Somalis in Maine

Somalis in Maine
Author: Kimberly A. Huisman
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2011-06-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1556439261

Download Somalis in Maine Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Lewiston, a mill town of about thirty-six thousand people, is the second-largest city in Maine. It is also home to some three thousand Somali refugees. After initially being resettled in larger cities elsewhere, Somalis began to arrive in Lewiston by the dozens, then the hundreds, after hearing stories of Maine’s attractions through family networks. Today, cross-cultural interactions are reshaping the identities of Somalis—and adding new chapters to the immigrant history of Maine. Somalis in Maine offers a kaleidoscope of voices that situate the story of Somalis’ migration to Lewiston within a larger cultural narrative. Combining academic analysis with refugees’ personal stories, this anthology includes reflections on leaving Somalia, the experiences of Somali youth in U.S. schools, the reasons for Somali secondary migration to Lewiston, the employment of many Lewiston Somalis at Maine icon L. L. Bean, and community dialogues with white Mainers. Somalis in Maine seeks to counter stereotypes of refugees as being socially dependent and unable to assimilate, to convey the richness and diversity of Somali culture, and to contribute to a greater understanding of the intertwined futures of Somalis and Americans.

Somalis in Maine

Somalis in Maine
Author: Carol Nordstrom Toner
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant
Total Pages: 636
Release: 2011-10-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9781459630642

Download Somalis in Maine Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Lewiston, a mill town of about thirty - six thousand people, is the second - largest city in Maine. It is also home to some three thousand Somali refugees. After initially being resettled in larger cities elsewhere, Somalis began to arrive in Lewiston by the dozens, then the hundreds, after hearing stories of Maine's attractions through family networks. Today, cross - cultural interactions are reshaping the identities of Somalis - and adding new chapters to the immigrant history of Maine. Somalis in Maine offers a kaleidoscope of voices that situate the story of Somalis' migration to Lewiston within a larger cultural narrative. Combining academic analysis with refugees' personal stories, this anthology includes reflections on leaving Somalia, the experiences of Somali youth in U.S. schools, the reasons for Somali secondary migration to Lewiston, the employment of many Lewiston Somalis at Maine icon L. L. Bean, and community dialogues with white Mainers. Somalis in Maine seeks to counter stereotypes of refugees as being socially dependent and unable to assimilate, to convey the richness and diversity of Somali culture, and to contribute to a greater understanding of the intertwined futures of Somalis and Americans.

Making Refuge

Making Refuge
Author: Catherine Besteman
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2016-02-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0822374722

Download Making Refuge Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

How do people whose entire way of life has been destroyed and who witnessed horrible abuses against loved ones construct a new future? How do people who have survived the ravages of war and displacement rebuild their lives in a new country when their world has totally changed? In Making Refuge Catherine Besteman follows the trajectory of Somali Bantus from their homes in Somalia before the onset in 1991 of Somalia’s civil war, to their displacement to Kenyan refugee camps, to their relocation in cities across the United States, to their settlement in the struggling former mill town of Lewiston, Maine. Tracking their experiences as "secondary migrants" who grapple with the struggles of xenophobia, neoliberalism, and grief, Besteman asks what humanitarianism feels like to those who are its objects and what happens when refugees move in next door. As Lewiston's refugees and locals negotiate coresidence and find that assimilation goes both ways, their story demonstrates the efforts of diverse people to find ways to live together and create community. Besteman’s account illuminates the contemporary debates about economic and moral responsibility, security, and community that immigration provokes.

Call Me American

Call Me American
Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0525433023

Download Call Me American Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life.

Home Now

Home Now
Author: Cynthia Anderson
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-10-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1541767888

Download Home Now Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

A moving chronicle of who belongs in America. Like so many American factory towns, Lewiston, Maine, thrived until its mill jobs disappeared and the young began leaving. But then the story unexpectedly veered: over the course of fifteen years, the city became home to thousands of African immigrants and, along the way, turned into one of the most Muslim towns in the US. Now about 6,000 of Lewiston's 36,000 inhabitants are refugees and asylum seekers, many of them Somali. Cynthia Anderson tells the story of this fractious yet resilient city near where she grew up, offering the unfolding drama of a community's reinvention--and humanizing some of the defining political issues in America today. In Lewiston, progress is real but precarious. Anderson takes the reader deep into the lives of both immigrants and lifelong Mainers: a single Muslim mom, an anti-Islamist activist, a Congolese asylum seeker, a Somali community leader. Their lives unfold in these pages as anti-immigrant sentiment rises across the US and national realities collide with those in Lewiston. Home Now gives a poignant account of America's evolving relationship with religion and race, and makes a sensitive yet powerful case for embracing change.

