Why Write From the Boondocks?

 Because if you do not, it remains the boondocks. Because every place is the boondocks.

Consider Ayaan Mohamud's I never encountered a Somali character in books growing up – I had to change that:

When this feeling was coupled with the age-old question of who Somalis are, I found it hard to carve out my own sense of identity. Torn between the country’s physical location on the Horn of Africa, our ethnic homogeneity, and Somalia’s membership of the League of Arab States, it often felt as if I was being pulled in a million different directions. Was I Black, east African, Arab or simply … Somali? And how did my identity as a Muslim fit on to these racialised lines?

None of this was helped by the lack of authentic representation of Somalis in literature. As a child, I was a voracious reader. I devoured books by authors like Meg Cabot, Anthony Horowitz, and Jenny Nimmo. As I got a little older, I set my sights on Jane Austen, Cassandra Clare and John Green. With hindsight, I wonder why I never stumbled across books with a diverse cast of characters, and feel saddened that I never even stopped to question their absence.

Oh, yeah, one last thing, by writing your story about your place and your people, then you affirm your humanity and your people's humanity. Remember, it is easy for one group of humans to remember another group is also human.

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