"I only knew that I was trying to get to the Brian Coyle Community Center. I remember around five different people helping me that day, each from a different part of the world. One person gave me their bus pass. Another let me call my family. Someone else walked me to the right stop and waited with me until the bus arrived."
"This story encapsulates the spirit of Minnesota. Kindness is woven into the land and its people. So many of us - former refugees from East Africa to Southeast Asia - built our second homes in Minnesota, held by the calm, bitter snow and the welcoming of those who called this place home first. I grew up here. My ears feel blessed when I hear so many different languages in one place."
"Violence has a way of turning familiar places into guarded ground. And yet, I ask not what has been taken, but what we will continue to build from what remains. This place carries a deeper history long before Somalis arrived here, and it is here that I found my artistic passion - my calling in life. I fell in love with the ability to exhume the unimaginable power of refugees. I fell in love with telling stories that embody our resilience."
Violence can turn familiar places into guarded ground while prompting questions about what will be built from what remains. A teenager in Minnesota lost a bag, lacked a phone, and received help from around five strangers of different national origins who gave a bus pass, allowed a call home, and escorted to the correct stop. Refugee communities from East Africa to Southeast Asia established second homes in Minnesota, shaped by bitter snow and prior inhabitants' welcome. Many languages coexist, and snowfall arrival inspires joy. The place holds deeper Indigenous history. Artistic passion emerged through telling refugee stories and exploring resilience in plays and projects.
Read at Hyperallergic
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