Why I want to serve in Columbus District 25 - Ismail Mohamed

Thursday, October 5, 2017, 25years’ old Ismail Ali Mohamed announced his intention to run for the Ohio State House of Representatives in District 25. The Political Science      graduate and a lawyer told the New Americans magazine that, “I have always been active in politics in the community. Politics is the best way you can bring about change in the  community. “

When the civil war started in Somalia, my family immigrated to Ethiopia as refugees. After about two or three years we immigrated to Kenya. We lived there for a couple of years as refugees. That was where I started attending school, elementary school and kindergarten. I did not come from a rich family but I got parents that tell me to get good education and that there is value in good education.

I was fortunate to come to the United States in 2005 as a young man and I attended elementary school here, Middle school, and graduated from the international Academy of Columbus.

I went to Northland High School in Columbus, Ohio. I was able to attend the Ohio State University where I got my Bachelor’s degree in Political Science that is when I became active in Politics.  I started working with agencies and departments involved in politics and immigrant community in Columbus, Ohio. I went back to college in 2014 for a law degree. I have finished my law degree becoming first Somali-American lawyer in the State of Ohio. 

I have been doing quite a lot in the community, reaching out and educating a lot and doing a lot of community awareness programs in terms of voting and registration. I have received a lot of push from the community to consider political office. I have meant with a lot of community leaders, families and friends and I have announced my candidacy to run for the position of a legislator for District 25 in the State of Ohio.

America

We came straight to Columbus. I have seven siblings. Our dad was actually living here before us. He sponsored us. It was hard transitioning in the US especially with language barrier and culture shock. I kind of struggle in school starting out. But because I was much younger than most of my family members and friends I was able to learn and understand English much quicker. My background, from a Muslim and an African, was kind of a challenge. Once I got older things became better. High school was easier and college was much easier. 

Education

It all started with my parents. Going back, my great grandfather was a teacher, and my grandfather was a teacher. We’ve been very active in education. I have been very fortunate to have parents who instilled in me the value of education. Even back in Africa, I always did well in school. When I came here, even though I would want to get out and have some fun, I always get that push from my parents to always excel in education. “Be that smart kid in the class. Sit in the front seat of the class and answer the questions.” Same with teachers and college instructors. It takes a village raise a child. Everyone has a kind of small influence in my life. I am much honored.

Political Science and Law

They kind of go together. I have always wanted to be in politics even when I was young. While a lot of my school mates then, struggled with what they wanted to do, I already knew what I was going to do. Looking back to Somalia, the civil war started in 1991 and no central government for a while, it’s  been difficult. Now you kind of see and understand the value of having a law, the value of having legal code and knowing the terminology and laws that prevent people from committing crime and making sure things are established as in constitution.  I always had this in my mind. Politics too. I have always been active in politics in the community. Politics is the best way you can bring about change in the community. Knowing local politicians, knowing about what is going on in the local politics. That was how I started. My mum wanted me to be a doctor. I knew it was not for me. I had to be honest with myself. I applied to law school. And I have never regretted going to law school. It was three years of painful and gruesome time but it was worth every bit. It is a useful education to have.

Response

It’s been  positive reaction from the community. A lot of people reached out to me and that they wanted to go to law school. They needed a role model. Everyone kind of recognizes me now and some wanting me to help out in some issues, especially immigration. But I always tell them I am into criminal law. However, they feel much comfortable walking up to someone who looks like them and with same culture. It shows the value of what I am doing and that is why I’m coming out.

Position

I knew it will come. I have worked with the community a lot. I also worked with an NGO called Our Helpers that deal mostly with the immigrant community. I was able to meet and help a lot of people there. I got a lot of push from the community. They want me to represent them at the State level. It’s been very positive since I announced my intention. The whole of the community is coming together to support me. We just held the campaign kickoff and fund raising.

I live in District 25 and I understand the community. We will be reaching out to everyone in District 25 and we have put a strong team together. We will make sure that people are aware of our campaign. Everyone that we’ve met so far, has been very positive, especially seeing that a young person is coming out to run for elective office. I want to talk about specific issues and policies, especially gun violence in our community. It is a growing trend. I am running on the Democratic ticket. I have supported gun control. I have always been passionate about it. We will definitely be reaching out to everyone.  

