Osman Ahmed Narrator

Ibrahim Hirsi Interviewer

June 18, 2016 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Osman Ahmed -OA Ibrahim Hirsi -IH

IH: This is Ibrahim Hirsi recording for the Minnesota Historical Society Somali Oral History Project. I’m interviewing Osman Ahmed in Minneapolis. Today is Saturday, June 18, 2016. Osman, thank you very much for joining me and sharing your story with me.

OA: Thank you, Ibrahim. Thanks for having me.

IH: Tell me about your childhood years. Where were you born, when was it, and how was life at the time?

OA: I was born in Somalia, south-central, a small city in Somalia. I was the second youngest of my family. I have older siblings, eight of them. Actually, I am the eighth, so seven of them.

IH: So you’re from a family of eight people?

OA: Yeah, a family of eight. So, one younger and six older and me.

IH: Is that too big for Somalis, or that is just normal?

OA: I would say that’s average. I think seven is an average family size for Somalis. I was younger. I was born in 1987. I don’t remember really that much about Somalia, but I remember later our family came to Kenya when I was probably six years old.

IH: Is that after the civil war?

OA: Yes, after the civil war. So I don’t really remember much about the civil war. I remember moving around and going to different cities, visiting my grandma who lives in Caabudwaaq, which is also, I think, in south-central Somalia. A small city, which the civil war did not impact that much. It was away from the capital.

IH: Okay. The civil war impacted more in Mogadishu than other places.

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OA: Yes. I think that, before, there were some wars up north, too, but I don’t remember the north wars. So at my time, I think the damage was more in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. I remember moving around. Always I say I did not finish the Quran, because every time I was going to new Islamic studies when I was young. I think I started as five, but moving around didn’t allow me to even go to school or finish the Quranic studies, Islamic studies.

IH: And that’s, I think, for every Somali family, especially for younger kids, before they are sent to school, they first have to go to what we call madrassa [Islamic school].

OA: Or dugsi [Quran school], yep.

IH: Or dugsi, to learn the Quran. When they complete it, then they go to schools.

OA: Yes. That’s where a lot of that generation that was born at the same time probably would not finish. Some of us did, but most of us did not because of that life impact of moving from different places. Every few months, a new place. So you just have to start over again.

IH: What did your mom and dad do for a living at that time?

OA: My dad had a business. He used to work for the government. I don’t remember exactly his title, but he was working. He had a really good-paying job. My mom was just taking care of the kids and staying at home. My father at the time, he was also a little older, so he almost retired, and then he had his own business. I remember we were doing well. We were just actually living good until that thing happened and we were just running around—which in a good way I don’t remember, because I don’t remember exactly seeing all the horrific things that happened.

IH: Right. Also, how about the fun part of childhood? Do you remember anything? An eight or a four-year-old child in Minneapolis right now, what they do for fun is a little bit different than what we did back home. What do you remember about that?

OA: I remember, I always loved shopping. I actually was the kid—I used to be called the clean kid. So even like three years old, actually, I used to polish my shoes. [chuckles] And also, of course, I used to look forward to the Eid, the celebration of Eid.

IH: Eid al-Fitr is the end of Ramadan.

OA: Yeah, the end of Ramadan.

IH: The holy month of Muslims. Also the other one is Eid al-Adha, for those who don’t know. That’s the end of hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

OA: Yep. I used to look for those days. We used to play “rush”. Rush is this game of the kids chasing each other with, basically, I think it was toy guns. Which now, when I grow up, actually doesn’t make sense. But it was fun. We just filled them with water and just chase around with each other.

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IH: Shoot with water.

OA: Yep. [chuckles] So that was really good. Also when we go to dugsi, we used to have fun with writing script with coal. Just making coal and make it dark. Writing the Quran with those. So the ink, basically, we make our own ink—I know unofficially you know—by mixing the coal with the milk.

IH: And creating an ink out of that.

OA: Yep. To write down the Quran.

IH: And the Quran is mostly written on what we call loox [tablets], which is more like a board made out of wood or trees.

OA: Yeah. They used to sell those. Somebody was just chopping up a tree, and made wood and made it flat, so that way it can be used to write the Quran. So those were fun times. Always playing outside. I remember coming from dugsi and coming outside and just doing our stuff and chasing around with other kids and playing soccer. I was not a big fan of soccer. I wasn’t scared, but… And also I was always clean, so I used to like nobody touching me. [chuckles] So if you play soccer, I’m pretty sure you know that you have to get a lot dirty.

IH: You didn’t want that.

OA: Yeah. Sometimes I did play, but that was not kind of my thing to do. I was not a fan of that.

IH: Tell me about the environment and the neighborhood. How did it look? Give me a picture of what that place looked like.

OA: We lived in a house. There were big houses with big gates that opened for two cars that can go through. There were small streets. Usually you can see the other person sitting in the next house or the one across from you. You can see somebody just sitting there, actually even talk to them. That’s how close it was at times. For those who do not probably know the Somalis—I just went last year to California, Anaheim, for vacation. Actually early this year. And actually that reminded me. The short houses. The houses have to be like…

IH: There’s no tall buildings.

OA: Yeah, no tall buildings at all.

IH: They’re usually short.

OA: Yep. They’re usually flat houses with at least five, six bedrooms or even sometimes eight. There is always a balcony and the old people used to come at the balcony and just sit there, just talk about things—family, politics, just talk about children and what is going. Those you’d see. I used to like when they’re having tea and they’re just chit-chatting in the evening. They called it casariya [evening tea].

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IH: Right, casariya. And that was usually around maybe four o’clock or five o’clock.

OA: Yeah. It was around…

IH: When people come back from school or work.

OA: Yeah. When people come from work. As an estimate, I would say 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 p.m.

IH: People used to have that tea and just talk.

OA: Yeah. It was similar to happy hour here.

IH: I was thinking about that actually.

OA: [chuckles] Yeah. It was similar to happy hour here.

IH: That’s interesting. And then the civil war took place, and then you left with your family to Kenya.

