Melissa's Blog_African Studies

In 1976, Somalia created history. Somalia introduced their very first female pilot. Asli Hassan Abade, is celebrated today to be the first women to pilot a plane. Hassan has not just been the first female pilot, but has been the only female. She has become an expert in her professional life. Hassan trained in italy and the United States, to become the best that she can in her career. Once she had some time working for the Air force of Somalia, she left to marry her husband whom was an American aircraft engineer. As the first female pilot, Hassan uses her pilot skills to give back. This year she flew back to Somalia, after a long time, to donate medical supplies to the children's hospitals. Foe Hassan, flying back to Somalia was an emotional moment, because she had not been there for years. Somalia is her hometown, and she will always cherish that. Hassan tells us that when she first landed to Somalia, she kissed the ground, with tears of joy. http://www.africanews.com/2017/09

For today's blog I want to speak about a topic that makes me really gets to me. I am very proud to know that talented people like Rokhaya Doip are expressing their talent in a positive way. This artist is not only a doll maker, but she dedicates her time into makes barbies look more realistic. She has become highly famous for her African American doll, this doll has features that an African American girls have, like dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes. One major accomplishment was the fact that she made some albino looking barbies. The Barbie dolls are pale white white with white hair. This talented artist makes me feel very proud because children will grow up to see the reality of how women really look. Creating dolls that are very human like can really help young girls with insecurity issues, bullying issues, and suicidal issues. Doip is sending a big message to her buyers with these dolls. I am very proud of she loves what she does, and if you love what you do, you never have

The Maasai is a group that is located in Southern Kenya. Maasai is a population of people who speaks the Maa language, and are known for having the best living space. They live near ' The African great lakes', many parks, and are well dressed people. Most of the people wear the color red, as a representation of their tribe. We currently have a Kenyan artist who had developed an interest piece of art. The artist's art piece is called the "Maasai in Space". In this art piece you see images of a female Maasai who is space. The women in on a space shuttle, yet still wearing the color red and representing her tribe. There is a second image where a women is in space wearing an astronaut suite, yet still wearing earring, and jewelry. The jewelry is a tradition that is being cared onto the image of space. This art piece is beautiful because the image can have a more important meaning to it. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/28/africa/jacque-njeri-maasai-space/index.html

This big post will be regarding the car bombing that occurred in Somalia. Somalia is located in East of Africa. African News contains actual footage of the tragic that occurred. A men that was interviewed said "that when he counted the dead bodies, the count was over 20". On a typical day in Somalia, a car exploded near several markets. Because in Africa everything is close to each other many markets were destroyed. About 17 people left the scene with an injury. Till the day people are unsure of the attacker. The attacker remains anonymous, but the vehicle was a was an old car. This tragedy was a well organized attack because the car was placed in a busy area, some may say the urban part of Somalia. After reading this report on Somalia's I feel like as a person living there, I would be afraid. Having random bombings, can be political messages sent, that can be a threat. http://www.africanews.com/2016/11/26/at-least-8-killed-in-mogadishu-car-bomb-attack/