My previous post about Nebraska welcoming refugees, reminded me of Mohamed Rage and the Omaha Somali American Community Organization (OSACO) I brought to your attention here in January 2009*.    Please go read that post and then see how Rage and CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) linked up last year to pressure Swift & Co. during the Ramadan ruckus over prayer breaks at the meatpacking plant in Grand Island, NE.

If you have been following my series on Ethnic Community Based Organizations (ECBOs), you know that I believe these are Alinsky-style community organizing outfits usually disguised as organizations to help immigrants find “resources”—that is government lingo for welfare.  This ECBO, the OSACO, although it talks a good game, seems purely political when you visit its website here.  I see virtually nothing on programs to help refugees find resources.

OSACO is an organization based in Omaha, Nebraska And our mission is to
promote and protect the interest of Somali refugees in the state of Nebraska through social, legal, and economic sphere. We will accomplish this by building links with other non-governmental organizations in the region, and will provide a platform for other concerned entities.

It is pretty much a one man show with Mohamed Rage alone incorporating the group in December 2006.  Yet, interestingly, he told the AP back in that January article that he had tossed a coin and come to Nebraska in 2000 to start a “community organizing” group.  Wonder what took him 6 years to file simple incorporation documents with the State of Nebraska.    He apparently still has not applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS because there is no record of financial documents anywhere to be found.  Who is funding this organization?

And, who are these people?   On April 21, 2008, Rage amended his incorporation papers and added these Board members to his file.  I did some searching around and although they are listed as residents of Omaha, I found only one whose address I could pin down.   They are Paul Gaubesik, Valerie Wright, Nelson Suckor, Reginald Johnson and Tebebe Wolden.   I got laughing and wondered if they are ACORN or SEIU activists in Nebraska—does anyone know?

Bottomline, Mohamed Rage came to the US on a student visa and never left.  Then he set up a one-man (maybe two including  Khadijo B Ahmed) community organizing outfit for Somalis and he is quoted by the press, as he was extensively last year during the meatpacking incidents, as the expert on Nebraska Somalis.  I’m seeing a pattern developing here.  See my post on how Graen Isse happened to show up in Greeley last year and started a Somali “community organizing” outfit too!

For our new category on ECBO’s go here.   Note also that this Somali ECBO is not listed on a master list of others around the country, here.  For a post on Somali landlord problems in Nebraska that still gets lots of visitors, go here.

* I see that the lengthy AP story on Rage is no longer available, good thing I got some of the important points posted before it disappeared.

Your tax dollars:

This is the next installment of what will be a dossier of sorts on a federal government program, for Ethnic Community Based Organizations (ECBOs),which I maintain fosters separation of ethnic groups in the US thus inhibiting assimilation and discouraging acceptance of traditional American culture, laws and governance.  They promote nationalism for the immigrants country of origin and add to the extremely radical political agenda of the far Left.   All fine and dandy of course if  THEY USE THEIR OWN MONEY AND NOT TAXPAYER FUNDING!

Today’s ECBO is the Confederation of Somali Communities of Minnesota (CSCM).  By the way Minnesota has 8 such groups, 7 of them are in Minneapolis alone.

This is not meant to be a complete report.  There is so much material on this group, one could write a book.  I’ll just focus on some of the connections I’ve written about recently—community organizing ala Alinsky, workplace demands from Muslims to accommodate their religious practices (stealth jihad),  federal funding and political involvement, union involvement with training ethnic groups in political advocacy, and dhimmis like Norm Coleman!

CSCM got its start in 1994 and one of its original funders was Pillsbury United Communities.   Today it gets financial backing from the following foundations and governments (this is directly from their website click on ‘partners’):

Through partnership, we can all make an even greater difference in our community. CSCM is grateful to the people and organizations that it works with in its outreach efforts.

The United Way and Bush Foundation, in particular has been an invaluable partners to CSCM and our community for years.

Hennepin County
Bush Foundation
MN Department of Health
MN Department of Human Services
United Way

What is not listed is their $106,971 grant from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (No. 20 on this list) that they obtained with the help of FORMER Senator Norm Coleman (A lot of good it did him, because Rep.Keith Ellison told all the Somalis to vote for Al Franken.  Didn’t Coleman only lose by a few hundred votes? ).

August 3rd, 2006 – St. Paul, MN – Senator Coleman announced today the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota (CSCM) will receive a $106,971 Ethnic Community Self-Help grant from the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement. The grant will support the work of the East African Women’s Center in contextual language learning, school readiness and parenting in America, the Woman to Woman Connection (a support network to bridge cultures), navigation of the social service and healthcare systems, and a textile cooperative. [I sure hope they are using the grant money for women because that Nashville Somali Community Center fraud involved NOT using the grant money for the women as it was intended.]

