A small sign rests on a table in the lobby of the new Burnsville mosque, offering a simple message: AHLAN WA SAHLAN (Welcome and be comfortable) “We tell all people that it is their place as it is ours,” said Amin Kader, one of the founders of the mosque. “When you say this is a [...]
By Phillip S. Smith, DRCNet Wednesday, June 10, 2009 For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, residents of the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula have partaken of khat, an evergreen plant native to the region. When the fresh leaves of the plant are chewed, they produce a mild stimulating effect. Friends of [...]
Somali youth give back to the community in hopes of helping other kids achieve OTTAWA — You know you’re dealing with a special group of teenagers when they’re eager to spend hours and hours helping other kids with homework — and it was their own idea. For weeks, a group of Ottawa teenagers have been [...]
A federal terror investigation into about a dozen missing Somali men from Minnesota has dominated recent headlines. But gang-related street violence remains a much more common trap for troubled Somali-American youth. Many of these young refugees live in poverty and are struggling to adjust to American life. Minneapolis, Minn. — Since December 2007, eight Somali [...]
Washington – Large numbers of Somali refugees like Yahya Iman have resettled in the United States, but freedom from war and persecution are not always without a price. Iman’s mentally ill sister was put under the care of Minnesota social services, and the family is finding their culture at odds with the state’s efforts to [...]
by Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio May 19, 2009 The head of the Minneapolis FBI office is asking for the Somali community’s trust as investigators continue to look into the disappearances of a number of young Twin Cities men who are believed to be fighting along with hard-line Islamists in Somalia’s civil war. St. Paul, [...]
Of all immigrant African youth living in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, Somalis are more likely to end up in jail. MINNEAPOLIS – As a Muslim male of Somali descent living in post-September 11 United States, Mustafa Jumale knew that he risked harassment from law enforcement officers and racism from some Americans. Although he had never [...]