News & Updates
Ramona Heath
In a time when national identity, civic trust, and historical truth are under attack, we must draw a line.
A growing number of Somali-born politicians—from Ilhan Omar in Congress to Nadia Mohamed, the recently elected mayor of St. Louis Park, Minnesota—have begun positioning themselves as spokespeople for "Black America." With polished talking points and the full backing of political machines, they claim the pain, the fight, and the legacy of a people they are not part of.
Let's be clear: Somali immigrants are not descendants of American chattel slavery. They are not Freedmen. And they do not speak for us.
From 1800 to 1890, Somali traders bought, sold, and exploited tens of thousands of enslaved Africans—mostly Bantu and Oromo people taken from present-day Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, and Ethiopia. Somali society used this labor for farming and domestic work, regarding such jobs as beneath them. Coastal Somali cities were slave trade hubs, deeply embedded in the East African and Indian Ocean slave networks. And yes—some of those sold ended up in the Americas, directly contributing to the suffering of our Black American ancestors.
Yet today, Somali-American officials like Omar Fateh (running for Mayor of Minneapolis) and Hamse Warfa (Biden's adviser on democracy and human rights) use terms like "oppression" and "systemic racism" as a political costume—ignoring the fact that they are here by choice and have benefited from opportunities Black Americans fought and bled for.
This is not about skin color. This is about who built this country, who paid its price in blood, and who is entitled to its full inheritance.
Freedmen are patriotic Americans. We are the sons and daughters of those who survived the Middle Passage, fought in every U.S. war, and marched for liberty—not just for ourselves, but for all. Our fight is for the preservation of this nation, not the exploitation of it.
This is a defining moment. We must reclaim our legacy, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with working-class Americans of all backgrounds, and reject the foreign political opportunists who seek to rewrite our story for their gain.
We are not victims. We are builders. And we are not handing over our name.