Current public remarks directed at Somali People by the president of the US had been deeply dehumanizing, inaccurate and dangerous. They weren’t simply political rhetoric. They’d actual penalties for actual individuals. As a Somali American, a well being care supplier, a small-business proprietor and a longtime public-health advocate in South King County, I can not enable these statements to go unchallenged.
Somali People are usually not a stereotype. We’re dad and mom, professionals, college students, enterprise house owners, elected officers and neighborhood leaders. We contribute to Washington state in methods which can be each measurable and significant. And when nationwide figures demean us, the impression is felt instantly — not in headlines however in school rooms, workplaces, neighborhoods and houses.
When hateful language is used towards any group, it creates concern and uncertainty. Our kids hear it of their faculties. Our elders really feel it in grocery shops and public areas. Hardworking households — who’ve constructed lives and companies right here — all of a sudden really feel unsafe in locations they’ve lived for many years. And it’s significantly troubling to see such rhetoric changing into normalized, with too many leaders responding with silence. Silence shouldn’t be neutrality. Silence is complicity.
For these unfamiliar with our contributions, enable me to supply a clearer image.
I’m Ahmed Abdille Ali, and I maintain a doctorate in pharmacy. I based Othello Station Pharmacy and Tukwila Station Pharmacy, two unbiased neighborhood pharmacies serving hundreds of residents in probably the most numerous areas of the state. I’m additionally a co-founder of the Somali Well being Board, a grassroots public well being group acknowledged for bettering well being outcomes and entry to care in underserved communities.
I’ve served as an adjunct college member on the College of Washington Faculty of World Well being, serving to prepare the following era of public well being practitioners on culturally responsive care. Over time, I’ve been humbled to obtain a number of honors, together with the 2022 Nationwide Immunization Champion Award and the 2025 Pharmacist Mentor of the Yr Award from the Washington State College Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. My pharmacies have obtained a number of small-business awards prior to now few years, together with the 2025 Intentionalist Heart of the Community award.
However these awards are usually not about me. They symbolize the work of numerous volunteers, interpreters, well being staff and Somali American neighborhood members who present up day-after-day to assist the well-being of others.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, our pharmacies and the Somali Well being Board launched cellular and pop-up vaccine clinics throughout South King County. These clinics had been featured in The Seattle Times for his or her impression in reaching linguistically numerous residents who had been usually ignored by conventional well being care programs. Our efforts helped shield hundreds of individuals within the hardest-hit neighborhoods. That is the truth of Somali American contributions — quiet, constant and rooted in service.
Somali People are small enterprise house owners who create jobs, well being care professionals who take care of the sick, college students excelling in universities and fogeys elevating kids who goal to enhance this nation. We pay taxes, strengthen native economies and convey cultural and financial vibrancy to the area. The Somali neighborhood of Washington is woven into the material of this state — its faculties, hospitals, neighborhoods and companies.
So when public figures demean us, it’s not solely offensive, it’s dangerously deceptive. No neighborhood must be diminished to racist stereotypes or used as political scapegoats.
Washington state is strongest once we uplift the contributions of all its individuals. Somali People are an integral a part of that energy. We’re dedicated to this nation and to the well-being of our communities. We’re not outlined by the phrases of those that search to divide us.
We’re Somali.
We’re American.
And we stand with dignity, resilience and an unwavering dedication to the values that make this nation stronger.
Editor’s notice: Feedback have been closed on this op-ed as a result of too many posts violated our phrases of service.
