Articles by SA STAFF

David Gaither might be the only prominent Republican leader in Minnesota who’s advocating for legal immigration and helping new immigrants and refugees find their feet. For a decade now, the former state senator and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s chief of staff has been leading the Minneapolis-based International Education Center (IEC), which provides adult newcomers in the Twin Cities with language classes and skills necessary for the workforce. Representing more than 70 countries, the students learn English as well as how to read the bus schedule, apply for jobs and help their children become successful in school. They’re classes, as Gaither notes, tailored to help participants become “independent and productive members” of society. As some of his Republican counterparts propose cutting the number of legal immigrants, banning refugees from certain countries and increasing border security efforts, Gaither spends most of his days trying to secure funding or expanding opportunities for the nearly 1,000 immigrant students IEC serves each year. “Regardless of the political affiliations,” he said, “Minnesotans have two basic challenges with immigration: They don’t want to press 1 for English and they don’t want to have people on government assistance programs. My school and the organization I work with address both issues strongly.” …

When Minneapolis’ Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center opened for business last March, Mohamed Ali wasn’t totally sure how many jobseekers would come to the site for employment services, at least at first.   “Our goal for the first year was to have 150 people find jobs,” said Ali, a program director at the center. “But we exceeded that number. We had a really successful year.” The Opportunity Center is a product of a public-private partnership that seeks to increase employment participation for residents of Cedar Riverside neighborhood, which has long boasted one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. The partners include the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, EMERGE Community Development and Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC). Representatives from these partners are on-site each day to provide wrap-around services for unemployed and underemployed residents, connecting them to job opportunities and career training programs. During its first 10 months of service, the center managed to assist nearly 500 people to find jobs, according to data the agency provided to MinnPost. Of those, about 300 people landed low-skill jobs that pay $9.50-11:50 per hour; the rest were placed into jobs that pay $12 or higher. The employers that have the most consistent presence at the Opportunity…

Nin baa masaajid ka eedaami jirey oo uu mu’addin ka ahaa. Subaxdiina seyladda xoolaha ayuu u dillaal tegi jirey, si uu quutal daruurigiisa uga soo saaro.  waxa uu iibiyaa xoogaa xoolo ah oo dillaalka uga soo baxa  iskaga bixiyo biilka qoyskiisa. Haddaba maalin maalmaha ka mid ah ayaa suuqii xooluhu xumaaday oo waxba laga iibsan waayey wadaadkii. Wuu yaabay oo talaa ku cadaatay. Isaga oo gadhkiisii u ekaa sonkorta iyo shaaha madow ee la isku daray rifaya oo bidaar aad mooddo madaar diyaaradi soo degayso kolba salaaxaya, ayuu u tegay dillaal kale si uu bal xaalkiisa isna wax uga ogaado oo hadduu wax dhaamo bal shaxaad iyo qadadiisa ugu yaraan uga helo. Haddaba intaanu u tegin ayuu laba orgi oo loo sii dhiibtey oo laga iibsan waayey meel ku sii xidhay. Ninkii dillaalka ahaa ayuu cabbaar ag joog joogay, waxaanu  ogaaday in aanu ninkan laftiisu  waxba dhaamin oo isba maanta qatan yahay. Waxa uu ku laabtay halkii labada orgi ugu xidhnaayeen. Markuu meeshii soo gaadhay ayaa wuxuu arkay labadii orgi ee uu kaga tegey oo aan meeshii kuba xidhnayn. Cabbaar buu baadh-baadhay ilaa markii danbe uu arkay iyadoo ay labadii orgi ay adhi kale dhex galeen. Ninkii adhiga watey buu…

Growing up deaf in a hearing family, Fardowsa Ali never had access to a sign language, lip-reading or any other forms of communication. In Somalia and Kenya, where she spent the first 27 years of her life, deafness can be a major setback to having an active life. For Ali, it meant not going to school and living in isolation — even in a house full of people. But in 2006, Ali immigrated to the United States, where she had discovered for the first time things she never knew existed: that she had a name and date of birth; that she has options to communicate with others; that she can do almost anything she wants — like going to work and earning her own income. “I can’t believe I didn’t know my name for many, many years,” she said through an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. “I had nobody to teach me anything.” During the 11 years that she’s lived in Minnesota, Ali has achieved many milestones she once never thought possible. She became fluent in ASL, secured a part-time job at a UPS store and made friends in both the deaf and hearing communities. She and her friends have…

Somali Deportees File Suit against ICE Attorneys representing several Somali men facing deportation to Somalia filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday to block the deportations of 92 Somalis rounded up by immigration agents since Trump took office. The men and women were supposed to be in Somalia by now, but their cases became complicated when their flight returned to the United States, landing in Miami, after a brief stop in the West African country of Senegal. They are now in detention centers in Florida, and lawyers say the detainees could be deported as early as Wednesday. At least 10 of the 92 detainees are Minnesota residents. Somali Music from the 1970’s Nominated for a Grammy Somali Music from the 1970s and 1980s known as the “Golden Age of Music” has been nominated for a GRAMMY! Ostinato Records is reviving neglected and forgotten Somali music record tapes in Hargeisa and Mogadishu one cassette tape at a time. Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa was produced and compiled by Vik Sohonie and Nicolas Sheikholeslami. Nominated in the Best Historical Album category, the 15-track mixtape features Somali classics that document the vibrant music era of Somalia before the civil war broke out in 1991….

1. Amina Abdul Kadir Wins the Inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water Peace Prize Amina Abdulkadir, a researcher from the Peace and Development Research Centre (PDRC), has won the inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water (WPW) Prize for her contribution towards the resolution of water-related conflicts in Puntland. Amina, 31, accepted the award on September 27 in Milan, Italy, during the first annual ‘Rules of Water, Rules for Life’ summit, organized by Milan Global, and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy. She was selected from a pool of ten finalists from Finland, Haiti, Italy, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. 2. Sada Mire Selected for the International Hay Festival List of 30 Thinkers and Philosophers The Hay festival is an event that brings readers and writers together for an opportunity to collaborate. Nobel prize winners, scientists and even politicians like Bernie Sanders make appearances. 30 inspiring and young novelists, scientists, philosophers, performers, and activists were selected for this year’s Hay festival. Sada Mire, an Archaeologist at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden, is one of these 30. In the next ten years, The Hay Festival will promote Sada Mire’s  work at their festivals around the world. In these years the…