Call Me American

Call Me American PDF Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0525433023
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life.

Call Me American

Call Me American PDF Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0525433023
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life.

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults)

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults) PDF Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Ember
ISBN: 1984897136
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Adapted from the adult memoir, this gripping and acclaimed story follows one boy's journey into young adulthood, against the backdrop of civil war and his ultimate immigration to America in search of a better life. Abdi Nor Iftin grew up amidst a blend of cultures, far from the United States. At home in Somalia, his mother entertained him with vivid folktales and bold stories detailing her rural, nomadic upbrinding. As he grew older, he spent his days following his father, a basketball player, through the bustling streets of the capital city of Mogadishu. But when the threat of civil war reached Abdi's doorstep, his family was forced to flee to safety. Through the turbulent years of war, young Abdi found solace in popular American music and films. Nicknamed Abdi the American, he developed a proficiency for English that connected him--and his story--with news outlets and radio shows, and eventually gave him a shot at winning the annual U.S. visa lottery. Abdi shares every part of his journey, and his courageous account reminds readers that everyone deserves the chance to build a brighter future for themselves. FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!

Life as a Somali American

Life as a Somali American PDF Author: Ellen Creager
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1538322471
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
In 2017, Ilhan Omar began her term in the Minnesota House of Representatives and became the first Somali-American, Muslim woman legislator in the United States. This timely book celebrates groundbreaking accomplishments of Somali Americans such as Omar, introduces readers to key points in Somalia's modern history, and provides context for current events in the United States and around the world. Readers will develop greater cultural awareness and sensitivity as they learn about complex issues that affect many Somali Americans today. They'll also explore the unique, vivid, and enriching ways Somali immigrants bring their culture to the United States. Fact boxes highlight interesting topics, while illuminating photographs bring issues into focus, ensuring this book is engaging and accessible.

Somalis in Minnesota

Somalis in Minnesota PDF Author: Ahmed Ismail Yusuf
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
ISBN: 0873518748
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description
The story of Somalis in Minnesota begins with three words: sahan, war, and martisoor. Driven from their homeland by civil war and famine, one group of Somali sahan, pioneers, discovered well-paying jobs in the city of Marshall, Minnesota. Soon the war, news, traveled that not only was employment available but the people in this northern state, so different in climate from their African homeland, were generous in martisoor, hospitality, just like the Somali people themselves. The diaspora began in 1992, and today more than fifty thousand Somalis live in Minnesota, the most of any state. Many have made their lives in small towns and rural areas, and many more have settled in Minneapolis, earning this city the nickname "Little Somalia" or "Little Mogadishu." Amiable guide Ahmed Yusuf introduces readers to these varied communities, exploring economic and political life, religious and cultural practices, and successes in education and health care. he also tackles the controversial topics that command newspaper headlines: alleged links to terrorist organizations and the recruitment of young Somali men to fight in the civil war back home. This newest addition to the people of Minnesota series captures the story of the state's most recent immigrant group at a pivotal time in its history.

From Somalia to Snow

From Somalia to Snow PDF Author: Hudda Ibrahim
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781737931263
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From Somalia to Snow: How Central Minnesota Became Home to Somalis gives readers an invaluable insider's look into the lives and culture of our Somali neighbors and the important challenges they face. Designed with a diverse audience in mind, this book is a must-read for students, health-care professionals, business owners, social service agencies, and anyone who wants to better understand the Somali people. In providing a great understanding of Somali culture, tradition, religion, and issues of integration and assimilation, this book also focuses on why thousands of Somali refugees came to live in this cold, snowy area with people of predominantly European descent.

Life as a Somali American

Life as a Somali American PDF Author: Ellen Creager
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1538323427
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
In 2017, Ilhan Omar began her term in the Minnesota House of Representatives and became the first Somali-American, Muslim woman legislator in the United States. This timely book celebrates groundbreaking accomplishments of Somali Americans such as Omar, introduces readers to key points in Somalia's modern history, and provides context for current events in the United States and around the world. Readers will develop greater cultural awareness and sensitivity as they learn about complex issues that affect many Somali Americans today. They'll also explore the unique, vivid, and enriching ways Somali immigrants bring their culture to the United States. Fact boxes highlight interesting topics, while illuminating photographs bring issues into focus, ensuring this book is engaging and accessible.

