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How Somali Immigrants Are Revitalizing Main Street America

There’s a mom and pop grocery store in Willmar, Minnesota th...
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
Your most ambitious work yet evan39
Cobalt Misunderstood Lodge Feces
  10/24/17
...
Lemon Startled Toaster
  10/24/17
...
Stimulating brilliant heaven giraffe
  10/24/17
...
Adventurous theater stage
  10/24/17
...
Infuriating Milky Casino
  10/25/17
...
Stimulating brilliant heaven giraffe
  10/25/17
No one is pretending that assimilation has come easy here. B...
Wine Crackhouse
  10/24/17
...
Motley jet national security agency
  10/24/17
this quote says it all
odious garrison
  10/24/17
Keep your culture. Eat McDonald's.
Passionate Shrine Bbw
  10/24/17
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/26/politics/donald-trump-mcdonald...
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
TBF camel meat is vile
vigorous stage scourge upon the earth
  10/25/17
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/how-somali-im...
Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested
  10/24/17
it's an article of faith that anything American is by defini...
Erotic hunting ground
  10/24/17
Whites are dull and unimaginative, that's why no scientific ...
Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested
  10/24/17
This weekend I was at a festival and saw a traditional ethni...
Erotic hunting ground
  10/24/17
We're midway through a cultural devolution, on the route to ...
Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested
  10/24/17
Cr
obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard
  10/24/17
...
odious garrison
  10/24/17
cant wait
contagious ruby mad-dog skullcap hall
  10/24/17
o, the cultural sophistication of the boomer arts
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
The next real literary “rebels” in this country might well e...
obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard
  10/24/17
so hipsters, basically
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
I've thought about this. There is a hunger for earnestness. ...
demanding azure corn cake
  10/24/17
(Jedediah Purdy)
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
I don't think it can even work that way. Nobody learns intri...
Erotic hunting ground
  10/24/17
there was a white american identity that can be returned to....
demanding azure corn cake
  10/24/17
which white American identity. New Englander Puritan descend...
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
Eh, that's not entirely true. I think people tend to iden...
odious garrison
  10/24/17
...
vibrant orchid black woman
  10/24/17
so you're saying a Somali can choose to be American
Vermilion internet-worthy brethren
  10/24/17
actually, yes, i always say that. a specific person of any e...
odious garrison
  10/24/17
...
vibrant orchid black woman
  10/24/17
We speak the language... said Mahboub, 56, who ***owns an in...
Erotic hunting ground
  10/24/17
see, they're growing our economy! we never needed so many in...
Wine Crackhouse
  10/24/17
...
Adventurous theater stage
  10/24/17
Holy shit
Peach kink-friendly becky indian lodge
  10/24/17
...
vibrant orchid black woman
  10/24/17
congrats libs, you pissed me off before 9:30am
odious garrison
  10/24/17
Our kids will inherent an incredibly vibrant culture. I can ...
obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard
  10/24/17
cheer up they like McDonald's too!
Erotic hunting ground
  10/24/17
Who is "our" Yankee dog?
Ebony Wild Main People Stage
  10/24/17
*earl on a plane to Willmar*
splenetic sickened love of her life
  10/24/17
Everyone from Minnesota knows that Willmar is a shithole now...
swashbuckling principal's office party of the first part
  10/24/17
are you sure? that's contrary to what NBC is reporting. why ...
odious garrison
  10/24/17
FOUR PINOCCHIOS
Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested
  10/24/17
"The days of family farms have passed here. Many of the...
salmon racy national
  10/25/17
JFC if u cant trust network news anymore who can u trust
Wine Crackhouse
  10/25/17
Now that's what I call revitalization
Irate mauve office
  10/25/17
...
Infuriating Milky Casino
  10/25/17
Look what the vibrant Somalis have done for Ethiopia http://...
Cobalt Misunderstood Lodge Feces
  10/25/17


Poast new message in this thread



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 2:57 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

There’s a mom and pop grocery store in Willmar, Minnesota that carries a few items you won’t find in the freezer aisle at any Wal-Mart. Like cubed camel meat.

“We chopped it and we weigh it. You can’t get it anywhere except us,” said Abdilahi Omar. He’s the owner of Ainu Shams Grocery, which also sells goat meat, ghee, and Ethiopian flatbread.

In recent years, the arrival of thousands of Somali immigrants from East Africa has reshaped the Main Street in this tiny agricultural town and many more throughout the state. These refugees are opening businesses in once empty storefronts and introducing their customs to new customers in places once only found in America’s inner cities, where newcomers like these have traditionally settled upon arrival.

“If you want to know what Minnesota will look like in 20 years, go to Willmar,” said Ken Warner, President of the town’s Chamber of Commerce.

Redefining the Demographic

On two square blocks along Litchfield Avenue, Willmar’s otherwise sleepy main street, Somali women run errands while talking on cell phones tucked into their hijabs and men in traditional hats called kufi sip coffee at a local café called Bihi’s.

According to the Minnesota State Census, the official Somali population here is 1,500 — though informal estimates put that number at over 2,000. Combined with the city’s Latino population, the two groups now make up close to 25 percent of Willmar’s population, which is still dominated by farmers of Swedish and Norwegian origin.

