Issue # 473
INSIDE
www.mshale.com
T HE
P.2
P.4
P.9
Post-pandemic optimism high among minority businesses
JUNE 7-13,2021
A F R IC A N
C OM MU N I T Y
N E W S PAP E R
Yusra Arab seeks to dislodge Cam Gordon from Ward 2
UN: Risk of COVID-19 surge threatens Africa’s health facilities
Guide urges keeping of COVID-19 restrictions for in-person worship Yusra Arab, a candidate in Minneapolis’ Ward 2 in the 2021 city elections has as her priorities community safety, affordable housing, support for small businesses, environmental justice, and having a more collaborative government. Photo: Courtesy of Yusra Arab
By Cynthia Simba Mshale
P.10
“Notes From Africa” by Jenny Cathcart is out
Yusra Arab, a policy advocate, mental health practitioner, and community organizer, has announced her intention to challenge incumbent Cam Gordon in Ward 2 of the Minneapolis City Council. Ward 2 covers the eastern part of Minneapolis, and spans both the east and the west banks of the Mississippi river. The ward is home to some of Minnesota’s most cultural and economically diverse populations. It has both high-density housing, as well as single-family residential neighborhoods. It is also home of the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota, as well Augsburg College, University Medical Center, and Fairview Hospital. Arab, who was born in Somalia, has lived in the ward since 2008. Like many Americans with a refugee background, Arab and her family were forced
to flee her native country due to civil war. They fled to neighboring Kenya when she was just four years old, where they lived for nearly a decade before immigrating to the United States in 2001. Arab and her mother Hali spent a year in Tennessee before moving to Minnesota. Upon arriving to the north star state, Arab says she instantly felt at home. “I saw people that looked like me,” she said of the significant population of the Somali community in the ward. The family settled in the Twin Cities, where her mother was able to find work in environmental services. Arab has spent her teenage and adult years in the Twin Cities. She is a graduate of Washburn High School in Minneapolis. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the
University of Minnesota, and a Master’s degree in Health Care and Human Services from Saint Mary’s University. Upon completing her undergraduate studies in 2010, Arab found work as an educator in a local school. It was during that time that she also received some life-changing news. She was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease that weakens immunity and attacks healthy tissues. “It was a learning curve,” she said. Arab said the new health challenge provided her with new opportunities to learn about the disparities that existed within her community as she researched her own treatment options. It led her to pursue work in public advocacy as a policy advisor to the Minneapolis City Council on affordable housing, economic inclusion, and community-police relations.
While fulfilling that role, Arab witnessed first-hand the disconnect that existed between the council’s leadership and its constituents, she said. “I’d walk into a room and I’d be the only person [of color] in it,” she said. Her experience at City Hall motivated her to launch her campaign in February to fill that gap. “There has been a lot of changes,” Arab said. In recent years, Ward 2 has seen a series of demographic changes which have led to a more diverse population. “Minneapolis doesn’t look like Minneapolis from twenty to thirty years ago,” she said.
Yusra on Pg. 4