Araweelo News Network
Associated Online Agencies
Reading Time: 6–7 minutes
By Dr. Jamal Ali Hussein
There is a particular kind of person who moves through the world leaving institutions in their wake—not monuments to themselves, but shelters for others. Dr. Hussein Abdillahi Bulhan is such a person.
Scholar, author, activist, healer, peacebuilder, and state builder, he belongs to that rare generation of Somalis who arrived in the United States in the mid-1960s on scholarships, earned their place in the highest halls of academia, and then returned home carrying knowledge not as prestige—but as responsibility.
He hails from Hargeisa and Jigjiga, where he spent his early years before receiving a full scholarship to study in the United States. What followed was a remarkable academic journey through Wesleyan University, Harvard University, and Boston University, where he earned his doctorate in psychology in 1975. He also pursued deep studies in anthropology and public health.
He became one of the youngest tenured professors at Boston University and practiced at Boston Medical Center, treating patients with the same rigor he brought to his scholarship. In the late 1980s, he co-founded Basic Healthcare Management, operating across multiple U.S. states—while continuing to write, teach, and speak.
And he wrote prolifically.
Among his many works, Frantz Fanon and the Psychology of Oppression remains a cornerstone text in psychology programs decades after its publication. His later work, Politics of Cain: One Hundred Years of Crisis in Somali Politics and Society, is now being translated into Somali—bringing his insights back to the people who shaped them.
He served as chief editor of the Horn of Africa Review, published in major outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and testified before the United States Congress as an expert on Somali affairs.
But perhaps the most defining chapter of his life began in 1995, when he made a decision few in his position would dare to make. At the height of his career in the United States, he returned to Hargeisa—not to visit, but to rebuild.
Somaliland was emerging from the ruins of civil war. He joined peace committees during the most fragile years of state formation, where dialogue itself was an act of courage.
He founded the Academy for Peace and Development, which played a critical role in peacebuilding and democratic governance. He served as President of the University of Hargeisa during its formative years, helping shape a generation of future leaders.
He also established the Maandhaye Mental Health Institution, bringing psychiatric care to a population long deprived of healing. More recently, he founded Frantz Fanon University, which he continues to lead.
Thirty years later, he remains in Hargeisa—still writing, still teaching, still healing, and still working toward reconciliation.
For me, this story is also personal.
He is my uncle—my abti. I first met him in Mogadishu in 1979, at the Aruba Hotel, where he was attending a conference. Even then, I sensed something extraordinary. Over the years, I wrote to him regularly, sharing my progress in school. He replied with encouragement and guidance that quietly shaped my path.
It was he who opened the door to America for me.
When I secured my visa from the American Embassy in Mogadishu and arranged my ticket to Frankfurt, he stepped in without hesitation—covering the final leg to Boston. He called Lufthansa and paid $690 by credit card, arranging for me to collect the ticket locally. At the time, it was an unimaginable sum—and an unforgettable act of generosity.
In the United States, he became mentor, motivator, and model. He published a bilingual newsletter, Crisis, ensuring the world did not ignore Somalia’s unfolding tragedy. Each month, we gathered to prepare and send it to policymakers, embassies, and institutions. It was simple work—but deeply meaningful.
He showed us that service is not always grand. Sometimes, it is envelopes, ink, and persistence.
He was—and remains—a role model not just to me, but to countless Somali, African, and African American scholars navigating the challenges of higher education. He made the journey seem possible because he had already made it—and then returned to guide others.
Too often, we wait until our great figures are gone before we honor them.
But the more honest act is to recognize them while they are still among us—to let them hear the gratitude, and to let the younger generation know whose shoulders they stand on.
Dr. Hussein Abdillahi Bulhan built more than institutions. He built pathways.
He is a scholar whose ideas have endured, a healer who crossed oceans to serve his people, and a builder whose legacy will outlive him.
He is proof that a life given to others is not a sacrifice—it is an inheritance.
And I am proud to call him my uncle.
Keywords:
Dr. Hussein Bulhan, Somali scholar, Somaliland peacebuilding, African intellectuals, diaspora contribution, mental health Somalia, University of Hargeisa, Somali leadership, post-war reconstruction, Frantz Fanon studies, Somali politics, education leadership, Horn of Africa development
Araweelo News Network publication