When it comes to food shelves in Minneapolis, halal food is hard to come by. But a group of Somali women want to change that. Isuroon, a local nonprofit that works to develop the health and empowerment of Somali women, is asking the city to help develop a new food shelf that provides healthy, ethnic food to the Muslim community living in South Minneapolis. The nonprofit, along with dozens of community members, are asking the city to allocate $150,000 to fund the new food shelf as a start-up. “As a Somali community, we cannot use some food shelves,” said Isuroon member Waris Mohamud. Continue Reading
September 18th through 20th brought the 5th National RAWI (Radius of Arab Writers, Inc.) Conference to Minneapolis. RAWI partnered with local nonprofit Mizna, an organization that promotes contemporary expressions of Arab American culture through the publication of Mizna: Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America and the production of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. The conference included panels often hosted by academic scholars of Arab American literature, and theater, writing workshops, and performances.Although Mizna had attended and tabled at past conferences, this was the first time they were involved in hosting and organizing the conference. “We played a big role in the on-the-ground logistics and locations,” says Lana Barkawi, the executive and artistic director of Mizna. Some of the other local art organizations involved as hospitality sponsors were The Loft Literary Center, Open Book, the McKnight Foundation, as well as some of the local Arab American businesses in town.Special guests included Mohja Kahf, Mustafa Bayoumi, Fady Joudah, and Marilyn Hacker. Continue Reading
According to the 2010 U.S. Census the eight largest Asian American populations in Minnesota are the Hmong, Asian Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Laotian, and Cambodian communities. Specifically, 27 percent of the total population identify themselves as Hmong, 15.5 percent are Asian Indian, 11.7 percent are Chinese, 11.1 percent are Vietnamese, 4.9 percent are Laotians, and 3.9 percent are Cambodians (Figure 2). Continue Reading
“Farmers often work twelve-hour days,” Yao Yang explained. Having water available near the field is a big deal. That’s often not the case on rented fields, but it’s an important part of the Hmong American Farm. So are the simple washing sheds where they can prepare produce for market, and the cooler where produce can be stored until it’s picked up for delivery. Continue Reading
On Wednesday night, September 17, Deeqa Bilan will be performing an intermission set at the Cedar Cultural Center with world jazz ensemble Bob’s Band, as part of their Global Roots Festival. (The headliners are Tunisian songwriter and singer Emel Mathlouthi and the Washington D.C.-based Faadel Band, who play Ethiojazz.) According to the Cedar’s website, the Mogadishu native is “part of the new generation of female Somali singers in Minneapolis.”In case you missed yesterday’s post about singer Muhamad Alta, I have decided, just as an experiment, to start posting video clips featuring local ethnic and immigrant performers and groups. Your nominations are welcome! This video is “Maanqaad 2014 *Deeqa Bilan* “, directed By Ahmed Ugaaska.Coverage of issues and events that affect Central Corridor neighborhoods and communities is funded in part by a grant from Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. Continue Reading
Khoua Vang carefully tiptoed Saturday in a vegetable-covered garden outside Hope Lutheran Church in St. Paul and went down on her knees to reap dozens of Japanese sweet potatoes.
After reading about Chris Lollie’s arrest in St. Paul and the terrible treatment he received, I was inspired to come forward with my own bad experience with local law enforcement.In August 2013, I had a court date that I had missed. I had a $300 ticket for driving with a suspended license for not having insurance. The ticket was almost three years old, and I know driving a car without insurance was wrong. But poverty was something continuous in my life and so insurance was just something I couldn’t afford.I decided to try to negotiate and so I had made arrangements with the court to appear in front of the judge to speak about the price of my ticket. Continue Reading
Faiza Abubakar loves language. A native Oromo speaker from Ethiopia, Abubakar is the reigning state champion for Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide contest in which students test their skills of oration and interpretation with poetry. She is starting her junior year at Ubah Medical Academy, a Hopkins charter school.
Historically, the Hmong community has had one of the lowest voter turnouts, but with outreach campaigns there have been considerable advances made in increasing a Hmong voting bloc in Minnesota.While Hmong Americans have faced cultural perceptions that voting makes no difference in the past, the Hmong population in Minnesota has the potential to make a large impact on elections this year, and could greatly benefit the Hmong community, given high voter turnout. So, here are six reasons why Hmong Minnesotans should vote this election year. 1. Minnesota is home to the second largest Hmong population in the U.S.It’s no secret that Minnesota has a large Hmong population.According to 2010 census data, 66,181 Hmong Americans reside in Minnesota, putting the state second behind California for largest Hmong population in the United States. That also means there’s a large potential for the Hmong community in Minnesota to be an important voter bloc for local politicians, but the keyword above is “home.”The Hmong narrative has majorly been about their involvement in the Vietnam War with the C.I.A. and repatriation of refugees to Laos or Vietnam. This common narrative has shaped the structure of Hmong organizations, clans, culture, and leadership in the U.S.But despite the strong connection to Laos and Vietnam, especially from elders and leaders, the Hmong community in Minnesota is here to stay; it is now their home.Recent college graduate Selue Kazoua Yang said she believes that voting is very much a part of the past struggles of the Hmong community. Continue Reading
