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The Somali Diaspora A Journey Away Abdi Roble and Doug Rutledge Table of Contents |
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The heartbreaking and hopeful story of Somali immigrants in America. Since 2003, photographer Abdi Roble and writer Doug Rutledge have been documenting the lives of Somali immigrants in the United States and of the people forced into the vast refugee camps that were set up in Kenya in the wake of the 1991 civil war in Somalia. In The Somali Diaspora, Roble, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia in 1989, and Rutledge trace the journey of a family from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, home to more than 150,000 Somalis, to new lives in the United States. The Somali Diaspora follows the family of Abdisalem, his wife Ijabo, and their three daughters as they struggle to survive in Dadaab before being relocated first to Anaheim, California, where they barely make ends meet, and then to Portland, Maine. In addition, the book portrays life in two of the largest Somali communities in the United States. Minneapolis is home to more than 80,000 Somalis, who have created an established community in which many of its members are educated professionals. The Somali community in Columbus, Ohio, while thriving, has not yet enjoyed as warm a reception from the larger community. The story of the Somali diaspora as told through Roble’s intimate photographs and Rutledge’s insightful essays is extraordinary and inspiring. Together they take readers from civil war in Africa to the culture shock of arriving in the United States, growing roots in the Somali community, learning English, finding work, and—in a remarkably short time—participating fully in American life while sustaining a faith in Islam and a distinct cultural identity. “The book is a feast that replaces the agonizing negativity that had engulfed the community for so long. Roble and Rutledge are to be commended for all the hard work that went to bring this book to fruition. A picture as they say is worth a thousand words, the cover of the book for that matter says it all, Somalis have come a long way. The Somali Diaspora: A Journey Away has certainly captured its rightful place in Somali literature.” —Wardheer News “Roble’s compilation truly attempts to do justice to the diverse community it covers, representing both marginal and majority sub-populations within the Somali community. Roble and Rutledge’s powerful collaboration exists as a meaningful historical account for a community struggling to collect itself from a devastating civil war. But above all, the piece expresses tremendous hope in, and for, the Somali Diaspora in Minnesota and elsewhere.” —Mshale “Through the Somali Documentary Project and this book, Roble and Rutledge are helping to create a new photographic history not only for the Somali community but also for the larger American community.” —Multicultural Review “You may never meet a photographer with the ‘eye of an eagle’ quite like Abdi Roble, nor will you likely meet a writer with the talent of Doug Rutledge. These two gifted individuals have captured earnest human experiences in a new book on the Somali Diaspora—the worldwide emigration of Somalis from the homeland. The Somali Diaspora is the most complete, well-written book to come out of the crisis in that country and the new life being discovered in places such as Rochester and Minneapolis.” —Rochester Post-Bulletin “The Somali Diaspora, with beautiful but haunting photographs and eloquent text by Roble and Rutledge, is trying to start a dialogue among Somalians and Americans that will help to foster communication between the two cultures so that both peoples may understand each other. . . . Both Abdi Roble and Doug Rutledge are to be commended for the work they are doing.” —The Journal of African American Studies Abdi Roble is a freelance photographer and the founder of the Somali Documentary Project. His exhibitions include “Leica Portrait of Cuba” (2003), “The Somali Diaspora” (2005), “Against Forgetting: Beyond Genocide and Civil War” (2006), and “Stories of the Somali Diaspora” at the Columbus Museum of Art (2007). He lives in Columbus, Ohio. Doug Rutledge is a poet, playwright, and independent scholar of the English language and literature. He regularly contributes to Hiiraan Online, Somali Link, and The African Voice—Ireland and is the writer for the Somali Documentary Project. He lives in Columbus, Ohio. 176 pages | 131 b&w photos | 10 x 10 | 2008
The Somali Documentary Project: How It All Began The Somali Diaspora in America Dadaab: That Dry Hungry Place From Refugee to Dependent: The Family of Abdisalam Columbus, Ohio: Preparing for American Life Minneapolis: Participation in the Mogadishu on the Mississippi The Future: Hope for the Somali Diaspora Acknowledgments |
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$34.95 paper