The Wake

“Don’t they call it ‘the crack stacks’?” says Mohamed Abdi, a second year General College student. He is a resident of the Riverside Plaza apartment complex that is the recipient of the derisive nickname. The name is a prime example of the misconceptions and lack of knowledge that surround that area.

Located a couple of blocks from the West Bank’s Carlson School of Management and the Arts Quarter, the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood somehow seems to go relatively unnoticed and at times is downright misunderstood by the larger campus community. Those students who do venture past the border of campus discover a vibrant, interesting, active and incredibly diverse community of people and cultures. Cedar-Riverside has a long history of such diversity, politically and culturally, which has largely been due to its role as a lively immigrant neighborhood and a sort of real-world example of the American “melting pot” ideal.

“For its entire history, it has been the kind of place where you’ve had a high percentage of immigrants and vibrant immigrant community-building,” says U history professor Kevin Murphy. “There’s a very interesting activist tradition in the neighborhood and it has a strong immigrant character.” In a course on public history that has focused on the neighborhood for the past two years, Murphy and his students have worked with Cedar-Riverside community members to create exhibits and presentations that are accessible to the public and non-academic audiences. Last year the students’ projects resulted in Cedar-Riverside: Histories and Visions, a multimedia exhibition of neighborhood history at the Hennepin History Museum, highlighting key areas of a neighborhood that continues to be one of the most diverse in Minneapolis.

During the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, Cedar Avenue became a hub of the Minneapolis Scandinavian community. Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish immigrants dominated the area, and a culturally vibrant nightlife flourished. “It always has been a neighborhood that’s attracted immigrant populations,” says Joel Wurl, curator at the Immigration History Research Center in the Elmer L. Andersen Library.

Cedar-Riverside owes its most eye-catching landmark to the ideals of diversity and the inter-mixing of varied people in the neighborhood. Designed by architect Ralph Rapson (for whom the architecture building on campus is named), Riverside Plaza, the “modernist and brutalist” apartment complex, opened in 1973. Composed of six separate concrete buildings, the tallest of which is 39 stories, contains 1,303 residential units, the vast majority of which have been steadily occupied over the years. Riverside Plaza was originally planned to be part of a “utopian” design that would have been much larger, housing a total of 30,000 people, but this plan was opposed by Cedar-Riverside community members to protect the older buildings. Of the 14 planned high-rise towers, 9 were never built. Rapson was reportedly inspired by the time he spent in cities throughout the world where people of different backgrounds and levels of wealth coexisted in close quarters. He wanted to reflect multi-level diversity in the buildings by making them different heights and adding the distinctive multi-colored panels.

In yet another chapter of the ever changing and renewing community, the neighborhood has most recently seen an influx of East African immigrants. Cedar-Riverside has most noticeably become a center for the city’s burgeoning Somali community, which has been steadily arriving for roughly the last 10 years. Minneapolis is the largest center of Minnesota’s Somali population, which is estimated at around 30,000 people who have come to the United States primarily as refugees, seeking asylum from a brutal civil war. The war began in 1991 after the northern portion of Somalia declared its independence as Somaliland. U,N, humanitarian troops, seeking to ensure the distribution of aid and the establishment of peace, landed in 1993 and started a two-year effort (primarily in the south) to alleviate famine conditions. The United Nations withdrew on March 3, 1995, having suffered significant casualties. Order in Somalia still has not been restored, further secessions have taken place and roughly three quarters of the 1990 territory has been at some point gripped by civil war. Many Somalis lived in refugee camps until they were granted asylum by the United Nations and could immigrate to places such as the United States.

Many Somali students at the U spend time volunteering at the Brian Coyle Community Center, which provides assistance for new immigrants, as well as activities that include mentoring and tutoring for children. The students credit their own experiences and struggles growing up in a foreign culture as a reason to help others. “I was 12 years old when I came here and entered the seventh grade without knowing English,” says Amal Mohamud, a family and social sciences major at the U. “I never thought I would go to college; at that point I was mainly concerned with just adjusting. I didn’t have anyone who spoke my language and could mentor me, so that’s why I mentor. Kids should have someone to look up to.” This year, the Somali Student Association (SSA) created a mentoring program that paired 50 to 60 high school students with Somali students from the U who were interested in being role models and mentors. Muhiyadin Aden, Outreach Coordinator of the SSA says, “It can be difficult for Somalis to seek out higher education, especially if they want to work to support their family. The language barrier is one of the most difficult barriers students face, but there is also the adjustment to a new culture.” The system of college application itself, with its emphasis on culturally-biased requirements, such as standardized tests, can be discouraging as well. Additionally, low-income levels in the community (according to the United Way, 42 percent of Cedar-Riverside residents lived in poverty in 2000) are another hurdle that students must face when deciding to attend college.

Despite these challenges, the Somali community of Cedar-Riverside has been thriving, maintaining a strong sense of tradition and culture while continuing to develop and adapt to their newfound home in Minneapolis. The neighborhood is filled with Somali-owned businesses. There are also active religious and cultural centers. “The Somali community here is doing a fantastic job. Even though they’re going through struggles and are new to the country, they’re really working very hard,” says Aden. Another indicator of success is the growing Somali student population at the U. “It’s a positive thing to see this many Somali students at a top university. It’s something to be proud of,” Aden adds. The SSA is seeking to work with the University to increase opportunities for Somali students and visibility of the culture on campus.

Many Somali students and residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood would also like to see the University community pay more attention to the area. “I don’t think many University students know about this community at all; even though the bus comes by every day, most students don’t seem to see it,” Cedar-Riverside provides such an opportunity for those students who choose to explore it.