Sara Abou Rashed: Uniting with Words

Sara Abou Rashed

The Annual Community Arts Partnership Award 2017 of the Greater Columbus Arts Council on Thursday, October 26, once again fulfilled all expectations as a gathering of the “Who is who!” in  the Arts community in   Columbus, Ohio. The event was spiced with entertainment from the Incomparable Nina West and the Cast of Hell of Horror,           Columbus Children’s Theatre and a poet, Sara Abou Rashed whose “I am America” poem rose the packed hall to a long and               sustained deafening standing ovation.

 In a penetrating voice, almost strident, controlled and compelling but captivating, Sara delivered every line with passion.  Yet, Sara, who was at the event with her mum, Razan Oueis, is just 18 and has only lived in America for four years. She spoke with the New    Americans on how she learned to speak    English and was able to integrate so fast: -

I am originally from Palestine, but I was born and raised in Syria. In 2013, we moved from Syria because of the war. My life has been very different since, but I am proud of how far along I’ve come. I had always been into the arts and creativity as a young child, I used to write poetry in Arabic when I was younger. So, when I moved here, I started painting a lot more and writing poetry in English. I’m also a very social person and I truly enjoy meeting a lot of people. 

Columbus

I moved with my mother and grandmother to Ohio in 2013. I was 14 years old then, and had just started freshman year of high school here in Columbus. Currently, I am 18 and I am a college freshman, attending Denison University in Granville to study international relations. 

 

Sara and Razan Oueis

English language

I learned English through translation. When I first got here, I barely knew any English. But being in high school, around many kids my age and hearing the language for long hours daily helped a lot. I remember, my first few months here, we studied the Odyssey. It was very challenging, so I would translate every single word to Arabic and start repeating and memorizing. 

Challenges and Prospects

Living in Columbus has been very different than the life I’m used to in Syria. The systems are different, and even the smallest details such as buildings and grass. But I think I’m adapting to life here, and I find Columbus to be very accepting.

It was challenging at first to get used to the differences and meet people with similar interests, but once I learned the language, I could connect with other people easily. Columbus is very embracing of the arts and of diverse populations. 

Poet

I am a poet, performer, and public speaker, because I love talking to people and talking with people. It brings me joy to stand on stage and share a message with my audience. Poetry and public speaking in general are arts that I enjoy and seek to do in every opportunity possible. I want to influence a change through my art. 

I am America!

‘’I Am America’’ is a poem that I believe every American should hear. Even though I am new to the country, I am very attached to the idea of being American and what it means to represent that country. I truly believe that each one of us living here is America – we are the country, we build it and represent it in all aspects. I felt very strongly about what it means to be American and what this country stands for, especially after the election, when so many of us were troubled to see the hatred emerge. That’s when I was inspired to voice my opinion in this poem and explain to others that regardless of all my differences, I am still a part of this country. My goal is to bring people together with my words – to remind them of what it means to be an American. 

Hope

My hope for the future is that America continues to be an accepting country that welcomes everybody and that I take part in its development and prosperity as a poet and as an ambassador.

I Am America

Sara Abou Rashed

By Sara Abou Rashed

I do not know all of your names,

but all of you do know mine… I am America 

“I am America, and oh dear     America,

I love you even at times when you do not love me.

I claim you even when you denounce me,

when you tell me that I need to go back,

that I simply do not belong. “

I am America

I am America for America is one resilient woman, who is loud, proud, strong,

whose shoulders shelter continents,

whose arms extend and reach beyond oceans. 

I am America

I am the voice, the face, the body of America.

I am America for I am different, 

for I know and feel and see and hear and love

and accept and admire and defend and embrace

my differences. 

I am America,

for I don’t want to be like everyone else,

for everyone else is not even like everyone else.

I am America for I come from someplace else:

أتي من خلف شواطئ المتوسط ولغتي العربية

تجهلها ألسنتكم. أنا أمريكا 

I am America.

I am America for I, too, have lost

a founding father, a history, a legacy

of the old wise men long ago gone;

my constitution is one book they’re leaving to dust

I am America for I, too, have won a mother:

The statue of liberty stands tall like the only family virtue

you may not find in foreign blood,

but you certainly breathe in air.

