One of the privileges of working at Sahan Journal is the eclectic mix of stories we get to cover over the course of a year. This year was no exception, and even though while I’m writing this things feel particularly bleak outside, it also presents an opportunity to showcase the love, joy, and beauty of the Twin Cities. From festivals, to farms, to food, these photos show Minnesota’s immigrant communities in their moments of celebration, community as well as their determination in the face of adversity.
1. The Sudanese Farm Group
This year Sahan Journal visited the Sudanese Farming Group, not once, but twice. The group meets a couple times a week to tend small farm plots within the metro. While some farmers grow to feed their families and sell their crops, the Sudanese farmers also grow their connections. The farm plots provide a place for laughter and love and the sharing of delicious home-cooked meals. The group spans several generations of the Sudanese diaspora, including co-founder Khalid Elhassan and, pictured here, his mother Nemat Eisa. Her radiant smile mixed with the glow of a warm July sunset for an image that captures the joy on display in my visits with the group.
2. Hmong International Freedom Festival
This year, the Hmong community celebrated 50 years since members began arriving in the United States. In that time, they have woven themselves into the fabric of the country, and particularly the Twin Cities. The Hmong International Freedom Festival provides a gathering point for the community, with food, soccer, and some of the most intensely played flag football anywhere. Three of us from Sahan Journal spread out across the huge festival in Como Park in search of the slices of life that make the community so special here (and also delicious street food — journalists have to eat, too!) After passing a stand selling “tornado potatoes” a few times, the Yang family graciously allowed a quick street portrait that became the cover for our story on the day’s events.
3. No Kings rally, June 2025
Some moments stand out for their joy and levity. Others for astounding sadness and pain. The morning of June 14, 2025, was the latter. As 25,000 Minnesotans made their way to the Capitol for a “No Kings” rally against Trump administration policies, news began to emerge of the killing of Melissa and Mark Hortman, and the shooting of fellow lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. With the suspected gunman still on the loose, organizers tried to call off the march. However, thousands had already assembled and the march up John Ireland Boulevard went ahead, defiant in the face of fear and violence.
4. George Floyd five-year anniversary
This year marked five years since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. The protests that followed reshaped vast swaths of the city, the scars still serving as visible reminders of the upheaval in a city still healing. To mark the anniversary of that day, artists painted murals in Phelps Field Park, vendors offered up food in George Floyd Square and hundreds attended a candlelight vigil. The evening reached its crescendo with a performance by Sounds of Blackness. Octavia Webber and Patricia Lacy-Aiken immediately caught my attention and graciously allowed me to snap a photo as they enjoyed the music and the moment.
5. Body Watani
In photojournalism, information gathering often wins out over creativity. However, sometimes an opportunity presents itself to collaborate with artists of other genres for our stories. An afternoon near Crosby Farm with Palestinian-American sisters Noelle and Leila Awadallah, who have a dance practice called Body Watani, was one such opportunity. After a long walk with heavy lighting gear to a sandy clearing near the Mississippi River, reporting fellow Shubhanjana Das and I sat with the two for an interview. Afterwards, I had the chance to reprise one of my favorite techniques from last year, using flash combined with a long shutter speed to create ghostly images that capture the motion of their dance, which can be hard to convey with a still image.
6. Just Paula’s barbecue
As big fans of the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, we at Sahan often find ourselves browsing the stalls for stories and for fun. On a morning bike ride to the market, the smell of wood smoke and barbecue practically knocked me off my feet. Cooking is a second love after photography, and after meeting the men behind the smoked goodness at Just Paula’s barbecue stand, they invited me to hang out for a morning to talk about food and life. While the two never divulged their rub recipe, they did allow me to sample their brisket, chicken, rib tips and pork belly (all in the name of “quality control”) as they served eager regulars and introduced new customers to their culinary mastery.
7. Talon Metals
For better or worse, the mining industry has long been a part of the fabric of Minnesota. A new nickel mine planned near the town of Tamarack caught the attention of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and our environmental reporter Andrew Hazzard. A road trip brought us a few hours north of the Twin Cities, where we met Kelly Applegate. As commissioner of the tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, he guided us on a tour of the area, including Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The lake is home to a wild rice bed important to the tribe and to the animals that inhabit the area. As Applegate was describing the local eco-system, a harrier hawk appeared to punctuate his point about the biodiversity of a healthy lake. Hovering on thermals, hanging almost still in the air, the raptor paused its search for prey amongst the manoomin to gaze toward the three of us standing onshore.
8. Funwi Tita
For a story on how the Trump administration’s cuts to SNAP benefits affect not only recipients, but farmers, Shubhanjana and I headed to Otswego, to meet Funwi Tita, a a Cameroonian immigrant whose farm grew from a garden plot into a business, Better Greens. With smoke from Canadian wildfires hanging in the background, we toured the 15-acres he tends. Cassava, njama njama, and okra were a few of the crops he worked water and keep weeded. Despite the hot day and dense smog, Tita wore a warm smile as he worked. As a bonus, the okra we saw growing in the field was on the shelf of my local co-op only a few days later. The peppery note it added to a home-cooked soup was excellent.
9. Obi Original and The Black Atlantics
As it was last year, Sahan’s show at the State Fair was a highlight. Minnesota Public Radio let us take over the stage for a short concert, this year with local musicians Obi Original and The Black Atlantics. Obiora Obikwelu brought joyous Afro-beats mixed with a high-energy performance that had audience members dancing as he made his way through the crowd. The acrobatic set kept Sahan videographer Dymanh Chhoun and me scrambling to keep up. As the multitalented artist played his guitar through one song’s zenith, he sank to his knees, eyes closed, lost in music.
10. Rose Street raid
As the year came to a close, immigration enforcement actions across the Twin Cities had many on edge. A week after ICE agents clashed with protesters at the Bro-Tex manufacturing plant in St. Paul, a standoff outside a home on St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood also turned chaotic. When I arrived at the scene, a handful of neighbors stood at a police line made up of masked agents in the front yard. As word spread, more protesters arrived. A federal agent grabbed a particularly vocal protester and, as several agents knelt on him to subdue him for arrest, agents sprayed pepperballs and tear gas toward the crowd. St. Paul Police officers arrived in riot gear to control the increasingly chaotic scene and when the clouds of tear gas settled, community members needed aid, three journalists (including myself) had been injured, and several people were in custody. Weeks later, the standoff was a taste of what was to come.
