‘50 kids leave refugee label behind to take on status as US citizens’ – Jamar Younger • Arizona Daily Star • June 19, 2011
[Excerpt:] The conference room at the downtown library buzzed with anticipation as a line of teenagers and younger children stood by the side of a long table, waiting to sign in.
Others sat in various groups scattered around the room, talking and making jokes as they awaited one of the most defining moments of their young lives.
The boys, mostly dressed in dark suits, and the girls, wearing traditional Somali dresses, were moments away from shedding their status as refugees and embracing a new identity as American citizens.
More than 50 of the children and teens, mostly children of Somali refugees, were officially recognized Saturday as citizens during a ceremony at the Tucson World RefugeeFEST.
‘Somali Bantu leaders meet in San Antonio for national conference’ –Vincent Davis • San Antonio Express-News • August 9, 2010
[Excerpt:] Our mission is to expand,” Abdi [A. Abdi of Tucson, Ariz.] said, “and welcome other Somali Bantus who are struggling in communities to come to the table with us so we can share experiences and work with each other.”
The network began in 2007, when the San Antonio and Houston associations contacted the Tucson group for help with assimilation issues. The group has expanded to include 35 other communities, spanning the country from New York to Idaho.
Abdi said the network has a telephone conference call once a month to support each other and talk about problems and issues. He said their goal is saving the next generation of Somali Bantus, an ethnic minority in their homeland.
‘Arizona’s Africans wonder what immigration law means for them’ –Dana Farrington • NPR • July 2, 2010
[Excerpt:] A small, but rapidly growing, community of African immigrants has its own concerns about Arizona’s controversial immigration law. And organizations that assist the community face their own challenges of how to educate their members about their rights.
The majority of this primarily East African community entered the United States as refugees. The total population of Africans in the United States increased 40-fold between 1960 and 2006, with most of the growth coming after 1990 (as violence grew in the region). That influx is reflected in Arizona as well — Africans now comprise about 2.6% of the state’s foreign-born population, more than twice the percentage in 1990.
‘Somali Bantu refugee becomes US citizen, leads Tucson group’ –Ernesto Portillo, Jr. • Arizona Daily Star • January 11, 2009
[Excerpt:] Five years and 155 days after Abdi Aden Abdi arrived in Tucson, having left a Kenyan refugee camp where thousands of fellow Somali Bantu struggled to live amid squalor, misery and distress, he walked into Tucson’s Downtown federal courthouse Friday with his wife, two small children, mother and friends.
Never in the thousands of days he spent wondering if he would ever be free from the horror of refugee camps did Abdi think he would be in a U.S. courthouse, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, taking his oath of citizenship.
‘Refugees seek respite in AZ’–Tim McDonnell • Arizona Daily Wildcat • March 24, 2009
[Excerpt:] Around 40 UA students and community members gathered
March 16 for a public educational session about the growing Somali Bantu refugee population in Tucson.
“We wanted to give the city of Tucson a chance to learn about who the Somali Bantu are, where they’re from, and how they got to Tucson,” said Jessica Forster, UA alum and Volunteer and Resource Development Coordinator for the Somali Bantu Association of Tucson, Arizona, who hosted the event.
‘College-bound Bantu is a trailblazer’ –Ernest Portillo Jr. • Arizona Daily Star • July 12, 2009
[Excerpt:] On Friday, in the first-floor jury room in the downtown federal courthouse, 46 immigrants from 14 countries became American citizens. Mursal Abukar Ali of Somalia was one of them.
After taking his citizenship oath, the 25-year-old Ali took to the podium, congratulated his fellow new Americans and their families, and said this day was one of three memorable days in their lives.
The day they were born and the day they arrived in this county were the two other days.
But come Aug. 24, Ali, a political refugee who arrived in Tucson in April 2004, will add a fourth day to his growing list of all-too-important days. On that Monday he will walk onto the University of Arizona campus as a student — likely the first Somali Bantu in Tucson to do so.
For Ali and the small community of about 800 Bantu refugees, his enrollment at the UA is a monumental step.
“I am giving an example to other Bantu, not only here in Tucson, but across the United States,” Ali said several days before his naturalization ceremony. “That’s a huge responsibility,” he added.
Abdi Aden Abdi’s 2009‘Top 40 Under 40’ Biography • Arizona Daily Star • October 15, 2009
[Excerpt:] Mr. Abdi’s professional accomplishments began well before his arrival in the United States. Abdi Abdi spent nearly 11 years of his life living in refugee camps in Kenya after fleeing his native Somalia. During his time in Kenya, he worked with the various international agencies in the refugee camps, eventually organizing a group of Somali Bantus for resettlement to Tucson, Arizona. As a refugee who spoke all of the Somali Bantu languages as well as English, he was invaluable to the resettlement process.
In August 2003, at age 24, Abdi arrived in Tucson, Arizona, three months after the first Somali Bantu refugee had arrived in Tucson. Tucson was in the initial stages of its reception and placement of what would become approximately 500 Somali Bantus resettled to Tucson. The community was being assisted by four resettlement agencies and a small cadre of volunteers, who noted “leadership has arrived” after seeing Abdi set up an ESL class in his apartment within 24 hours getting to Tucson. Shortly after his arrival, he was hired by a local resettlement agency as a translator, quickly being promoted to assistant case manager and then case manager for their program.
A year later, his executive nominated him to attend a Somali Bantu leadership development training in Washington, D.C., and he was given a scholarship by the training organization to attend. Upon returning home, he spent the next three months organizing the community to help found the Somali Bantu Association of Tucson, Arizona, on December 23, 2004. It is a non-profit refugee self-help organization. He was appointed its Executive Director, where he continues to work today.
‘2009 Top 40 Under 40: A get it done generation’–Gabriela Rico • Arizona Daily Star • October 16, 2009
While their professional accomplishments are impressive, the work they do beyond their job descriptions evokes awe.
The men and women chosen as this year’s 40 Under 40 winners give their time and energy to Tucson’s children, the elderly, the abused and the homeless.
The Star received 220 nominations for this year’s award, which recognizes young leaders in the Old Pueblo. Selecting the top 40 was a tough task for the four judges. They were recognized at a breakfast gala Thursday.
“It was clear from the nominations that this is a ‘get it done’ generation,” said Laura Shaw, from Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc. “They should be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to our regional challenges and opportunities.”