I am America for I am revolutionary.

My revolutions are volcanos, my voice rises and falls like hot lava on the hands of my oppressors.

I am America that I protest.

The Washington march spread like honey

in my veins. Yes, honey I say, because in America, we are sweet and we stick together like this.

I am America, because no one can divide me – your borders do not define me. My landscape is my pure dress being stained with violent blue and bloody red.

There are needles being put through me,

scissors and sewing machines ready to redesign me, telling me parts of me they like, and parts need cut, uprooted, taken out.

Out of the streets, out of my insides, out –  I am America, because I am one; it’s all of me,  it’s all of us, or none. 

I am America

I am America, and oh dear America,

I love you even at times when you do not love me.

I claim you even when you denounce me,

when you tell me that I need to go back,

that I simply do not belong. When you strangle me,

handcuff me at airports, prison me, deport me,

I love you still and I grasp onto you,

like a child to its mother,

even when you let go of me. 

And I wear your face, America. I wear your

face of 13 stripes and 50 stars even when you’re too scared

to look into mine, because I am not ashamed

of you, I am ashamed of what they’ve made you.

America, they do not know you like I do.

Azza Sudanese Sunday School: Connecting children to their roots

By Tatjana Bozhinovski

It is the dream of every    immigrant parent that his or her children that were born here or brought to this country at a very young age speak their native language and follow their country’s traditions. This is easier said than done for many. The native languages are spoken at home. But, for the biggest part of the day, the families are not at home together. The parents are responsible to provide for their families, therefore, they are at work for a big part of the day. Many of them have two jobs, so by the time they come home to the children, everyone’s asleep. When they are home, there are many things that need to be done around the house or errands that need to be run.

The children on the other hand are at school or at a daycare during the day, outside playing, listening and learning English.

As it is very well known, the youngsters absorb information much quicker than adults. So, in no time, they start communicating in English. Thanks to modern technology and social media, this is becoming easier and easier. Siblings start talking to each other in English at home. American culture is adapted quickly. This is hard for the parents to accept. They are happy that their children are striving in this new country, but, they also want their sons and daughters to remember their mother tongue, they want them to remember and practice their old traditions and look for ways how to solve this. 

One of the solutions is a Sunday school. Parents bring their children to these schools where programs are developed and through fun activities and projects the children learn their native language, learn about their culture, history of their county and more. An example of this is Azza Sudanese School.

Located on 6047 Frantz Rd. suite 103A in Dublin, the Azza Sudanese School operates on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to the Director of the school, Dr. Awatif Elnour, “about 30 American-Sudanese children, ages 6-14 attend every Sunday and are taught by four volunteer teachers who are experienced and professional educators.”

Using textbooks, audiovisuals, presentations and other interactive learning materials, such as fun games and group activities, the teachers teach Arabic, Islamic studies, and Sudanese culture and folklore, including art, music and ethnic dance.

The school’s Mission Statement reads exactly that: To Provide elements of Sudanese Culture, present a sound religious foundation, teach Arabic language, and prepare our future generation for a multi-cultural world.

The Sudanese community is not as large as some other immigrant and refugee communities in Columbus, Ohio. There are about 300 Sudanese in Central Ohio.

Dr. Awatif Elnour noted that, “In the early 1990s, then very small community, attempted a Sunday school, but the efforts were unsuccessful,” adding that, “there is currently another school in the area teaching only Arabic and Quran.”

 Azza Sudanese School opened its doors in September 2016 with the intent to “consolidate the Sudanese American second generation identity and facilitate their integration to become good productive citizens of their two cultures; Sudanese and United States”, said Awatif.

Its founders are group of women who are members of the

Sudanese community in Columbus, Ohio and five designated members constitute the school administration:

           Dr. Awatif Elnour: Director

           Sumia Mohamed: Assistant Director

           Amira Habib: General Supervisor

           Amy Alhadi: Public Relations

           Salma Gaily: Finance

The members of the administration are all volunteers, and no one, but two teachers who have nominal salaries, gets paid. Even the cost for the attendees is minimal. The parents pay a very small monthly payment that covers snacks, textbooks and a few class materials. ETSS donates the stationaries. 

