by Omar Sharief | Jul 27, 2023 | Central MN Stories, Other, Race
They were just two, tiny, 7-year-old boys on the school playground..their first day of the 2nd grade:) Jack was skinny, with long flat hair that flapped around in his ocean blue eyes. He felt that his long hair was annoying, but his gramma said that his eyes, together...
by Mohamed Shukri | Jul 28, 2022 | Central MN Stories, Community, Immigrants
St. Cloud, Minnesota, has been my home for the past few years, but my journey started in Somalia. As a young child, I was raised by loving parents and surrounded by a family living in peace. The “peace” didn’t last long; the ongoing Somali Civil War caught up with us,...
by Brigid | Sep 21, 2021 | Central MN Stories, Community, Education, Immigrants, Immigration, Refugee
Where do you call home? Is it defined by where you were born? Where your family lives? Where you’ve spent most of your life? If you’ve read my first blog post or know me personally, you may know I constantly question how identities are connected and transformed by...
by Unite Cloud | Sep 7, 2021 | Action Steps, Central MN Stories, Community, Immigrants, Religion
– Author – Marissa This process of identifying our own privileges and conversely the consequences of being without it is the first step in becoming anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic activists. Most of the work I try to do seems to occur within the...
by Unite Cloud | Aug 31, 2021 | Action Steps, Appearance, Black, Central MN Stories, Community, Immigrants, Somali
– Author – Caroline It is hard when someone assumes that you are an ally in their disrespect and hateful comments just because of the color of your skin. I was at a small social gathering and someone made the comment, “I wish I could go to Aldi without...
by Natalie Copeland | Aug 18, 2021 | Action Steps, Appearance, Black, Central MN Stories, Community, Education
– Author – Abdirizak Last week, a couple of friends and I went to a department store in St. Cloud around 8pm. The store was mostly empty of customers at this time so it was easy to notice a woman following us around. I didn’t notice it at first,...
