Mahdi and Nic Talk about POTUS' Comments on the Somali Community - 12/30/2025

I had the privilege of speaking with Mahdi on a video visit on 12/30/2025 where he once again wanted to discuss and address recent comments made by the President of the United States regarding the Somali Community. We also debut a short clip of one of Mahdi's new songs called "Somaliapolis". I managed to capture one of Mahdi's great contagious smiles during this visit too.

If you don't know this by now, Mahdi is always concerned about children growing up in the world today. Mahdi's life's work has become an effort to prevent more kids from ending up in the same situation he finds himself in today. I often find myself forgetting what it might feel like to be a kid in this country today, but Mahdi always remembers what it felt like to be a young, lost Somali kid in Minneapolis. He knows that the words of the President of the United States are making young Black and Brown kids in America feel unsafe and he is using his voice to push back as much as is possible from his position within MCF Rush City.

During this video we also debut a short sample of Mahdi's song, specifically the 3rd verse where Mahdi does spoken word instead of singing or rapping. Mahdi has a message for Donald J. Trump and that message is simple: our kids deserve better from the president of the United States. Mahdi has a message for the local media that enabled these attacks on the Somali community without pushing back: We know there are issues with fraud in communities of all types in Minnesota, not just within the Somali Community. We must push back on this narrative that the Somali community are large perpetrators of fraud - they are often used as pawns in larger schemes that target new immigrants, a tale as old as time. We must not allow these racist, xenophobic narratives to continue in the great state of Minnesota.

To Nick Shirley from Nic H: I hope you someday understand that you too are being used in a very destructive game and that the people that you cause to suffer are literally women and children, some of the weakest positioned people in our entire society. You're not required to punch down. Do better.