Out of Nowhere

Out of Nowhere
Author: Maria Padian
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-02-12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0375865802

Download Out of Nowhere Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Performing community service for pulling a foolish prank against a rival high school, soccer star Tom tutors a Somali refugee with soccer dreams of his own. By the author of Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress, which was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults.

The Burgess Boys

The Burgess Boys
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2013-05-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1471127397

Download The Burgess Boys Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Burgess Boys:From thePulitzer Prize-winning authorof Olive Kitteridge A stunning story about the tragedies and triumphs of two brothers, from the bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge. Exploring the ties that bind us to family and home, this novel will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. ‘This is as much a state-of-the-nation novel as one of small-town life. Elizabeth Strout has written a novel that makes you feel: this is what it's like to be alive.’Sunday Times Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown for New York as soon as they could. Jim, a successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, something that Bob, a legal aid attorney who idolises Jim, has always taken in his stride. But when their sister desperately calls them back home to Shirley Falls to help her teenage son out of trouble, long-buried tensions begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever. Praise for Elizabeth Strout ‘Astonishingly good’ Evening Standard 'So good it gave me goosebumps.’Sunday Times ‘Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force.’ The New Yorker 'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own.' Hilary Mantel 'Strout's prose propels the story forward with moments of startlingly poetic clarity.' The New Yorker

Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus

Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus
Author: Stefanie Chambers
Publisher: Temple University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-03-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781439914410

Download Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In the early 1990s, Somali refugees arrived in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Later in the decade, an additional influx of immigrants arrived in a second destination of Columbus, Ohio. These refugees found low-skill jobs in warehouses and food processing plants and struggled as social “outsiders,” often facing discrimination based on their religious traditions, dress, and misconceptions that they are terrorists. The immigrant youth also lacked access to quality educational opportunities. In Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus, Stefanie Chambers provides a cogent analysis of these refugees in Midwestern cities where new immigrant communities are growing. Her comparative study uses qualitative and quantitative data to assess the political, economic, and social variations between these urban areas. Chambers examines how culture and history influenced the incorporation of Somali immigrants in the U.S., and recommends policy changes that can advance rather than impede incorporation. Her robust investigation provides a better understanding of the reasons these refugees establish roots in these areas, as well as how these resettled immigrants struggle to thrive.

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults)

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults)
Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-08-10
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1984897136

Download Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults) Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Adapted from the adult memoir, this gripping and acclaimed story follows one boy's journey into young adulthood, against the backdrop of civil war and his ultimate immigration to America in search of a better life. Abdi Nor Iftin grew up amidst a blend of cultures, far from the United States. At home in Somalia, his mother entertained him with vivid folktales and bold stories detailing her rural, nomadic upbrinding. As he grew older, he spent his days following his father, a basketball player, through the bustling streets of the capital city of Mogadishu. But when the threat of civil war reached Abdi's doorstep, his family was forced to flee to safety. Through the turbulent years of war, young Abdi found solace in popular American music and films. Nicknamed Abdi the American, he developed a proficiency for English that connected him--and his story--with news outlets and radio shows, and eventually gave him a shot at winning the annual U.S. visa lottery. Abdi shares every part of his journey, and his courageous account reminds readers that everyone deserves the chance to build a brighter future for themselves. FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!

Strangers and Neighbors

Strangers and Neighbors
Author: Andrea M. Voyer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2013-10-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1107657741

Download Strangers and Neighbors Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In Strangers and Neighbors, Andrea M. Voyer shares five years of observations in the city of Lewiston. She shows how long-time city residents and immigrant newcomers worked to develop an understanding of the inclusive and caring community in which they could all take part. Yet the sense of community developed in Lewiston was built on the appreciation of diversity in the abstract rather than by fostering close and caring relationships across the boundaries of class, race, culture, and religion. Through her sensitive depictions of the experiences of Somalis, Lewiston city leadership, anti-racism activists, and even racists, Voyer reveals both the promise of and the obstacles to achieving community in the face of diversity.