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COUNCIL ANNOUNCES DISTRICTING COMMISSION FINALISTS

Fifteen Finalists to Give Presentations on Why They Wish to Serve

[COLUMBUS-OH] After receiving 123 applications to serve on the Council Residential Districting Commission (CRDC), Columbus City Council has selected 15 finalists for further consideration.  The CRDC will draw the residency maps to be used by Council beginning with the 2023 elections.

“It has been exciting to have 123 members of the community step up and show their interest in the Council Residential Districting Commission. There was representation from all types of backgrounds,” said Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy. “My colleagues and I narrowed the list down to 15 diverse candidates, and I look forward to learning more about them and discussing the work ahead at the public hearing on February 10th.”

Finalists for the CRDC (in alphabetical order) are:

  • Herb Asher
  • Napoleon Bell
  • Jeff Cabot
  • Monica Cerrezuela
  • Pat Deering
  • Averi Frost
  • Terrence Gilchrist
  • Sarah Ingles
  • Brandyn McElroy
  • Jibril Mohamed
  • Malik Moore
  • Eileen Neale
  • Dave Paul
  • JM Rayburn
  • Chris Wyche

Applicants were required to submit an application; resumes were optional. Elected officials (except precinct committee members), lobbyists, candidates for elective office and City employees were prohibited from serving on the commission. Once the application closed, Councilmembers reviewed the applications and selected their top three candidates. Each candidate has the option to present a three-minute synopsis on why they wish to serve on the commission during a public hearing scheduled for February 10, 2021, at 5:30pm. The members will be seated by March 1, 2021, to begin drawing the maps.

In accordance with the Charter requirements, the CRDC will consist of five members; Council will appoint four. The Mayor and Council President will select the final member who will serve as the commission chair. In 2018, Columbus residents passed a charter amendment to enhance neighborhood advocacy and amplify community voices inside City Hall. The vote added two Council seats to bring the total number to nine while establishing residential districts for each seat.

The recommendations made by the CRDC will require a vote of Council. However, Council cannot make any changes to the maps except as necessary to ensure compliance with the Charter.

All Sides with Ann Fisher – 10-4-2018: Immigrant Involvement in Civic Education

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Immigrants moving to Columbus face many challenges when learning to navigate their new home. One obstacle is understanding how the courts, state, and local government work. The New American Leadership Academy initiative is heading up a new program to tackle this issue.

The goal is to get more immigrants and refugees educated and involved with civics.

Today on All Sides, we talk civics for immigrants and refugees.

Guests:
Carla Williams Scott, director, Department of Neighborhoods
Jibril Mohamed, Somali professor, Ohio State University, faculty advisor for the Somali Students Association
Ismail Mohamed, Columbus lawyer and previous democratic candidate
Stefanie Chambers, professor of political science

October 4, 2018

CCS Names Finalists For Board Seat Vacated By Mary Jo Hudson

The Columbus Board of Education voted Tuesday to interview six applicants to fill a vacant seat.

The finalists are: Jennifer Adair, Phillip Calloway, Jibril Mohamed, Tina Pierce, Brandi Slaughter and Emily White. They were chosen from a pool of 45 applicants for the seat vacated by Mary Jo Hudson following several fights with board president Gary Baker. According to a district news release, the board will conduct closed-door interviews and officially vote on the appointment on January 15. The appointee will be sworn in on January 22.

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Humanitarian activist, Ohio State grad killed in Somali hotel attack

A prominent member of the Columbus Somali community was one of the 26 people killed in a terrorist attack on the Asaney Hotel in Kismayo, Somalia, on Friday.

Abdullahi Isse had graduated from Ohio State University in 2010 and was the executive director of the Social-life and Agricultural Development Organization in Somalia.

SADO is a sister organization of Peace Direct, which works to support people in their own countries to make a difference.

Dylan Mathews, the CEO of the organization, said in a statement that Isse was “dearly loved” as a member of the Peace Direct family and the organization would be working with SADO to support them.

SADO was just one of the ways Isse had been involved in humanitarian work in his country, where he had tried to become a member of parliament and worked in a variety of ways to bring peace and prosperity, said Jibril Mohamed, a professor at Ohio State University and friend of Isse’s.

Mohamed had known Isse before Isse came to Columbus in 2006. Isse returned to Somalia about eight years ago, but frequently came back to the area to visit his sister and an extended network of family and friends.

“A lot of people are grieving,” Mohamed said. “We lost a brilliant person.”

Isse’s work had propelled him to being what Mohamed considered a member of Somalia’s elite and an intellectual who was highly respected.

Isse speared efforts to bring clean water to his area in southern Somalia and began programs to help locals do work improving the community in exchange for cash to buy the things their families needed. The program encouraged working instead of waiting for United Nations aid during the civil war the country endured in the early 2000s.

While Isse primarily lived in Somalia and Kenya, he had spent several weeks in the United States and the Columbus area before flying back to Somalia the day of the attack.

“He landed, went to the hotel and it came under attack,” Mohamed said.

Horsed Noah, the executive director of Abubakar Assidiq Islamic Center, said he is related to one of the owners of the Kismayo hotel, where the attack occurred, and lost several extended family members in the attack.

Noah was also friends with Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh, who was killed in the attack along with her husband.

Members of the local Somali community held a vigil Saturday evening to mourn the loss of those they knew and condemn the attack.

Mohamed said he had been fielding phone calls Saturday from many members of the Somali community who knew Isse and wanted to find out what had happened.