On the future plans, Dr Awatif explained that, “Our big plan can be summarized in two folds that are connected with each other. First, currently we have a temporary place and pay nominal fees for that. We are planning to have our own well equipped place in the near future which depends on funding possibilities; in order to cope with the student increment. Just this year our student number increased by 25% from the last year.

“Second, we are planning to register as a Non-profit organization and receive donations that will help in running the school and achieve its goals. Our goal in Azza Sudanese School is to provide our students with a unique experience and to have a blue print in Columbus, Ohio and bring the Sudanese youngsters and culture to the forefront of the discourse,” she added.

How We Celebrate Thanksgiving Day

My Very Own Thanksgiving

By Yasmine Farah

Yasmine Farah

Thanksgiving has always been my eldest sister’s favorite holiday. Her name is Asha, which means life or the beginning of a new hope.  She has always been the pearl of our family’s eyes. She is the same sister who sponsored all of us to join her in her new beloved country of the U.S. of A.  I was a little girl when I had the experience of Thanksgiving through Asha’s cooking. That year my mother and older siblings were scared of being part of a new country where the language and custom were foreign to them. They were also hopeful for a new beginning.  Thanksgiving was the greatest introduction.

It was a time of the year when our entire family would all gather at Asha’s beautiful house in the suburb of Bedford, Massachusetts. In this moment our sense of smell and thoughts would be merged with the smell of the food.  For that moment, the bearer of bad news, the television, would be turned off and we would all rejoice in each other’s company like any other family.

 I would listen to their jokes and stories about Somalia. In those moments life just seemed so precious. One of my distant uncles who came to the U.S with us would annually utter “what is there to be thankful about, look at us, we are refugees” and the rest of the family would burst into laughter, he too would laugh.

When I became a teenager and I met my first Native American friend, it is the only family I knew who didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving Day. They taught me that so much blood had to be shed for some to feel Thankful.   They considered those killed as their own kin hence for the sake of solidarity they never celebrated Thanksgiving.  To them, Thanksgiving was a day of mourning.

I wanted to sympathize with my dear native friend.  Asha was not surprised upon me telling her about my new discovered story of the birth of Thanksgiving.  She simply said “I know”. People have their own individual story of why they celebrate Thanksgiving or why they don’t.  My family celebrates Thanksgiving because for us, it is a moment to be Thankful for being together and alive. It is also a time when we utilize our energy into praying for peace in Somalia.

Fred Boditch

The value of life is in the moments that stay happily glued into our souls. Thanksgiving was my family’s greatest naturalization into the greatest country on God’s green earth.

 

We will be spending our Thanksgiving with our family. Around 30 people at my sister-in-law’s house. Lots of food and friendship.

Fred Bowditch

Security Consultant

Andrea Lewis

Each Thanksgiving my husband, son and I spend half of the day with my husband’s family and half of the day with my family. We typically go to my mother’s house for lunch and feast on turkey and other typical Thanksgiving fare. After our meal, the men typically watch football while the women chat at the kitchen table. My husband’s family is much smaller than mine, so in the evening we will meet for a quaint and quiet meal, and engage in stimulating conversation with his grandparents and mother. I am excited for this holiday season, and always treasure the memories we make with our family and friends.

Andrea Magaña Lewis, PPO,  Ohio Latino Affairs Commission 

Biodun Ogunjobi

I will be spending the Thanksgiving Day with family at home doing the normal tradition of eating and drinking then later go out to friends that invited me.

Biodun Ogunjobi, Writer

Malik Moore

I am happy to share. Although I don’t “formally” celebrate Thanksgiving, I do enjoy spending the early part of the day in service to others and I typically volunteer in the morning (if I don’t make the trek back to Philadelphia) and I spend time with friends and family eating a big meal in the early evening. I am very grateful for all I have and I love eating with family, but nothing feels better than serving others.

Malik Moore, ED,  YMCA, Central Ohio

Esther Ajiboye

                                                           I will be spending Thanksgiving at the restaurant with friends and family. The restaurant will stay open for a while and close early.

Esther Ajiboye, Owner, Intercontinental Restaurant, Columbus OH