OA: Yeah, we left with my family and we split. My mom didn’t actually make it to Kenya, so I lived with my siblings in Nairobi. Then we went back to the camps for a little bit, and then we came back to Nairobi.

IH: The capital city of Kenya.

OA: Yeah, the capital city of Kenya. Myself, I haven’t really lived a lot in the camps, Dadaab [Dhadhaab]. I haven’t experienced that.

IH: Was it by yourself who came, or you came with the family?

OA: Yep, to Kenya, I came with my two sisters and three brothers. And here, we all came all together here when we came.

IH: So your mom kind of was left behind, stayed behind.

OA: Yes.

IH: Because she wanted to be there?

OA: No, actually, it wasn’t by choice. I don’t remember exactly how we split. But I know she couldn’t come and she couldn’t make it, I guess. But as I grow up, I find out how the process is really long. Before we came here, I don’t think she was able to make it.

IH: How about your dad?

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OA: He came with us here, and then he lived here in Minnesota, and then moved to Seattle. He went through a little bit not liking it here—the cold.

IH: Right. He didn’t like it. Seattle is a little bit better than Minneapolis. [chuckles] So you waited for the process in Nairobi. You completed it there.

OA: We completed it there.

IH: How was life in Nairobi different than what you had experienced in Somalia?

OA: There was always something missing. We were looking for something or doing something. It wasn’t just you can relax and don’t worry about anything. We’re looking for a process, we’re checking something, or somebody is looking at something.

IH: You’re always on deadline.

OA: Yeah. So there’s something you’re waiting for. For example, I didn’t even go to school because they’re like, “Oh, we’re going to leave soon,” and then it took forever. [chuckles]

IH: Right. Because everybody is waiting for that moment to be called and say, “Hey, you’re flying to the USA. Let’s go.”

OA: Yep. It was kind of like that. Every family is checking, “When is your family leaving? When are they coming? When is this and that?”

IH: Everybody is in limbo, as they say.

OA: Yep. So that process was a little bit not really as fun as living in Somalia and just coming from dugsi and running around, not doing anything. It was more of like you have to be ready with your shoes on if anything comes up. That took—I don’t know—forever.

IH: How long did it take?

OA: I think seven years.

IH: Wow. Seven years. That’s long. Seven years of just waiting.

OA: Yeah, seven years of every time checking the post and seeing what is coming in.

IH: Yeah. When did you start the process?

OA: We started earlier, like nineties. I don’t remember if it was 1997. I was too young to remember. But then it stopped, and then we restarted in 2001. That’s from the date when I remember. So 2001, and then it went through to 2004. I came here in like 2004, on May nineteenth.

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IH: That was the same for my family. We started in early 2001, and then by August we were almost ready, and then the September 11 [terrorist attacks] happened and everything shut down. So I’m assuming it was the same for you.

OA: Yeah, it was the same. Ours, I think, went through something in 1997 and then they stopped. I had the chance to go back and visit Somalia and my mom, and then I came back to Nairobi in 2001. That’s when we started the whole process, and September 11 happened, and everything shut down. So we did not hear anything back. We were really close. The process was finished right before September 11. They have to hold everything, and that took like three more years just to hear back from the US immigration.

IH: It’s interesting that September 11 even affected people thousands of miles away from the USA. It’s not only Americans who were affected by it. Of course, thousands of people died here, but whatever happened here also affected people like you and me in Nairobi.

OA: Yeah. I remember watching. Everybody was actually glued to the TV and watching it live. I actually knew nothing about America, but just seeing the whole towers going down… I remember almost two days people were watching the TV and looking at nothing else, just seeing what is going on, what is happening.

IH: It was horrible.

OA: Yeah, it was horrible, a horrible situation.

IH: What was going through your mind as you waited for this process for seven years? You knew somehow that you were going to come here to the States somehow. Kind of or no?

OA: Actually I knew, but based on experience I’d seen with family members, what happened with them and whatnot… Some families actually were waiting for a case and then they are told they cannot go anymore. So this was not really a guarantee that you’re going. Although you actually passed and went through the whole process, it was not like for sure-for sure you’re going to go. It was really a little bit not sure, just waiting for it. For example, myself, I was actually worried about not going to school and all that. I even taught Somali, how to write and read Somali myself in Nairobi. I always was creative with doing my own things with what I a little bit have and could think about for myself, you know. So I actually taught myself how to write Somali. Also I learned Swahili. I learned English, too. I actually learned it privately. Not privately, but someone was coming to our house, teaching me to speak and write English. It didn’t last that long, but I took from there what I learned, ABC, and then I just tried to self- educate, basically, the language.

IH: And that worked out for you, I’m sure.

OA: Yeah, it worked actually. The English part really worked out well. But I’m always actually grateful that I was able to write and read Somali, because now I can actually write in Somali, essays and stuff. I don’t think I would ever be able to do that in America. After I came here, it’s a different process. I’m glad I used that opportunity to take advantage of that time. It paid off now.

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IH: Tell me also a little bit more about life in Kenya in general. I know that people had issues with the law enforcement there.

OA: You know, actually, I have a funny story about that. You know how people used to be arrested on the streets if you are Somali.

IH: And don’t have a permit.

OA: Yeah. But sometime actually they never ask you for the ID, the Kenyan ID, if you don’t have the ID. They actually are not going to ask you until they put the chains on you—with others, too. So it was actually, thinking about it, it was kind of crazy because you can see lines of people who are chained together so that they cannot run away from the police. So that way they are all… You can see a line of twenty-five, thirty people, even sometimes the whole street. You feel like they are protesting and holding hands, but it’s not really holding hands.

IH: They’re all chained together.

OA: Yeah, they’re all chained together.

IH: And the people who are doing that are the Kenyan law enforcement.

OA: Yep. The Kenyan law enforcement, and usually they were doing it to Somalis, Oromos, and some other people from Africa. But mostly it would be Somalis, second would be Oromo.

IH: And where they were doing that was Eastleigh?

OA: Yes.

IH: Which is almost one hundred percent of the residents—not one hundred percent, but ninety- five percent of the residents there are Somalis.

