Global/Local

The Global/Local section focuses on connections between Minnesotans and the world.

Miss Minnesota Latina: Contestants prepare for first-ever pageant

By Jay Gabler, Front Row Seat

Kendry Briceño and Ivet Garcia. Photos by Jay Gabler.

Late in the afternoon of January 16, a group of unusually well-dressed Latina women—ranging from teenagers with braces to self-assured women in their late 20s—could be seen milling about the second floor lobby of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. “Ooh, a chocolate fountain!” said one, pointing at a corporate event across the lobby. Eventually, they all made their way downstairs, the younger women teetering on their high heels.

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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers message to Minnesota Somalis

By Ibrahim Hirsi, TC Daily Planet

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud  and Minneapolis Congressional Representative Keith Ellison

With songs of hope and peace filling the auditorium and waves of Somali’s blue-and-white flag reaching as far as the eye could see, thousands of Minnesota Somalis assembled January 18 at the Minneapolis Convention Center to meet Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

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From Laos to Minnesota: My life, my journey, my wish

By Chery Hlar, Minnesota Literacy Council

This excerpt is from the Minnesota Literacy Council's annual reading by adult learners held on May 12, 2011 in collaboration with the Loft Literary Center. The event featured the stories of adult literacy students enrolled in English as a Second Language, GED, reading and other classes. Several of the readers were authors featured in the book Journeys: An Anthology of Adult Student Writings. Some are immigrants or refugees writing in their second or third language, while others shared their writing for the first time after years of frustration and anxiety attributed to low literacy skills. For more information or to order a copy of the book, visit mnliteracy.org.

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Minnesota Literacy Council

Double Dragon Foods: Good eats, touchy staff

By Stephanie Fox, Global Groceries

At Double Dragon Foods, at the corner of Maryland and Rice in St. Paul, I encountered something I’ve never previously experienced in any ethnic grocery store: hostility.

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OUR STORY | Iraqi Minnesotans and U.S. veterans tell their stories: Meet them January 24

By Luke Wilcox, TC Daily Planet

Luke Wilcox of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project told TCDP about the January 24 reception for U.S. vets and Iraqi refugees who told their stories through the Veterans Book Project. The reception will be 7-9 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business, Schulze Hall Atrium, 1000 LaSalle Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403

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Nagasaki and St. Paul, bound by a desire for peace

By Eleanor Trenary, Macalester Orange

At the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki, Japan, hundreds of multicolored paper cranes symbolizing peace and unity line the wall across from the coat check. Downstairs in the exhibition hall are plenty of objects representing war, hate, pain, suffering, and death. Although the story of the Atomic Bomb in Nagasaki is part of world history, it was Americans who built and dropped the A-bomb. Walking through the exhibition and learning about the incredible destruction of the Atomic Bomb is a profoundly American experience.

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Macalester Orange

Iraq-Minnesota connections: Art, war and recovery

By Staff, Iraq Art Project

What is the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project? Listen to interviews with IARP co-founder Sami Rasouli and volunteers Sue Johnston and Anna Kaminski.

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Iraq-Minnesota connections — Naser Amin: "Not all immigrants are uneducated"

By Nathan Fisher, Iraq Art Project

"I would like to tell Americans and, in specific, Minnesotans, that not all immigrants and especially Iraqis are uneducated," says Naser Amin. Amin is an aircraft mechanic and a refugee, searching for a job. He tells his story in this video — a collaboration between Naser Amin, filmmaker Nathan Fisher, The Advocates for Human Rights, and the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. For more information, visit http://iraqiartproject.org.

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Iraq-Minnesota connections: Jamela Hasoon's story — and how U.S. is losing out on medical professionals

By Nathan Fisher, Iraq Art Project

"The United States is losing out on highly talented, skilled, educated, experienced physicians," says Mimi Oo of the African and American Friendship Association for Cooperation and Development. Jamela Hasoon is one of those physicians.

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Iraq-Minnesota connections: Mohamed Miran, aircraft engineer and refugee

By Nathan Fisher, Iraq Art Project

Mohammed Miran grew up in Iraq, became an aircraft engineer, lived through two wars, worked with U.S. forces after the second Gulf War, and then was forced to flee his home and country. Today he lives in Minnesota. He tells his story in this video — a collaboration between Mohammed Miran, filmmaker Nathan Fisher, The Advocates for Human Rights, and the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. For more information, visit http://iraqiartproject.org.

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