Organizing to Achieve the
American Dream
Disabled Immigrant Association seeks better
life for disabled Somalis
by Clarence Schadegg
In a recent town hall meeting,
Disabled Immigrant Association (DIA) members met with a representative
from the U.S. Immigration Service to discuss such things as the establishment
of a disability community-center where Somali, and other immigrants,
can go to “learn,” “practice” and “exercise.” But
the feeling expressed by some people at this meeting was that “Not much
is expected of the disabled.”
In pursuit of a better
life, the DIA members have the right idea. Like immigrants before
them, they’ve learned that in order to
get ahead, it is necessary to be organized and to work together.
Past waves of immigrants,
from Irish to Jewish to German, struggled with life in slum tenements,
low-paying jobs and cruel treatment by the people who would later
embrace them as “one of our own.”
Likewise, today’s Somali immigrants face many hurdles. Most
who resettle in urban and rural Minnesota towns and cities experience
some degree of racism, job discrimination and prejudice in housing.
Moreover, according to one DIA member, “Large families are broken
up when they come to the country because accessible housing large enough
to accommodate the entire family is not available.” In 2001,
some Somalis were arrested here in the Twin Cities for sending money
to family members overseas. And others fear that what happened to Japanese
Americans—the forced removal from homes and businesses—will
also happen to them.
As people with disabilities, Somali immigrants with disabilities face
even more difficult hurdles. Since people with disabilities are expected
to work twice as hard as nondisabled people if they want to be accepted
as capable, disabled immigrants have to work even harder to get out
of the slum conditions that befell so many immigrants in our history.
DIA was recently formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation to help
fellow Somali immigrants. Their goals include:
• Establish a center where all disabled immigrants can meet.
• Have equal access to education and information.
• Develop health and advocacy groups to connect up with a
variety
of agencies.
DIA members want jobs, housing where their families can live together,
better access to transportation, and education that will help each
disabled immigrant develop better independence and employment skills.
Minneapolis is the defacto
capital for Somali immigrants. Between fifty to eighty thousand Somalis
live in Minnesota cities and towns. Some, approximately fourteen
to twenty percent of the total population, live with physical and/or
mental disabilities. If Somali immigrants with disabilities cannot
get jobs, then we’ll have relegated
this population of people to welfare roles, which are not a good use
of their talents and skills. ![]()
To learn more about the Disabled
Immigrant Association, contact Mahad Abdi, DIA Secretary, 612-824-7075,
di_asso@yahoo.com
