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food
Rice Street Garden is a gathering place for many east metro immigrants. A potential development project has them on edge.
A community garden in the east metro provides a sense of belonging for many older immigrants. But a land sale means it could be entering its final season.
education
Native American students want the University of Minnesota Morris to search for lost burial sites. It may be even harder to recover generations of missing Indigenous culture and family history.
Archival research suggests as many as seven students from the Morris Industrial School for Indians could be buried on campus. Today, Native American students attend the university for free—but there’s a cost to reckoning with the site’s troubled history.
culture & community
Bayan Research Center aims to define problems facing Somali Americans, provide data, and recommend solutions.
Somali Americans have a lot of pressing questions about family problems, substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, and other issues. At Mohamed Shuayb’s St. Anthony-based nonprofit, academics and experts try to provide answers.
BECOME A SAHAN SUSTAINER NOW
We rely on reader support, and your donation to Sahan Journal will help us shine a light on immigrants and people of color in Minnesota. Join over a thousand supporters now and become a Sahan Sustainer with your monthly donation. Thank you.
COVID-19 VACCINE PROJECT
Todo lo que los niños y los padres deben saber sobre la vacuna COVID-19.
¿Le da miedo a su hijo que le pongan la vacuna? ¿Sentirán los niños dolor o efectos secundarios después? ¿Qué deben hacer usted y su hijo para prepararse para recibir la vacuna? Esperamos que estos vídeos proporcionen información útil para los padres y los niños de nuestras comunidades. Gracias a UCare por su apoyo generoso…
COVID
We asked a Minnesota family physician how to keep our families safe from COVID-19 this holiday season—without retreating into isolation (again).
Yes, COVID-19 is bad in Minnesota right now. But Dr. Ndidiamaka Koka has updated advice about how to manage risks and avoid COVID while shopping, celebrating with family, attending concerts and sporting events, and more. Here are her tips on masking, boosters, ventilation, going into stores with young children, and enjoying the season. “I want people to be wise, safe, but not scared,” Dr. Koka says.
Habon: Islamophobia is a political weapon to keep Muslim women from participating in politics. The way to beat it? Run for office.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Representative Ilhan Omar faced a new slur from Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert. While Ilhan serves as a convenient target for anti-Muslim politicians and media figures, hate speech affects Muslims across Minnesota. Habon Abdulle, executive director of Ayada Leads, says the way to combat those forces is to organize African and Muslim women for civic leadership.
latest stories
news
Community organizer Zaynab Mohamed hopes to make history as first Black woman elected to Minnesota state Senate.
Retiring Senator Patricia Torres Ray was the first Latina elected to the state Senate. Zaynab says she will campaign on a platform of widening healthcare access, improving working conditions, and expanding state programs like unemployment.
Trial begins for ex-cop Kim Potter in killing of Daunte Wright: What happened, what’s being charged, and what might the legal arguments look like.
Former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer Kimberly Potter is charged in the shooting death of Daunte Wright on April 11.
Worried about the Omicron variant of COVID? We called a Minnesota medical researcher for information, advice—and reassurance.
“The science is working,” says Dr. Tim Schacker, vice dean for research at the University of Minnesota Medical School. In a conversation with Sahan Journal, Dr. Schacker described what we know and what we don’t yet know about the Omicron variant. The global health system has become better prepared to evaluate the new COVID risks, Dr. Schacker says. And though the variant may be different, Minnesotans can protect themselves through familiar precautions like vaccines, masking, and social distancing.
‘Bring Back 6th’ launches campaign to reverse 80 years of Twin Cities history, and restore communities demolished to make way for Olson Memorial Highway.
When the highway was built in the 1940s, it followed the route of 6th Avenue North — straight through an early hub of Black life in Minneapolis. Organizers say its future should include dedicated bike and bus lanes, wider sidewalks, and slower speed limits.
St. Paul has a plan to pursue more equitable education by closing and merging schools. But immigrant parents say it would hurt their communities.
