As summer officially begins, the African community in Minnesota has a whirlwind of events and celebrations lined up. First up, is a tournament encompassing the world’s most celebrated sport. The Kenyan community will be hosting its annual Toyoyo event here in Minneapolis during the long July 4th weekend that will involve nine states.
Toyoyo is the largest soccer tournament in...
Choreographers Jonathan (AJ) van Arneman and Peace Madimutsa use the stories from hundreds of years ago, presenting the re-imagined story of a whitewashed history, where Black bodies share in a common knowledge of self to find and create peace even in the worst of circumstances.
“Our mothers were pregnant African women thrown overboard while crossing the Atlantic on slave ships....
Malian singer, composer, poet, guitarist, bandleader and activist Salif Keita, “The Golden Voice of Africa,” will be performing at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Sat., July 13 at 7:30 PM. This will be his only U.S. appearance on a world tour that promotes his latest album, Un Autre Blanc (“Another White”), and celebrates...
Mohamud Noor, a Democrat, represents District 60B in the Minnesota House of Representatives. As of the 91st Minnesota Legislature, he is the only black elected male in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Washington could take a page out of Minnesota’s handbook. While both have divided governments and passionate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, Minnesota’s leaders were able to...
Carlos Santana returns with an album released today on Concord Records. After collaborations with the Isley Brothers in 2017, and a 2014 album that featured different singers on each track, Santana has teamed up with the Spanish singer Buika to form a more cohesive unit, and produce an album inspired by Africa. The result is an hour of dazzling...
MINNEAPOLIS (Mshale) - Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ahmed Isse Awad, spoke Monday at a Global Minnesota event about his country’s emergence from years of civil war and the progress attained thus far. The minister spoke about the current economic and political aspects of Somalia as well as the nation’s efforts to rebuild after war. The...
Karen Attiah, the Washington Post global opinions editor who worked tirelessly to keep before the public the killing of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, whom she edited, was named Journalist of the Year Wednesday by the National Association of Black Journalists.
In November, Attiah tweeted, “I said it before, and I will say it again. #Khashoggi’s killers messed with the wrong...
Kassim Busuri is the Saint Paul City Council Member representing Ward 6. He had pledged to not run again for the office in November as a condition of his appointment but has now changed his mind eliciting widespread criticism. In this exclusive Mshale Op-Ed, he explains why he changed his mind. The Mogadishu, Somalia born Busuri is the first...
The sound of Afrobeat music could be heard against a backdrop of dancing men and women, in between the movements, small group conversations in Swahili and English took place as loud voices competed against the sound of music. In the same area children excitedly played volleyball, tag, and soccer. On the grill, the smell of nyama choma (grilled meat),...
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (Mshale) - The Liberian community today praised yesterday's passage of the Dream and Promise Act by the US House of Representatives. The bill offers a pathway to citizenship for more than 2 million undocumented immigrants, including Liberians who are on "Deferred Enforced Departure (DED)."
The text of the bill that passed 237 to 187, including seven Republicans,...
Hodan Hassan, a Democrat, represents District 62A in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
I ran for office because I saw our state coming up short on sustainable, equitable investments in housing, education, healthcare and mental health. This year, in one of the nation’s only divided state legislatures, we worked together and found common ground to pass a two-year state budget...
