Crisis in Somalia Community Forum
Tuesday, November 18 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Food for Thought Books, 106 N. Pleasant St, Amherst Center

The current situation in Somalia has been called the greatest humanitarian crisis in Africa and in the world. Political violence has displaced over a million Somalis within their country and dispersed more than 450,000 refugees worldwide. In the past year alone, the number of refugees has doubled. But you may not have heard any of this in the mainstream media. The Walaalo! Project arises from the Somali community’s experience of war and displacement. A special series of public forums will provide background and perspective on their story. These free events invite you to dialogue with local and national scholars and Somali community leaders, to reach a deeper understanding of Somali history, current events, and the political roots of the ongoing refugee crisis. They’ll also include informal sharings of Somali songs, poetry and personal stories with the Walaalo! participants. Professor Abdi Samatar from the University of Minnesota will discuss the link between social capital and ethnicity in the horn of Africa, development and the global capitalist economy and the US’s relationship to Somalia. The Crisis in Somalia forums are co-sponsored by New WORLD Theater, the Center for Popular Economics, Western Mass. American Friends Service Committee, the International Language Institute, Lean on Me Family Center and other partner organizations, with generous support from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. Free and Open to the Public

2007 – 2008 SEASON Shekadii Walaalo!

Buy Tickets On Line Email This Event to a Friend Remind Me of This Event Add Event to MySpace Calendar RSVP on Facebook Saturday, November 22 7:00 pm Bowker Auditorium, Umass Shekadii Walaalo, Sister-Story, is the culminating performance of a multi-year community-based project, featuring the Pioneer Valley’s own Somali community in a vibrant evening of live music, dance, video, poetry and storytelling. Based on the traditional Somali epic form, the Riwad, Shekadii Walaalo illuminates the contemporary experiences of the Somali women and men who are now our neighbors. It is a journey of survival, displacement, and new beginnings: from fleeing a beloved homeland, through war and refugee camps, to resettlement in Massachusetts, and the realities of life as African Muslims in post-9/11 America. These extraordinary stories reveal the power of the human spirit to rise above the worst of human atrocities, and the persistence of love through the greatest of human challenges. This community-based theater production is an original work created by members of the Walaalo! Somali Sisters Collective, in collaboration with professional artists supported by New WORLD Theater.

Free and Open to the Public