That is the subject of a panel discussion held this week at Minnesota State University.
From Mankato Free Press (emphasis is mine):
MANKATO — For a time, Somalis in Minnesota had something of a suitcase mentality as many wondered if their time here was temporary, said Hashi Shafi of Minneapolis.
For that reason, and because it was something of a foreign concept, many people didn’t participate in American democracy.
“To unpack our suitcases takes time,” said Shafi, director of a civic education nonprofit in Minneapolis.
But unpack they have, as evidenced by the Somalis who are organizing their communities politically.
Shafi and two other East Africa natives visited Minnesota State University Monday for a panel discussion on political activism among Somali and Ethiopian immigrants.
It is very difficult to find population numbers for Somalis in the US now, so this next bit of information is useful:
There are an estimated 100,000 Somalis and 30,000 Ethiopians in Minnesota.
Read it all by clicking here.
New readers might wish to visit this older post—Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis?—still one of our most-read posts at RRW. Guess who resettled the Somalis in Minnesota? If you guessed any one of these, you are right: US Conference of Catholic Bishops/Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and World Relief (evangelicals)!