swirlspice

tcdailyplanet:

Fatuma Mohamed is one of the five finalists in the Minnesota Idea Open. She has just completed her first year at St. Catherine’s studying public health and business. She has lived in the Twin Cities since 1999, coming from Ethiopia. “I find myself in two worlds. By day I would be a student at St Catherine’s and then I would return home to my Islamic community in north Minneapolis,” said Mohamed.

One year ago as a senior at South High in Minneapolis, she decided to start a group for Muslim women, called Sunnah sisters, to talk about any concerns they had. On weekends, 20 high school or college-age women would come from all over the Twin Cities to meet at their mosque. “When I heard of the Minnesota Idea Open project, I was excited,” said Mohamed. It was what her group had been talking about. “We could be seen and heard,” said Mohamed. The Sunnah sisters could talk about what they were experiencing here in Minnesota.

She has experienced a lot of misunderstanding/fear about the Islamic community since 9-11. The name of her project is the seven-step hidden pearl summer challenge. Mohamed, along with the 20 Sunnah women, will do the Hidden Pearls Project.

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tcdailyplanet:

I am half Mexican, though I may not look the part: Blue eyes, dark brown hair, tan skin, but not quite dark enough to be recognized as Latino.

Just because my maternal grandparents came from Mexico doesn’t mean that I speak Spanish (because I don’t), or that I love spicy food (I can’t stand it), or that I have a job no one else wanted to take (okay, I am a teenager so cut me some slack).

In the middle of the salsa-dancing unit in gym last fall, the teacher said, “You’re a natural. You pick it up so fast.” I thought: What am I doing? I know almost nothing about being Latino, despite being half Mexican.

minnpost:

Ojibwemowin Ozhibii’igaade Miinawaa Aabadad Miziwe Go Eni-bimaadiziwaad Bemijigamaag

We had our article about Bemidji’s work to preserve the Ojibwe language translated into Ojibwe. The result is the coolest headline we have ever published.

(via minnpost)

tcdailyplanet:

After the first week of volleyball try-outs ended two summers ago, a few close friends and I headed to Subway to eat lunch.

The person at the counter asked what condiments we would like on our sandwiches – peppers, lettuce, mayo and so on. The server was Latina. She had an accent, brown straight hair, brown eyes, and warm brown skin. I decided to order in Spanish since my mother taught me that it is impolite to speak English to a person who, like me, spoke Spanish first.

When it was my turn to dress my sandwich I said to the woman, “A mi me gustaria tomates, cebolla, lechuga, pepinos, pepinillos, olivos negros y salsa Ranch, por favor.”

The woman asked me where I was from. “Guatemala City, Guatemala,” I said. She seemed surprised: “I wouldn’t have known you were Latina if you hadn’t spoken Spanish. At first I thought you were white. Now that I see your curly hair down I thought you were mixed.”

I was taken aback by her assumptions and even more amazed that she thought I was white. I came to the United States when I was nine, and for a moment, I felt like I had maybe embraced the American way of living too much. I heard my mother’s voice in my head: “You are Latina, mija. We have different customs. You’ll be around other people with different cultures, but don’t forget who you are and where you come from.”

I was even more surprised by my friends’ reactions when I sat with them to eat our food. They were shocked. “Oh, my gosh,” one girl said, “I didn’t know that you spoke Spanish! You’re Mexican?!”

I controlled my will to shout – No! The notion that people are Mexican just because they speak Spanish annoys me. Instead I laughed it off and told her to guess again. “Puerto Rico,” she guessed. I shook my head. “Spain.”

“I’m Guatemalan,” I said.

“What’s that?” she asked.

I couldn’t believe that none of my friends knew that Guatemala existed. I remember one asking, “Is it an island?”

I had not been in this type of situation before. I went to a middle school that was predominantly Mexican except for a few students who were Salvadorians, Ecuadorians, Puerto Ricans or Guatemalans. Maybe because we were very young and all thought of each other as equals, kids didn’t show much interest in each other’s ethnic backgrounds.

My high school has a mixture of races, and my three volleyball friends are native-born and white. I didn’t feel offended but annoyed by their surprise that I was Latina. I wasn’t going to wear a sticker on my face saying, “Guatemalan.” But I wish that people would take the time to ask me where I’m from.

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minnpost:

An interactive history of constitutional amendments in Minnesota

Minnesota has a sordid history of amending the state constitution. Check out the full list — including the 1914 attempt to tax dog owners and give the money to owners of animals attacked by dogs.

This is totally fascinating. And well done. Interesting to see how the issues evolved over the years. And how many amendments showed up multiple times before they passed or went away.

stuffaboutminneapolis:

Ice Cube tells Bon Appetit Magazine he starts his day with Peace Coffee from Minneapolis

I wake up at 5:30, 6 in the morning, but don’t head into the office right away. I like to hang out with my wife, talk about things, get some coffee, you know.
I make a mean cup of coffee, if you give me the right ingredients. We usually have Peace coffee, or sometimes Starbucks, and I make it strong.

(click pic for the rest of story)

S’RIGHT