Articles by SA STAFF

Understanding Breast Cancer Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized. What Causes Breast Cancer? No one knows the exact cause (s ) of breast cancer. What is known is that breast cancer is always caused by damage to a cell’s DNA. Did you know that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime? What are the Known Risk Factors of Breast Cancer? Women with certain risk factors are more likely than others to develop breast cancer. A risk factor is something that may increase the chance of getting a disease. Some of the risk factors can be avoided while others cannot be avoided. Having a risk factor does not mean that a woman will get breast cancer. Many women who have risk factors never develop breast cancer. Risk Factors You Cannot Change or Avoid: • Getting older. The risk for breast cancer increases with age; most breast cancers are diagnosed after age 50. • Genetic mutations. Inherited changes…

Somali Museum of Minnesota Receives $50,000 in Minnesota State Arts Board Grant Saint Paul, MN — The Minnesota State Arts Board has awarded a grant, totaling $50,000, to the Somali Museum of Minnesota. At its September meeting, the Arts Board approved 23 Folk and Traditional Arts grants. They are project grants to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups that help to identify, document, preserve, present, and honor Minnesota’s folk arts and traditions. This is the second of four rounds of grants the board will award this fiscal year. Grants in the Folk and Traditional Arts program total more than $525,000. The Somali Museum of Minnesota will use the funding to build Somali artists’ capacity to teach and advance the art forms of weaving and dance in the Twin Cities, Mankato, Saint Cloud, Rochester, and Willmar. Folk and traditional arts refer to artistic traditions that come from and are rooted in the cultural life of a community. Community members may share a common ethnicity, geographic or regional identity, occupation, language, or tribal affiliation. Folk and traditional arts are learned and passed on through community based systems of training and education where younger generations learn and…

2019 has been a deadly year for Somali American youth in the twin cities. There has been over 25 murders and countless overdose deaths involving Somali adolescents just this year. The Somali community is in shock and very helpless to say the least. Many are asking themselves, “where did we go wrong?”, said Ali Bokhor who has a nephew who recently succumbed to an opioid overdose. Gang wars have erupted among rival groups and it seems like there is gun violence on a daily basis nowadays. Between the violence and the Opiod abuse, the Somali community continues to mourn. Almost every Somali person we spoke to knows a young person who either got killed by a gun or prescription drugs. Mohamed Ali, a local businessman and a longtime resident of Minneapolis said, “This is the direct results of absent fathers, identity crisis, and a careless community who value the wrong things in life”. Ali seemed optimistic that the community is finally discussing the crisis among the youth openly and that itself is a positive step forward. Religious leaders are talking about the problem at mosques, treatment centers are opening for East African clients and the urgency to do something has…

Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan today announced the hiring of Chris Taylor as the Chief Inclusion Officer. Taylor is currently the Chief Inclusion Officer with the Minnesota Historical Society. “I am excited to hire Chris Taylor as the Chief Inclusion Officer for the State of Minnesota,” Governor Walz said. “Chris demonstrates a deep commitment to supporting diversity and equity in everything he does. The Lieutenant Governor and I could not ask for a better partner to lead the One Minnesota Council on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, and make sure our institutions across the state look like and support the people we are working for.” “We are better as an office, a community, and a state when the perspectives of all Minnesotans are at the table and empowered to use their voices,” Lieutenant Governor Flanagan said.“Chris approaches his work through the lens of equity, and has deep relationships with important stakeholders, including our communities of color, Native communities, school districts, and higher education institutions. I look forward to collaborating on an issue close to my heart.” “We are fortunate to live in a state that affords us the opportunity to learn from so many cultures. As the Chief…