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| Golden Mo-ment: Farah wins in London |
Size: 70,000 according to estimates made in 2006 by
the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees — the largest number of
Somalis living outside the country.
Age: Over 100 years old. The first Somali
Londoners were late 19th-century sailors and merchants but the majority of
today’s community emigrated in the Eighties and Nineties because of the Somali
civil war.
Favourite parts of London: Ealing, Islington and
Tower Hamlets.
Would it be fair to say that Mo Farah is the most
famous Somali Londoner? Technically he’s an ex-Londoner as he relocated to
America in 2011, but we’ll always consider him a homeboy.
How old was Mo when he arrived here? He was eight
and barely spoke a word of English. Only 21 years later he’s been made a
CBE after winning two gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.
Who are the city’s other well-known Somalis? Well,
there’s the writer Nadifa Mohamed, whose debut novel, Black Mamba Boy, was
shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas prize. And of course there’s Eighties
supermodel Iman.
The one who’s married to David Bowie? Yes — but as
she runs a £25 million-a-year cosmetics company for women of all ethnicities
and speaks five languages, being married to Bowie for the past decade is really
the least of her achievements.
Point taken. But talking of pop stars, where can I
check out the Somali music scene? You could tune in online to London-based
Nomad Radio. Or you could go to one of artist collective NUMBI’s events. It
holds regular nights and workshops at Bethnal Green’s Rich Mix. The name is
Somali for a healing dance in which you let go of all your inhibitions.
When can we go? There’s an Afropunk night on
Saturday, February 9 with a screening of the documentary Punk in Africa before
live music and DJs.
Wonderful. Let’s see if we can get the whole room
doing the Mobot.
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