarship to the US and now lives in Canada. Watching her play at the Pan Arab Games in Doha last December, lobbing the ball into the hoop from the three-point line 20ft away, you’ve got to agree with one of her YouTube fans: “That tiny girl plays like dynamite. Real lioness! All the girls are great, but Mariam is full of talent and inspiration. Well done girls, God bless you all!”
article: Everything to play for
video: http://video.ft.com/v/1731160639001
her predecessors here
The story of basketball has a deep history in Somalia both for women and men. Glad to see a resurgence.
MY COUNTRY. MY CONSTITUTION
Somalia is in the process of adopting a new Provisional Constitution. What does this mean for the country? What does it mean to individual citizens, to Elders, to women, to businesspeople, to youth, to professionals, to city dwellers, to nomads and to the Somali Diaspora? Does the Provisional Constitution respect the Islamic values of Somali citizens?
This leaflet provides some basic information to answer your questions.
UNPOS- United Nations Political Office for Somalia is on TUMBLR. Follow to be informed. They actually do post relevant information about Somalia and the UN’s work in Somalia. Somalia is in the process of adopting a new constitution as well. Learn more through the link. Get involved.
Who would’ve thought there would be a chapter in Mogadishu compromising of both Somali and non Somali girls.
Somalia 1987 via —-> Lilian Wardell
Lilian has descriptions for each of the photos above so do check them out. I put the link above.
Update
Hello
I hope you guys are all well and enjoying your summer vacations. It’s been a few months since I started vintagesomalia and I continue to be surprised with your kind messages and interests. This site is about Somalia’s recent destroyed past. For many Somalia’s story only goes back as far as the onset of the civil war in 1991. For those who have known Somalia in the days before the war, this is a shame. There is a lot that people don’t know about Somalia. I hope you have been able to glimpse some of it on here. There are many stories to Somalia and I encourage you guys to learn more. My work and education revolves around Somalia and its a pleasure for me to share with you guys this past of Somalia.
About the timing of the posts and how much I post for me its really about quality rather than quantity. So if I take some time between posts please forgive me. I am just weeks away from finishing off my post graduate degree here in London, England. This has been my main concentration this year. I don’t want to keep doing the same thing. l hope to share with you guys more and new things.
Thanks again and stay in touch.
City Hall, Mogadishu, Somalia. Its still standing.
Recent info on the hall from Mitchell Sipus’s Urban Planning blog
“The rebuilding of Mogadishu may be faced with a multitude of obstacles, but there is no doubt about about the power of its beauty. I’m not referring to the exotic fascination many have over its ruins, but rather am pointing toward the poetic architecture and rich, vibrant street life. It may not yet have all the amenities of wealthier cities, but it contains a brilliant charm magnified by the frenetic energy of all those returning to take part in the historic reconstruction of the city.
The historic City Hall captures the essence of this beauty. Presently it is occupied by displaced families, yet its stunning white facade adjacent to the ocean, beside a recently restored arc d’triumph, is evocative of all the opportunity that lay ahead for the city. The architecture is grande and dignified, with broad sweeping archways referencing the influence of Italian colonialism and the cultural leanings of the Swahili Coast. The building is long and flat, wrapping itself around a large central courtyard with a fountain in the middle. Ringed by large trees and beneath the canopy of rippling clouds, the City Hall stood strong before a visage of destruction as if the quality of leadership was hewn into its stone foundation” Read More
Can you spot Somali Airlines on the runway. These are foreign students in Mogadishu back in the day.