OA: Yes. You can find most buildings, business owners are Somalis. That’s why they cannot tell who has an ID, who does not. So they have to arrest you, and sometimes ask you for money, even if you have the ID. I actually remember somebody who they tear down their ID and throw it away from him so they can make money, he can pay some money. Even worse was actually that the money thing was more of like you just pay on the street and sometimes they can let you go, sometimes they can’t.

IH: So to just make it clear for the listeners, we have a Somali population here in this one small city in Nairobi and then we have the Kenyan law enforcement. And they come and technically hunt for people in this neighborhood. Almost everybody is Somali. They get arrested and not taken to the jail or anything like that, but taken to somewhere on the street, and then asked for money.

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OA: Yep. “How much do you have?” basically. I even as a kid was asked that sometimes. One of the funniest things I was telling you about is that one night I remember, late, I was a young kid and I came down from our building. I was trying to buy candy or something. I don’t remember exactly. Or maybe a drink. I mean like a soda or something like that. I went basically to the local store. It was a little cold, so I was wearing like a big hoodie jacket that makes me a little taller than I was. They came. They actually were police with dogs and guns walking on the street. They called me. They stopped me, and I was like, “Bado fika, I didn’t reach the ID [age].” I was not eighteen. I remember they asked me for money, and I was like, I could not.

IH: And to just clarify for those people, they asked you for, first, ID, and you didn’t have it.

OA: Yeah, so I told them in Swahili, I was like, “Bado fika,” which means “I do not reach the age.”

IH: Where you’re required to have an ID with you.

OA: Yeah.

IH: And then they asked you for money.

OA: Yeah, not only do they ask me for money. He actually put his hands in my pockets, in my jacket pockets. I’m a little kid, I don’t have money. I think I had something in my hand, which is like two dollars worth. He just slammed me on the face. So hard. I remember I had the fingers days after. I think I was at the time maybe, like, twelve or something like that. They just slammed me on the face, and I actually ran crying. I don’t even remember if they chased me or not. But I just ran to the next closest building.

The second time—another day when I was much older, right before I left Kenya—one day I was walking in a really busy market in Kenya, which was mostly Somalis. That day, I actually had a lot of money in my pocket. My auntie, who was flying, I don’t remember exactly where, she gave to me the money so that way I might not get stopped. So I was carrying the money for her in my pockets so that if she gets stopped they can’t take the money away from her.

IH: She gave it to you because she assumed that he’s younger, nobody’s going to ask him about anything.

OA: Yeah, that they’re not going to stop me. But actually it was funny. They knew me, and I remember I was just walking in this busy market, just dodging people right and left. Somebody got a hold of my left hand, really tight. I acted like it did not happen, so I just swing my left hand. I was like, “Let me go.” Actually I thought was a thief. From there, he gets a hold of me tight, and he was like, “No, this is the police.” So it was actually police under cover that were not dressed in any uniform. They put me in chains with another guy. All this time I have my auntie’s cell phone, I have about $400 or $500 in my pocket for her. [chuckles] It was really funny. They asked me how much money do I have. At that time I could speak Swahili, so I told them I don’t have anything. I don’t know how they did not—usually they just check your pockets. But they did not check my pocket that time. They just talked to me. I was like, “I don’t have any money.”

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My aunt saw me because she was walking before me, in front of me, so she stopped and called for help because she cannot come to me because they’re going to also arrest her. They took me and the guy and they got more guys. They got us together, and then they all chained us, about five or six guys together. Although I suppose it would be like really in panic, I did not actually panic. I was actually more calm. They asked me, like, “You are the youngest, we will let you go if you show us how much money you have.” Because I did not want to give them all $500, I was like, “No. Take me to the jail.” Actually they did take me to jail. So I went to one of the jails. We got there, they registered me.

IH: And the money is still with you.

OA: Yes. It’s still in my pocket. Because that’s why I didn’t want to give any hint that I have some money. Then my aunt called my brothers, and people are coming after me. My brother who had an ID actually got involved. At the end, they actually took one of my shoes and my belt. They locked me down. And still I have the money in my pocket. [chuckles] It was crazy. I was actually there the whole evening. I spent about five or six hours.

IH: In the jail.

OA: In the jail, with the money in my pocket. Actually, no, sorry. One guy came from my family and actually he acted like he was talking to me, and he took the money out of my pocket before I get to jail. Because by the time we get to jail, they actually took my belt out.

IH: And everything in your pocket.

OA: Yeah, and then everything in my pocket. So by the time I got there, I did not have the cell phone and I did not have the money. At the end, my brothers came, and they talked to him. We pay about 1,000 shillings, Kenyan, to bail me out of the jail.

IH: This was the story of every Somali who lived there.

OA: Yeah. It was an everyday thing.

IH: And it still is right now.

OA: Yeah. It still is. Actually right now it has become even more worse, I think, because you have to pay more money. It became, I think, more corrupted. Even two or three years ago, I remember people telling me, now even the law enforcement can come to your house and just take you from your house or your apartment. The police come to the door, even if you don’t open, they just break in and they just take whoever they think does not have an ID. I’ve heard even they don’t give people a chance to get their ID out. It’s just more of like… And by the way, that second story I told, I did have a high school ID. He even took away my ID that time. It was kind of like the ID actually is not even going to work. [chuckles]

IH: Because they’d rather get money than anything else.

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OA: Yeah. And then they were like, “You are lying. It’s not your ID.” I was like, “This has my picture. You can call my teacher.” At the time, I actually was going to a school, a private school. My family was paying some money to learn English and whatnot. But that actually qualifies you for an ID to be a student. But they did not take that. So they just took another one for money. But I’m glad they did not get the $500 out of me.

IH: That’s a sad story.

OA: Yeah. I’m glad I made it through, but it’s more sad it is happening to a lot of Somalis and ethnic groups right now in Kenya.

IH: So what happened after that? The process, finally you were able to go through the process successfully and come to the States?

OA: Yeah. I came to the States. I came here in 2004, as I said.

IH: So you came here to Minnesota, straight, or you lived other places.

OA: No, actually, I landed first in Los Angeles. We stayed there just at the airport.

IH: Oh, because that was for transit.

