Immigrants
Reflections of New Minnesotans: Updates on the Tibetan independence movement
Local Tibetan activists Tenzin Pelkyi and Shenphen Sangpo talk about the struggle for a free Tibet, historically and in the present. [Audio below]
Photos of Joseph Benjamin Thomas, targeted St. Paul Mexican consulate, taken at 2009 neo-nazi, Tea Party Against Amnesty rallies
Via an APNewsBreak at the Winona Daily News, Amy Forliti of the Associated Press reports in Minn. man targeted Mexican consulate:MORE »
Minnesota Idea Open finalist Fatuma Mohamed proposes Hidden Pearls Project to educate Minnesotans about Muslim women
This past spring the Minnesota Idea Open, an online competition for social change, had asked the public for suggestions on their Challenge III question, “What is the best idea to build bonds and work together across cultures and faiths here in your community?” The Minnesota Community Foundation, which created MIO three years ago, believes that our state has become very diverse in cultures and faiths and that we need to build relationships with people across individual differences.MORE »
How welcoming is Minnesota to newcomers? Advocates for Human Rights to host community conversation
How welcoming is Minnesota to newcomers? That's the question being posed by The Advocates for Human Rights. This year and next, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit is monitoring, documenting, and assessing the experiences of immigrants and other key communities against international human rights standards. It’s part of a project called the One Voice Minnesota Network, an effort to build more welcoming communities statewide by providing tools and resources and promoting collaborations.MORE »
Minnesota Somalis attend conference on women's infertility issues
A group of women and men gathered together to discuss the issue of infertility is probably a rare event — particularly within the Minnesota Somali community. But this week, several hundred Twin Cities Somalis attended Insuroon, a conference on women’s infertility issues. Insuroon is a Somali word that means, “Woman who can take care of herself.”MORE »
Demonstrators call on banks to support communities
Hundreds marched through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on May 11, protesting the recklessness and hypocrisy of Wells Fargo’s dealings with Minnesota’s immigrant community. The march capped a weeklong string of “Occupy”-style protests across the Twin Cities.MORE »
St. Paul Hmong two-way immersion programs face challenges of enrolling non-Hmong students, developing curriculum
Nou Her is a pre-kindergarten teacher in the first Hmong immersion program in the nation, located at St. Paul’s Jackson Elementary school. She’s also a translator.
During the summer, on weekends, on weeknights and during prep hours, she translates children’s books, district curriculum, wall hangings and songs. “From big books to small books to rhyming to alliteration,” she said.
It’s what’s required for a program that teaches core curriculum in a language for which there exist virtually no commercial curriculum materials.MORE »
Say it ain't so, Sheriff Joe
Years ago a college classmate of mine from New York visited a mutual friend of ours who owns a ranch in southern Arizona. Enchanted by the beauty of the place, Mark went for a walk by himself. Finding himself in a peaceful valley, he laid down on his back and closed his eyes so that he could listen to the sounds of nature. He may have dozed.MORE »
Farming programs help immigrants get out of poverty
He was born in mountainous Cambodia and dreamed of owning a farm. She was born to the far-reaching plains of the Midwest and flourished in an urban setting of coffee shops and poetry readings.MORE »
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