The days of family farms have passed here. Many of the large agribusinesses that have since taken their place now depend on immigrant labor.

From Civil War to Jennie-O

The first wave of Somalis came to Minnesota as refugees in the 1990s after the outbreak of civil war in their homeland. After settling in the Twin Cities, many moved to Willmar, where they found work at the local Hormel-owned Jennie-O turkey processing plant.

Today over 20 businesses in and around Main Street are Somali-owned. Many of those have used community-based financing which complies with Islamic law prohibiting the collection or payment of interest.

Despite religious and cultural differences, there are many things these Somali immigrants share with their neighbors, said Abdirizak Mahboub, a local entrepreneur here.

“We speak the language. We are God-loving people, you know, in our own perspective. We work hard,” said Mahboub, 56, who owns an interpreting agency that employs over 30 translators and interpreters and has contracts with area hospitals, courts, and law firms.

On his desk, Mahboub displays photos of his two children, both of whom grew up here and graduated from Willmar High. Without the children of immigrants like Mahboub, Willmar’s school district would have had a net loss of over 1,000 students in the school system. Now, the children of Somali and Latino immigrants represent 50 percent of the district’s population.

“That is our future. We need to embrace the diversity that will be coming in our future workforce,” said Aaron Backman, the director of Willmar’s Economic Development Commission.

No one is pretending that assimilation has come easy here. But there are signs that Willmar’s youngest residents are embracing both cultures. Step inside the Somali Star Restaurant and you might meet Hassan Yusuf, the 8-year-old son of owner, Bashir. Ask him his favorite food, and he won’t say camel meat.

“McDonald’s,” he says with a smile.

His proud father patted his boy on the head — and winced, just a little bit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34515199)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 4:00 AM
Author: Cobalt Misunderstood Lodge Feces

Your most ambitious work yet evan39

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34515283)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 4:12 AM
Author: Lemon Startled Toaster



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34515288)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 4:20 AM
Author: Stimulating brilliant heaven giraffe



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34515299)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:26 AM
Author: Adventurous theater stage



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516796)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 3:56 AM
Author: Infuriating Milky Casino



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523607)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 4:38 AM
Author: Stimulating brilliant heaven giraffe



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523679)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 4:18 AM
Author: Wine Crackhouse

No one is pretending that assimilation has come easy here. But there are signs that Willmar’s youngest residents are embracing both cultures. Step inside the Somali Star Restaurant and you might meet Hassan Yusuf, the 8-year-old son of owner, Bashir. Ask him his favorite food, and he won’t say camel meat.

“McDonald’s,” he says with a smile.

Hehe!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34515295)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 8:39 AM
Author: Motley jet national security agency



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516144)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:29 AM
Author: odious garrison

this quote says it all

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516414)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:56 AM
Author: Passionate Shrine Bbw

Keep your culture. Eat McDonald's.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516591)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 11:01 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/26/politics/donald-trump-mcdonalds-celebration-nomination/index.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34517068)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 4:26 AM
Author: vigorous stage scourge upon the earth

TBF camel meat is vile

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523654)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 8:42 AM
Author: Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/how-somali-immigrants-are-breathing-new-life-sleepy-rural-towns-n690226

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516153)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:24 AM
Author: Erotic hunting ground

it's an article of faith that anything American is by definition sleepy, sedate, dull. Anything foreign is exciting, lively.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516387)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:25 AM
Author: Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested

Whites are dull and unimaginative, that's why no scientific or literary creativity has emanated from majority white countries.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516394)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:38 AM
Author: Erotic hunting ground

This weekend I was at a festival and saw a traditional ethnic dancing group, basically similar to square dancing, in brightly colored ruffly dresses. It was quite intricate and fast-paced, and impressive, and it made me think about how many people would immediately dismiss this as hopelessly uncool and out of date compared to, eg, randomly twerking your ass, and how backwards that really was.

Maybe I'm just getting old but I don't think I'm wrong.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516493)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:50 AM
Author: Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested

We're midway through a cultural devolution, on the route to animism and potlatch blood feuds.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516563)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:01 AM
Author: obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard

Cr

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516627)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:02 AM
Author: odious garrison



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516633)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:21 AM
Author: contagious ruby mad-dog skullcap hall

cant wait

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516758)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:01 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

o, the cultural sophistication of the boomer arts

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516629)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:03 AM
Author: obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard

The next real literary “rebels” in this country might well emerge as some weird bunch of anti-rebels, born oglers who dare somehow to back away from ironic watching, who have the childish gall actually to endorse and instantiate single-entendre principles. Who treat of plain old untrendy human troubles and emotions in U.S. life with reverence and conviction. Who eschew self-consciousness and hip fatigue. These anti-rebels would be outdated, of course, before they even started. Dead on the page. Too sincere. Clearly repressed. Backward, quaint, naive, anachronistic. Maybe that’ll be the point. Maybe that’s why they’ll be the next real rebels. Real rebels, as far as I can see, risk disapproval. The old postmodern insurgents risked the gasp and squeal: shock, disgust, outrage, censorship, accusations of socialism, anarchism, nihilism. Today’s risks are different. The new rebels might be artists willing to risk the yawn, the rolled eyes, the cool smile, the nudged ribs, the parody of gifted ironists, the “Oh how banal.” To risk accusations of sentimentality, melodrama. Of overcredulity. Of softness. Of willingness to be suckered by a world of lurkers and starers who fear gaze and ridicule above imprisonment without law. Who knows.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516648)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:07 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

so hipsters, basically

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516681)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:19 AM
Author: demanding azure corn cake

