A letter to my ພໍ່ father in 1984

At the age of two, my brother Ti fell along the waterfront from a fatal allergic reaction to penicillin, given to him by a medic who had no other available medicine for children. At the age of 10 months, my sister Vilay turned cold blue and stopped breathing in my mother’s arms. It would be years later before mae would go to the local temple. She prayed for a child who wouldn’t leave her side. She told me Buddha answered her prayers. He brought me to her on a Monday night, when she looked out the window and saw a falling star in the sky. She named me Chanida. Continue Reading

House seeks help for Somalis held in Kenya

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S. and several members of the Twin Cities Somali community were before the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee last week seeking support for a resolution denouncing the detention and torture of Somali people in Kenya.

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Minnesota rallies in support of abducted Nigerian girls

A May 10 rally condemning the abduction of more than 200 students from a school in Chibok, Nigeria brought members of the state’s Nigerian population and the broader African Diaspora together in St. Paul. Held in the State Capitol rotunda, speakers at the rally voiced concern for the victims, questions about the Nigerian government’s level of accountability, and the potential role the United States could play in securing their return.

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A rural response to climate change

The U.S. Global Change Research Program released their Third National Climate Assessment on May 6; compiled by over 300 experts and peer reviewed by members of the public, climate change experts, federal agencies, and a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, the report details the impacts of climate change on the United States, including impacts on water, energy, transportation, agriculture, and human health, among other sectors. Continue Reading

East African Business Forum features Tanzanian ambassador

Tanzania’s U.S. ambassador, Liberata Mulamula, was busy on her May 7 visit to Minnesota. After speaking at the Books for Africa annual fundraiser in St. Paul, she appeared at the Eastern Africa Business Forum at Thomson Reuters headquarters in Eagan. Presentations highlighted investment opportunities in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania in particular.

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Rwandan Ambassador pays homage to past and present

April marked the start of Kwibuka 20 events to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. The word “kwibuka” means to remember in the Kinyarwanda language. Mathilde Mukantabana, Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United States spoke on the genocide at the University of St. Thomas campus in Minneapolis on Monday. She appeared as a guest of the Minnesota International Center.

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A whisper

The sappy cards and flowers and pretty boxes of chocolate in every store I see mock how I feel on this particular Mother’s Day. Over 234 girls were stolen from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven, a place where girls could learn in order to create a better life for themselves and their families. I just don’t know how to think about this. All I can think of is a moment I had a few nights ago with my own daughter. Continue Reading

COMMENTS of the WEEK | Part of the global village

If you ever imagined the Twin Cities are not part of the global village, news and opinion in the Planet last week surely dispelled that thought. World and national media were transfixed by the horror of schoolgirls in Nigeria kidnapped for likely sex-trade slavery, and the Igbo Women League of Minnesota published a statement in the Daily Planet, as Minnesotans organized vigils and protests. And in resonance with another developing story, Oromo Minnesotans gave voice to their anger at political violence against students in Ethiopia.The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, and many thousand Oromo are now Minnesotans. On May 5 Nekessa Opoti drew attention to Peaceful protests in Ethiopia that the Ethiopian military had suppressed, killing at least 11 and perhaps more than 50. Two blog posts by Amy Bergquist reported next on Oromo diaspora mobilizes and ‘Little Oromia’ unites in the Twin Cities. Continue Reading