Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/somali-communities/page/4/)
Said Sheik Abdi is the Somali-American Program manager for the Minnesota-based relief organization, the American Refugee Committee. The ARC has launched its Somalia Livelihoods Project – aimed at getting fifty thousand young Somalis self-employed in the next three years. He talked with KFAI’s Bryan Treichel. [Audio below]
Since the civil war erupted in Somalia more than two decades ago, thousands of families have flocked to the United States and left some of their loved ones in the war-ravaged country, which now has one of the highest unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.With their minds on those left behind, Somali-Americans have been sending a share of their paychecks in remittances, which amount to almost the annual aid the United States government sends to Somalia each year, according to a new study.“Approximately $215 million comes from Somali-Americans and Somalis in the United States — comparable to the total amount of development and humanitarian assistance that the U.S. government sent to Somalia in fiscal year 2012 ($242 million),” stated the July study, “Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and Markets in Somalia.”The study finds that amount Somali-Americans send helps reduce Somalia’s dependency on foreign aid and “allows individuals and families to spend money based on their needs and priorities.”The report added: “Continued support from the Somali diaspora is essential for Somalia to successfully emerge from its protracted humanitarian emergency and political crisis, as well as to build the foundations for its long-term development.”About 40 percent of the Somali population relies on remittances the Somali diaspora throughout the world sends, said Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, a humanitarian and development organization, which in part conducted the research.When Somalia was stable, its main source of economy included livestock and agriculture, Ali said in an interview in Minneapolis. “These beneficiaries have left the livestock system. They’re no longer pastoralists. They’re coming to the cities and becoming urban people.”This means that money sent from abroad is a way of survival for these people, she added. Somalis around the world send approximately $1.3 billion to Somalia each year, according to the study.Money transfer operatorsWhen the civil war broke out in 1991, all the formal institutions in Somalia had collapsed. Continue Reading
On the 19th of August 2013, 11 young men who grew up in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of the West Bank in Minneapolis, and who completed high school this year, will have an opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia. This opportunity was realized through the Brotherhood Program at the Cedar Riverside-based Brian Coyle Community Center. The Brotherhood Program emphasizes the need to be inspired, to educate and to be empowered to do better for oneself and community.I am an out-of-school educator and advocate with the Brian Coyle Community Center of Pillsbury United Communities (PUC). I have several roles within the community center: I supervise teens who are employed with our agency during the summer, help tutor in the fall, mentor kids aged 6-18 in our youth program, and I am one of the leads for the Brotherhood Program. In the Cedar-Riverside community, which is home to a large base of African immigrants — mostly Somalis — young men and women are constantly challenged by exaggerated tales of their community being drug infested and violent. Continue Reading
On June 30, a portion of Lake Street was blocked off for festivities honoring Somalia’s Independence. This year’s event was hosted by the community organization Ka Joog. In addition to providing entertainment organizers sought to provide educational opportunities on Somali culture for both the younger generation and external community. Along with traditional east African foods, the event featured a reconstruction of an aqual, a traditional dwelling structure of rural Somalia. Goats, horses, and even a camel were on hand as examples of utilitarian animals still used by pastoral peoples on the Horn of Africa. Somali Independence Day is July 1. The occasion marks the historical expulsion of British and later Italian colonial powers from the east African nation. CORRECTION: The celebration was on Sunday, June 30. Reporting for this article supported in part by Bush Foundation. Continue Reading
On June 20, a portion of Lake Street was blocked off for festivities honoring Somalia’s Independence. This year’s event was hosted by the community organization Ka Joog. In addition to providing entertainment organizers sought to provide educational opportunities on Somali culture for both the younger generation and external community. Along with traditional east African foods, the event featured a reconstruction of an aqual, a traditional dwelling structure of rural Somalia. Goats, horses, and even a camel were on hand as examples of utilitarian animals still used by pastoral peoples on the Horn of Africa. Somali Independence Day is July 1. The occasion marks the historical expulsion of British and later Italian colonial powers from the east African nation. Continue Reading
Growing up back home in the Horn of Africa, Safari Restaurant & Event Center co-owner Abdirahman Ahmed thought that pasta was traditional Somali food. In a sense, it was. Given the large amount of trade and influence from Italy, India, the Middle East, Far East Asia, and many other regions within Somalia, the cuisine represents a cultural blending of sorts. As the United Foodies of Minnesota sat down for dinner at Safari, we not only enjoyed pasta in the form of Safari’s unique creation of homemade noodles, ke’key, but also delighted in the sambusas (the Somali version of samosas) and basbaas sauce, a green hot sauce made of lime, chile, and coriander. As a spice lover, I ended up adding a little basbaas sauce to pretty much everything.“There are three variables for what makes things tick when it comes to food,” Ahmed said. Continue Reading
The appearance of two Youtube videos showing a teacher apparently holding a Somali student in a headlock sparked outrage in the Somali American community. The incident took place at Champlin Park High School. The first video shows a verbal altercation between two students escalating to a physical attack, and the teacher intervening; the second video shows the teacher apparently grabbing the Somali student by throat, putting him in a headlock and holding him there. The family has identified the Somali student as 14-year-old Camaar Abdul-Kadir.Watching the videos, it is hard to ignore that a Somali student is on the receiving end of physical attacks from a white student and then from a white teacher. On the other hand, the videos do not provide a complete story. Many questions remain unanswered: What happened? Continue Reading
Over 2,000 members of the Somali Minnesotan community gathered Saturday to celebrate the successful formation of Jubbaland: a new regional state in Somalia.
Fartun Abdi is passionate about preserving her generation’s oral histories. Abdi is a member of and researcher with the Sheeko Project, which started in 2011 to document and digitize oral stories of Somali diaspora youth. The project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center (IHRC), campus faculty, staff, and students.“What does it mean to be Somali? Somali American? Somali diasporan? Continue Reading
Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author Dr. Hawa Abdi was in Minneapolis at the beginning of April as part of her national book tour for Keeping Hope Alive– a memoir about her life and work in Somalia. Named the Mother Theresa of Somalia, she has offered shelter and aid to thousands in her country since civil war began in Somalia in 1991. KFAI’s Christina Cerruti has this report. [Audio below]