OA: Yeah, for transit. But that was my first city I’ve stayed in, in America, which was beautiful at 5:00 p.m. I still remember. I remember back home I used to support some NBA [National Basketball Association] teams, so I knew Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, so I thought I was going to see them. [both chuckle] That was one thing. I always say, I am pretty sure I saw Kobe, because I thought every guy who was wearing shorts in LA was Kobe Bryant. So we came here, I came to Minnesota. We couldn’t find a place first. The family was kind of split. I was the youngest. Everyone else was older than me. I stayed with my cousin in Eden Prairie, who was living here since 1990. She has children here. I lived with her.

IH: In Eden Prairie.

OA: In Eden Prairie. And then I started at Eden Prairie High School. Actually, I didn’t start right away because it was summertime. School was closing, so they asked me to wait until next year, which put me, I think, a year and a half, almost, behind of my age in school, for high school.

IH: So they had you wait.

OA: Yeah. I came in May, so they were like, “It’s going to close in a month, and you have to take some tests, so you have to wait.” I did actually wait. I didn’t go to school in the summer time.

IH: You started in the fall.

OA: Yep, I started in the fall of 2004.

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IH: Okay. I thought you said you had to wait for one year after that.

OA: Oh, no. I was just saying, to graduate from high school, I think you have to be eighteen, nineteen. But I had to graduate by twenty, twenty-one. So that was like a year behind.

IH: How was Eden Prairie and life there different than what you knew in Kenya and Somalia?

OA: I was lucky to have seen America or Minnesota before I started school. I had the whole summer to spend exploring, going to Mall of America and this and that. To see what needs to be done or to have fun as a young person and whatnot. So I came, I went to Eden Prairie High School, and the first time everything was different from what I have seen. That school didn’t have a lot of Somalis at the time. There were probably about fifty people who were Somalis. Also that school—I think still it’s maybe second or third—but I think at that time it was the biggest high school in Minnesota, with 4,000-plus kids or 3,000, something like that. Around that area. I don’t know the exact number. But it was ninety-six percent, ninety-seven percent white. I have seen white, Caucasian people, but I have never seen that many kids to be my classmates and whatnot. I went there. It was a totally different experience. The building was too big and whatnot. Actually, I don’t know if you have been there. It’s the biggest high school, as I said. Even it’s bigger than some colleges. So if you go to the building, you can get lost really quick. I went there, and then I took some tests. I did not do well, so they had to place me in ESL [English as a Second Language] classes. I didn’t have math or English background because I did not go to a kindergarten-through-whatever school. That was my first formal public school.

IH: How old were you then, at the time you started?

OA: At the time, I think I was seventeen or almost seventeen.

IH: Seventeen, starting as a freshman. Wow.

OA: Yeah. I graduated at like, I think, twenty and a half. I was way behind my classmates. I started there, and the first year, it was basically figuring out what the school looked like, what to do. I signed up for track and field to run for the school. I was playing soccer. I also used to run. I used to do some activities after school, after school stuff. I was just basically getting to know the environment, rather than just learning. For me it was like exploring this new life and what is happening and getting a chance to…

IH: To learn that. And what happened after that?

OA: My sophomore year, I find out that I need to graduate high school in four years. It was funny, in my first year, I actually didn’t know how four years or five years, how long you need to go to high school. So I sit down with my counselor. I ask what I need to graduate with. She told me—because my school at the time, they had ESL from one to five. So she was like, “You have to go through each year. Probably go to one and two, and then three and four.” So basically two years you have to be in ESL, which is like half your time. And then if you are in ESL, you cannot take mainstream.

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IH: Mainstream classes.

OA: And I told her, “I want to graduate in four years. That’s not reasonable. How do I figure out this?” After a long discussion, one of my teachers thought my essay improved, which actually it did. I’m sure because I used to write and read at least an hour after my first year. Because I had this pretty good teacher who used to tell our class, “If you want to succeed, you have to read thirty minutes each night.” I took that, and I read and write at least an hour each night. I remember I used to keep my essays. At first it was like “she,” “he,” if I was talking about myself. It was actually more fun. I wish I had still those essays. I used to look back to them and it was actually more of fun to see how I improved.

One of my teachers said I don’t need ESL and actually supported me. After a long fight, I actually make a deal with my counselor. She was like, “You’re going to mainstream classes, but if you pass less anything than a B, you’re going to come back to ESL.” And if I do better than a B, I can stay in my other mainstream classes. So I sign up for Algebra I, English 9A or B, and so forth. I was lucky. All of them, actually, I got A’s, except one B+. I even got an A in my social studies. One B+. I don’t know. I think it was actually in the algebra class I got the B+, but the rest I got A’s.

From there, actually, one of the deals I won was that she… At that time the school had a rule that you can only change courses at high school students only two times, two out of the year. Something like that. So she gave me the flexibility to change all my classes whatever I want. So I was actually taking—I took English 11 and 12 together at one time. Usually you don’t do that because they have the curriculum where you take math or science at one time and so forth. But for me, I was just taking whatever I need to graduate. I challenged myself, and at the end it was good.

Also I signed up for myself to be a counselor for students. There was this class that was you had to be elected, basically nominated, to be a student counselor and then you take the class and learn all the skills to be a student counselor. I was part of that. Also I got elected to body of the student council, which is making activities for the students, for the whole school. I became good friends with the student body president. I became friends with the principal of the school, the leadership of the school. That gave me a lot chance of what I could do and whatnot. My English was not perfect, which it still is not, but I was actually forcing myself. I told myself this is the only way I can learn. Just to push really hard and not worry about if somebody does not understand what I say.

IH: That’s the way to make it.

OA: Yeah. I make it through. I think the motivation was the first few years, first year and second year, I think a lot of people were like, “You’re seventeen, you just go to school. You’re probably going to work.” But I think after my sophomore year I had the motivation to go to college and beyond. And I set up a goal where I was like, “I need to have a college degree—I don’t care what it is—for less than eight years I have been in this country.” So actually I set that goal in my

12 mind. I was like, “I need to have a degree within eight years of being in America, and I need to do whatever it takes.”

