Young Somali clerk Hussen physically resisted brutal white colonial superiors

Evidence

Enraged by Fitzpatrick’s arrogance and Ardon’s submission to such ignominy, Hussen decided to challenge Fitzpatrick’s authority. Early the next day, Hussen delivered his reports to Fitzpatrick, whose desk was on a platform since the room doubled as a court. Fitzpatrick noticed that Hussen did not take his shoes off and scolded him for disobeying the edict. Hussen retorted that this diktat was capricious and not sanctioned by the government. Hussen’s attitude infuriated Fitzpatrick, who came down from his platform and punched Hussen in the abdomen. Hussen fought back, and the two men wrestled. Fitzpatrick was much stronger than the skinny Hussen but could not pin him down. He called for Ardon’s help. Fitzpatrick instructed Ardon to take “the boy” to the local prison. Hussen was registered in the police occurrence book and locked in a prison cell. A few hours later Hussen was taken back to Fitzpatrick’s office and ordered to take his shoes off. Hussen refused and was returned to prison. A day later he was released. Unexpectedly, Hussen received a strange gift of half a truckload of millet from the commander. Hussen could not understand what this gift was for, but he later found out that this was Fitzpatrick’s way of making up to those among the staff who suffered his brutality. The next morning a smiling Fitzpatrick came to Hussen’s workstation and told him that he would get more rewards if he followed orders. For the next few days everyone was tense. Fitzpatrick did not speak to Hussen but warned that he could be shot for insubordination. … Fitzpatrick was annoyed by the arrogance of this native but decided to wait for another opportunity to teach him a lesson. By this time, Hussen had deeply internalized SYL ideas of national liberation and resistance to colonialism and was in no mood to accept Fitzpatrick’s excesses. These contrasting worldviews clashed again a few days later when the commissioner ordered Hussen to vacate the government house where he lived. White officers were coming to town and needed proper accommodation. A few days later Fitzpatrick came to the station while Hussen was busy receiving a message on the wire and asked Hussen why he did not stand up when the boss entered the station. Fitzpatrick then kicked Hussen’s chair. Hussen got up, removed his earphones, and started wrestling with the commissioner. Fitzpatrick got on top of Hussen before the latter was able to flip him. The commander called for Ardon, who took Hussen to prison. Later in the day Hussen was freed, but he was raging mad and decided to eliminate this arrogant colonialist. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 203

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s Somalia-democracy narrative as background on Abdirazak Hussen’s anticolonial formation before independence politics.
• QUESTION: Which colonial district and year was this Fitzpatrick incident? The text omits the broader context of where and when Hussen served.