Hussein Samatar
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Hussein Samatar ( so, Xuseen Samatar, ar, حسين ساماتار) (1964 – 25 August 2013) was a
Somali American Somali Americans are Americans of Somali ancestry. The first ethnic Somalis to arrive in the U.S. were sailors who came in the 1920s from British Somaliland. They were followed by students pursuing higher studies in the 1960s and 1970s, by the lat ...
politician, banker and community organizer. He established the African Development Center in 2004, which provided microloans and technical expertise to recent immigrant businesses.


Personal life

Samatar was born in 1964 in
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. He grew up in a diverse area in
Kismayo Kismayo ( so, Kismaayo, Maay: ''Kismanyy'', ar, كيسمايو, ; it, Chisimaio) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region. The city is situa ...
, situated in the southern
Lower Juba Lower Juba ( so, Jubbada Hoose, Maay: ''Jubithy Hoosy'', ar, جوبا السفلى, it, Basso Giuba) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. With its capital at Kismayo, it lies in the autonomous Jubaland region. It has gr ...
province. Samatar's father had originally moved down from the northeastern
Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...
region at the age of twelve, and his mother hailed from the southern town of Afmadow. Samatar attended high school in
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
. He later studied at the local
Somali National University Somali National University (SNU) ( so, Jaamacadda Ummadda Soomaaliyeed, ar, الجامعة الوطنية الصومالية, it, Università Nazionale Somala) is a national university in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Its campus grounds w ...
, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1991. His initial goal was to work as an economist, but postponed this following the outbreak of the
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
four days after his graduation. Samatar then moved to the United States, part of the first wave of Somali emigrants to Minnesota in December 1991. He learned English with the help of a Minneapolis librarian. Samatar was later accepted at the
University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...
, earning an MBA in Business Administration from the institution. In 2003–2004, he was selected as a
Humphrey School of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert ...
Fellow, and later as a German Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2007. Samatar had also enrolled in the Achieving Excellence in Community Economic Development program at the
Harvard Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
, which he successfully completed. Samatar was married to Ubah Jama, with whom he had four children. On August 25, 2013, Samatar died of complications from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
.


Career

In 2002, Samatar was hired by
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
into their management training program and became a business banker in 2002. He also worked at Northwest Banks. In 2004, he launched the African Development Center, with assistance from the McKnight Foundation and the Pan-African Community Endowment. The organization's purpose was to provide education and financial services to recent immigrants. In 2009, the ADC had a loan portfolio of $10 million. Samatar later entered public office in 2006, when he was appointed to the Minneapolis Library Board of Trustees by Mayor R.T. Rybak. Four years on, he became the first Somali American in Minnesota and most likely the country to be elected to public office, winning a seat on the
Minneapolis School Board Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) or Special School District Number 1 is a public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Public Schools enrolls 36,370 students in pub ...
. He was inaugurated into the office on 11 January 2011. Samatar also served on the boards of a number of civic and development organizations. Among these were the Citizens League, Dean's advisory board of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, CommonBond Communities and Minneapolis Foundation. Additionally, Samatar was actively engaged in politics within Somalia. He often wrote on the domestic political scene, endorsing the Hiil Qaran Party as a possible national party to contest elections in the autonomous Somaliland,
Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...
,
Khatumo Khatumo State ( so, Khaatumo; ar, ولاية خاتمة, translit=wilāyat khātimah), officially the Khatumo State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Khaatumo ee Soomaaliya), was a successor to the SSC Movement. Centred on the Sool, Sanaag re ...
,
Galmudug Galmudug ( ar, جلمدج; it, Galmudugh), officially Galmudug State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Galmudug ee Soomaaliya), is a Federal Member State in central Somalia, with its capital at Dhusamareb. It is bordered to the north by the Pu ...
and
Himan and Heeb Himan and Heeb ( so, Ximan iyo Xeeb; sometimes spelled Ximan and Xeeb) was an autonomous region in the Federal Republic of Somalia. Formed in 2008, its capital was the central town of Adado (Cadaado). In 2015 Himan and Heeb merged with Galmudug ...
regions.


Legacy

In a statement after this death, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said one of his greatest pleasures as mayor was getting to know Samatar, whom he described as "an extraordinary leader and a real friend." Praising Samatar's public work, Rybak also said the city planned to name a re-purposed stretch of 5th Street in Samatar's honour. In 2018, Minneapolis opened the highly anticipated mixed-use pedestrian path, naming it
Samatar Crossing Samatar Crossing is a , shared-use path and innovative urban redesign project in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Posthumously named after Somali-American politician and activist Hussein Samatar, the crossing connects the Downtown East/ El ...
, to provide greater connection for Cedar-Riverside area residents and visitors to
Hiawatha LRT Trail Hiawatha LRT Trail is a , multi-use path adjacent to a light-rail transit line in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that is popular with bicycle commuters. Users travel along the Metro Blue Line and Hiawatha Avenue transit corridor, reac ...
, downtown Minneapolis, and other city neighborhoods. Minneapolis Mayor
Jacob Frey Jacob Lawrence Frey ( ; born July 23, 1981) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota since 2018. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he served on the Minneapolis City C ...
remarked at the dedicated ceremony, “This rossingis an honor to Samatar who worked to bridge communities. He did it figuratively; this rossingis doing it literally.”


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samatar, Hussein 1964 births 2013 deaths Ethnic Somali people American people of Somali descent School board members in Minnesota Somali National University alumni University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Businesspeople from Minnesota African-American Muslims 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American people