So that’s why I quit running for the school although I was actually fast. My coach was not happy with it. I used to do what they call the 1500 around, which is basically like long-distance running. I used to do hurdles. I don’t know if you know the hurdles, the ones you jump. Actually I was good at that, which I didn’t even know myself until my coach’s try-outs. I used to run for that school too. I ran for two years, and then I quit. I was like, “I need to focus on my education.” And then I was not happy with my coach because one day he asked me to recruit all the East African runners. So I got mad, and then I dropped the uniform, and I just walked away.

IH: Because you found that…

OA: I found that was more of like degrading my future and my character. Yes, I was good at running, but it was like, “You’re not good at something else.”

IH: And the fact that he asked you to specifically look for these East Africans, because apparently they’re good at running.

OA: Yeah, because at the time I think it was two of us, and we won a couple of races. So he was like, “Get the East African runners.” I did not like that comment. I don’t tell that story more, but now looking back on it and I look at it, it motivated me to more be a books guy than running. [chuckles]

IH: So when did you graduate from high school?

OA: Two thousand eight. I graduated in 2008. By the time I graduated, it was completely different, like my sophomore year to my senior year was absolutely different. One way I remember is I had this teacher who was a world civilization teacher, and in tenth grade she was my American history teacher. I could not present in her class. I could not speak English, so it was more of like I could not present to my classmates my projects. So she used to give me extra effort to come up with ways I could complete my class projects. She helped me a lot. My twelfth year—no, eleventh year—there was a lot of improvement to where she used to correct my test to the whole class. There were at least three times she used my test to correct, when I got the highest in the class. I still talk to her. I actually visited the other day, surprised to her class. She is still teaching and she remembers me. So I graduated in 2008. I graduated with A’s in all my classes. It was a really good feeling. There were almost 1,000 graduates in my high school.

IH: Wow. That’s a big school.

OA: It was a really big school, so to graduate with the top fifteen percent was big deal. I actually graduated with a 3.9 GPA [grade-point average], which was like top ten or top fifteen percent of my class. At the time, really, I didn’t know much about colleges, but I knew I wanted to go to college. That’s what I was looking forward to. But I was applying to community college, like Normandale or MCTC [Minnesota Community and Technical College]. One day I was sitting at the career resource center, and this lady who was working at the time as a career resource center

13 coordinator, I asked her for help. She looked at my information, my GPA and all this, and she was like, “You’re not applying this GPA with community college.” To be honest, I didn’t know much of the difference between community college and Ivy League. I did not know the difference. She holds my hand, and she helped me apply to the U of M [University of Minnesota], University of Michigan, North Carolina. I got accepted to all of them, surprisingly, which to my classmates, it was a really big deal, but to me, I was like, “Eh…” I didn’t really know. But with the help of that teacher, I got accepted to the U of M. By the time I graduated—I graduated June 6, and by June 8, I think it was, I was at the U of M starting my second program.

IH: Wow. At the U [University of Minnesota].

OA: I don’t know if you remember—we went to the U together. We did this program called Bridge [TRIO-Upward Bound Bridge Program].

IH: Yeah, Bridge. I wasn’t part of it, but I know a lot of people did.

OA: I did Bridge, which was really, really, really good, because coming to the U of M, as big as it is… I graduated on Sunday, and on Tuesday or something like that I was already on campus, living on the campus of the U of M. I spent three long summers of mine.

IH: Wow. Three months here.

OA: Yeah, and my senior year of high school also I was working, so I actually took off from work that summer and spent the whole summer.

IH: Yeah. Before we talk about your summer at the U, what was your first job here in Minnesota?

OA: It was at Burger King. I worked there for three days. [chuckles]

IH: Three days or weeks?

OA: No, no, just three days. For my first job, but the job that I actually stayed the longest was I used to work at Menards.

IH: So you were going to high school and still working?

OA: Yep. I actually started working when I was a sophomore. I was saving money to buy a car. I was not paying anything in my house. My cousin took care of me. But I was actually saving my money to buy a car.

IH: Were you also supporting family back home or…

OA: Yes. I was supporting my mom and my younger siblings. I still support them, but at the time, the money I work for during high school was spread to my mom, to myself when I needed a couple of things here and there shopping, and also I saved for a car.

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IH: That’s a very unique story. For a typical American high schooler, that’s not the case at all.

OA: No. That’s why I feel like, when I started the job, that has something to do with why I quit also. Because I was doing academically well, and then I was working sometime—my sophomore year, actually, I started working—and when I did that it was more of like how do you pause? That had something to do also for me to quit the track and then focusing on my academic. I used to work the weekends, so I was working Saturday, Sunday, Friday evening.

IH: What were you doing at Menards?

OA: I started as a cashier, actually. I started as a cashier, and I used to push carts also. Like the parking lot, what they call patrol, courtesy.

IH: Was that in Eden Prairie as well?

OA: Yes, it was Eden Prairie. I worked there the longest. Then I became really good friends with the managers and the people who were store managers and whatnot. That’s why they allowed me to take off when I started the U of M summer. Then I went back, even, because at the time I started college I was able to buy a car and have my own transportation and go to work on the weekends.

IH: At the U, you were talking about Bridge and how it helped you. Was it for minority students who many not have…

OA: Yes. It was for minority students to help them transition from high school to college.

IH: Because a lot of times, with people like you, they don’t have family members who went to college before who can tell them and guide them. So this program had to come in to serve that.

OA: Exactly. For me, if you look at it, that lady I was telling you about who helped me at the career resource center, now I call her my American Mom. I still connect with her. I now actually became a family. Without her, I would not have gone to the U of M. It wasn’t like my family did not want to help, but they did not know what was going on. She helped me. She used to take me at like 5:00 a.m. when it’s snowing to show me around the classes and give me tours of the different departments at the U of M when I got accepted. She was really excited, and I was here like I did not know the importance of getting accepted to the U of M or a big school like that. And for her, she was really excited. She took me at 5:00 a.m., picked me up from Eden Prairie to show me classes and stuff like that. Even Bridge, she helped me to apply when I told her. That’s one of the best decisions I ever made, because I think if I came in the fall and started, probably I would quit the week after because it was overwhelming.

