Oral histories and lullabies in Sing Again project speak to Somali resilience
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Minnesota is home to about 80,000 Somali-Americans, each with a story to tell. Marian Hassan is capturing as many of those stories as she can.
Hassan, who has lived outside of Somalia most of her life, said her family came to Minnesota decades ago.
“It’s important to remember that people came here desiring to find home,” Hassan said. “Minnesota is the home — this is the home that they know.”
As immigration operations ramp up across the state, Hassan said she feels a responsibility to her community. She said that being a “third culture adult” — meaning she grew up in a culture different from that of her parents — comes with a responsibility to help others navigate times of unrest.
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Hassan was awarded a Minnesota Legacy Cultural Heritage Grant in 2024 to continue her career-long work documenting the oral history and lullabies of Somali culture. Through her “Sing Again” project, she has recorded and documented many songs in their original tongue.
“The lullabies really were not just lullabies or songs that lulled children to sleep,” Hassan said. “[They] carried messages of how to be a good person. They’re the instructions of life that we’ve we’ve passed on.”
Many are songs of survival and strength.
“The Somali tradition is really rooted in resilience,” Hassan added.
“What’s keeping us going really is sense of hope that that we are going to be OK,” she said. “But many people are not seeing that in these last few days.”
Listen to the conversation with Hassan by clicking the player above, and to hear an excerpt of a Somali lullaby.
