Wednesday, October 30, 2013

For Somali Immigrants, All Politics Really Is Local » News » OPB

For Somali Immigrants, All Politics Really Is Local » News » OPB

Politics in Minneapolis is about to change.
Not only is the city electing a new mayor on Nov. 5, but it’s possible a majority of the members of the city council will be freshmen as well.
Among their number could be Abdi Warsame, who would be the first Somali American elected to the city council there — or anywhere else.
“The community has realized we can turn to each other to address issues of education, housing and health, which are mainly controlled by the politicians,” says Muhamud Noor, a Wasame ally.
As Noor points out, previous immigrant groups have also turned to politics as a means of gaining representation and improving their status.
It happened a century ago with the Irish and the Italians in the Northeast and far more recently in the Southwest and elsewhere with Hispanics. And now it’s happening in Minneapolis, home to the nation’s largest Somali community.

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