So when I came in the summertime, we lived on campus, everything paid. We lived on the campus for three months until the end of the summer. We took two classes. Math class and English class—especially a writing class, they used to call it. It was not too big of a group. It was like twenty-two of us and also fourteen football players who came from different parts of the

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States, who are also minorities, but more like African American or Latino background. But they came from Texas, and there were some from Atlanta, Georgia. We became friends with them. I remember one of the guys, Gary, he passed away two or three years ago. He was a big football player for the U of M. He was living next room to me, and we became really good friends. We made friends. It was this cohesive group that came together. We went to every building, almost, at the U of M, so by the time fall came, I felt like it was home for me. I knew where to go, I knew where to study, I knew where to do study groups, I knew where if I just want to study by myself, I knew the rec center where I want to play football or basketball. You know?

IH: Wow. So that was really helpful.

OA: That was really helpful.

IH: So when you started college—I know that you did political science, that was your major— did you know that was what you wanted to do?

OA: No. I actually got accepted in school as I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to go for education. Then I got accepted to the education department of the U of M. After I took a couple of classes, I thought I did not somewhat enjoy it. I felt it was not for me, and then I tried to do communications. So my first year I took random classes, all my elective classes. I told them I want to be in broadcasting, to be a TV anchor.

IH: That was what you wanted?

OA: Yeah. And then I took a couple of classes, like debate classes, and communication critiques at the U of M. I don’t remember the classes, but I’m pretty sure if I tell you about them, I will remember them. I took them, and then I did not like it. My sophomore year, I actually did an off- campus program called HECUA [Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs]. They give you off campus classes. You take classes, and you get credit for the U of M.

IH: Was that during…

OA: My sophomore year.

IH: In high school or college?

OA: No, in college. My freshman year in college, I was just figuring out…

IH: What you wanted to do.

OA: Yep. I found out it wasn’t education for me, and then I found out I did not really enjoy communications. It was too much writing. Which I love writing, but I did not really love that much. And then I did that program, which is like the spring of my sophomore year. The program was like they give you an internship with a nonprofit in your area of interest. What you do is while you’re doing your internship, you’re also taking classes with them. We went to different parts of the Twin Cities. So they don’t have classes at one place. They go different places and do

16 community service, hand-on experience. All my credits through that program were transferrable to the U of M. It was like sixteen credits. We did a lot of theory on politics, education, social change, and all of that.

During that, my internship, I interned for Take Action Minnesota, which is a big nonprofit political organization in the state of Minnesota. I was interning for them, and it was 2010. So President Obama was working on introducing—now it’s known as Obamacare—but it used to be the healthcare act [Affordable Care Act]. He was introducing that. It was a lot of changes coming up, and we went to DC to protest big insurances. I remember, because we went not only to DC— we went to Chicago, we went to Ohio, we went to Indiana, and then we ended up. We actually took a bus from Minnesota to DC, so it took us almost three days to get there. We were stopping on the way. I remember we were protesting in DC, under a big hotel, and there were big insurance companies meeting there. That’s why we went there to protest. There’s about 8,000 or 10,000 people who came from all over the country or across the country. One time I remember we got almost sprayed in our eyes by the police. There was a friend of mine who got hurt in the protest.

All the media were there. One lady came to me, and she was like, “Where did you come from?” I said, “Minnesota.” And she was like, “No, I mean, where you originally came from.” Again, I said, “In Minnesota.” And she would say, “What is your nationality?” You know? I knew. I was just playing with her. I didn’t want to say I’m from Somalia. I don’t remember if I gave the answer ever to her or if she just walked away, because there was so much going on. We were like live on CNN, everybody was there, all the media were there. I think that was one of my starts for my interest in politics because I actually could say Somalia, but I was like, “You are here in DC, you’re getting your eyes sprayed by the police, this media, this lady is asking you those kind of questions. What do you think about…” I actually asked that question in the middle of the whole thing. I didn’t even go home and thought about it. It was more of like, “Who is speaking for those who cannot really speak for themselves in Minnesota?” Either they are Somali or they are new to the country. You know? Who is speaking for them? I could say Somali. I realized what we were doing at the time was not really something direct to me, because I was a young person and I did not have to worry about insurance, but it was more of getting social security and insurance for benefits for people sixty-five and older—like the mom who is Somali or came from Somalia, came to this country about sixty or fifties, she doesn’t know anything about this. So who is speaking for them? That is when I was like, “You know what? Maybe this is something really I can do for a while when I get back to Minnesota.”

We did that for a week, the whole travel and process. We came back, we finished the class, I remember I did a lot of political campaigns as an intern, helping out. We were electing at that time the governor right now [Mark Dayton] for the first time. Also, I co-founded a group called Students Organized for Obama at the U of M. I don’t know if you remember, but in 2010 the president came to the U of M. They were trying to have the president speak. He was rallying for Governor Dayton, who was not the governor at the time, and they were trying to have it at the capital. We argued to have it at the U of M because the last president that visited the U of M before Obama in 2010 was [Woodrow] Wilson. One hundred and eleven years ago from 2010. So we had a good case, and Students Organized for Obama, we wanted to have the president speak at the U of M. That was a really big deal. I met him, shake hands that day with him, and

17 we had a breakfast meeting with him. It was really one of the coolest experiences. Coming back from him and DC and doing that and through my internship, I learned and picked up organizing skills and that’s how I founded the student group. I founded Students Organized for Obama through what I learned through my internship.

IH: And did that open your eyes?

OA: It did. It gave me like wide options of what I could do. I realized I was always an outgoing person, a people person. I love talking to people, I love making an impact on people’s lives. Experiences like that—in DC when the reporter was in front of me asking me those questions, advocating for the president of the United States to come to your school, and really seeing that day. We had lines through all the Riverside [Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood], because Obama was really popular—he still is, but at that time it was more of like when he was in his first term. He got elected the first African American president. It was a really cool experience. It was really the trick for me. I was like, “This is something I can do, and I enjoy doing it.”

