Writing About a Past Injustice Helped Him See What Happened

This book preceded what happened last year, and in a way I felt like everyone was taking my position because I was always ranting about different cases. this David OluwaleChased and killed by the police in 1969, Joy Gardnerkilled by officers during the deportation, Jimmy MubengaKilled on a British Airways flight, these things have always been a heavy burden on me. It was not a sudden awakening.

I’ve always seen the government’s side, and that’s probably why I’ve been able to keep the interest in Mahmood Mattan’s story all these years because I knew it wasn’t something that would change quickly. Even now, when I talk to the children in my family and talk about their experiences of racism, the way teachers talk to or about them, you can see that they are another generation that will have to continue the struggle. .

You said oddly that you found a lot of yourself in Mahmood. Can you detail this?

His political awareness came from lived experience, and I guess that’s the case for me as well. I do not take my politics from critical theories, but from my own lived experiences as a woman, as a Black woman, as a Muslim, as a Black woman. All this gets me so used to power, where it lies and where it doesn’t lie.

He also has a rebellious habit that you say you identify with. How would you say yours is manifesting?

I think as a writer first. This was the exact opposite of what my parents would say was a good use of my life, as an Oxford graduate who had the advantage of reviewing the entire education system here and having other options.

Being a writer, dropping out of college, and appearing unemployed, you seemed to be working in your mind but seemingly doing nothing. But something clicked in him and I felt like I was going to come alive. I feel alive as I write.

I am very resistant to the treatment of women in Somali society and the law. Somaliland and Somalia are very different in many ways, but somehow, the only thing they unite with is the desire to keep women as second-class citizens. And that’s something that doesn’t suit me at all. And it’s something I feel compelled to say over and over again, to say, “I’m not wrong, you guys are wrong, and one day you’ll realize that you can’t act that way.”

Because it’s easy to be loved if you keep quiet. I guess I’d rather be heard than be silent and loved.

One of the things that interested me most about Mahmood was his mistaken belief in English justice. Was it difficult for you to solve this?