Reflections on Minnesota + The Somali Community, As Trump Tells The Quartet To Leave America
/
Nawal Noor was named one of 24 Bush Foundation fellows this year. She plans to expand her business and pursue national leadership opportunities.
I just popped into the Minneapolis Tribune to get a read on their Quartet reporting -- and Trump's racist rants. It's factual and neutral w/o commentary.
I'll take the opportunity to share a totally separate article about another Somali-American citizen in the Twin Cities: Nawal Noor.
She is the rare woman in construction at the developer level. And definitely the rare woman of color. Noor is hiring more immigrants and ex-offenders.
Minnesota is my original home, and Minneapolis the place of my closest, loved very much relatives. I was not fortunate enough to grow up there.
This story of Nawal Noor is Minnesota at its best, with the Twin Cities welcoming countless Somali immigrants and surely standing by them in these difficult times -- in principles of free speech and democracy. Racism is racism, and Minnesotans know it when they see it.
Is Minnesota a perfectly just place? Or course not. We all remember the horrible death of Philando Castile and the not guilty verdict against the officer who killed him.
Minnesota voters will decide how to handle all these controversies and how they make their state better or worse. But I know for certain that in Minneapolis, these days are very painful on every front. They have been for months now. And Minneapolis-St. Paul in particular, will treat Trump, his racism, Ilhan Omar, and the impact of all this conflict on their Somali and Jewish communities -- in particular -- in a reasonable, fair and humane way.