IH: Wow. That’s a big deal. Congratulations. I didn’t know you did all that. How long did that program last?

OA: It was one semester. It was spring semester, but I continued HECUA into the summer of 2011. When I came back to school in the fall of 2011, I decided at that time I was majoring in political science. Also my internship experience counts for me as credits towards my political science, and I loved the classes that I took. I took classes about elections and so on. But that time I decided I would not change again. [chuckles] I was like, “I’m going to graduate with a poli sci [political science] degree. I will finish this.”

IH: And you did graduate with a political science degree in 2011.

OA: It was actually 2012.

IH: Twelve, 2012. Okay.

OA: Yes. And then I did not stop there. I came back in the fall and the spring. And then in 2012, earlier in the fall, I also went to study abroad in the Middle East. I went and spent there five, almost six months.

IH: Which countries did you go to?

OA: I went to Oman. I was actually trying to go to Egypt, but they had the Arab Spring of 2011, so they actually canceled all of my program and what I was trying to do. I had a scholarship that covered my program, which was really expensive. They were like, “Oh, this is a second option. Oman, have you heard about this?” I had actually a few friends who went there the semester before me. I don’t know if you remember Fathi and Bahja. They went there. So I asked them, “How was it like?” And I was like, “Yeah, actually I would do it.” Oman is actually a very strategic place because it’s a small country, but part of the [United Arab] Emirates, very close,

18 like a five-hour drive from Dubai. But also it’s not far from Somalia. Part of Oman, if you go to Yemen, you just have to cross the Indian Ocean to get to Somalia.

IH: It’s very close.

OA: Yeah. It’s like an hour, two hours by flying if you fly there. So it was really very, very close.

IH: Yeah. Then you came back, and then you graduated from college.

OA: Yep.

IH: Then what happened after that?

OA: While I was studying abroad, I applied for internships here. One of the internships I got was… I got many of them, but I took two of them, which was I worked for Advocates for Human Rights—I don’t know if you know them, the Advocates for Human Rights organization around town—and also Congressman Keith Ellison as an internship. So I was doing two internships. When I got back, my life was not fun. I was doing two internships, I had two part- time jobs, and I was doing fifteen credits for classes at the U of M. So I was really occupied with books and assignments and whatnot.

IH: And I remember, you have always been involved in any and every election that was going on in the United States, whether you were interning or just volunteering. You were out there, getting people out to vote.

OA: Yep. That was kind of like from 2008, which I started organizing and registering people, it became my…

IH: Part of your life.

OA: Yeah, part of my life to do. So when I graduated, right before I graduated in May, in April, I got offered two fulltime jobs. One nonprofit and the other was Congressman Keith Ellison’s campaign. Because of my internships with him and relationships that I built with his staff and himself, knowing him by a personal level, I was able to take the job with him. Although I enjoyed the work I did for Advocates for Human Rights, I thought maybe nonprofit is not really for you right now. I enjoyed electoral politics, campaigns. I was not able to do any policy work at the time, but electoral politics is really important. I got the chance to get paid and do what I love to do.

IH: Do what you love. I know, from your work, that you have been very involved in the mayor election. When was it?

OA: Two thousand thirteen. What happened was I worked for Congressman Ellison until December of 2012. That year, it was one year of a fulltime job. And what usually happens with campaigns, you have these seasonal campaigns. It was a learning experience. We defeated a

19 couple of really big amendments. Especially for us. We worked on the voter ID, which would require people to have an ID to vote. We defeated that. That was part of really what I’m proud of I did. Some people started talking about running for mayor in Minneapolis. I met a couple of them. I sit down with them. There were a lot of candidates, but I sit down with some of them. I liked the mayor, the current mayor, [Betsy] Hodges.

IH: You basically introduced her to the community.

OA: Yes. She was a city council member from Ward 13, which is like Southwest Minneapolis, kind of close to Edina, that area. She had a couple of friends in the community, but not really in terms of to get votes in the community. She was not popular in the community. I started working for her, and when I started, there were four of us, I think, that started the campaign together. Actually the Star Tribune had us to be the best political team in the state. That was fun to be.

Then I was not the only Somali community organizer. I was more like everybody. I had a part of the city to organize everyone. What happened was, I remember one of the things we did, I really took the time to introduce her to the community so that way she knows what’s going on. Before I introduced her, I indicated what the community expectations are, what she needs to know, what needs to be done, and what kind of promises to everybody in Minneapolis but also specifically to the Somali community. We made a checklist where she promised me that if I worked of her that she will hire somebody who is Somali in her office, which we didn’t have that and now actually we have that. Those plans, the checkpoints. I used to carry that sheet around, so that way if anyone asks, “What are you going to do when you become a mayor?”

IH: She could list those.

OA: Yeah, she can list those. We used to call it our birthday check, first one hundred days check. It was not an easy campaign. We had thirty-five year old running for office. We had some of the candidates out-raised us in terms of money, probably half of what we raised. Probably that was the hardest campaign I will ever work for and ever done. But I went through. It was long hours. You’re trying to sell your candidate, but it’s really a very small window because all of them were similar. They believed in similar issues most of the times. So you have to find those really, really small differences between the candidates. We were able to find that, and one of the things I learned is people and voters did not really care about money. They need people talking to them. They actually care about more the conversation you have with them.

IH: Then solving issues for them.

OA: Yep. It’s more of like how you engage them, what kind of conversation you have with them, what kind of platforms you give. It was really exciting, many things we did. I remember one of the first times the mayor wore the hijab [headscarf worn by some Muslim women]. A lot of old Somali moms came during election day, and they were like touching their head. “We want to vote for the lady with the hijab.” [chuckles] Those are all of the things I really remember. It was almost all the voting areas in Minneapolis, especially the old folks, they were asking, “We want to vote for the lady with the hijab,” because they don’t understand, they can’t read her name.

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IH: And hijab, for those who don’t know, is a headscarf for Muslim women. Somalis are Muslims and they cover their heads with a scarf or hijab, and the mayor was wearing that so that she could relate to these communities that she wanted to get the vote.

