District Work Period Recap | May 23–27, 2022
Last week, I attended a candle-lit vigil to mark two years since George Floyd’s death. I won’t stop fighting for a world free of police brutality.
Last week was also our staff retreat, and we held a town hall on migration. Here’s a look at our district work week.
Monday:
We kicked off our staff retreat with a dinner in Minneapolis. This was the first time in over two years our entire staff was able to get together in-person to discuss goals and strategies to maximize our work for the 5th District. We shared a meal at Dilla’s Ethiopian restaurant.
Tuesday:
We started the day off with a driving tour of the district, where we visited the Somali Museum of Minnesota, Karmel Mall, Minnehaha Falls, and George Floyd Square. The Somali Museum was founded in 2011. It remains North America’s first and only museum devoted to Somali culture. We had the honor of seeing the dance troupe perform and learn about the educational programs offered.
Karmel Mall is the first Somali shopping center in the United States. We met with business owners and had lunch as a team.
Then we stopped by the beautiful Minnehaha Falls. This is one of our oldest and most popular parks in Minneapolis.
Our last stop on our bus tour was a solemn visit to George Floyd Square and “Say Their Names” cemetery, which marks the dozens of Black men and women killed at the hands of law enforcement.
Later that evening, we hosted our May town hall in St. Louis Park. Our town hall focused on the migration crisis. We shared takeaways from our recent Congressional Delegation trip to Central America and discussed the root causes of migration from the region. In case you missed it, you can watch the livestream here.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday morning, we listened to a presentation by University of Minnesota Professor Myron Orfield on housing and school segregation in the 5th District. We discussed how we better integrate Minneapolis schools and address the stark racial education divide in our district. We then visited the Soomaal House of Art, where I spoke with TPT Twin Cities PBS about the important role art plays in the Somali diaspora and all immigrant communities.
Wednesday marked two years since the murder of George Floyd. Our team attended the candlelight vigil with members of our community and the Floyd family. You can read my statement on the two-year anniversary here.
Thursday:
We started out the day with a team strategy session, where we discussed our goals for the coming months.
After that, we visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The museum is home to 90,000 works of art and has 5,000 years worth of history.
Our team then was granted the opportunity to tour the Midwest Art Conservation Center and learn about the conservation process.
Later, we met with Friends of the Falls, National Parks advocates, and Army Corps staff for a discussion and tour of the Upper Lock project.
For dinner, we ate at Owamni by The Sioux Chef. This Native American restaurant is reidentifying North American cuisine with a specific focus on the foods of the Dakota peoples. I was able to present an official congressional record honoring Owamni resturant and the owners, Sean Sherman, and Dana Thompson.
Friday:
We ended our staff retreat with a breakfast at Hen House Eatery.
Later that day, I had an interview with Insight News. We discussed the heartbreaking school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. As a mother, the pain and anger I feel in the wake of another deadly, horrific shooting is unbearable. You can read more here.
In service,
Ilhan Omar
