Building Power Together: A Historic Moment for Minnesota Communities

Building Power Together: A Historic Moment for Minnesota Communities

Alhamdulillah.

For the past year, Citizens Academy has been organizing across Minnesota with a clear mission: to build civic power rooted in community, faith, and shared values. This work has taken place in classrooms, mosques, churches, community centers, and neighborhoods — often quietly, always intentionally.

In recent weeks, that work culminated in a historic moment.

More than 5,000 Minnesotans came together in what became the largest organizing effort in the state. Muslims and Christians. Community members from the Twin Cities, the suburbs, and rural Minnesota. Immigrant families, long-time residents, and first-time civic participants stood side by side to affirm a shared truth: protecting our lives and our dignity requires collective power.

At Citizens Academy, we believe civic education is not abstract — it is lived. Through culturally and linguistically responsive training, communities learn not only how systems work, but how to engage them, challenge them, and shape them. This moment demonstrated what is possible when communities are informed, organized, and supported.

The message from Minnesota was clear.

To protect our communities, we must build power.

This is a moment of choice for elected officials and decision-makers. A choice between standing with everyday people — families, workers, immigrants, and neighbors — or standing with billionaire interests and systems that fuel cruelty and exclusion, both in our country and abroad.

Minnesota chose community.

Minnesota stood with its neighbors.
Minnesota stood with immigrant communities.
Minnesota stood with Somali Americans.

This moment affirms the core belief behind Citizens Academy’s work: when people are equipped with knowledge, language access, and organizing tools, they do more than show up — they lead. Civic participation becomes collective action, and collective action becomes lasting power.

Alhamdulillah for this moment. And we remain committed to continuing this work — expanding access, deepening organizing, and ensuring our communities are never left out of the decisions that shape their lives.

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