Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud delivers message to Minnesota Somalis

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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.In an hour-long speech, Mohamud spoke to a crowd of about 4,000 of his plans to rebuild Somalia and urged the Somalis at home and abroad to forgive one another, despite the two decades of clan-based war within in their home country.“Don’t we want to see a stable and united Somalia?” Mohamud asked the cheering crowd. “There is a price to pay in order to get that good Somalia: forgiveness, patience and love. These will create a beautiful Somalia that we all envision.”Mohamud’s visit to Minneapolis came a day after he met with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the White House — an act underlining the United States’ official recognition of the Somali government for the first time since 1991.Somalia has been without a central government for more than two decades.Even though the Somali nation and its people have lost so much over the years, there is still something to be proud of: Minnesota Somalis, Mohamud said.“Your education and experience to make Somalia like Minnesota is a great asset to our country,” he said speaking in Somali. “Your achievements [in Minnesota] are one of the reasons we should forget about our past problems.”Minnesota is home to an estimated 70,000 Somali-Americans, the largest Somali population in the United States.Mohamud praised the Somali community for their positive contributions to the U.S. and to Somalia.“The renewed diplomacy between the United States and Somali was possible because of the rights and the strong voices you have here,” Mohamud said of the Minnesota Somali community. “Somali-Americans played a big role in the renewed friendship of the two countries. Continue Reading

Somalia to Minnesota: Jailed in Malta

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The voyage on the Russian ship ended Elmi’s three-month journey at the shores of Malta, where the Maltese authorities took him to a detention center. The law of the country mandates that people without the “right of entry” be detained. Every year, an average of 1,470 migrants, who arrive by boat, are detained by the officials, the Human Rights Watch study stated.

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Somalia to Minnesota: Arrested in Sudan

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Abdullahi Elmi was smuggled again from Shagarab camp to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. In Khartoum, he found a university student who made his living as a smuggler. The man collected money from Elmi and dozens of other migrants from Somalia, West Africa, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, all in search of a better life in Europe. The smuggler gave the migrants a room, with a plan to travel at night for Libya.This is part two of a three-part series describing Abdullah Elmi’s perilous journey from Somalia to Minnesota. Read Part One, Perilous Journey, here, and the concluding article, From Malta to Minnesota, here.There are many smugglers in Khartoum, Elmi said, and they don’t like one another. Continue Reading

Minnesota Muslims prepare for different activities at Christmas

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When already-busy office computers start buzzing with Christmas songs, clouds burst with snowflakes and some department stores spin Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” then you know it’s the holiday season unfolding.Millions of Minnesotans prepare for Christmas celebrations that will highlight caroling, feasting and gift-giving. Many will decorate their homes with adorned trees of colored lights and ornaments. The overflowing mailboxes of Christmas cards inked with messages of prayers and wishes punctuate many of the December traditions.For many children, the waiting for Santa Claus, the talk of being able to sit on his lap, the dream of receiving a gift from him and the joy of his merry “Ho! Ho! Ho!” dominate their conversations.This, however, is not the case for thousands of Muslim families in Minnesota. Continue Reading

Newly-elected Minneapolis school board members speak about priorities, concerns

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Board members Josh Reimnitz, Tracine Asberry, newly elected in November, and Carla Bates and Kim Ellison, who were re-elected, spoke to nearly 60 educators, parents and community organizers, who gathered November 28 at Edison High School, about their previous experiences with public education and what they hope to bring to the board.Reimnitz was elected to the board in newly-created District 4, which combines downtown and the Isles area. He is co-executive director for Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF). Reimnitz grew up in Bismark, N.D., and attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, studying communications. He then moved to Atlanta, where he taught science and reading to disadvantaged fourth-graders through the Teach for America program, sparking his interest in education reform, he said.When he completed his teaching service, he moved to Minneapolis to rejoin the STLF, a non-profit organization he founded in 2003.Reimnitz said he wants to narrow the widening achievement gap between students of color and whites.“We obviously have some very urgent concerns,” said Reimnitz, speaking of what he will bring to the school board. That is, “how our students of color are going to achieve and how we can improve that [achievement] gap as quickly as possible.”Asberry was elected to the board, unopposed, in southwest Minneapolis. Continue Reading

Twin Cities Somali leaders offer advice to young Somali-Minnesotans

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Writer’s note: Huge waves of Somali immigrants escaping the two-decade-old civil war flocked to Minnesota, making the Twin Cities a centerpiece for hundreds of thousands diasporic communities scattered throughout the United States and Canada.The growing Somali-American businesses, emerging leaders and professionals, and dozens of community and Islamic centers in the Minneapolis and St. Paul have punctuated the success stories of Somali-Americans in Minnesota over the past 15 years.But it’s also undeniable that some Somali-Minnesotans have shown the state a dark side of gang violence, sex trafficking and terrorism cases, which community members say have tarnished their reputation.The community’s young people, age 18 to 27 years old, reportedly have committed most of these crimes.I spoke with Sheikh Ahmed Burale, imam of Masjid Omar mosque in Minneapolis, and Somali Action Alliance Executive Director Hashi Shafi about advice they would offer young Somalis in Minnesota.The following is a translation of our conversation.On EducationAhmed Burale: Seek knowledge of your Islamic religion. If you have the right understanding of your religion, then you have all the basics of life. Once you acquire your religious knowledge, the worldly education gets easier for you. It teaches you how to respect yourself and others, how to be kind and compassionate. Continue Reading