Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/immigrant-communities/page/8/)
My kids think I’m nuts on the subject of genealogy. They can’t imagine why I spend so much time doing family history research, never mind the money spent visiting Ireland and Austria and who knows how many future locales. I tell them that some day they will appreciate my quest for roots. They’re dubious.
Saturday October 6th was the close-out day for the Pan African Trade and Investment Summit, fittingly titled African Day. A few friends and I rode on the light rail to the Mall of America where the celebration was taking place. On any given day, the Mall of America – the nation’s largest retail and entertainment complex – is a buzz with hundreds and hundreds of people. It is the kind of place that magnifies the life and culture of America, and to integrate that with African culture and style was significantly monumental. I knew we were running a little late, but I was determined to be a part of the day and festivities. Continue Reading
On September 16, police action stopped a Latino celebration of Mexican and Central American Independence Day in Worthington, though organizers had a permit for the party in Chautauqua Park. The event—and the debate that followed—highlighted continuing tension between new and old residents, as well as efforts to work together. About 500 people from Worthington’s Latino community gathered in Chautauqua Park September 16, to celebrate Mexican and Central American Independence Day as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month. On a beautiful sunny day, children and parents enjoyed food and family-friendly activities, with many dancing to Latin music of three bands invited to perform. Minnesota State Senator Patricia Torres Ray, DFL Minneapolis, invited to share with the community, came ready to give them her support. Continue Reading
As a new, unskilled immigrant from Congo, Kathy Komba was told that the only job she could do is to clean office buildings overnight. A friend of a friend hired her as a janitor in Minneapolis. That was nine years ago. Then 25, Komba was satisfied with her biweekly paycheck that barely topped $400 — until she could no longer sustain her increasingly comfortable lifestyle with that income, and her back started to bother her. “That was a call from God to change,” said Komba. Continue Reading
You don’t really have to be a gastronomic adventurer to enjoy the cuisine at Tam-Tam’s African Restaurant in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, but if you are looking for something out of the ordinary, the option is there. The menu really covers most of the continent, ranging from Ugandan Hunter’s Ribs ($11.99), an enormous portion of grilled marinated beef ribs, served on the bone, to West African palm butter stew, served with your choice of chicken beef or goat ($11.99), and Ethiopian Injera n’ Wot, a dish of spicy chicken and vegetables served over flat bread ($9.99). I stopped in recently and had the lunch special of beef stew ($7.99 / $11.99 for dinner), tender chunks of beef in a rich gravy, accompanied by a couple of sides. I chose the collard greens, and the ugali, a steamed corn meal dumpling that’s perfect for sopping up gravy. Ugandan-born owner Steven Kaggwa is a genial and engaging host, happy to answer questions about the menu. Continue Reading
African-born people living in Minnesota make up one percent of the population; yet this group account for 11% of new HIV infections according to Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) HIV Surveillance Report 2006. As of December, 5566 person in Minnesota are assumed alive and living with HIV/AIDS of which 678 persons are African-born. In an attempt to curb the rising rate of HIV/AIDS in the African-born communities, the Minneapolis Urban League’s African Wellness Program is aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis and reducing substance abuse among the African-born communities. The program, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Heath Services Administration (SAMHSA), focuses primarily on four African populations: Somali, Liberian, Ethiopian/Oromo and Kenyan. These groups have been identified as having the highest rates of infection among African immigrants. Continue Reading
Imagine the road rage that would occur if the Department of Motor Vehicles was to suddenly declare almost two million driver’s licenses invalid, giving drivers 120 days to turn them in, submit to a background check, and purchase their updated licenses for $370. This is the proposal that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is putting into effect for legal immigrants who have lived in the United States for 18 to 30 years. The proposed rule would invalidate their main form of identification, the permanent resident I-551 form, commonly referred to as a “green card.” A 30-day public comment period on the proposed rule change ended September 21. The federal government’s Immigration and Naturalization Services (now USCIS, part of the Department of Homeland Security—DHS) issued an estimated 1.9 million green cards without expiration dates to immigrants before 1989. After 1989 an expiration date was added, requiring renewal every ten years. Continue Reading
2007 Youth News Intern Zahra Farah is already a veteran journalist. She interned at the Somali magazine, Haboon, where she had the opportunity to interview and write. She is a senior at Roosevelt High School this fall in Minneapolis. Zahra has lived across the Midwest. She was born in Somalia, and lived in Nairobi, Kenya before emigrating to the United States. Continue Reading
Pomi Tefera reported on growing up bi-culturally as an Ethiopian-American as part of KFAI’s Youth News program in 2006. She returned in 2007 to cover the Twin Cities Ethiopian community response to a rise in HIV infection rates among Ethiopians. She goes to Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, and when she’s not reporting on her community, writes and performs her own poetry. Pomi Tefera reported on growing up bi-culturally as an Ethiopian-American as part of KFAI’s Youth News program in 2006. She returned in 2007 to cover the Twin Cities Ethiopian community response to a rise in HIV infection rates among Ethiopians. Continue Reading
The tiny huts, the small latrines and the white tents inside metal barricades looked startlingly familiar even though they were part of a replica of a refugee camp. I felt a little jolt in my heart as I stood in line Thursday to get inside the “camp” set up in Loring Park in Minneapolis. This was one flashback, to my time in a camp in Kenya, which I never thought I’d relive here. But that dose of reality is precisely how organizers want exhibitors to feel. Jennifer Vago, a registered nurse with Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian organization said: “People see these images everyday on TV and on magazines, and they just turn the channel/page. Continue Reading