Union Members Attend Rally to Support Somali Workers & Community in Lewiston

Hundreds of people participated in a rally on Saturday in support of Somali Mainers in response to President Donald Trump’s recent anti-Somali remarks. Rally organizer Safiya Khalid addressed the crowd, saying “The language being used about Somali people is degrading, dangerous, and intentionally divisive…It questions our dignity, our belonging, and our humanity. We do not need to repeat those words here to understand their weight. We feel their impact in our bodies, in our families, and in our communities.”

Several political leaders spoke at the rally, including Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-So. Portland); former Senate President Troy Jackson; U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner; Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; and Senator Rick Bennett (U-Oxford). Other political leaders in attendance included Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, Rep. Matt Beck (D-So. Portland), Rep. Kilton Webb (D-Durham) and others.

In a cabinet meeting on December 2, Trump targeted Somali immigrants with degrading and divisive comments. Somali Mainers have described a heightened feeling of fear and anxietyin the community in response to the President's comments.

Rep. Matt Beck (IBEW 1837), Doug Born (IATSE 114) & Vinny O'Malley (ILA 861)
 

Retired union longshoreman Vinny O’Malley, a child of Irish immigrants, attended the rally wearing a copy of his mother’s alien registration card pinned to his coat. The last time he attended an anti-hate rally in Lewiston was when he joined 4,500 people protesting a white supremacist group's anti-Somali rally in January, 2003.

“I had to come here and show my solidarity because there’s not enough of it going around,” said O’Malley. “My mother never became an American citizen and could have very easily been lifted and carried out of this country back in the day. They fled abject poverty and civil war also, so there are a lot of similarities between my parents’ experience and Somalis.” 

Rep. Kilton Webb (D-Durham), who is a member of IBEW 567, said he attended the rally because it was important to show his support for his Somali friends as someone whose ancestors came from Ireland.

"They came here just like my family did in the past and they're just trying to live the American Dream," said Webb.  "I think it's ridiculous that we're trying to choose who can and can't live the American Dream."