Articles by SA STAFF

On a recent evening in St. Cloud, an hour before the city council would debate the fate of a proposed moratorium on refugee resettlement in the city, Feisal Ali stood in the parking lot of the city’s largest Somali-American strip mall, trying to make sense of the controversial plan. As he thought about it, several passersby waved and shouted greetings as they walked into the mall, which serves as both a social and business hub for the growing Somali-American community in the region. They stopped by the Somali-owned Afya Pharmacy, or joined people chatting over tea, or squeezing into the packed coffee shop, where young men took turns playing dominoes. Later that evening, more than 300 people — Ali among them — gathered at St. Cloud’s City Hall, where city officials would discuss the proposed refugee resettlement ban. And though the moratorium wasn’t voted on — in fact, a resolution “in support of a just and welcoming community” passed in response to the proposed ban — the meeting nevertheless included discussions about the cost of having people born in other countries settle in St. Cloud. Even amid the expressions of support, though, Ali couldn’t help but notice what wasn’t much…

Minneapolis resident Ahmed Hirsi was only a few miles away from the powerful blast that killed hundreds of people in Mogadishu last Saturday. When he arrived on the scene, where a truck filled with explosives was detonated, Hirsi saw pavement covered in blood; bodies decapitated and shattered, burned beyond recognition. As the deadliest single attack in Somalia’s history, the explosions killed more than 300 people, including a Bloomington man — a death toll that’s expected to rise as crews continue to dig into the rubble for signs of life. Just hours before that fateful afternoon, Hirsi had posted smiling photos of himself on Facebook, urging young Somalis in the U.S., Europe and Canada to return to the East African country and get involved in efforts to rebuild it. On Monday, however, Hirsi returned to Minneapolis, still reeling from the shock of the bloody attacks that rocked Mogadishu, where he spent 10 days with a group invited by the Somali government to review parts of the country’s new constitution. Now, Hirsi — who is married to Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar — is part of a growing effort led by various Somali-American individuals and organizations in the Twin Cities aimed at…

“Shark Tank” Like Event for Somalis Attracts Hundreds in Minneapolis On Thursday, September 21, over 150 people packed the Mcnamara event hall at the University of Minnesota for MinBar; a shark tank like event where investors seek to buy shares of companies. The event was organized by organizations and companies that include Dahabshiil, USAID, ARC, Affinity Labs and more. Contestants submitted hundreds of proposals and 6 entrepreneurs were chosen to pitch their ideas to the investors. The pitched ideas included a mobile tea shop, a dip sauce, a water bottle, a auto-dispensing tooth paste, and a water purifying system. Out of the 6 pitched ideas, the mobile tea shop (Dhake Jebiye) got the most money funding. The event concluded at 10pm. U.S Youth Observer to the U.N Has Been Named and She is a Somali-Minnesotan The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, announced in July, Ms. Munira Khalif as the sixth annual U.S. Youth Observer to the UN. Khalif, a Minnesota-native and rising junior at Harvard University, was chosen from a competitive pool of nearly 350 applicants that included top-ranked university students and young professionals from across the…

By: Ibrahim Hersi East African and Muslim women in Minnesota escaping domestic abuse now have a place to find a safe haven in St. Paul: The Farhio House. “It took us seven years to create this center,” said Farhio Khalif, founder of the shelter. “We want to empower women. We want to tell them that it’s OK to come forward and talk to us about what they’re going through.” The Farhio House is part of Voice of East African Women(VEAW), a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that’s been providing immigrant women and families with legal services and wellness programs since 2012. The shelter, Khalif said, is the result of years of seeing an unusually high number of domestic abuse cases involving mothers and young girls in the Twin Cities’ East African community — experiences the women were often reluctant to talk about.   “I started talking to all these women in the community,” she said. “I realized that a lot of women were in abusive relationships. But they were not talking about it. They were not reporting it.” Khalif — who until several years ago was a producer and host of The Farhio Khalif Show, a program documenting the stories of Somali-Americans in Minnesota…

BY: Ibrahim Hersi, Minnpost Over the last several years, researchers and government officials from Europe and different parts of the U.S. have regularly visited the Twin Cities to learn about the East African Muslim community’s political and economic success. “Minneapolis is viewed around the world, particularly in Scandinavian countries where the Somali diaspora is growing, as a model for Somali integration,” writes Stefanie Chambers, a political science professor at Trinity College, in her recently published book comparing the Somali-American communities in Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio. “Other American mayors, such as the mayor of Portland, Oregon, have visited Minneapolis to learn about policies that can help their cities better address the needs of Somali immigrants.” For all the talk of success and integration, however, the more common reality for Somali-Americans in Minnesota is more complicated, if less comforting. “From outside, the community seems to be doing really great,” said Ahmed Yusuf, a Minneapolis Public Schools teacher who’s written about Somalis in Minnesota. “But when you look deep down, we’re struggling big time, except for a few individuals who have risen above as the cream of the crop.” The Story of a Success Story The history of the Somali-Americans in Minnesota echoes that of…