President Donald Trump’s recent racist attacks on Minnesota’s Somali community sparked fear, outrage and condemnation. And the ensuing immigration crackdown on the community — most of whom are U.S. citizens — created panic and dismay in the Twin Cities.
But on social media, young Somali Minnesotans are reacting differently — with humor, sarcasm and storytelling.
They started with AI-generated videos.
“Three centuries ago our mothers and fathers followed a promise across the ocean,” announces a voiceover in one of the videos showing Somali men “discovering” Minnesota. “Somali hands opening a new map, Somali hearts reading a new sky.”
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Hundreds of spinoff Instagram reels, X posts and Tiktoks in which Somali Americans humorously claim that Minnesota was promised to them 3,000 years ago — a parody of some Israelis’ claim to Palestine — have gone viral.
Some of the posts refer to Minnesota as “Minnesomalia.”
“My cousin in Somalia is headed to Minnesota, his birthright trip to the promised land,” an X post from @SonofSomalia reads.
“The only people who have the right to self-determination in Minnesota are Somalis,” Somali Tiktok user @wazirpriv posted.
Do those posts sound bizarre? Yes — and the content creators are well aware of that.
“Humor, deliberate exaggeration and creativity have been used to transform hurtful words into a source of resilience and unity,” said Nur Ahmed Moha.
Ahmed Moha is administrator of the Instagram page @somalimemer, which creates content, including videos and memes, about Somali culture, community and social humor.
Moha said that the humor behind this social media trend carried a message: “We are not afraid, and we are resilient.”
Ahmed Abdul, a Somali-American nurse, said he enjoyed the content and was proud of the response from many young Somali Minnesotans.
“We’re so resilient in ourselves, in our identity as Somali,” he said. “We’ve been through war, famine, a lot of things that were hard, even coming to America — [we] adjusted to a colder climate.”
Najah S., a Minneapolis student and education assistant who asked not to use her last name due to safety concerns, said her Tiktok feed is full of such videos and that they have offered her relief in this “very hard time.”
“They thought that this was going to sort of [put a] target on us. But no, we thrived,” she said. “We played the game that they have been playing for years.”
“This land was never their land, and it’s never going to be their land. People were here before them, and we’re going to be here after them,” she said, referring to the Trump administration.
The commentaries and parodies don’t stop at AI videos. There are elaborate explanations and theories behind the humorous claims of this “promised land.” For instance, one video says Minnesota gets its name from the Somali words “Minn,” which means “home,” and “sota,” meaning “there she is.”
An X post features an image of people riding on a dinosaur. The text says, “This was the last dinosaur that walked on the planet! This photo was taken 3,000 years ago in what is now known as Minnesota, and they were last seen being ridden by Somalis there.”
An AI-generated video shows President Trump in the traditional Somali attire of macawiis (a sarong-like clothing tied around the waist), a kamis (a long shirt) and a shawl referred to as koofiyad, standing beside U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whom the president has repeatedly insulted.
Many of the posts flip the Israeli claim that it was promised to the Jewish people 3,000 years ago. Others claim that denying that Somalis were “promised’ Minnesota is “anti-Somalitic” and that Somalis will “accept a two-state solution — Minnesomali and Hmongsota.”
Somali content creators say some responses clearly miss the humor and thus say the parody posts are “ragebaiting.” “This joke is not historically true, but it is a tactic of self-defense, especially in the face of people who try to suggest that we don’t deserve to be in the state,” Ahmed Moha said.
Ahmed Abdul said he has been amused by angry reactions to the videos. “It shows how ignorant they are,” he said. “Obviously [Minnesota] did not exist 3,000 years ago, but they hate us so much that, because we’re uttering these phrases, it boils their blood.”
“This is just one of those moments that make us realize that we’re also strong,” Najah S. said. “We also have the capability to fight back. We’re not going to be bullied.”
Sahan freelancer Atra Mohamed contributed to this story.
