With the arrival of the crescent moon, a period of deep reflection begins

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When the anticipated birth of the new crescent moon of Ramadan occurred Saturday, Liban Adam and Khalid Mohamed moved forward with their plan for the holy month: To help ensure that poor Muslims have food on the table after long days of fasting.The youngest known activists in the Minneapolis Muslim community, 21-year-olds Adam and Mohamed have a busy schedule ahead this Ramadan, which coincides this year with some of the longest days of the year.With Mohamed juggling full-time office support duties at the City of Minneapolis and Adam working with the Minnesota DFL House Caucus, both are observing Ramadan, which began Sunday.Like 8 million Muslims in the United States, Adam and Mohamed fast during the holy month, which means neither eating nor drinking from dawn to dusk until July 29. They also will be involved in working with Walaal Afuri, a program that raises funds for people in Somalia, who don’t have the means to buy food during Ramadan.Originally established by young people in England, Walaal Afuri, or “feed a brother/sister,” was recently adopted among the Twin Cities youths.Community Sketchbook focuses on the economic and social challenges facing communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, and how people are trying to address them. It is made possible by sponsorship support from The Minneapolis Foundation. Community Sketchbook articles may be republished or distributed, in print or online, with credit to MinnPost and the foundation.“In Minnesota, we have big meals to break our fasting with at sunset,” said Mohamed, a senior information technology student at Rasmussen College in Egan. “In Somalia, many can’t afford to buy food. Continue Reading

Drone protest trial, day 2 – with a verdict

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The jury was out for only 30 minutes – the shortest deliberation I’ve experienced in at least 7 other jury trials. When Judge William Price made clear before the noon break that he wouldn’t permit jury instructions which would allow jurors to consider our justification, it was almost certain to me that we would be convicted. That is why we had started out day 2 of our St. Patrick’s Day 7 Drone Protest trial with what is referred to as an “offer of proof”. Continue Reading

Doing time in Des Moines, part two

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Judge William Price bragged about the new, “at least 3 star”, jail that Polk County, Iowa runs. He smiles and exchanges pleasantries with us and our lawyers as the deputies are collecting the paperwork to haul us off to his self-described plush accommodations. Obviously he has never entered as a “paying customer”! I’d love to see if he has the cojones to spend 2-3 days inside, incognito, before he sends anyone else to that jail. Same for the Prosecutor (although, in fairness, he only recommended a fine for our conviction on trespass) as well as all the COs (Corrections Officers) and staff at Polk County’s “finest”. Continue Reading

Going to jail as solidarity

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I spent 20 hours on the boundary between discomfort and pain. I thought of Martin Luther King writing about redemptive suffering and offered my time in the noisy, cold, boring void of the Polk County Jail on behalf of my despondent and discouraged friends in Afghanistan. Continue Reading

United Nations treaty can help fight racial disparities in Minnesota, local advocates join delegation to Geneva to encourage treaty enforcement

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In 1994, the United States signed a United Nations treaty — the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination — that was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1994, to little or no fanfare. As the treaty’s name states, it is intended to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination worldwide.

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Drone protest trial in Des Moines – Day 1

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Judge Bill Price, Iowa District 5C, greeted the 7 defendants facing trial for Criminal Trespass at the Polk County Courthouse. Built in 1902, his regular courtroom was so small that he couldn’t fit in all the defendants or the lawyers – not to mention the 70 prospective jurors and any members of the public coming to support us. Judge Price huddled with our two pro-bono defense attorneys and the two prosecutors while the prospective jurors watched a movie about service as a juror. Next thing I saw was 30 of those jurors filing out of the courtroom and back to the jury pool office. It was discovered that in our type of misdemeanor charge with multiple defendants, we will each get only 2 strikes rather than the 4 we were expecting after a pre-trial discussion yesterday afternoon. With defense and prosecution each getting 14 strikes, and needing a jury of 6, with a reserve in case any jurors were struck for cause, it was decided that we would question 40 jurors rather than 70. Continue Reading

St. Jean Baptiste Day June 24: Adding to a conversation about heritage and culture

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In Minneapolis, this Tuesday, June 24, the Canada Consul-General is hosting a celebration of St-Jean Baptiste, sponsored by Alliance Francaise de Minneapolis. The flier is here: La St-Jean Baptiste la Fete Nationale du Quebec. All are welcome, at a very moderate cost. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of state at the time of Fete de la St-Jean Baptiste. Otherwise, no question I’d be there. It will be a festive event. Continue Reading