Youth Groups in Minnesota Reach Out to Somali-Americans

 

Too often young Somali-Americans have made news for all the wrong reasons.

Some young people have fallen victim to drug abuse or the appeal of gang violence. Others have turned to extremist ideology¹.

But youth organizations in the American state of Minnesota are trying to change that. Somali groups there have taken steps to keep young people away from bad influences.

One such effort was a basketball tournament for Somali-Americans living in and around the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The competition was the idea of 12 youth organizations representing Islamic centers. It gives the players a chance to build up their basketball skills and gain self-esteem.

Zakariye Ibrahim played for the al-Rawda team, which won the competition.

“Today we have succeeded in winning the cup after beating the finalist Umatul-Islam club. We had worked very hard for this and we are so excited about it.”

Minnesota is home to 20,000 Somalis, more than in any other state. More than 80,000 Somalis live in the United States.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation² says about 12 people have joined militant³ groups in Syria in recent years. The FBI adds that more than 20 men have joined al-Shabab militants⁴ in Somalia since 2007.

Recently, nine Somali-American men were accused of plotting to join ISIS, the militant group also called ISIL. A federal judge in Minnesota sentenced them to prison.

Beza Tesfaye is the conflict and governance research manager for the aid agency Mercy Corps⁵. She has done research in Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland on why young people join extremist groups.

Tesfaye found that, unlike what many believe, it is not poverty or unemployment that are the main reasons Somalis join extremist groups. Instead, the strongest influences are young people who feel their interests are being ignored, especially in political decisions. They also feel discriminated⁶ against based on their tribe or ethnic⁷ group.

Tesfaye said it is important to give young Somali-Americans chances to do something meaningful in their communities.

“This included activities like volunteering, doing awareness⁸ campaigns around salient issues that young kids cared about,” she said. “Essentially just giving them a platform to express themselves in addition to giving them the skills they need to express themselves through education.”

Tesfaye said that a combination of civil involvement and civil society reduced the number of Somali youth taking part in extremist and political violence.

“The key takeaway is that civic⁹ engagement and civil society is a real need if we are trying to address the root causes of violence and we have evidence to support that,” she said.

Programs like the basketball tournament are designed to provide activities to help young Somali-Americans stay away from negative influences.

The organization “For Youth by the Youth” created the tournament. Yusuf Mohamed leads the group.

“The reason we started this program was when we saw what the youth are going through and how they were involved with gang fights among themselves, when we saw how they are suspected or labeled as extremists, we started to bring them together in order to prevent them from getting involved with drugs. We found a place where they can stay fit and stay busy and avoid negative influences.”

One of the basketball players, Abdullahi Bare, agrees that sports can help young people like him.

“This kind of tournament brings us together as brothers. We come together and when we finish the games we eat together and communicate as well.”

The basketball event in Minnesota has been taking place in each of the past three years.

I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

gang – n. a group of people, often criminals

self-esteem – n. a sense of one’s worth or importance

cup – n. a prize or award given in recognition of one’s success

salient – adj. relating to a striking point or quality

platform – n. a vehicle used for a purpose; a surface, usually raised

takeaway – n. a finding based on presented facts or information

civic – adj. of or related to a citizen or citizenship¹⁰

negative – adj. marked by denial or refusal; having disagreeable qualities

labeled – v. identified; named

fit – adj. physically or mentally sound

1 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。