OA: I remember the first event she wore it, the first time she wore that hijab. I think you even covered that event. It was in Safari Restaurant. One of the things I remember was there were at least three other delegates who were supporting someone else and they came to that meeting, and they were like, “We really want to listen to her, what she has to say,” and by the end of the meeting, they were like, “You know what? We feel like she is one of us. We feel comfortable if she is comfortable, respecting us to wear our clothes.”

IH: And she does right now sometimes. I see her here and there, whenever she wants to come and see a Somali event.

OA: Yeah, she does. Especially when she wears it for a meeting with the imams, elders, respecting them. We did have some people who were criticizing the mayor or criticizing me to advise the mayor to wear the hijab. But at the end of the day, the majority of the community saw it as something positive to help them, to be there. Not as a bad way but in a good way she was standing with them and not afraid to say, “I’m not afraid to wear it, to look like you.”

IH: Yeah, it’s all about what the intention is. She was wearing it for good intentions.

OA: I know that for sure, first hand, by knowing the mayor.

IH: Now you are a policy aide for U.S. Senator Al Franken?

OA: Yeah. Actually, it’s more of like a policy aide, but my term is field representative. After I worked with the mayor, I switched. There was a Senate election in 2014. I was lucky enough to know some people who knew the senator, and they hired me coming from that tough race for the mayor. I worked for his reelection campaign. After he got elected in 2014, he appointed me to this position in January 2015. I work in his office now for a year and a half. I love what I do. It has been awesome.

IH: What do you do? What is your day to day job?

OA: We have people who work on issue-based, who work on community-based, and also area- wise, like, demographic. For example, I work in Hennepin County, Stearns County, Wright County, more of the central part of the state. Also I work with the African community, I work with the African American community as well, statewide. Also I do foreign relations in Africa for the senator. We deal with refugee camps in Dadaab. Last week we just sent a letter to the state department encouraging the Kenyan government to not close the Dadaab [Dhadhaab] camp.

IH: That camp is located in Kenya, and the Kenyan government has been threatening these refugees to repatriate them to Somalia.

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OA: Yep. I work on those issues.

IH: That’s very important. Are you the first Somali person to serve in this kind of position for this particular senator?

OA: Yes, for Senator Al Franken. But there are other Somalis.

IH: Working for other senators.

OA: Yes, for Senator Klobuchar.

IH: You’ve come a long way from your time in Kenya, to the first few years in Eden Prairie, to the University of Minnesota, to keeping two part-time jobs and waiting for this campaign season where you work for a couple of months or weeks sometime, to right now having a fulltime job with a very popular U.S. Senator, Al Franken. How does it feel?

OA: It really feels good. I believe, I personally believe, everyone’s journey is different. But it also has a struggle and also has a smooth path sometimes. For example, waiting for jobs for the new campaigns, that is not really where anybody wants to be—especially someone like me who is not only supporting his family, but supporting myself. I do not have a rich father who just wants to throw cash at me. You know what I mean? It’s not easy, but the thing is at the end of the day, I actually take it as a learning experience. One of the most important things I learned if I look back through high school, through college, through my jobs, is through relationships. Building very genuine relationships with people and treating everyone, not the same, but where they are in their life is really important. I would say that would be the best lesson learned, I can say. For the past few years I have been doing organizing, I have been doing community activities, I have been doing voter registration, it has been really great.

IH: Speaking of politics and campaigns, we have a huge Somali community here in the Twin Cities, especially in the Minneapolis, and compared to other communities in different cities in Minnesota and also in different states, it seems like Somalis here in Minnesota are more involved and engaged in civic life than other places. We have a city council member, there is a school board member, in Saint Cloud there are people who are running…

OA: I think we have another school board member also in Mankato. I just heard. I think he got elected last year.

IH: Yeah. And you have been in this field, working in politics, for as long as you can remember. For the past almost ten years, seven years. Where do you see the Somali community in the coming five, ten, fifteen years in terms of politics?

OA: That’s a really good question. For me right now where I see a lot of people organizing, getting involved, specifically engaged, it’s really something where I smile because I know one thing is that, not even going too far, in 2010, when I go to the state convention or I go to our local conventions where the DFL is electing their potential future representatives, you couldn’t find any Somalis there. You could find one or two or maximum five. Now if you go to a

22 convention or if you know something is going on—not even in Minneapolis but the whole state—at least you’re going to find a core number of Somalis who are representing at those conventions and participating in the election and talking about it. Talk about social media, the same thing. Getting elected the first Somali city council member is really huge. I think what something like that does is that people organize and they want to see someone who looks like them. It’s a good thing some of them are running for office because at the end of the day, the goal is to have the community, someone that looks like them. I think that motivates them to even get engaged in more elections. Otherwise they get tired of it, and they just don’t want to do it.

But in the next five years, I see us having more representation in the state level. I say that because—the reason I give you the whole story—the community sometimes right now, a lot of people see it as a negative. But you know five years ago, you didn’t have that. It’s totally different. Somebody who now sees now as a negative, you would be like, “No, there’s nothing really here negative.” I one-hundred percent believe everything happening right now is a positive for the community. For the next five years, yes, we will have more representation at the state level and at a different level of the government.

Also, I think more Somalis, especially my generation—and by generation I mean people who are educated in the state of Minnesota, who went to high school, middle school here now, are graduating from college, are getting jobs—they are going to be more mixed with the mainstream communities. You will find hopefully they will be regular voters. You don’t need any specific or what they call one-issue voter, as we call them in politics. They won’t be a one-issue voter community. Like anyone else, they will be voting when the election time comes, they will be engaged. Because right now what we have, especially the last two, three, or four years, you know the community has a lot of disagreements about who is running for office and whatnot, and I think that is been happening because our focus has been one issue, where if you’re a one-issue voter, if you have one issue the community does not like, they vote against. If they have one issue they like, they vote for it. But I think that’s going to be less. People will be like any other community. They will be okay with electing whoever they think represents their interests.

IH: Right. That’s good. Anything else you would like to add?

OA: No, I think this has been really good.

IH: Well, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it.

OA: Yeah. Thanks!

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