Regional Industry & News

Local organization educates Somali voters, hosts candidates at event

One Community Bridge hosted a voter education event for Somali residents of Faribault Friday at its new downtown Faribault location.

The organization, formerly known as the Faribault Youth Empowerment Center, had former social studies teacher and DFL candidate for Minnesota House District 19A Martha Brown give a presentation on what would be on voters’ ballots, with translations in Somali. Also in attendance at the event were Brown’s opponent, incumbent Rep. Keith Allen (R), as well as Rice County Commissioner Gerry Hoisington and his opponent in District 3, Sam Temple.

“Any of my interactions with the Somali community has been positive,” Hoisington said. “I appreciate your friendliness, your warmth and your hospitality.”

Like Hoisington, Allen also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to meet with the Somali community, adding that they shared some values he respects.

“Things I appreciate about the Somali community is you respect your elders, and moreover, you respect the importance of family and how much it means to you,” Allen said.

Allen took some time to talk about his platform and the work he has done in the state Legislature, including a bill requiring drivers to stop for any school bus with its flashing red lights on — regardless of the position of the bus’s stop arm — which he wrote and pushed through the state House.

“There’s been a lot of good things that came out of the Capitol because of what happened here in this community,” Allen said.

Both commissioner candidates also took some time to talk about their reasons for running, with Hoisington saying that he hoped Rice County would “be a place where my family and my grandchildren can flourish,” while Temple said he wanted to help “working-class, everyday people.”

“But win, lose or draw, I am a community organizer, so I will be continuing to help this community, even if it’s Gerry behind the dais or me behind the dais,” Temple said. “Regardless, I know we’re all going to work together to help serve Faribault.”

Brown’s presentation covered each section of the ballot, including Faribault School Board, City Council, the Board of Commissioners, state and federal Legislature and the Minnesota gubernatorial and attorney general elections. She also covered what each of those positions did, as well as the platforms for both the Democratic and Republican parties.

“I used to teach social studies, and my favorite thing to teach was how government works and to try to inspire students to get involved and register to vote,” Brown said.

At the end of her presentation, Brown said she wanted to inspire further action in the Somali community to get involved with the government.

“It’s really important that the Somali community start to build leaders to run school board, city, county, state,” Brown said. “This is not just for us. It’s for everybody.”

After the presentation, One Community Bridge’s volunteers encouraged attendees to meet with the candidates to discuss their concerns and start a dialogue with them.

With the organization now going under a new name and being based out of a new building, One Community Bridge Executive Director Ibrahim Khalif hopes that this event not only helps Faribault’s Somali community understand American politics but also helps reintroduce the organization to the city.

“We have really great leadership here, we serve families from all backgrounds, and what we’re looking for is where we collaborate with other organizations to serve the well-being of Faribault’s community,” Khalif said.