I bit my tongue on this for most of a week because *obvious reasons*.
That time has passed.
At the pandemic& #39;s outset, I lost my job, and separately, relations with my family became a bit contentious. I found essential work, and there, a group of Somali women working 10 hour days. https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1311481175689568256">https://twitter.com/atrupar/s...

Immediately, they welcomed me. In a time of isolation and uncertainty, these first-generation immigrants offered me homemade food even when they were in the midst of Ramadan& #39;s fast.
Saying they became my family would be cliche, but they very much became my community.

All that as we worried through a pandemic, dealt with the stresses of long days and angry customers, *and* they were fasting. All that as I was basically a stranger who was wearing a mask from the first time we met, simply trying to hold on by the tips of my fingers.

Let me make one thing clear, bringing more Somalians and immigrants in general to Minnesota would be a great thing. The best of things. https://twitter.com/rljourno/status/1311525197963554816">https://twitter.com/rljourno/...

It& #39;s not that a first-generation immigrant is in Congress or that she& #39;s a Democrat. To be honest, I generally consider myself a Republican.
It& #39;s that there is a gracious and intellectual representative from the area, one I have seen outside my apartment. https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1311685815890841600">https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/s...

Anyone who doesn& #39;t get that, well, I am not a single-issue voter, but I will be a single-issue judge of your status as a person, and disparaging other communities without getting to know them first makes your status utterly reprehensible in my book.

Oh, and their food is great. Next time @ESPrister33 gets to the Twin Cities, he is going to be introduced to a whole new world. Chicken legs over pasta with sambusas on the side and shah in the cup.