Friday September 14, 2018
By Abdullahi Ali, Yusuf Yusuf, and Mohamed Awil
A response to Abdi Iftin’s memoir, Call Me American, from the author’s former roommates
From left, Mohamed Awil, Yusuf Yusuf and Abdullahi Ali, former roommates
of the author of "Call Me American," dispute his characterization of
them in the book and say there are many factual errors. Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette
Abdi
Iftin, a Somali refugee who grew up in war-torn Mogadishu, recently
wrote a memoir describing his experiences in Somalia and his journey to
the United States. This book could have been an opportunity to shine a
light on the positive aspects of immigration and to celebrate not only
his success but the successes of the Somali community in Maine. However,
in reading Call Me American, we recognized ourselves in the final
chapter and we are outraged by the incredible misinformation that was
spread by the author, not only about ourselves but about our community.
What follows is a narrative response by three of the roommates Mr. Iftin
describes in Chapter 16: “Abdul,” “Yussuf,” and “Awil.”
In
Chapter 16, Mr. Iftin shares his life experiences when he moved to
Portland, ME and became acquainted with members of the Somali community
in the area. Specifically, he references several Somali roommates, we
included. He paints a picture of us as disinterested in cultural
integration, unwilling to learn English, unwilling to accept
non-Muslims, and living paycheck-to-paycheck. He characterizes us as
simply biding our time until we could return to Somalia permanently, and
in the meantime escaping to Somalia for visits whenever we get the
chance.
We are saddened and disappointed by what we have read. We
are shocked and outraged because the content in Mr. Iftin’s book grossly
misrepresents our Somali community in Maine. We have a vibrant and
well-integrated Somali community here. We rarely have people who have
been in the country for more than 10 years who do not speak English. The
portrayal that we do not have American born friends is absolutely and
categorically untrue. Some of us employ hundreds of people including
American-born Mainers. We did not see anything about our
accomplishments, or even at least the true facts about ourselves
included in Call Me American.
What disappoints us, even more, is
that a member of our own Somali community is lying about us, perhaps to
advance a personal interest. We absolutely celebrate the fact that a
friend and a member of our community wrote a book about his journey and
his struggles for a better life. However, we cannot sit idly by and
watch when a section of this book is nothing but an utter falsehood that
vilifies us, our friends and our community. This is not, in any way, to
suggest that the entire story is untrue; it could be. While Mr. Iftin
was in Somalia, no one can verify the authenticity of his account of the
events. This piece is simply in response to our disappointment with the
part of Call Me American that talks about the three of us, and about
the Somali community that he joined in Maine. We lived this part with
Mr. Iftin. We state vehemently: THIS PART OF THE STORY IS A FABRICATION.
Abdi Iftin was our roommate for a while. When he first came to
Maine, we were told about him by a friend of a friend of his host
family. After a couple of phone calls, Abdullahi and another friend (a
medical student) visited him. Soon after, he asked us all to take him to
Somali stores, mosques, restaurants and other community-owned centers.
We did without hesitation. We also invited him for lunch and introduced
him to our other friends. Abdullahi even allowed Mr. Iftin to practice
driving and to take the road test in his brand-new car, assuming all
liability. We wanted to help him find his way in the United States while
maintaining a sense of belonging and community. This is what we have
done, and will continue to do, for all new arrivals to the United
States. That is part of our community and our values. The three of us
would like to point out various misrepresentations included in Call Me
American and we will provide the truth of the matter in response to the
egregious mischaracterization of ourselves and of our community.
The
author states that “[Abdul, Yussuf and Awil] had been in the country for
more than 10 years.” Not true. By that time, we had all been in the
country for less than 5 years. He goes on to report that “Abdul learned
English because he needed it for his business.” Again, not true.
Abdullahi learned English in Kenya. He studied Community Development and
Sociology in Kenya. By the time he met Mr. Iftin, Abdullahi was in his
4th year at USM studying Social Science and Economics. He acquired his
Master’s Degree in 2016 from the University of Southern New Hampshire
and started his own business. He has not returned to Somalia since he
came to Maine; in fact. Abdullahi had also held several other
professional jobs before he even met Mr. Iftin.
Another piece of this
chapter states that “Awil and Yussuf didn’t know any English words.”
Mohamed “Mo” Awil is a young man who is brilliant and well-integrated.
He is a graduate of Lewiston High School and currently in his 4th year
at USM studying Social Work. He works with a local agency as an
executive assistant and he is one of the most talented individuals you
could meet. While at LHS, he competed for Regional and State track
championships and served as the team’s captain. He won no less than
seven Varsity letters and was a member of National Technical Honor
Society. His English skills, both verbal and written, are every bit as
good as any Native Mainer. His knowledge and love for American sports,
movies, art and entertainment are unimaginable. He is described by Mr.