Somali American parents in St. Paul say a plan to close Highwood Hills Elementary would endanger a neighborhood hub. Latino parents say they weren’t included in the decision to close Wellstone Elementary. With a school-board vote coming soon, immigrant parents want to be heard.
As rebel forces approach the capital, Ethiopia faces a possible government takeover. Minnesota’s immigrant communities are worried for their relatives back home.
Just two years ago, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the conflict with Eritrea. Now, violence is spilling toward Addis Ababa after a year of fighting in his country’s Tigray region
Sahan Journal is hiring a membership manager to join its staff.
The Membership Manager will develop and implement strategies that maximize individual giving, while increasing member loyalty to Sahan Journal.
Fights, depression, substance abuse: Mental health of Minnesota students suffers during COVID pandemic.
Educators and mental health professionals say they’re seeing the effects of isolation, stress, closed schools, and academic struggles.
MORE STORIES
Minneapolis mosque on edge after vandalism of security cameras
The executive director of the Dar Al Qalam Cultural Center, in Northeast Minneapolis, reports vandalized security cameras and a recent car break-in. The mosque has called for authorities to open a hate-crimes investigation.
Sponsored Content
Do you need a reason to quit commercial tobacco or vaping?
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and just one of many reasons to quit smoking, vaping or chewing.
Employers are offering raises, bonuses and training. In the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases, Minnesota still needs tens of thousands more health care workers.
The number of people working in the field plummeted at the start of the pandemic, and has only partially rebounded. Some retired, some are burned out — and job applicants are now choosier.
The construction of the 35W freeway meant destruction for Black neighborhoods in Minneapolis. A new museum exhibit looks back at the damage.
In 1960, more than 80 percent of Minneapolis’ Black population lived in the paths of new freeways. And systemic housing discrimination led to long-term displacements. A new Hennepin History Museum exhibit presents pictures and personal histories of what was lost.
Renowned Minnesota Native artist George Morrison to be honored with new stamp series
Celebrated Minnesota artist George Morrison — who was born in a Native American fishing village along the North Shore of Lake Superior in 1919, but whose art career took him around the world — will be featured on a new stamp series to be released next year by the U.S. Postal Service.
Sahan Journal wins national independent news award for its work reaching immigrant communities in Minnesota
LION Publishers’ third annual Local Journalism Awards recognize independent news sources across the U.S. and Canada. Sahan Journal won for its community engagement and service to readers, including a voter-guide collaboration and a live event on barriers to homeownership and generational wealth-building.
Sahan Journal receives Google News Initiative funding to collaborate with community news organizations that broadcast in Spanish, Hmong, and Somali.
Google News Initiative’s 2021 North America Innovation Challenge seeks to help local media learn more about the news needs of their communities. The program will give more than $3.2 million to 25 projects, selected from 190 applicants. Sahan Journal will work with community media—La Raza 95.7z FM, 3HmongTV, and Somali TV Minnesota—to help serve audiences in languages other than English.
Immigrant students rally to save a small St. Paul high school from closing. ‘It feels like you belong in this country,’ a recent graduate says of the program.
With new programs for English learners and declining immigration, the district says St. Paul no longer needs LEAP High School. But students new to the country value the small class sizes and safe learning environment.
The Metro Blue Line Extension is finally moving forward. But some fear it will drive up rents and force them to leave.
Hennepin County has hired the University of Minnesota to study gentrification impacts and anti-displacement strategies for the Blue Line Extension in the north metro.
‘We have a different story to tell’: As anchors Chenue Her and Gia Vang move up in the television news industry, they bring a new perspective with them.
Her and Vang both stumbled upon television journalism at first. But along the way, they’ve found ways to highlight the stories of their Hmong community—and one another—in an industry reconciling with deep-rooted diversity issues.
MORE STORIES
Native American students want the University of Minnesota Morris to search for lost burial sites. It may be even harder to recover generations of missing Indigenous culture and family history.
Archival research suggests as many as seven students from the Morris Industrial School for Indians could be buried on campus. Today, Native American students attend the university for free—but there’s a cost to reckoning with the site’s troubled history.