[…..]

I am pleased to announce CSCM will receive this grant,” said Coleman. “Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the country, and I have pledged to offer my support for them in Congress. CSCM does fantastic work on behalf of the local Somali community. I was pleased to assist them in obtaining this grant and I applaud the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement for recognizing the importance of CSCM.” 

[…..]

Senator Coleman has worked closely with the Somali community while in the Senate, having most recently secured the extension of Temporary Protected Status for certain Somalis living in the United States. Coleman also has a Somali immigrant, Mahamoud Wardere, on his staff to help facilitate and increase his outreach to the Somali community.

Workplace cultural accommodation

Get this, the CSCM has a few tips on its website to be sure employers know what they have to do to modify their behavior to any Somali Muslim demands.  Just do these things and we will get along just fine!

If your company has Somali employees, here are some tips for working together:
1. Somalis like to work and enjoy working in groups.
2. Somalis are eager to ask questions. They prefer clear instructions as to what their job requires.
3. Some Somalis are in the process of learning basic skills related to working and living in this country, such as: taking the bus to work, writing checks, etc.
4. Social status is important to Somalis. Therefore, a supervisor should reprimand a Somali employee privately.
5. Discourse in all forms is a part of Somali culture. If a Somali employee argues about an issue, this is considered a normal way of interacting among Somalis.
6. Somalis are Muslim and their religion is very important to them. Somali employees may request a short break and private place for prayer during the workday.
7. Shaking hands with a person of the opposite sex is considered rude in Islamic culture. Somali men may feel uncomfortable working for female supervisors because of traditional religious beliefs regarding women.

Political advocacy on your dime!

I mentioned the Confederation of Somali Communities just the other day when their leader, Saeed Fahia, said ‘everyone could just move along, nothing to see’ Somali terrorist recruitment was over in Minneapolis.

Then it was just earlier this summer that CSCM joined a gang of Somali oganizations in defense of CAIR Minnesota when it was accused of blocking an FBI investigation into the Somali jihadist recruitment in Minnesota.

Here CSCM is co-sponsoring with the SEIU (a notorious ‘community oganizing’ union) a politcal activism day at the State Capitol.  Here, they joined with unions to push for a living wage ordinance in the city of Minneapolis, and here they are joining CAIR and other advocacy groups to stop city government from doing away with a civil rights department.   Those are a few of the Leftwing political activities I found CSCM involved in during a quick search.

So, what have I been saying all along—-you are paying for political organizing!   ECBO’s, such as CSCM, are political organizations following the Alinsky-Obama “community organizing” model.  While pushing a hard Left agenda, they are funded by city, county, state and federal  taxpayers.  It is wrong!   We must speak up!

For new readers, I just started a new category a few days ago for ECBO’s.  Go here to learn more about what you are paying for.

This is today’s installment on ECBOs we first told you about here and here the other day.

Now, here is the link at the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement where you can find the rules for seeking grants as an ECBO.  I maintain that the proliferation of ethnic “community organizing” groups such as these foster a continued division in American society.  It is only natural that instead of protecting rights of all Americans they will seek to work for their “own people” while all the rest of us pay the bills. 

We will be writing a lot about ECBOs in the future, but two little aspects of the rules and regulations that interested me today are as follows.   First, I wondered if an ECBO must be a federally approved 501(c)3 organization—a designation that requires a significant amount of documentation and is a very time consuming and detailed review of the group and its goals.  If 501(c)3 status was a requirement to receive hundreds of thousands in federal grants, it could help protect the US taxpayer to some degree.   But apparently that is not required.   One need only supply the following document issued in the group’s home state:

A certified copy of the organization’s certificate of incorporation or similar document that clearly establishes non-profit status.

So that means, for example, that the East Africa Community of Colorado where four Somali men paid $50 and created an organization with a simple form may now turn around and apply for a grant under this program.   I will bet you a buck that is their plan.   See other Somali community organizing groups that presently have such grants in this list.

But check this out!  Got a problem with one in your community getting involved in politics, politics of their country of origin, or maybe pushing their culture or religion? They could be breaking the law if they are using grant money for these purposes.

Funds will not be awarded to applicants for the purpose of engaging in activities of a distinctly political nature, activities designed exclusively to promote the preservation of a specific cultural heritage, or activities with an international objective (i.e., activities related to events in the refugees’ country of origin).

See anything like that going on, start keeping a record!  I’ve heard this is happening with ECBOs—getting involved in politics here and abroad—let’s see if we can start documenting any rule breaking!