Deep in Gunnar Olson's story in the Faribault Daily News, Citizenship course aims to help area residents become Americans, there's this:
The eight-week course, which takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Thursday at the Faribault Diversity Coalition’s offices in Faribault, aims to teach those eligible people how to become citizens by passing the test and completing the required paperwork.
Groups of volunteers from Sembrando Poder and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee will help the class’s participants file the required paperwork free of charge, with the applicant covering the federal filing fee. In addition, the volunteers will work closely with course participants to ace the naturalization test, which, as long time University of Minnesota professor Kathleen Gamley explained is not a slam dunk, even for native English speakers.
“People think you can just waltz in and think you can become a citizen,” she laughed. “I’ve given parts of that test to my students at the U of M and about 70 percent of them fail it.”
Questions range from simply stating who is the current president, vice president and speaker of the House to when the Constitution was written, who wrote the Federalist Papers and Susan B. Anthony’s role in the history of the country.
Here's the test with answers. If you're citizen born in this country, could you pass?
Meanwhile, the West Central Tribune Carolyn Lange reports on a block party in Somali Independence Day celebrated in Willmar.
The event was not only an opportunity for the community's Somali-Americans to celebrate their homeland's independence but to share some of their culture and traditions with their new hometown.
"I see a Willmar community coming together and enjoying the day," Mahamud said. "It's kind of breaking the walls."
Bluestem suspects that there are some in Willmar who would protest that those living in America should only celebrate the American Independence Day on Tuesday. We'll pay attention to those grouches when they take to Facebook to object to nearby Milan's celebration of Syttende Mai, the Norwegian Independence Day in May.
Or any of the many Syttende Mai events in Minnesota and across the country.
Just like the Somali woman on the left in the screengrab (from a video in the article) above, who holds a Somali flag with one hand and an American flag in the other, some of our best Norwegian-American friends understand their heritage and love this country.
Photos: A 2014 naturalization ceremony at the Harriet Island Pavilion overlooking the banks of the Mississippi River, via the Star Tribune (top); A Somali Independence Day block party in Willmar.
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