The Republican Party of Minnesota and representatives of a growing movement within the Somali American community came together on September 24 to celebrate the values that both groups share: the importance of faith, family, responsibility, and freedom.
Significantly, Pastor Corey Brooks was the featured speaker. He spoke powerfully about the failed leadership in many of our major cities and the need for conservative leaders in our urban communities to come together and push for change. Pastor Brooks is the founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings church of Chicago and founder and CEO of Project H.O.O.D. Communities Development Cooperation. He is known as the "Rooftop Pastor," and became a leading voice and presence in the fight against the violence that grips Chicago's poorest neighborhoods.
All of the Republican state-wide candidates, Dr. Scott Jensen, Matt Birk, Jim Schultz, Kim Crockett, and Ryan Wilson, as well as CD5 Congressional Candidate Cicely Davis, spoke to thunderous applause. This was a live-streamed event and as of last Monday, the video had 54,000 views. It was also covered by three major Somali media outlets, including BBC Somali (facebook), VOA Somali, and Somali TV Minnesota (facebook album).
The event proved to be an exciting welcome of our Somali American neighbors into the Republican Party. Given how close the state-wide races are, the rally proved to be a critically important first step in building a strong conservative coalition.
AlphaNews sampled some of the speeches at the dinner in this video. Note that three of the speakers are Senate District 50 Republicans.