“People really cared about him, and they knew that he cared about them,” Mohamed said.

bbruner@dispatch.com

Jibril Mohamed, professor of Somali at Ohio State University and a member of the Community Relations Commission, said he is pleased to see the festival will emphasize the cultural side of his homeland.

“Somalia is a nation of poets where poets are role models whose verse is known by heart,” he said. “In the diaspora, there is a resurgence of Somali language and culture as artists such as K’naan and young poets such as Warsan Shire embrace their traditional roots of artistic expression.

“The Somali festival is part of this cultural revival and it is a way for Somali-Americans in Columbus to celebrate their heritage while exposing Somali music and artifacts not only to Somali youth but also to the wider public in central Ohio.”

Columbus program to teach leadership skills, civics to immigrants

Jibril Mohamed, an Ohio State University lecturer and executive director of the nonprofit Somali Community Action Network, said it is difficult for Somali-Americans to break through barriers in the political and public sector and in the workforce. Mohamed, who is also on the city’s Community Relations Commission, said he has spoken to Williams-Scott about boosting the Somali community’s civic participation.

Minority millennials gain influence

Jibril Mohamed, a lecturer at Ohio State and executive director of the Somali Community Action Network, said millennials make up a significant proportion of Columbus’ Somali community.

“I think the Somali community is producing an important number of professionals who are highly engaged and educated and have an impact on the social and political landscape of Columbus,” said Mohamed.

Columbus City Councilwoman Jaiza Page grew up in the city and noticed how much more diverse Columbus was becoming when she moved back in 2007 from Washington, D.C., where she attended Georgetown University.

Page, 34, said that she and Council President Shannon G. Hardin, 30, who like her is African-American, have been encouraging younger people of color to get more involved in city government and the growth of the city.

“I really think it speaks more to where the city is, and how we see ourselves,” Hardin said. “Right now, this council is majority millennials.”

“This creative, more culturally diverse generation is more engaged,” he said.

Immigrant Involvement in Civic Education

Guests:

  • Carla Williams Scottdirector, Department of Neighborhoods
  • Jibril Mohamed, Somali professor, Ohio State University, faculty advisor for the Somali Students Association
  • Ismail Mohamed, Columbus lawyer and previous democratic candidate
  • Stefanie Chambersprofessor of political science
Somali-American author encourages youth to be true to selves

Anita Waters, director of development for the Somali Community Access Network, often called SomaliCAN, said Mariam Mohamed’s visit was funded by grants from the Kiwanis Club of Columbus and the Schildhouse Founders Fund.

The goal is introduce Somali authors to the schools, said Jibril Mohamed, executive director of SomaliCAN, who is unrelated to Mariam.

“Kids can read these books and see things from the perspective of a Somali,” he said. “We want to promote understanding and a welcoming environment so our kids can be successful.”

 

Ohio’s Annual Somali Graduation Now Has More Students To Celebrate

On Friday night, hundreds of Somali American high school and college graduates will celebrate their academic achievements during the annual Ohio Somali graduation. Eight years after the first ceremony, the number of young Somalis donning caps and gowns has increased dramatically.

Jibril Mohamed, director of the non-profit SomaliCAN, says in 2010 the graduation rate for Somali students in Ohio was about 50 percent. That’s dramatically higher than the average student in the state.

Today, that rate is 80 percent.

The issue, Mohamed says, stemmed from a cultural difference: In Somalia, parents rely entirely on the teachers to educate their child, whereas in the U.S. the effort is more like 50-50.

Mohamed says the event started as a way to encourage Somali parents to be more involved in their children’s education, and for teachers to be more familiar with the community. Now the event continues to motivate young people, parents and educators.

And each year, SomaliCAN awards college scholarships to 11 high school graduates.

“It’s a way to bring all of us together at the end of the year after working so hard to produce all of these graduates,” Mohammed says.

Columbus Could Learn From Minneapolis’ Somali Community, Researcher Says

Columbus' Somali high school graduates gathered for a ceremony last year at the Hilton in Easton.

Columbus’ Somali high school graduates gathered for a ceremony last year at the Hilton in Easton.
JIBRIL ALI AW MOHAMED
While Ohio Drags Feet On African Commission, A Somali Group Creates Its Own

Jibril Mohamed, director of SomaliCAN, says the organization will launch a civil leadership training program.Jibril Mohamed, director of SomaliCAN, says the organization will launch a civil leadership training program.

 

 

Ohio’s Annual Somali Graduation Now Has More Students To Celebrate

On Friday night, hundreds of Somali American high school and college graduates will celebrate their academic achievements during the annual Ohio Somali graduation. Eight years after the first ceremony, the number of young Somalis donning caps and gowns has increased dramatically.

Jibril Mohamed, director of the non-profit SomaliCAN, says in 2010 the graduation rate for Somali students in Ohio was about 50 percent. That’s dramatically higher than the average student in the state.

Today, that rate is 80 percent.

The issue, Mohamed says, stemmed from a cultural difference: In Somalia, parents rely entirely on the teachers to educate their child, whereas in the U.S. the effort is more like 50-50.

Mohamed says the event started as a way to encourage Somali parents to be more involved in their children’s education, and for teachers to be more familiar with the community. Now the event continues to motivate young people, parents and educators.

And each year, SomaliCAN awards college scholarships to 11 high school graduates.

“It’s a way to bring all of us together at the end of the year after working so hard to produce all of these graduates,” Mohammed says.

https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohios-annual-somali-graduation-now-has-more-students-celebrate#stream/0

 

 

 

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