Iftin as “scurrying away” from other people because his lack of English
was “like being naked.” Clearly, this is completely false. Moreover, Mo
Awil has never even been to Somalia. He was born in Kenya and has not
returned to Africa since he came to Maine. Yusuf Yusuf holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Western Washington University. He
has never returned to Somalia. He is a professional social worker who
helps other refugees and immigrants integrate into the society. He
garners praise and respect from colleagues, clients and the social
services community with his spectacular work. Even if Mr. Iftin was
referring to our friend Yusuf, and not our roommate, the book’s
description would still be far from the fact. Our friend Yusuf completed
a medical degree in less than 7 years and during that time was always
an “A” student. He currently works as a Physician Assistant in one of
Maine’s hospitals.
Mr. Iftin goes on to detail another roommate,
Mohamed, the taxi driver. We never had anyone who was a taxi driver by
that name in that apartment. As you can see, the number of roommates is
exaggerated. He then reports that Mo Awil and Yusuf worked at Walmart
stocking shelves when they first arrived in the US. This never happened.
This is only as true as “we ate on the floor.” In fact, Mo Awil’s first
job in the US was as a youth counsellor, followed by a role as a field
supervisor with a social action agency. Moreover, our residence was
described as being essentially a low-income dump, which is again
completely untrue. It’s been years since we all lived together, but we 3
continue to pay full, non-subsidized rent on our own. In fact, we might
point out that Mr. Iftin declined an invitation to pay rent and be a
roommate to one of us in our new apartments, instead opting to go back
to living rent-free with his original host family.
As we have
mentioned, Mr. Iftin repeatedly attests that we try to get back to
Somalia as often as possible, using statements such as “they had all
returned home at least twice for a visit, and they talked about enjoying
camel meat, which you can’t find in Maine.” None of us have returned to
Somalia since we came to the US. Not even once. We do, however, rejoice
in our Somali heritage and culture. The camel is a symbol of
Somaliness. We are proud of Somali-Americans! This is a direct
contradiction to the statement “no one except me [Abdi Iftin] had a
passion for America.” The accomplishments listed in this piece are a
testimony to our hard work and our passion for the American dream. Mr.
Iftin seems to draw his American identity from his love of pop culture
and little more. We don’t think playing hip-hop songs come anywhere
close to our accomplishments. We do, however, listen to all the hip-hop
songs you could think of. Some of us have enlisted in the Army Reserves.
Some of us mentor and empower other younger citizens in our community.
Success is not measured by what songs you listen to nor by the number of
movies you’ve seen. Our friends went to school, graduated with honors,
found professional jobs, pay taxes, live independently and give back to
the larger community. To us, that seems like the most American thing
anyone could do.
Call Me American also shares misinformation about
religion, specifically that the author’s roommates “yelled at me for not
praying.” That is utterly false. Some of us, currently, have non-Muslim
roommates or have had non-Muslim partners. We have non-Muslim
co-workers and anyone that has known us can confidently testify that we
do not bring religion into any conversations. Some of us are practicing
Muslims, others are not. We respect all others as human beings and we
embrace differences rather than discriminating. The statement that “they
only listen to Arabic Nasheeda” [prayer chants] is similarly untrue.
Only one of us speaks Arabic. Some of us can barely read or write
Somali; English is the language we use on a daily basis. Mr. Iftin also
said every Somali asks him about his tribe. We didn’t. None of our
friends did. Some of us, unlike him, do not even know what tribe we
belong to. We also don’t want to know.
Another inflammatory excerpt
reads "For most Somalis in Maine, the only future goal besides going
back home, was to have money left to send to family members," and "my
roommates did not have saving accounts." Somalis in Maine do not live
paycheck-to-paycheck as described in the book. We own homes, businesses
and are represented in various sectors of the economy. We support our
family members back home and we save money at the same time. That is how
we started businesses, graduated from schools and how we continue to
pay taxes.
The picture that Call Me American illustrates is that
the Somalis in Maine are a bunch of backward, radical and isolated
individuals waiting until they can return to Somalia, making no efforts
to integrate or to work hard. What makes it worse are the plain lies
about individuals like us that are then being used to generalize the
whole community. We wish to call attention to the fact that this memoir,
while written by a member of the Somali community, does not represent
the truths of the rest of the Somalis here in Maine or in the United
States. Mr. Iftin’s attempt to elevate himself by maligning the rest of
his community is uncalled for, untrue, and shameful.