The Last Nomad

The Last Nomad PDF Author: Shugri Said Salh
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1643751743
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
A remarkable and inspiring true story that "stuns with raw beauty" about one woman's resilience, her courageous journey to America, and her family's lost way of life. Winner of the 2022 Gold Nautilus Award, Multicultural & Indigenous Category Born in Somalia, a spare daughter in a large family, Shugri Said Salh was sent at age six to live with her nomadic grandmother in the desert. The last of her family to learn this once-common way of life, Salh found herself chasing warthogs, climbing termite hills, herding goats, and moving constantly in search of water and grazing lands with her nomadic family. For Salh, though the desert was a harsh place threatened by drought, predators, and enemy clans, it also held beauty, innovation, centuries of tradition, and a way for a young Sufi girl to learn courage and independence from a fearless group of relatives. Salh grew to love the freedom of roaming with her animals and the powerful feeling of community found in nomadic rituals and the oral storytelling of her ancestors. As she came of age, though, both she and her beloved Somalia were forced to confront change, violence, and instability. Salh writes with engaging frankness and a fierce feminism of trying to break free of the patriarchal beliefs of her culture, of her forced female genital mutilation, of the loss of her mother, and of her growing need for independence. Taken from the desert by her strict father and then displaced along with millions of others by the Somali Civil War, Salh fled first to a refugee camp on the Kenyan border and ultimately to North America to learn yet another way of life. Readers will fall in love with Salh on the page as she tells her inspiring story about leaving Africa, learning English, finding love, and embracing a new horizon for herself and her family. Honest and tender, The Last Nomad is a riveting coming-of-age story of resilience, survival, and the shifting definitions of home.

Somalis in Maine

Somalis in Maine PDF Author: Kimberly A. Huisman
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1556439261
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Lewiston, a mill town of about thirty-six thousand people, is the second-largest city in Maine. It is also home to some three thousand Somali refugees. After initially being resettled in larger cities elsewhere, Somalis began to arrive in Lewiston by the dozens, then the hundreds, after hearing stories of Maine’s attractions through family networks. Today, cross-cultural interactions are reshaping the identities of Somalis—and adding new chapters to the immigrant history of Maine. Somalis in Maine offers a kaleidoscope of voices that situate the story of Somalis’ migration to Lewiston within a larger cultural narrative. Combining academic analysis with refugees’ personal stories, this anthology includes reflections on leaving Somalia, the experiences of Somali youth in U.S. schools, the reasons for Somali secondary migration to Lewiston, the employment of many Lewiston Somalis at Maine icon L. L. Bean, and community dialogues with white Mainers. Somalis in Maine seeks to counter stereotypes of refugees as being socially dependent and unable to assimilate, to convey the richness and diversity of Somali culture, and to contribute to a greater understanding of the intertwined futures of Somalis and Americans.

This Is What America Looks Like

This Is What America Looks Like PDF Author: Ilhan Omar
Publisher:
ISBN: 1787383415
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Ilhan Omar's career is a collection of historic firsts: she is the first refugee, the first Somali-American and one of the first two Muslim women to serve in the United States Congress. Against a xenophobic and divisive administration, she has risen to global fame as a powerful voice in the Democratic Party's new progressive chorus of congresswomen of colour.'This Is What America Looks Like' is a tale of the aspirations, disappointments, successes and surprises in the life of an immigrant and Muslim in the US today. This is Omar's story told on her own terms: from a childhood in Mogadishu and four long years at a Kenyan refugee camp, to her arrival in America--penniless and speaking only Somali--and her triumphant election to the US House of Representatives.In the face of merciless slander and constant attacks from opponents in both parties, Omar continues to speak up for her beliefs. Courageous, hopeful and defiant, her memoir is marked by her irrepressible spirit, even in the darkest of times.

Somalis Abroad

Somalis Abroad PDF Author:
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252099451
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Drawing on a wealth of ethnographic detail, Stephanie Bjork offers the first study on the messy role of clan or tribe in the Somali diaspora, and the only study on the subject to include women's perspectives. Somalis Abroad illuminates the ways clan is contested alongside ideas of autonomy and gender equality, challenged by affinities towards others with similar migration experiences, transformed because of geographical separation from family members, and leveraged by individuals for cultural capital. Challenging prevailing views in the field, Bjork argues that clan-informed practices influence everything from asylum decisions to managing money. The practices also become a pattern that structures important relationships via constant--and unwitting--effort.