BY DIRRIBA TESHOME
Oballa Oballa grew up in Gambella State of Ethiopia, where he witnessed mass killings that took the life of his uncle and hundreds of others by the atrocity order of Tigrai People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led government. He survived a two-week trek across treacherous terrain to reach a refugee camp in Kenya. He spent 10 years in camps where he often didn’t have enough to eat.
Soon after moving to Austin, Minnesota, Oballa walked into the mayor’s office and announced that he was a new resident, and asked if there was anything he could do for the city. He wanted to be politically active as soon as he arrived in the US in 2013. He served as president of the student senate at his community college and helped pass state legislation to address food insecurity on community college campuses. As well, he works as a health unit coordinator at the Mayo Clinic.
Since he was active in the community, he was already a familiar face when he began knocking on doors and asking for votes. However, at first, Oballa said he was nervous to announce a run for office because he saw no other immigrants or people of color running in elections. But that nervousness went away quickly as he began campaigning.
“I’m always volunteering. You go to Wal- Mart, you see my name, and a lot of people recognize me. So, when I decided to do door knocking, a lot of people are already familiar with my face — that makes it easier for me and my team,” he said.
On the campaign trail and in interviews, Oballa described a dramatic personal history. He said, “Who are you?” Oballa recalled, laughing. He told that his family fled Gambella, Ethiopia, in 2003, following what he describes as a genocidal attack on his community. They spent the next 10 years living in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp. In 2013, the family moved to the US and by 2015, Oballa had settled in Austin.
He still had to win their support by discussing the issues he is passionate about, such as access to daycare, affordable housing and the need for economic growth. “I have to introduce myself to tell my vision and why I’m running, because I have to appeal to the voters and the residents that I will be the right person,” he said.
On the city council, he said his priorities would be focusing on developing more housing, bringing more “21st-century jobs” to the city, and finding ways to expand affordable child care.
Oballa Oballa, a former refugee who became a naturalized citizen less than one year ago, made history in 2020 US election by winning a city council seat in the southeast Minnesota city of Austin.
On the election night he told that he ran for office after receiving encouragement from the city’s mayor and some of its city council members. His civic engagement with the community began shortly after moving to Austin, Oballa recalled.
Oballa 27, held a 14 percent lead over candidate Helen Jahr and declared victory. Oballa, who had been campaigning for the seat since the beginning of the year, said he is the first person of color to win elected office in Austin.
Now he is elected to the City Council of his adopted hometown of Austin, Minnesota. He is the first refugee, first immigrant and first person of color to serve on the council. He said he never doubted he’d reach this destination.
“I’m so proud to call myself an American citizen, whereby I can serve and help the community,” he said. “The American dream is that anything I put my mind into, if I work hard for it, I can achieve it. That’s how I define my American dream.”
Oballa is one of at least five American political newcomers with African roots who won posts in city, state and federal races in 2020 U.S. elections. He is just one example of how immigrant communities are shaping Minnesota politics well beyond the Twin Cities, and are now starting to win seats for public office.
Oballa said his record of civic engagement earned him voters’ support. “This makes me feel great, it makes me feel really happy and proud,” he said. “My work, I think, will still give hope to refugees who think the American dream is dead.”
He added, “Just seven years ago, [I] was living in a refugee camp and now am officially elected. I think that will give them hope that one day, when they come to America here, they will accomplish whatever they put their mind to.”
“It’s all about the work,” he said. “America is a great country whereby if you come with a big dream, you can make your dream come true.”
Still, Oballa says, in the city’s more than 150 years, no person of color had been elected to local office. (A call to the Mower County Historical Society did not immediately turn up any previous officeholders of color.)
Oballa won in a city that saw a much closer race in 2020 presidential election than the state overall. He just became Austin’s first Black city council member. According to voter data from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, Austin voters narrowly favored Democrat Joe Biden over President Donald J. Trump by less than 200 votes.
Austin, a meat-packing city known nationally for a grueling and unsuccessful Hormel strike in the mid-1980s, has seen its population rapidly change over the past 30 years. Once heavily white, the city’s population of 25,000 people has seen a rise in immigrants originally from countries like Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Guatemala. Many moved to Austin for jobs in the area’s food-processing industry.
(Sources: U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa/facebook. com, Sahan Journal and voa news)
The Ethiopian Herald 19 January 2021
