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Iraqi Minnesotan Jamal Ali Helping Refugees Tell Their Stories

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- War has its way of forgetting the people it affects the most. Jamal Ali isn't about to let that happen.

"We come from a country where we have to be careful when you talk," the Iraqi-Minnesotan says.

In Baghdad, Ali was an aviation engineer, working for Iraqi Airways. After the war broke out in 2003, he and his family emigrated to Jordan. For his support of U.S. forces, he was able to come to the United States in 2009, where he settled his family in Minnesota.

"Most of Minnesota is from Scandinavian countries and they don't have much discrimination against immigrants, we really felt that," Ali said.

In 2012, Ali began working with the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project's Iraqi Voices storytelling lab. That gave Ali the opportunity to tell his story.

But it turns out that his real talent has been helping other refugees open up about theirs.

Jamal Ali
Jamal Ali (credit: CBS)

Ali explains that there is a natural hesitancy not to speak openly, since Iraqis didn't grow up with the same constitutional freedoms.

"It is very hard for them to talk, so it gives them an opportunity to talk and this is a big step for them," Ali said.

The short films explain refugees' lives before, during and after the war. Ali says they are intended to help all of us end stereotyping of refugees and to further encourage empathy.

"That's why Jamal is so important, he's used his connections to the community to bring more people involved so they can share their stories too," said IARP's executive director, Jessica Belt Saem Eldahr.

For his mentoring and leadership, Ali will be named one of nine 2019 Outstanding Refugees by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

It will be a hard-earned honor for this soft spoken man.

"My voice was reached, my work recognized and what I did is worth doing," he said.

Ali's latest project is helping coordinate a stage performance by Iraqi immigrants. The theatrical presentation will have dates in Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Duluth and Rochester beginning in July.

For more information, head to the American Reconciliation Project website.

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