I've thought about this. There is a hunger for earnestness. Saw a bit of it in the movie Logan Lucky.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516749)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:24 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

(Jedediah Purdy)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516778)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:29 AM
Author: Erotic hunting ground

I don't think it can even work that way. Nobody learns intricate Slovenian dances because their grandmothers and older cousins taught them intricate Slovenian dances. They saw a flyer for a class and decided it looked fun. They're probably 1/4 Slovenian but maybe part Scottish and part German too, and it's essentially random which one they happened to pick. At some point it's not a Slovenian dance in anything other than name. If you have the option of choosing your identity is it really an identity?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516811)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:31 AM
Author: demanding azure corn cake

there was a white american identity that can be returned to. it is SJW bullshit to think otherwise.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516820)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:50 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

which white American identity. New Englander Puritan descendent? Boston Brahmin? Catholic Marylander? Penn Quaker? Virginian? South Carolinan? Georgian? Texan? "white American identity" is a fiction, there are many types of white and ljl if you think 19th century East Coast WASPs saw themselves as of the same culture as a Floridian or an Italian

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516951)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:35 AM
Author: odious garrison

Eh, that's not entirely true.

I think people tend to identify more with certain parts of their heritage than others.

So someone may have been exposed to Slovenian heritage by her Slovenian grandmother, and may really identify with that heritage. And even though she's only 1/4 Slovenian, culturally she may skew very Slovenian.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516837)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:35 AM
Author: vibrant orchid black woman



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516843)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:50 AM
Author: Vermilion internet-worthy brethren

so you're saying a Somali can choose to be American

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516956)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:52 AM
Author: odious garrison

actually, yes, i always say that. a specific person of any ethnicity or race can choose to bind themselves to a certain culture and really love it and be a part of it.

that's not really what's going on with our immigration system though.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516976)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 11:00 AM
Author: vibrant orchid black woman



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34517050)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:25 AM
Author: Erotic hunting ground

We speak the language... said Mahboub, 56, who ***owns an interpreting agency***

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516389)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:44 AM
Author: Wine Crackhouse

see, they're growing our economy! we never needed so many interpreters before!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516525)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:27 AM
Author: Adventurous theater stage



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516797)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:27 AM
Author: Peach kink-friendly becky indian lodge

Holy shit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516402)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:28 AM
Author: vibrant orchid black woman



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516404)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:29 AM
Author: odious garrison

congrats libs, you pissed me off before 9:30am

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516410)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:30 AM
Author: obsidian marvelous haunted graveyard

Our kids will inherent an incredibly vibrant culture. I can smell the camel stew already!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516418)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 9:39 AM
Author: Erotic hunting ground

cheer up they like McDonald's too!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516496)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:37 AM
Author: Ebony Wild Main People Stage

Who is "our" Yankee dog?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516857)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 10:54 AM
Author: splenetic sickened love of her life

*earl on a plane to Willmar*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34516995)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 11:18 AM
Author: swashbuckling principal's office party of the first part

Everyone from Minnesota knows that Willmar is a shithole now due to all the immigrants. Even ten years ago you would hear people bitch and complain about all the trash and neglected houses and the crime.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34517199)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 11:19 AM
Author: odious garrison

are you sure? that's contrary to what NBC is reporting. why would they lie?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34517206)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 24th, 2017 11:20 AM
Author: Provocative Duck-like Idea He Suggested

FOUR PINOCCHIOS

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34517213)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 3:16 AM
Author: salmon racy national

"The days of family farms have passed here. Many of the large agribusinesses that have since taken their place now depend on immigrant labor."

This is just a fucking blatant lie. Agribusiness in the plains does not depend on immigrant labor. It actually requires a very tiny, sophisticated labor force that drive $500,000 combines which harvest huge areas.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523571)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 3:48 AM
Author: Wine Crackhouse

JFC if u cant trust network news anymore who can u trust

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523598)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 3:19 AM
Author: Irate mauve office
Subject: Now that's what I call revitalization

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/02/flashback-2016-somali-refugee-attacked-ten-minnesota-another-attacked-eleven-ohio/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523575)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 3:57 AM
Author: Infuriating Milky Casino



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523608)



Reply Favorite

Date: October 25th, 2017 4:22 AM
Author: Cobalt Misunderstood Lodge Feces

Look what the vibrant Somalis have done for Ethiopia http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2016/05/ethnic-somali-abdirahman-mahdi-onlf-ethiopia-boiling-160507083254836.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3773122&forum_id=2#34523645)